Welcome to episode #185 of the Own Your Best Life Podcast. You can decide right now, what you want from life. You can decide who you want to be and what you can do in any given situation. Your life a year from now and 5 years from now depends on these decisions so if you’re on the fence and wondering what is going to happen, there’s no reason to wait. Decide today. Today’s podcast on the Power of Choice is about how you can create a version of your life and yourself that you’ve never thought was possible.

One of the biggest challenges and opportunities we have is our power of choice. Deciding what we can do in any given situation. Deciding what we will do next. As I’ve been planning the next year out, I’m getting very excited about all the travel with the family, the retreats, the work travel and even the projects I have lined up. There’s something about anticipation that is so lovely. 

When I was younger, I remember we didn’t travel as much or as far for most of my childhood so when we started going away it was a big deal. There was so much anticipation in a good way that it was even better than the trip itself. I’ve been dreaming up magical locations for the next retreat and amazing experiences and I’ve had so much fun because in this period of decision-making, I could feel how much choice I had that was available to me.

I’ve been sharing with you what my journey has been like launching a business and deciding to take a more unconventional route. It has been so powerful to see that all this has been a choice. When I work with my clients and they face the uncertainty that comes with new decisions, understanding that they have a choice and that this was and is purposeful, is a huge unlock. What makes your journey and story so fun as you are coaching with me is that we walk this journey together, navigating all these moments of choice. Using your power of choice the whole time.

I’ve been seeing that I have a power of choice in so many areas of my life. I really centered myself on the benefits of sleeping more and seeing that I had a choice in terms of how late I work and when I get up. I was a night owl and then I became a morning person. I became someone who loved the early morning hours before anyone else was up when I used to love the late night hours when everyone else was asleep. It’s been so refreshing to see how much life can change in ways that I used to feel were fixed.

So then I went through all these other areas of my life that I thought were fixed as well. My relationship and the quality of life I have with my husband. Friendships. My health. My work. All of this is transformed by the power of choice. The ability to find out all these areas where I could see transformation if I asked for more from life. I’ve mentioned this book, “Dying to Be Me” before – but one of the things that really resonated with me in the story is that she became so much more  joyful in her life after her near death experience. 

Nothing changed but everything changed for her. I feel like this has happened for me as well. On the outside, I might be the same person, but on the inside I am so different. I’m driven so much more by service and I question my decisions less. I feel like it’s easier to make decisions and I also honor when I’m struggling with a decision because I trust my decision-making process and that what I’m working through matters.

Career changes and creating my business has been one of the biggest demonstrations of my power of choice. Choosing what I will do and how I will do it. Also changing my corporate work from strategy to training and development. Even when we’ve invested so much time and money down one path, we can overcome our biases to continue down the path we’ve been on and realize there are times when persistence doesn’t pay off.

This truly has been one of the most powerful lessons of choice. You can choose when to stop because not everything I persisted with was worth staying through. If you’ve heard my episodes in the past, I’ve talked about burnout and how I’ve healed the burnout process. It’s something that has changed my relationship with work in the most helpful of ways. The drive and ambition that was gone when I feared burnout has been replaced with curiosity and excitement for what’s next because I no longer fear burnout. 

I’ve also been choosing to really lean into what I get excited about and what gives me joy. Retreats are something that bring me so much joy. I love connecting with people in person. I love hosting. I love the food and the ability to physically move your body in new and different ways. It’s so healing when we come together. I’ve built a business around my joy, my passions and the things I’m really good at – which is understanding humans and helping them grow and change in the ways they desire. I have to pause and ask myself what my life would have looked like if I didn’t own my power of choice in those moments where I thought I had to keep doing things the same way I’ve always done them. 

