Have you ever thought about how one decision can affect your entire life? Every decision has an impact, of course, but I’m referring to the ones that have the potential to change your whole life trajectory. Had you chosen differently, these decisions would change everything.

We face a lot of these types of decisions regularly, but we don’t realize how this decision is affecting our destination. But what if we did? What if we started to think of our decisions as powerful tools that can take us somewhere we want to be or somewhere we don’t want to be?

One decision that came back

I was recently working on a different podcast that I produce, an interview-style show. The woman interviewed shared a moment when she was offered a property management job. She had no experience and didn’t know what she was doing, but she took the job. That one decision led her down a path which resulted in owning a large property management company and rising to incredible levels of success.

Years ago, someone gave me the same decision, but I chose differently.

If you’ve listened to other episodes of my podcast, you’ve heard that my life goal as a kid was to move to Los Angeles, California, and work in the entertainment business. It was my singular focus. So I moved to California when I was nineteen, leaving behind my home in Pennsylvania.

I found an apartment and started doing background work on popular TV shows. In many ways, I was stepping into my dream. My tiny studio apartment wasn’t luxurious or in a nice area, but I loved it. A month into living there, the property manager asked if I wanted to manage another apartment building in Hollywood. He knew that I was 19 and new to the area, but he asked me to manage an apartment building. I laugh about it now because I barely knew how to manage my life, let alone a complex in Hollywood. I didn’t know how to deal with all the issues in apartment buildings.

I decided not to take the offer, and I never really thought about it again. That is, until recently, when I was working on this podcast, and the woman’s story brought it back. For whatever reason, it started to sink in nearly 16 years later that my life could have looked entirely different had I said “yes.”

35,000 decisions

Not every decision is life-changing. Some studies claim we make up to 35,000 decisions a day and even more if you consider every word that we speak as a decision. So obviously, every decision we make cannot be life-changing. This one decision, however, could have changed my life.

If I had decided to manage the apartment complex in Hollywood, I would’ve had a steady income. I would’ve had more purpose and meaning. I might have gotten out of my apartment more. Maybe my depression wouldn’t have taken over. I would’ve met more people. I would’ve had to be out in the community and exploring. I wonder if that one decision would have had enough impact to keep me in California, and if I stayed, where would I be today? Who would I be today? The power of one decision is incredible.

Recognize the power of decisions

Instead of making decisions without intention, what if we started to appreciate and value the power in decisions, both life-altering and small. There is an energy and momentum behind every decision that can impact us and those around us negatively or positively. Each decision is a powerful opportunity to change lives. Your decisions have that power.

Internal decisions matter too

Every day you make decisions about yourself that influence how you show up. You decide whether or not you listen to that voice inside of you that says, “I’m not good enough. I don’t deserve this. I’m not worthy. I’m not a good husband. I’m not a good wife. I’m not a good partner. I’m no good at doing this. I don’t know how. I can’t.”

It’s a decision to listen to those thoughts and another decision to act upon them. What if you decided that you were good enough? Or that you have what it takes to succeed? What if you do have the internal resources you need?

That part of you that says, “I don’t have what it takes,” is trying to communicate with you. So it’s a decision to listen and then determine if you try and figure out what it wants.

I recently decided in a self-coaching session to ask parts of me that felt unworthy, “What do you want?” I followed the answer deeper and deeper until I uncovered that this part of me wanted to be accepted.

This allowed me to decide to accept myself, and it’s a decision I repeat most days.

Decisions affect your life.

When we recognize that many decisions can affect our entire life, I hope we put more weight behind what we decide. One decision 17 years ago might have changed the trajectory of my whole life. It had that much power.

Because of that, I try to be hyper-aware and in tune with decisions that I’m making because I know they can have serious implications in both the most wonderful and devastating ways.

So, what decisions are you making today? Remember, your decisions have incredible power and momentum behind them. One decision could start a process that unfolds in the most fantastic way possible.