The Jim Fortin Podcast

EPISODE 57: “Life is Choice”

October 2, 2019

Do you love where you are in life right now? Happy with your money? Your job? Your relationships?

This will be a short write up because it all comes to this: Where you are in life right now you have chosen to be there. Yep, it’s your choice.

Life Is Choice.

Life is a continuous process of choice which means “Life IS Choice.

In this episode I talk about:

This is a simple episode and a powerful one.

When you fully embrace the power of choice your life will change forever.

Transformational Takeaway

If you don't like where you are in life, start making different choices.

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Full Episode Transcript

Intro

You're listening to episode number 57 of the transform your life from the inside out podcast. In this episode, I talk about choice. your entire life is choice. Yet many of us make sabotaging and counterproductive choices over and over. And by the way, the title, many people will say, well, Jim, don't you mean a choice? No, I mean, life is choice. Keep listening.

Hi, I'm Jim Fortin, and you're about to start Transforming Your Life. from the inside out with this podcast. I'm widely considered the leader in subconscious transformation. And I've coached super achievers all around the world for over 25 years. Here, you're going to find no rah rah motivation, and no hype. Because this podcast is a combination of Brain Science, Transformational Psychology, and Ancient Wisdom all rolled into one to take your life to levels, you've never thought possible. If you're wanting a lot more in life, feel better, to heal, to have peace of mind, to feel powerful and alive. And to bring more abundance and prosperity into your life, then this podcast is for you. Because you're going to start learning how to master your mind and evolve your consciousness. And when you do that, anything you want, then becomes possible for you. I'm glad you're here.

First We Create Our Habits, Then Our Habits Create Us

Okay, so we're going to talk about choice and this episode. And look at all the choices that you've made today. You know, if you think back for your day, and I don't know, you know what time of day it is where you know where you are in the world, and what time you're listening, but look at all the choices, whether they be unconscious or conscious. Look at your day prior to now, where did you go to lunch? Did you brush your teeth? Did you have coffee? Did you not have coffee? Did you smoke? Did you go to work? Did you not go to work? Did you watch TV? Did you read the news? Look at your day. Everything that you have done today. And I mean, everything that you have done is a choice. And you can say Well, I didn't want to do XYZ, that wasn't a choice. No, it was a choice.

The only people that this might not pertain to would be somebody, let's say for example, in a federal Max, you know, maximum security prison, or something like that. But for the most part, every thing that you have done prior to this exact second, even by listening to this podcast is choice. So if you look at that, and you let that settle in, what becomes apparent is that you are a choice making machine all day long.

So let me ask you this, what is the definition of choice? Consider that for a moment, have you ever really thought about? Well, you know, I guess I make choices all day long. But what is the definition of choice? Well, the definition of choice as I use it is to consider freely and then to choose. Now, let me give you a little distinction here. And that even though we're making choices all day long, you know where I get a lunch, for example, let's say that I go to a, you know, an organic shop for lunch and organic salad or whatever, as opposed to going to Taco Bell, which I don't go to Taco Bell. But you know what, that is a choice to not go to Taco Bell. Because there's a one, you know, there's one a block from my house, and I can go very easily. But what I want to go here for a second is, even though like when I started in the introduction, I said that you brush your teeth today? Well, you probably didn't even think about it, because you were doing it, doing it on autopilot. But you know what you could have made the choice not to brush your teeth.

Now, that being said, the Buddhist said many years ago, is first we create our habits, and then our habits create us. But even the habit, at some point prior to becoming a habit which we do not consciously think about. Even the habit was a choice at some point. To give you an example of that, let's say that you are a smoker, and you smoke cigarettes. Well, at some point before you had that very first cigarette, even though the cigarettes might be habit at this point, before you ever smoked that very first cigarette, stop there. And look, you had to make a choice to smoke that very first cigarette.

So then what we do is we make choices. And then we make the choice again, and again and again. And then the choice becomes a habit. And then we get into the habit cycle. And then we don't even realize that we're making choices. But that habit actually started with the positioning and the start of a choice. So again, hopefully this is sinking in that you look at your life, all of it, every bit of it go to college, you don't you're single, you're not single, you're wealthy, even being wealthy is a choice or not, your entire life is choice, let me put it a different way. It's a process of choice. But all along that process all day long. Second to second moment to moment, hour to hour day by day, week, by week, you are in the process of choosing something I want to share something very profound with you here that I was taught many, many years ago by one of my mentors.

