Episode 121 – The price of small choices (and why they cost you most)
Every choice has a price.
The big decisions? We agonise over those. But it’s the tiny daily choices—the ones we barely notice—that cost us the most.
One biscuit won’t derail your goals. But when it becomes permission for tomorrow, and the next day, and the next… that’s when the small choices add up.
Your daily habits either move you towards what you want or pull you away from it. The tortoise wins the race for a reason.
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Links from the episode:
Next episode: The Warrior Awakens
Previous episode: Stop chasing silver bullets: why action beats affirmations
Transcript of episode
Hello loves, how are you today?
Today, I want to talk about the choices we make. We all make choices. Some so big they take weeks, or longer, for us to decide, some so small we make them without even realising.
Every choice has a price.
Some choices are felt straight away, some won’t show up for a while. But each one will be paid eventually. Think Marley and that chain in my most favourite of books – A Christmas Carol.
The choices that are the most expensive are the little choices we make every day. A perfect example of this is when it comes to food. If you’re wanting to eat healthily to manage an illness or to lose weight, one little piece of birthday cake today won’t have too much effect on the long-term result. Unless you allow it to be the thing that gives you permission to do it again tomorrow. But, if you do have another piece tomorrow, or a biscuit, or a packet of crisps, etc, and again the next day, then that adds up to a lot.
Be aware of your choices
Your daily habits, even the small ones, matter. Too many people don’t put enough value and importance on them. There was a great advert by IKEA, the hare and the tortoise, that sums it up perfectly. Although, to be fair, I tend to wake like the hare on race day even if I make the tortoise choices…
Pay more attention, because the small daily habits and actions add up. They either move the needle towards your desired end result, or they put you in the red.
Learn the mistakes you make regularly
What happens for you to say “s*d it” and reach for the biscuits, the pizza, or the wine? Who or what are your excuses? It’s the tiny ones we have to watch for. The ones that seem completely innocuous, but the ones that we invariably beat ourselves up over.
What is more important to you? The biscuit, or fitting into your favourite jeans? The glass(es) of wine, or feeling great the next day to play with your kids?
Don’t expect them to always be obvious either.
Choose how can you rise above and let them go
Ask yourself – is this worth what I’ll feel later, or tomorrow? It’s not just money that has a return on investment to be considered. What’s the ROI on what you are choosing right now?
To get what we want in life we often have to sacrifice. For me, it’s about giving up the Dr Pepper (16 years at the time of writing), along with all the stuff with artificial sugars, if I want to have any level of energy to haul myself out of bed in the morning and try to minimise the amount of pain I live with on a daily basis. What do you need to give up?
And if you do mess up, work out why, and then let it go. Learn from it so you don’t get caught in the regret of it. It’s not worth keeping yourself up at night.
It’s not always going to be easy, but it can be a simple choice.
And remember, you are worth it, and you get to choose. Have a lovely day.
