Take a moment and think about your day. Who put the options on the table? With each and every action you chose to make, what was the origination point of that decision? So many of us go through our day being led by passive choices. We do what we do because that’s what we’ve always done, or because those actions are the actions that are expected of us – from internal or external sources. We pressure ourselves, and are pressured by others, to live our lives in a certain manner – our mind, the constructs of society, our family, community and cultures. We have shoulds and musts coming at us from all directions. We are pressured to act as we historically have and how we think we ought to – to be a good person, to stay safe, to be productive, and to live a good life. We have lost our connection to preference and thus we’ve lost our connection to ourselves, our authentic desires, and most importantly, our personal power. And with that, we’ve lost our vitality, our aliveness and our joy.
When we anchor into preference, it asks a few things of us. It requires us to look internally for direction. And that entails some self reflection. We must ask ourselves some questions: What are we drawn to from within? What do we like? What do we want? We must become the compass for our own ship and set our own course. The challenge is that this can feel like a very risky venture, fraught with responsibility and exposure. And yes, there may be an external cost when our choices are crafted from personal preference, people might get upset. But rest assured, the benefits of anchoring into preference undeniably outweigh the costs. When we anchor into preference we open our hearts, we expand, we ground, we become our best and most powerful selves. Here in this place of preference is where the seeds of meaning, purpose and fulfillment are sown. We find power in choice. From preference we forge a life worth living.