And he said to me, he said most of us, we don't know how to choose. And what he meant by that, of course we choose. But what he meant was is we don't know how to choose what is in our highest good and our best interest. And he said to me, this is the exact sentence he said and was just an example. But but the sentence was this. As I look at this in front of me, how, how do I choose what is in my highest and best interest, and does my choosing serve me. So look at your own life does your choosing. And by the way, a lot of people actually this gives you power. And a lot of people want to resist this. But every single thing you have in your life, everything you have in your life, you have chosen whether or not you recognize you have chosen it. Now, I know it told the story before but I want to share it again.

And because it pertains to this as well. Many years ago when I was waiting tables 25 years ago, really nice restaurant etc. And the reason I say really nice restaurant is because prior to that I had made a choice to wait tables in a lower end restaurant. And I thought one day well if I'm going to wait tables, then why would I not choose to work in a place where you know what, that's 200 bucks a head to eat here. But anyway, I remember this guy named John and I mentioned this story before john was complaining about waiting tables. And you know, if you're going to wait tables, this was a great place to wait tables because of the money. I mean, we made this was a lot of years ago, and the place is still open, we made really good money as a server for you know, the kind of money you can make as a server.

And he was complaining, complaining. And he said, You know what, I just this place sucks and all this kind of stuff that he was saying. And he says, You know what, I don't want to be here. And I said, well then quit go somewhere else. And he says well, and then he looked at me and he goes, do you think I want to be here? I didn't choose this, because I went to college. And as I look back, No, nobody made him walk no one made him park his car. In the parking lot. No one made him walk in no one made him fill out an application, no one made him interview, no one made him go through training, he chose every single bit of it, yet was completely oblivious to the fact that he chose literally he chose every single bit of it.

And in your life, whether or not you think that you do or you do not in this exact moment you choose. Now you might not have been able to choose based upon where you grew up in the world or as a kid or things of that nature, because maybe your parents were controlling or dominating. But right now as a reflective thinking human being you choose. So for example, right now you can choose to continue to listen to this episode, you can choose to turn the episode off, you can choose to stand up or sit down or go left in your car, go right or drink some water, or have some ice cream or get a haircut or log online or whatever.

But that again demonstrates that you have all of these choices right in front of you. And the interesting thing is this. You know, so many people think they're trapped in life, when even that in itself is a choice to think that. Now, let me give you some strategies here. Number one, some research. And I don't know where I found that many years ago. But some research had demonstrated that if we actually make the choice about something before we're presented with the opportunity to make the choice, we're more likely to stick to the choices that we want to make.

Now what I mean by that is let's say for example, that every morning you walk in the office and somebody has donuts there, and you're wanting to lose weight. And what happens is every morning you walk in, you open the door, and then you know what there are the donuts and you choose to actually have a donut, I do want to point out that part of that is brain based. And it's partly habit from the reptilian part of the brain. Yet, research has demonstrated that if you choose for example, let's say before you get out of your car, and you habituate this by doing it every morning, and you said, You know what, before I walk in there, and I see those donuts, I choose that I am going to pass up those donuts and I'm going to move my attention.

Research has demonstrated that you're 50% more likely to stick with the choice to pass up the donuts, when you're not making the choice in that moment. Because when you're making the choice in that moment, what a lot of us default to is just unconscious programming. Now the reason that I gave you that story, I remember one of my coaches one time, he was a transformational coach. And he's been coaching since the 70s. Very, very, very gifted Transformational Coach. And he said to me, one time, he said, You know, this is what you want to do, Jim, he says you want to choose, you want to choose the experience that you want to have of life.

Now, look at your life, you have chosen the experience of where you are today. Now I do want to back up here, maybe you were you know, you were born in a an oppressive country or a war torn country, or somewhere where you were actually in survival mode. But you know what, I I'm a betting man. And right now, if you're listening to this podcast, then you are a person that is somewhere in the world that has the opportunity and has the privilege of choice. And wherever you are just like John, the waiter, John said, I didn't choose and as his body language shifted, he's like, I didn't choose this. Well, I didn't say back then. But then I didn't know either as a victim back then also.

