It’s Your Choice

About the Book

Every day we make choices. These choices impact our lives, our careers, our families, our health, our successes, and our failures. Often we make choices without considering the impact or consequences that may result. We make choices every day in the workplace and in our personal lives that mold and craft our future, and we are not even aware of it. Where we are today is a direct result of the choices we have made. Where we will be tomorrow is directly related to the choices we are going to make. Each of us has been dealt a hand of cards. The cards we have been dealt may have been outside our control. However, how we respond to these cards is 100 percent within our control. The best poker players don’t win because they always have the best cards; they win because they know how to play the cards they are dealt. They know when to fold, when to stay in the game, how to read the other players at the table, and when to bluff. They win because of choices they make with the cards they were dealt. It’s Your Choice will help bring clarity and perspective to the choices you are faced with each day in the workplace and in your personal life. It will bring reason and logic to things that you may not have considered before. It’s Your Choice is designed to challenge you to think differently, more clearly, and with a larger perspective of the choices you make each day. There will be things in It’s Your Choice you don’t want to hear. There will be things shared that will challenge you to think deeper than you have in the past. What you do with what you read in It’s Your Choice is indeed your choice.

About the Author

I have owned my own business since 2002. As a business owner, I quickly realized that a business is only as good as its employees. Throughout the years I have had the opportunity and privilege to work with many good employees. Concept is the name of my company, and its success is due to the many great employees who have influenced it throughout the years. I have witnessed many employees grow personally and professionally. It is rewarding to watch an employee grow and experience not only the impact they have on our company but also the impact their growth has on their personal and professional life. In contrast, it is disappointing and frustrating to witness an employee who has great potential not capitalize on their potential by making bad choices. At this point in my career, I have a strong desire to help and challenge employees to be better employees. I want to share what I have learned through my work experience and life experiences. The difference between sadness and happiness is the choices we make. The difference between success and failure is the choices we make. I believe employees need to be challenged. In fact, I think they want to be challenged. We feel good when we meet a challenge head-on and win. We are encouraged when we see something through a lens that is different from the lens we have been using. In my life I have been driven by internal needs and desires. I have been driven by things that interest me. I like to set my sights on something and then achieve it. Not everything I set my sights on is work related. I have lots of hobbies and interests outside of work. I like to learn new things and then see what I can do with what I’ve learned. I am driven by self-fulfillment. I like to accomplish things. I like competition, and I like to win. When I was an employee, I wanted to produce more than those around me. I believe my internal drive is what helped me achieve many things in life. I learned early in life that making good choices is the key to success. My parents were very conservative. My mom was a stay-at-home mom, and my dad worked forty-three years in a factory. They taught my brothers and me that keeping your word is important. They taught us the value of good choices and the consequences of bad choices. They didn’t bail us out when things were tough. They allowed us to fail. If we succeeded in something, it was because of what we did, not because they paved the road for us. I want to share perspectives with employees that they are not used to seeing or hearing. I want to challenge employees to be better at work and to have happier, more fulfilling lives. One of the most devastating and unfortunate pitfalls I see is when employees look at their jobs, their careers, and their lives from a very narrow and limiting viewpoint. Too many times I witness employees making decisions based on a very short-term and narrow-minded view. I want to help employees see truth, not fallacy. I want to challenge employees to reach for greater things. I believe employees are missing opportunities that are right in front of their eyes because they are not recognizing them. I want to help employees understand that opportunity doesn’t come because we want it to. I want to help employees understand that opportunity comes because we have done the right things, we have made the right choices, and we have refused to run from the challenges when things didn’t go our way. I believe in choices. I believe our choices are one of the biggest factors that impact our lives. I believe many people want to make good choices. However, I also believe many people need help to learn how to make good choices. I want to help employees and challenge them to make right choices, not easy choices. I believe our lives are a picture of our choices. Choice is a powerful tool and a privilege. Learning to use it effectively can have a tremendous impact on our lives. It’s your choice. Use it wisely.