January 29, 2013 – 
I was driving down the Hutchinson River Parkway the other day, mulling over recent and upcoming events in my life and the lives of those around me. And I caught myself considering alternative courses my life could have taken. How might my life look now had I only done X when I was younger? (The “X” of that thought was learning to play a musical instrument.) Going through various scenarios of my alternative life, I finally stopped myself with the harsh words of admonition: “Start living your life! What’s stopping you?” And then the gentler: “So what’s stopping you from living your life now?”
Even during those fleeting moments of wondering “What if my life were different?” I was relinquishing control of my life – I was getting out of the driver’s seat of my own life.
The fact of the matter is that we are all ultimately responsible for our lives. For we choose how to act, what decisions to make, what paths to take, and what paths to avoid. At times we may feel we have no choice but to take this path or another, yet that very feeling of “no choice” is an act of victimhood. At that moment, and at all moments when we follow that “no choice,” victim mindset, we cease to be the driving force in our lives.
Sure, my choosing not to learn to read notes and practice music when I was a teenager resulted in my not being able to play an instrument today. More precisely, my daily decision to uphold that teenage choice resulted in today’s musical reality. Of course, there is nothing stopping me from choosing to pick up a guitar today and learn to play. Choices, it’s all about choices. And we make them every day.
This is something I saw in myself that day driving down the Hutch, and it’s something I see in my clients every day. People often delegate their choices to others. To paraphrase the old car rental commercial: People often leave the driving to someone else. Doing so is a sure fire recipe for dissatisfaction for the simple reason that this mindset does not take into account the person’s own desires and robs the person of the power of choice. The solution is to retake control, to avoid complacency and increase motivation and engagement levels in our lives. In other words, to be the driving force in our own lives. The choice is ours.
So my choice today is to move forward with the launch of my new brand – DRiVE Consulting – focusing on individuals facing significant life and career transitions, business teams, and professionals and recent graduates working on their career paths. Our expanded services focus is on guiding our clients to raising their DRiVE Factors as they strive for greater levels of engagement, motivation and success. Click here to read our press release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/1/prweb10333172.htm, and to learn more about DRiVE Consulting, read through our new website listed below.
Consider the Possibilities.
Adam J. Krim www.driveconsulting.net
