How a quote changed my life
Really? A quote changed your life? That’s just daft! Insert rolling eye emojis here. When I share this with people, I have all sorts of responses most of which are skeptical or think I’ve turned into a woowoo fairy. However, for me this is completely true.
If you follow me on Insta or Facebook you’ll already know that I love a good quote, a short powerful slap between the eyes that creates curiosity and provokes thought as I’m scrolling through other people’s views on wearing face masks, Brexit and sponsored ads for retro t-shirts, is just the distraction from the busyness of everyday life that I welcome.
So, what was the quote??
And how did it change my life?……. Well, it was about 5 years ago whilst I was mindlessly scrolling on my phone through Facebook. I was struck by this pale pink image with the old-fashioned type writing style font. I stopped scrolling immediately and reread the word over and over again, each word making complete sense whilst I was in a place in my life which made no sense to me at all.
In that instant I knew that I not only had to make better decisions in my life but actually make them in the first place! I was plodding, coasting, unfulfilled, ticking boxes in my life, I always put others first and wasn’t sure of the life I wanted but I knew it wasn’t the one I was existing within in that moment. So, I made a very conscious decision right there and then, a decision to take full responsibility for all aspects of my life in all its glory, the good, bad and the very ugly bits. To initially try to take action that would allow me to be more curious and explore what decisions I could make to have a totally different life. Knowing I have choice to change has become one of my core basics in life.
The quote reminded me of the film Sliding Doors, where Gwyneth Paltrow rocks her ‘I’m single now so up yours’ haircut. In fact, asking clients who are fearing change, or are stuck in a rut to watch it, is one of many practical and interesting methods that I now use to help adjust and clear mindset and perceptions to allow awesomeness to flow back in.
Imagine this scenario as an example - A decision is made to hit snooze again and therefore you have to get a later train to work, whilst waiting for the train with your steaming hot coffee, you randomly (or not so randomly – that’s a whole other blog right there!) bump into an old boss. You start catching up about life since you left that company, your old boss starts tells you about an amazing opportunity, it sounds like your dream job, something you’ve been wanting to explore but have procrastinated, and have been convincing yourself that you are happy in your comfort zone. You exchange numbers and arrange a call for the following day to discuss the opportunity in more detail.
I’ll let you decide what the possible outcomes are for the end of the story, but if nothing else think about this, if the choice of snoozing again hadn’t had been made, a totally different life would then unfold, the ‘random’ bumping into your old boss and the conversation that followed would have never happened.
I have to confess that it’s taken me writing this blog to look into the author and origins of the quote, it really hasn’t mattered to me. I printed that quote off and I pinned it to my notice board at home, where it still has pride of place as you can see.
So why am I sharing this quote with you? It’s simple, I believe in basics, stripping away complexity, chaos, clutter – physical, mental and more. One of the biggest basics to remember is that you have choices, you have a choice to make decisions in most areas of your life, every single day, with every relationship you have, in your business/career, with your finances, whether you pause and breathe before you press send, whether you swipe left or right – choices.
The World is constantly changing, technology, the environment, pandemics and more, so remember you are always one decision away from a totally different life.
Love
CB
#basicswithbaker
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