keep you safe. It will also ensure that your hopes and dreams are never fulfilled, and in the long run, you will probably regret not taking action. People shouldn’t be afraid of failure; they should be scared of regret. The feeling of looking back on your life and wondering “What if...... ” will torment you worse than the feeling of having tried and failed. Fortunately, having some self-awareness about this will help you make better decisions in the future. ‘THOUGHT EVALUATION EXERCISE Make a promise to yourself that starting today, you are going to put your rational decision-making abilities to good use and build the life you want. Whenever you are faced with the choice of remaining in your current circumstances or doing something to change them, challenge yourself to go through an exercise that will encourage you to evaluate your thoughts in a logical manner: e Geta piece of paper and draw one line down the middle and one across so there are four quarters. In each quarter write the following: Status quo advantages; status quo disadvantages; advantages to the alternative; and disadvantages to the alternative. e Spend at least ten minutes working on the lists. e Goto bed and return to the list the following day. e Ask someone you trust to help you if you want a second opinion or you are afraid you might overlook something. e Remember to remove your feelings from the decision-making process. Now that you can visualize your thought process, make the decision to do something that’s going to get you out of your comfort zone. Get into the habit of questioning your decisions so that you are actively paying attention to your habits and altering them to ensure that you reach your end goal. The next step in improving your self-discipline is being realistic about your abilities. I will discuss this in the next chapter.