“In terms of the entire world, if, when you wake up in the morning, you have a choice of what to eat, a choice of what to wear, a job to go to and a way to get there, you have abundance.”

And yet we squander that abundance so often by not making choices in our lives. We allow life to just happen to us, instead of choosing what we believe to be best for us. We have enough abundance to create and live our best life, and yet we lose out by choosing not to. We have very weak choice muscles.

So the question becomes:

are you a chooser or a loser?

If that sounds harsh, well, so be it. It’s a harsh reality.

How to be a loser

Allow life to just happen to you.

Play the victim role.

Complain without taking any action.

Believe you have no power to influence yourself or others.

Take the “dead roach approach” to events that occur in your life _ lying flat on your back with your legs wiggling in the air and whatever happens, happens.

Believe in silly sayings such as “waiting for the other shoe to drop” and “bad things always come in threes.” These are classic self-fulfilling prophecies.

Take a reactive approach to life – do not use you brain.

Ask really useless questions like “why does this always happen to me?” while whining “this is not fair!”

Play it safe and don’t take risks _ prefer the safety of mediocrity over the chance to go for want you want in life.

Set very low expectations for yourself and then consistently fail to live up to them.

How to be a chooser

Realize – get it – that you have choices!

Take a proactive approach to your life.

Expect success and for things to go well and go your way.

Set high expectations for yourself, higher than others expect of you, and then exceed them.

Pick a direction in which to head and then pursue it with all you have got.

Be creative. So many people limit themselves by telling me that they are just not creative. My response is “Do you worry?” Answer _ “Yes, of course. All the time.” Then you know how be creative. Worrying is simnply being creative in a negative, limiting way. Creativity is simply this: “looking at something that has always been there and seeing something that has never been seen before.”

Do you anticipate and plan for the future or do you worry about what’s around the next corner?

When life hands you a lemon, do you make lemonade or do you complain about the size of the lemon?

Do you see the glass as half empty, half full, or perhaps just not big enough?

Let’s look at a few ways to be a worrier, and see if you recognize any thing in your self. Then we’ll look at how to be a warrior.

How to Be a Worrier

We all worry. It’s a part of life. It’s what we do with our worries that make the difference.

In order to be a championship worrier however, you need to adopt a few of the following traits:

Worry. A lot. Raise it to an art form. Believe it makes a difference.

Anticipate the worst in every situation, then drag your mind and emotions into the future as if it’s really happening right now.

Really, honestly believe that worrying enough can actually change something.

Do nothing about your worries. Take no action at all.

Make your ongoing question in life “what if…..?”, and then make no plans for what if.

Your motto is “survive the day.”

You worry that you don’t know enough about something and are afraid to learn.

You spend 95% of your time worrying about a problem and a mere 5% on solving it.

How to Be a Warrior

Before I give you a few traits of a warrior, it might be useful to explain what I mean by the term warrior. What I don’t mean is someone who picks fights, enjoys hurting people, or walks around with a sword and shield.

What I do mean is someone who takes on life as a challenge and lives to get the very most out of each day, for themselves and those they care about.

Here’s a few traits of a warrior:

When you have a fear, you face it. It’s the quickest way to make it go away.

Your motto is “seize the day.”

If you don’t know, you ask!

You spend 95% of your time, energy and resources solving a problem, and no more than 5% of your time worrying about the problem.

You know that the sure-fire cure for worry is ACTION.

You know how to think and problem solve in creative ways, called “thinking outside the box” in the business world.

You have an almost insatiable curiosity about the world.

You have the unique ability to look at something that has always been there, and see something that no one else has seen before.

You have what Stu Weber in his book “Tender Warrior” calls a “provisionary heart.” This is the ability to look at the future, anticipating patterns and trends, and then not only prepare to survive but thrive as well.

If you find your self identifying with the traits of the worrier more than the traits of the warrior, here’s two things you can do about it:

1) stop worrying about it, and then

2) practice and adopt the traits of the warrior. Try them on and see what you can do with each of them.