Every Choice Has A Consequence

We all know about Newton’s Third Law of Motion- Every action will have an equal and opposite reaction. However, I believe a couple of interesting variations of this law apply to our lives too.

• If you take some action, there will always be a reaction.
• If you exercise a choice, there will always be a consequence.

If you are going through some experience- good or bad, joyful or painful right now- it only means somewhere, sometime in the past, you exercised a choice for which you are experiencing the consequence now. There cannot be a consequence without an underlying choice you would have exercised in the past, knowingly or unknowingly.

Unfortunately, this is not how we process our experiences. If something good happens, we take credit for our good actions. But if something bad happens, we pin the blame elsewhere.

“That competitor undercut my proposal,” you say to justify the loss of the deal. But, in reality, the loss of the deal was more likely a consequence of you not having done enough in managing the expectations of the prospect.

“The expectations were unrealistic,” you say to justify why you did not meet the business targets. However, the missed target is perhaps a consequence of you choosing to tread the safe path instead of taking more risks.

“Why is my kid so defensive?” you wonder when in all likelihood, the behavior is a consequence of your dismissive and condescending tone.  

My experiences are a consequence of my actions.

When you become comfortable with this law of life, you will realise that the power to shape your life the way you want it to be is in your own hands. You don’t have to look elsewhere.