What is so critical to knowing you have the power of choice is your ability to question. I’ve always had so many questions about people and why they do what they do. This is what drives my coaching work and why I’m so passionate about people having less anxiety, suffering and overall more joy in their lives. I know that there is a reason we do what we do and if there is a reason that we can understand, then that means there is something that we can shift. Maybe we can’t change where we come from or who our parents are – or the innate privilege or lack thereof that we have. But we can change what we do from here on out. You get to choose what your day looks like because no matter what happens, you can fight for the choice to be more deeply aware, compassionate and kind. You have a choice and you can be curious about what and how you figure this out – to be the one person who did it differently, even when you’ve never been that courageous before in your life.

This is the reality that we live in. The power of choice. Own it and love it because it will change your life if you embrace who you are when you lean into choosing to love people, life and situations. This quote, “Fear is a reaction and courage is a decision” by Sir Winston Churchill is something that I’ve shared with my clients the other day – and the reason it resonates with me is because it takes us realizing that we have choice to make decisions and that the fear we have is automatically there, no questions asked. 

So start asking yourself, what am I choosing to live by today? My fear or my courage? And why? What would happen if you, like me, started choosing to live more courageously and became a version of yourself that you would have never believed. To choose to live from your future self that already knows how good your life actually is and how to make this thing that you’re feeling stuck with work – that it’s possible to keep increasing the amount of uncertainty and success you can hold without making it a problem.

Even if I chose something that didn’t work the way I wanted it to, it’s not a failure. It was a choice – and I can choose again.

If you’re ready to Own Your Best Life, I want to invite you to watch the free training on how to Stand Out and Lead, using spiritual, high-performance strategies. You can access the training at https://may-empson.mykajabi.com/stand-out-and-lead.

You can then apply to join my Spiritual Achiever® program, where you’re going to create your next chapter with spiritual and high-performance strategies to achieve time and financial freedom using my proven method. It’s risk-free. You either start seeing results within your first month or I give you your money back. Schedule your call HERE. We’ll see you inside.

Want to know more about what happens when you join?

1. When you join Spiritual Achiever® Coaching you’ll be supported for a full year: Career Revelation Academy: A 5-step career change process (if you have a job you want to stay in, I’ll show you how to love it even more) that can launch you into your next career chapter in 30 days.
2. 2x/month group training and coaching on Spirituality, Achievement, Earth Energy and Harmony. You’ll know how to design your days for breakthroughs, create a personal brand and community, lead yourself and others through change, become more physically and mentally fit, reduce stress and reinvent what’s possible in this next chapter of your life.
3. Discover your Leadership Strengths and Branding Workshop: Increase your awareness of what makes YOU different from others and how to become even better at your genius zone.
4. Your Best Year workshop: Create your one year plan and design this next year, no matter what time of the year it is.
5. Your Next 5 Years one-day virtual retreat: Vision what’s possible 5 years from now and break out of your old routines so you can step into new habits, behaviors and routines.
6. Tickets to all in-person Spiritual Achiever retreats (accommodations not included): Highly immersive and intimate gatherings where we spend time in nature, experience energy work, eat and move well – all while making big decisions and committing to what’s next for us.
7. Monthly 1:1 Coaching Sessions: To help you break through obstacles, define your individual path, and to work on both strategy and mindset.

The next step?

Schedule a consultation to get clarity on how coaching can help you on your journey.

Once you’re accepted into the program, you’ll receive a calendar invite for a 2-hour deep dive 1:1 session to map out your personal goals and your own year-long journey.

You’ll have immediate access to the Spiritual Achiever process and philosophy – how to achieve your biggest goals and reinvent your life.

You’ll have immediate access to 5 modules of Career Revelation Academy – to love your career even more and launch that next chapter of your career in 30 days.

You’ll have the calendar invites for the upcoming group calls and retreats.

If this speaks to you, I can’t wait to talk to you live: Schedule a consultation.

Reach out at www.mayempson.com/contact for more information on my Spiritual Achiever coaching program. You’ll figure out what’s next and actually go and do it. 

That’s it for this week. Have an amazing one and I’ll talk to you next time.