June 6, 2010 | Posted in: Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully

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What is the secret of success? Right decisions. How do you make right decisions? Experience. How do you get experience? Wrong decisions.

It all starts with a decision. Deciding to act. No action is started without first making a decision to do it. Deciding sets off a series of behavior that takes us down a path – we choose the path to success or otherwise. Once you realize you may be on the wrong path, it’s your decision to continue in that direction or bushwhack your way back to the right path.

Sometimes it’s a gentle nudge that tells us we’re on the wrong path. Sometimes if we don’t recognize the nudge, we get a shove, or a slap in the face, or a full-on hammer to the head to drop us to our knees. In life, as in hiking the back-country, our job is to be open and aware of our surroundings, what’s happening around us, what are we experiencing and are we following our internal compass and listening to our gut. Often our instincts kick in before our consciousness does to let us know something isn’t right, a person isn’t quite what they seem, a situation feels icky, somebody seems smarmy. Those are your signals to find a shortcut to your right path.

Once we realize we’ve made a wrong decision, don’t lose that lesson learned from the wrong path. At least you know what not to do or where not to go next time. It’s called experience. I call it adventure. As a speaker and coach, I gather all of the stories from my midadventures around the world as fodder for my programs so I can share with others what not to do. Sometimes the best stories come from the missed adventures and overcoming bad decisions.

So next time you find yourself lost in the woods, on the wrong path, with the wrong people, without a trusted guide and experiencing things you’d rather not; think of it as another life experience on your way to making the right decision. Pay attention to the signs. Listen to your intuition. Take note of where your decisions are leading you and if it’s not where you want to be, make different decisions.  Remember the definition of insanity – making the same decision over and over and expecting a different outcome. Change your decisions, make better decisions and change your life for the better.