On Small and Big Decisions

“It doesn’t matter what the decision is… Nothing could be more serious than anything else. Don’t you see? In a world where death is the hunter, there are no small or big decisions. There are only decisions that we make in the face of our inevitable death.” — Carlos Castaneda.

Have we ever made a decision and then failed to carry it out?

Wake up early? Go to the workout? Quit a bad habit? Leave a toxic person? Fire a bad employee? Hit the sales target? Start our own thing? Take that new course? Make the unpleasant call? Help someone close to us? Finish what we started? The list is personal — and, I suppose, endless.

At times we treat our decisions lightly, not deeming them important enough to follow through on no matter what.

Why? Because we think we have time. Time to do it some other day, or to change our minds entirely later on.

But what if there is no time?

The Stoics say: memento mori — remember death. Accepting that we don’t control the moment of our passing gives us an unimaginable kind of strength.

What if we started treating every decision as the last one of our lives? What if we acted with the same resolve and passion, as if this were our “last battle on earth”? What regret would wash over us if we left unfulfilled a final wish we still had the power to carry out?

We know that in extreme situations people show phenomenal abilities, unthinkable under ordinary conditions. That mighty force comes from an unshakable, sincere intention. In those moments we are invincible.

But what if this force could be summoned not only in critical moments, but used every single day? Lived inside of? Imagine what we could achieve!

I’ve been through stretches of deep doubt myself: do it or don’t, go or don’t go. But the moment I started making decisions I’d fight for as if my life depended on them — everything changed. The borders and the limits vanished. I’d said it to others hundreds of times, that all our limits live only in our heads, yet only recently did I feel it on my own skin. Our limits are dictated by our doubts. Doubts that devour our time and energy and send us off wandering with no aim. Time slips away, and we keep doubting, marking time in place.

Made the decision — done it! What could be simpler, you’d think? And at the same time — what could be harder?!

This way of carrying out our intentions underlines how much the very skill of making decisions matters, because we can’t throw ourselves into “all or nothing” mode everywhere. Let me repeat my ideal principle: “if it’s not a definite ‘yes,’ then it’s a clear ‘no.’”

Here’s to all of us finding the power to carry out our decisions as if standing before our inevitable death! 😎