But I said yes. I'm thinking, you know, yes, John, you did choose, just like I also chose to wait tables there. So wherever you are right now, just get quiet with this in your mind. Wherever you are right now. You have chosen to be there. Many times will say things like, well, I wish I had XYZ, it would be nice to have XYZ. Well, the reason that you don't have X, Y, Z is because you were making the choice not to have x, y, z. I want to share something that just happened to me a couple of minutes ago, I'm currently running the fall transformational program. And we started I guess, 10 days ago or so. And we asked, you know, and I asked people that do a short introductory video.

And a lot of people did. I mean, the very first couple of days, they were excited to be in the group. And they did a short introductory video. And then just a few minutes ago, somebody posted and I didn't know who they were because they've not shown up yet. They posted a video and she said you know what, she goes I, I kind of sat on the sidelines, and I kind of watched everything. And the first week, I wasn't feeling it entirely. So I didn't do the video. And then she posted a video today, obviously, that that's what I'm talking about and goes Wow, I'm so into content, and I get it and I'm enjoying. I'm enjoying watching other people in their transformations and the videos and the content, and everything else.

But she said something there that is pivotal. And it's vital that she recognized and I will assist her with this and you also listening is that what a lot of us do? What a lot of us do is we make our choices based upon how we feel. And then that's a default for a lot of us. So the example would be okay, I you know, I want to go to the gym today. And then I'm thinking okay, well, yeah, but I don't know, I don't know, I should go to the gym, but I don't feel like going to the gym.

And then because I don't feel like going to the gym without recognizing it, then we actually make the choice not to go to the gym, based upon how we feel. And one of my other transformational coaches, she was one of the most influential figures in my life and my own transformation. And she used to have a phrase and I love this phrase, her phrase was is, and it was both choice and commitment. And she said, if we make our choices, and she also again applied this the commitment, but she said if we make our choices based upon how we feel, we will feel find ourselves in the ditch.

So look at your own life. And then you look at how many times that you make your choices based upon how you feel. And then if you don't feel like doing something, then you choose not to do it. And then you don't get the outcome that you want. Why plain and simple. It's because you don't feel a certain way, which means you don't choose in a certain way, which means you don't get the outcome that you want. And then what a lot of us do, which is what I've said before, is we complain about where we are without ever looking in the mirror and saying you know what? To be brutally honest. I'm the one who made the choices that led me where I am now.

So what's obvious to you is that everything is choice. Now notice, again, I didn't say everything is a choice, everything is choice, because you were always in the fluid process of choosing. And that is life. I think you recognized by this point as well and our time together, you know you're listening this episode is where you are right now in your life is a choice.

Whether you're cleaning houses or digging ditches or working roadside crew, or working on wall street or making millions of dollars or struggling paycheck to paycheck, you Yes, you listening, you are making the choice, which actually gets you the outcome that you have now, something else I want to point out here and with the exception of any anything medical, pathological neurological, Alzheimers for, you know, example, or dementia. Forgetting is a choice. And this is something that I learned a lot of years ago is a lot of times we'll say things like, Oh, you know what I forgot.

And what I've learned a long time ago is that we don't forget what's important to us. And there's a rare instance where people do, but it's very rare, very rare. And you look at your on life, I mean, if you got to pick your kids up at 3pm, you're there, they're in grammar school, and you got to pick them up, you're there. You don't actually say, you know, oh my gosh, it's 530. And I forgot to pick the kids up. Why? Because we actually do what is important to us. So I just want you to actually be self responsible here that anytime you say, Oh, I forgot to do that. Most likely, the reason you forgot to do it is because it wasn't important to you. And you're the one who made the choice to not make an important to you.

Couple of more things here as well. My NLP coach Neuro Linguistic Programming, Peggy, a lot of people actually will not make a choice because they're afraid to make a mistake. And Peggy, you know, she coached me for 20 years and NLP Neuro Linguistic Programming. And, you know, she was my trainer, my coach and everything else for almost 20 years. And we were just chatting with one day at launch. And she's actually code a lot of extraordinarily influential people, I mean, people that, you know, by household names, and she's a very behind the scenes kind of person. And we were talking about choice when I didn't tell you that because this woman is like, done well in life. And then it helped a lot of people.

