111 Eight ways you surrender the power of choice

You have the power to choose your future. Yet, there are eight ways you surrender that power without even knowing it.

This week’s Inspire Me quote is from Robert Fritz:

“The way people choose reveals where they see the power in a situation residing and how that power is activated and used.” 

In this episode, Leary and Armin explore the eight ways Robert Fritz says we choose to avoid effective choice. Fritz says we give up our power to choose when we make a choice by:

1. Limitation: choosing only what seems possible or reasonable.
2. Indirectness: choosing the process instead of the result.
3. Elimination: choosing to eliminate all other possibilities so that only one choice remains.
4. Default: choosing not to make a choice, so that whatever results seems to occur without choice.
5. Condition: choosing to impose preconditions on choices.
6. Reaction: choosing in order to overcome a conflict.
7. Consensus: choosing by finding out what everyone else recommends and following the results of that poll.
8. Adverse possession: choosing based on a hazy metaphysical notion about the nature of the universe.

Quotes from the show:

• “If you love something enough, it’ll exist.” —Leary
• “When we surrender our effective choice—our decision to choose for ourselves—we’ve given up our power. In other words, we’ve given in to something that’s not us. And we might resent it…. but frankly, the choice comes back to us.” —Leary
• “Recogniz[e] where the power lies—otherwise, we’ll follow the path of least resistance.” —Leary
• “Unsubscribe from all of those feeds offering to solve your problem…. Sometimes we need to disconnect from all of the things that are process, in order for us to get silent and think about what result are we trying to create.” —Leary
• “What’s your end-goal? …. What is your aspiration?” —Armin
• “Simply make a conscious choice.” —Leary paraphrasing Fritz

This week’s Challenge Me:

Which one of the eight avoidance choices do you deal with most often?

What do you think of this topic and episode? Share your comments or questions below.

Resources mentioned in or related to this podcast episode:

• The Path of Least Resistance by Robert Fritz
• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey