Wayne Gretzky, former Hockey player and NHL Hall of Famer, said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” In other words, if you don’t even try to reach a goal, you will always fail.  The shots or chances you take, perhaps at battling a mental health issue, overcoming negative thinking, or accomplishing some other personal goal, will only happen if you take a shot in the metaphorical game.  There is a simple formula that can help you accomplish whatever you want in life.  They are called the Three Cs.  Choice.  Chance.  Change. You have to make the choice to take a chance to make a change.

CHOICE 

Already today you’ve had to make many choices.  You’ve had to decide what to wear, what to eat, what route to take to work/school, how much of this blog post to read (all of it), whether to leave a comment (YES!), etc.  We all have choices to make, but there’s one decision that is more important than all others:  whether to make the choice to take a chance to change your life.  

I’m a firm believer that we can control our lives to some extent by taking risks and facing what scares us.  The biggest risk any of us can take is not to take one.  You are not the same person you were 5-10 years ago.  Are you still making the same choices you were then?  It is today’s choices that show what you truly are more than what your abilities are.  

Lou Holtz, a former football coach and analyst, says,

“Wherever we are today – good, bad, or indifferent – is due to the choices we make. Life is a matter of choices. The most important choice we can make is the attitude we’re going to have.”

You are making a choice when you don’t make a choice.  If you do nothing, then nothing will happen.  Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is insanity.  The choices you make today will affect your chances tomorrow.  The only thing standing between who you are and who you want to be is one choice.  If we don’t make a choice, our lack of choice will make us.

CHANCE

Depending on what you believe, we get one chance at this life.  Every day is a chance to change.  Every day is a chance you can give yourself to do something incredible. You’ve got one life, one chance.  What you do with it is up to you.

But I want you to think about this: the only thing scarier than taking a risk is living with regret.   

John Greenleaf Whittier, an American essayist and poet, said this regarding regret,

“For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, “It might have been.”

If you don’t risk anything, you risk everything, and in the end, you only regret the choices you didn’t take.

CHANGE  

Change is the only constant in this world.  It is inevitable.  The question is are you making the choice to change or is the choice being made for you?  

If you want to change, you have to be willing to be uncomfortable.  Nothing changes if nothing changes.  It all starts with you.  Think about where you will be 5 -10 years from now.  You will wish you had made the choice and taken the chance to make a change today.  

People don’t like change, which is why they stay where they are, even when the changes are for their good.  Usually, people settle for what is comfortable because they fear to step into unknown areas.  Don’t let that stop you.  Only you can change your life; no one can do it for you.   Don’t look for happiness in the same place you lost it.

You’re one change away from the life you deserve.  

Change is inevitable.  Progress is optional.  

Choose progress.

The 3Cs

Choice.  Chance.  Change.

You must make the choice to take a chance to make a change.

Mildred Barthel, a community activist said, “Happiness is a conscious choice, not an automatic response.”  

Chances and change will not come to you.  You will not attract happiness by osmosis.   You have to decide that you want to change, which requires you to take a chance.  If a change requires us to make a choice and take a chance, then it is also true that if we don’t take a chance then we are choosing not to change.

Life is too short to live with regret.  Tomorrow isn’t promised.  Do what you need to do today to work the 3 Cs into your life’s goals!