"If there is such a thing

as a secret to achievement, a significant part of that secret is ...

being aware of the power of your choices and learning to choose effectively."

Achievement is simply the result

of doing the "right things" consistently over a sustained period

of time. Doing the "right things" is a direct result of your personal

choice. Your future is built on the choices you make, day by day, moment

by moment.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

This relationship between choice

and achievement is powerful. Without making consistently effective daily

choices, you will not achieve. This is a harsh reality, but true.

Conversely, making consistently effective choices that support your

overall goals will inevitably lead to next level achievement. The quality

of your choices determines the quality of your life. By filling your

days with effective choices, you build a future of beneficial consequences.

Whether you realize it or not,

you make thousands of choices everyday. You choose your thoughts, perspectives,

actions, and associations. Each choice you make in life has a consequence.

An extra bowl of ice cream each night might not affect you right away,

but will have a negative consequence of weight gain if you continue

to indulge.

So many of us let our everyday

choices go overlooked because the consequences of those choices are

delayed. We don’t experience immediate results from most of our choices.

If we did, we certainly would be more selective with our choices! Instead,

we are free to make a bad or ineffective choice and feel no immediate

impact, leaving us with the impression that no harm has been done.

Using the ice cream analogy

again, if you immediately gained 50 pounds every time you ate a single

bowl of ice cream, you would never eat another bowl of ice cream again,

and ice cream companies would be out of business! The lesson here is

that we must be aware of what our everyday choices are creating for

our future, even though we cannot see the results right away.

This is where the Next Level

Achievement System comes in.

The foundation of any system

of achievement is learning to make effective, daily choices. Surprisingly,

we do not naturally possess the capacity of making consistent, effective

choices because our natural, human instincts have one goal for us: our

security.

Your instincts do not care

about your goals and dreams – they just want to keep you right where

you are. When you manage your daily activities from your natural, human

instincts, your response will always be in favor of keeping you where

you are. Your brain interprets sameness or status-quo as security. In

short, your instincts are fighting against your achievement because

achievement always involves change and growth, both of which are contrary

to sameness.

To achieve, you must first

learn to intentionally manage your process of making effective

choices, and that process must be systematic rather than instinctive.

This works because a systems approach to achievement bypasses

your natural instincts.

I have worked with clients

who have spent their entire lives managing achievement instinctively

with sporadic results. On the other hand, I have watched overwhelming

results from leaders who manage by a proven system of achievement.

Don’t let another day slip

by filled with ineffective choices. Become aware of how your choices

are affecting your bottom line, because they will affect you regardless

of whether or not you are aware of them! Learning to make effective

choices on a consistent, daily basis leads to effective actions, which

in turn leads to beneficial results.

Most importantly, you must

choose to achieve!