Every day, you make choices — or you let the day choose for you. That simple difference shapes everything. Some people move through life with intention, shaping their days around goals, values and direction. Others wake up and let the world decide how their time will unfold, reacting instead of creating.
Living by choice gives you a sense of ownership. Living by chance keeps you stuck in cycles of uncertainty, frustration and inertia. One path builds confidence and clarity. The other erodes both.
Confidence in your abilities to go after your goals can sometimes be difficult to find or keep.
It can sometimes take time to discover the confidence you have inside you. This can be especially true if you are trying something new.
I have a program that can help you to discover what is holding you back from achieving your goals as well as help you set an attainable goal related to where you are in your life and where you are trying to be.
This program also works with you to build up your confidence in being able to reach your goal.
You can find out more about this program at Confidology, a funny name but a serious program.
You can contact me to talk about this or any other aspect of confidence and success at
Visit the site and read through the program description.
Here’s a breakdown of what it really means to live by choice, why chance living leads nowhere and how to start reclaiming control of your life.
1. Entropy Is Always Working Against You
Entropy is the natural drift toward disorder. Leave anything unattended — a clean room, a relationship, your body, your dreams — and it will decline. Nothing improves by accident.
Living by choice means actively pushing back against that decline. You put energy into your life and move in a direction you’ve chosen. It doesn’t require perfection, just effort. Daily attention, even in small ways, keeps things from falling apart.
Living by chance, on the other hand, means you’re constantly reacting. You only take action when the chaos becomes unbearable. But the fix is temporary, and the cycle starts over. That’s not a life — it’s survival.
2. Great Lives Are Not Accidents
No one becomes a surgeon, builds a meaningful career or creates a rich inner life by luck. Achievement — whether personal or professional — starts with clarity and is built with action.
Living by choice means knowing what you want and committing to it. It might take years, but with time and effort, you’re building toward a vision.
Living by chance often means settling for what lands in your lap. You didn’t choose your job — it just happened. You didn’t build your relationships — they formed by default. This leads to frustration and a lack of fulfillment.
Living by choice gives you a reason to get up in the morning. Living by chance just gets you through the day.
3. Clarity Requires Thought
If you don’t define what you want, how can you pursue it?
Living by choice means setting goals — not just big ones, but clear daily intentions. You think about what matters to you. You get specific. And with every small step, you design your future.
Living by chance is vague. You don’t know what you want, so you wait for something to feel right. Spoiler: it usually doesn’t. You react, hope and repeat. The end result is a life that looks like an accident instead of a vision.
Confidence grows when you see progress toward a goal. That requires conscious direction, not wishful thinking.
4. Effective Consistency Beats Random Routine
Everyone has routines. The difference lies in whether those routines move you forward or hold you in place.
Living by choice means being consistent with actions that serve your values. If you want a strong body, you train regularly. If you want deeper relationships, you reach out, show up and invest time. It’s not always exciting, but it’s always effective.
Living by chance means being consistent in unhelpful ways. Maybe you binge TV every night. Maybe you delay hard decisions until they explode. The result is predictably stagnant. Your life doesn’t move — not because you’re lazy, but because you’re not choosing on purpose.
Being consistent without intention just keeps you stuck in the same place.
5. Design Beats Default
Designing your life means stepping back and asking: What do I actually want?
It doesn’t mean scripting every detail — it means setting priorities. It means saying “yes” to what matters and “no” to what doesn’t. It’s active living, not passive drifting.
Living by default is what happens when you don’t choose. You end up in a job because it was offered, in a relationship because it was convenient, in habits because they were familiar. You tell yourself “someday” things will change — but they don’t unless you do.
You don’t have to live a rigid life. But you do have to live an intentional one if you want lasting satisfaction.
6. The Confidence Comes From Choice
There’s power in knowing you’ve created your results — good or bad. That’s where confidence is born. When you live by choice, you trust yourself more. You’ve taken control of your time, your focus and your energy.
Even when things don’t work out, you learn. You adjust. You try again. You’re not waiting on someone else to rescue you or for luck to finally show up.
Living by chance makes you feel like life is happening to you. That mindset keeps you stuck in fear, hoping for miracles and blaming everything but your own inaction.
Living by choice is where the confidence lives. Because when you take ownership, you also take back your power.
7. How to Start Living by Choice Today
You don’t need a grand plan. You just need to start with intention.
Try this:
- Get clear: What’s one area of your life you’re not happy with? What would better look like?
- Set a small goal: Choose one action you can take daily or weekly to move in the right direction.
- Cut the noise: Limit distractions that pull you into reaction mode — news, social media, toxic conversations.
- Reflect often: Ask yourself, “Am I choosing this?” If not, what would choosing look like?
The smallest decision made with intention is more powerful than the biggest goal left to chance.
Your Life, Your Call
You’re either driving or drifting. There is no neutral.
Living by choice doesn’t mean control over everything. It means owning your part. It means showing up with direction instead of waiting for luck. That’s how you create a life you want — not one you tolerate.
Choose boldly. Choose often. Choose to design instead of default.
That’s how progress is made. That’s how confidence is built. That’s how real change begins.
To talk about any aspect of success or working with a Life Coach to help you to achieve success, you can book a 30-minute call by clicking on the blue button below.
Don’t try to do all of this by yourself, ask and receive the guidance that can get you moving towards your own success.
Working together can help you overcome personal and professional barriers, ensuring you reach your highest potential.
Nothing happens until action is taken.
To your success.
Michael
P.S Don’t forget to visit Confidology to learn more about the full program.
P.P.S. If you enjoy reading these articles on my blog, I have more books that have more of this type of information that you can find out more about at Books to Read. You can buy these ebooks at many on-line book stores. The links to the bookstores are at the link above.
P.P.P.S. I have a series of 4 articles on the “Fear of Success” that I have posted. You can also request a free PDF of all 4-articles by sending me an email message at coachmgw@outlook.com
Special Note
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