Dan Gregory @DanGregoryCo
If you're like most people, you probably assume that most of your decisions are your own. However, virtually every decision you make is somewhat manipulated by decisions you have no part in.
Did you wake up this morning naturally, or through the use of an alarm clock?
Who determined what time you should wake up anyway?
Or go to bed last night? Was it just the TV Schedule?
Did you have a ‘healthy’ breakfast? How do you know? Do you know?
Did you start the day with a coffee or a juice? What brand did you choose? Decaf or Defibrillator?
Did you take the car? What model did you "choose"? Did you stay in your lane? Obey the traffic lights?
Did the morning news make you angry?
Who were you angry with? The government? The opposition? Foreigners? The locals? The presenters?
And that was just getting to work. Virtually every decision in our lives is to some degree, beyond our control. But rather than being a cause for alarm or an encouragement to live off grid, it’s a reminder to be conscious of the decisions we make.
For those of us who seek influence, who want to drive change, who desire to lead, it’s also a reminder that much of our capacity to persuade is unconscious and environmental.
If we want to be effective influencers, we need to do more than simply talk, we need to be strategic, to be curious and to design success into our processes and environments.