New choices
choice overall, but it is the best you can come up with given
your experience to date and your emotions and state at the
time of making the decision.
However, one thing is for sure:
If you do what you always did you get what you always got.
Consider for a moment one of your goals. What are you doing
now to achieve it? Whatever that is, it is your best choice at this
moment. The more choices you have, the more chance you have
of getting what you want. If one of your chosen paths doesn't get
you what you want, you can choose another and another until
you find the one that does, provided you have the flexibility.
Think for a moment about anyone with whom you have felt
frustrated within the last month. For example:
❏ The colleague who gave a boring presentation.
❏ The person who dominated the meeting.
❏ A member of your family who made an insensitive
comment to you.
❏ The support person who was abrupt with you.
❏ The car driver who cut in front of you.
❏ The salesperson who wouldn't answer your questions.
❏ The receptionist who kept you waiting.
Now step into the belief that “everyone makes the best choice
available to them at the time.”
Imagine what it would be like if you were to believe that.
Now, as you imagine what it is like, how does that affect your
feelings toward the people you have listed? Would that
colleague really have chosen to give a boring presentation if he
had a choice? Would the colleague have dominated the
meeting if she had other choices about how to influence you?
This may not be your belief, but you can experience the
results of holding it by presupposingthat it is true for you.
If you don't hold this to be true you might respond to the
deliverer of the boring presentation with disdain. By
presupposing that this is their best choice, you will be more
likely to give them constructive feedback and suggestions for
other ways they could present their ideas. It doesn’t mean that
244 NLP AT WORK