You are who you are, what you are, where you are today because of the daily decisions you made in the past. Moreover, the quality of your future hinges on the quality of your daily decisions you make in the present. But although we are bombarded with choices every moment of our lives, there still remains a few decisions of which we have no control.

We cannot choose our background or who our parents are, but we can choose what we become in our lives. We cannot choose our physical attributes, but we can choose and shape our personality. We cannot choose our nationality or race, but we can choose our sphere of influence. We have never been able to choose our temperament or our talents, but we can choose to develop them into a masterpiece.

We cannot choose people’s opinion of us, but we can choose the opinion we have of ourselves. Neither can we choose people’s attitude toward us, but we can choose how we respond to them. We could not choose our upbringing, but we can certainly choose our upshot. We cannot choose what the weather will be, but we can choose our feelings about the day. We may not be able to choose all our circumstances or conditions, but we can choose what we can do about them. We are able to choose our actions, but we are not free to choose the consequences of those actions. And all in all, our choices determine our chances in life.

Our life is a product of our choices. Our genetic composition or hereditary traits, our upbringing and childhood experiences, environmental influences, people and circumstances of life undoubtedly influence us; but these factors do not determine the outcome of our lives. We are not a product of our condition or conditioning, but rather we are a product of our choices. Within you lies the power to change your life.

Many people have the notion that if only their spouse will change or their boss will change or the condition of their lives will change etc that their lives will change for the better. However, the revealing truth is, when you change, everything around you changes. Until you improve yourself, your circumstances will not improve. Until you work on yourself nothing will work in your life.

The first step to change is to choose to take absolute responsibility for your life. When you play the blame game you lose control of your life and you become crippled of the ability to effect positive changes in your life. Acknowledge that your present state of life is a product of series of decisions you made in the past. Probably the need for survival, a sense of security, self-esteem, love, self-expression, intellectual fulfillment and spiritual fulfillment have influenced the choices that have made you what you are and have brought you to where you are presently. You need to take ownership of the present state of your life.

The second step toward positive change is to choose to live by a higher standard. You must decide on what you stand for. Remember, when you do not stand for something you will fall for anything. Write down all the things you would no longer accept in your life, all the things you would no longer tolerate, and all the things that you aspire to becoming. It is very critical to decide on the kind of person you want to be in order to accomplish the results you are committed to.

You must write down your values in their order of importance. And you must choose not to lower your standard or compromise those values. Remember, your values govern your behavior and lead you to your ultimate destiny. And when you value correct, timeless and self-evident principles that govern success and imbibe those principles into your nature you become unstoppable on your success journey.

Another critical step towards change is to change your limiting beliefs about yourself, your capability and opportunity, life and your world. Remember, beliefs create reality irrespective of its validity or falsity. Your beliefs become self-fulfilling prophecy. Adopt beliefs that will propel you to soar to the peak of success. When you get out of the box and live on the edge, your impact will span through the ages.