Blame it on the children . . .

My life was flipped upside down when I discovered I would be the father of twin girls. Upon this news, I was scared to death that I would not give my daughters the necessary skills to be successful in their life. All I could picture was sex, drugs, and rock and roll. I know, quite the optimist. As I began to think about the skills my girls would need, my list became daunting.

The list topped out at 63 characteristics. On this list were things like respectful, hard working, caring, gritty, empathetic, determined, organized, creative, - - - you get the idea. Sixty three characteristics felt like too much. I was defeated and worried that I would fail my girls before they even took their first breath. I began to search for commonality among the characteristics, which is when I stumbled upon DECISION MAKING. The one thing each of my characteristics had in common was that in order to utilize the characteristic, a person had to DECIDE to activate the characteristic. My entire list required a choice. Upon this revelation it became clear to me that in order for my girls to reap the benefits of their best possible life they would have to excel at making decisions.

Thus began my obsession with decision making. As I began to research decision making, it became immediately apparent that there were many more types of decisions than I had originally considered.  There are programmed, routine, operational, strategic, major, minor, individual, group, non-programmed, personal, and the list continues for quite some time.  I did discover a way to group decisions. Decisions can be grouped into reflexive, reactive, or strategic decisions. I decided that my work should center around reactive decisions.

After wrapping my head around the three types of decisions, my mind wandered back to my daughters.  I thought that if I could help give them a set of simple rules that could be used in less than 5 seconds that I might have a chance to provide them with a systematized way to make better decisions.  It would be these simple binary decision rules that might serve as a foundation to their success by helping them make better decisions in all walks of life.

I had mentally convinced myself that decision making was the one skill that could be used as the foundation for all other skills and traits.  No matter the skill, no matter the trait, the key was decision making.  I had decided that before I bet the general well-being of my two sweet daughters on my theory, I would need continue to research and observe to find concrete proof points of my theory.

My Faith

It is impossible to tell my story, without acknowledging my faith. I am in pursuit of Christianity and strive to live my life in the image of Jesus Christ. I try to rely on a power bigger than my own. I fall short more than I succeed, but I continue my pursuit. The process of this personal project has been a test of my faith, of failure, and of continuing on. I can not see the big picture, so I have faith that my work will help people improve their lives.

During this journey, I discovered that the bible is full of people that make HARD choices and are thus propelled towards their higher calling. Simultaneously, EASY choices move people away from their hoped for goals and ultimately further away from God. HARD choices move you closer to God because it forces a physical manifestation our own commitment and faith. When I evaluated my theory on that measure alone, I was convinced that Hard Choice Habits are the key to ultimate success.