The Choices We Make

Life is an endless series of choices. The choices we make steer our personal and professional life journeys. Think back to some of the most important, high impact choices you made in your life. If you could go back, would you make the same decisions today? What two or three career choices have you made that pointed you in a powerful direction and resulted in success?

There is a lot of truth in what Anne Frank had to say about this: “Our lives are fashioned by our choices. First, we make our choices. Then our choices make us.” We are indeed the product of our life choices.

In this blog post we cannot cover the entire range of professional of choices we make, especially related to career advice. But, let’s consider some choices we can all make that will greatly impact daily success at work:

Choose to display an outstanding and positive attitude.
Choose excellence – make it your signature.
Choose daily priorities that align to your (and your court’s) desired outcomes.
Choose self care, with healthy physical and mental practices, including mindful reflection.
Choose care for family, life is short. Make sure to connect and care for them.
Choose personal drive and adopt, “I’m on a one-day contract.”
Choose solid relationships – build your network and do not let go of relationships, especially those that matter most.
Choose generosity, including giving thanks. Remember, giving begins the receiving cycle.
Choose growth by continuing to learn, try, and develop daily.

Leaders improve and experience success when they make powerful, intentional choices like these. Select several to concentrate on immediately. Next, broaden your efforts across the board in the coming months. Doing so will point you in a direction that will make a positive impact on you and your career.

Are there other choices that you think should be added to this list? Please share them via the comments section!

Note: this blog post was inspired by and substantially adapted from an e-newsletter by Steve Gutzler (www.stevegutzler.com), April 2019. I highly recommend Steve’s work as a speaker and consultant (sign up to receive his e-mails!).

Published by Norman Meyer (He-Him)

After 38 years as a trial court administrator in the state and federal courts in the U.S., Norman continues to write, teach, and otherwise participate in judicial administration activities world-wide. In particular, he is active in the International Association for Court Administration (IACA) as an Advisory Board member and past Regional Vice President, in the National Association for Court Management (NACM) as a Past President (having received NACM's Award of Merit), and as an Associate of the Justice Speakers Institute. Norman has extensive experience working on international Rule of Law projects, particularly in the Russian Federation, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Albania. Norman is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of New Mexico (Political Science and Russian Studies), and he received the Master of Science in Judicial Administration from the University of Denver College of Law. View all posts by Norman Meyer (He-Him)