And she's also extraordinarily wise, she's about 80 now, and I followed her for a lot of years. And actually now I'm her coach. But she, we were having lunch back in, you know, 1999 ,2000 or so. And she said, you know, most people actually, they're afraid to make a choice, because they're afraid to make a wrong choice. And here's what I want to actually share with you listening. You know, in this little tangent I went on, is what most people never stopped to realize is that, hey, if I make a choice, and the choice doesn't get me what you know what I want, I can I can read this side and make a new choice.

My partner and I many years ago, we have a house now in Dallas and a house Sedona, Arizona, which we've settled in Sedona, Arizona. Well, we want to settle even though we go back and forth. And many years ago, we were looking at Asheville, North Carolina, I tend to gravitate, we tend to gravitate towards places like Asheville, North Carolina, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which one of our family members owns a home there. Sedona, Arizona, Boulder, Colorado, and we were looking at Asheville, North Carolina, and I started thinking I'm like, you know, we don't know anyone there. What if we pick up our lives and we move all the way to Asheville, and then we don't like it. And my next thought was, Well, you know what, you pack up, and you move somewhere else.

But a lot of people would say, Oh, my gosh, we can't we can't move there. Because what if we make a mistake, and we move there, and it's not what we want? Well, what I just shared with you, is we decide and make a new choice. Okay, I don't know where you are in terms of listening to the episodes. And you know that on pretty much every episode. And if you're new here, and I've gotten a lot of good feedback from this, if you're new, go back to episode number one and start all the episodes again, you know, this may or may not apply, it doesn't matter. It's It's you and your experience here. But I've had a lot of people say they've listened to many episodes multiple times. And they take notes and they reintegrate, and they go back and listen to, to reinforce the content. But you know, by this point, if you've listened for any amount of time, I mentioned, my brother in law, the Shaman, and this may resonate with some of you, it may not. But you probably heard me talk about we're cosmic beings. I mean, when you leave this body, you're going to go somewhere, you know, your bio electromagnetic energy being. And before you got here, you were somewhere,

Before you incarnated in the body that you're in right now, you were some where Now, how does that relate to choice? What I have been taught over the years, and you might have heard this in other places, is that wherever we incarnate, we incarnate to evolve and grow our cosmic consciousness, it's like, you know, going through grades in school grade number one, then you got a great number two, and etc. So we're always evolving, or rather, I should say, have the opportunity to evolve.

But what my brother in law taught me or shared with me, is that, Okay, here we go. You chose this incarnation, whatever you're experiencing this lifetime, whether you are born in Africa, or Germany, or Australia, or you're tall, or you have some kind of lifetime disease, or you're gay, or whatever, ever, ever, ever, whatever you have, in your lifetime, you chose before you got here to have this experience, for your highest good, your highest learning so that you might evolve. And then when you look at it that way, from that position, it really does give credence to what I say is that life is choice, mean, the ultimate choice, the ultimate choice in your life was the choice to incarnate on this planet.

That's why I say live. That's why that's why I say life is choice, because I touched on that a little bit earlier. It's a fluid process of choice from moment to moment in your life. So what I want to share with you is this is and I think you have it by this point, but wherever you are, and whatever you have, it is by choice. You also look at stations in life here really quickly, is you know, if you ask people on the lower end of the socio economic spectrum, all the way down the homeless, providing there's no mental illness or anything they're affecting the homelessness is many times people at the lower end of the socio economic scale, poverty level, etc. Many times they will say, well, this isn't my choice. I mean, why would I choose this? I didn't decide this. And then if you look at CEOs, you really are going to be hard pressed to find a CEO that said, Well, how do I become a CEO and make all this money and have a great job and lead this big company? I didn't choose this.

Well, yeah, you did. Both ended both ends of the spectrum choose. And if you look at people that go from, you know, the old medical metaphorical phrase, rags to riches, it's absolutely possible, but it's based upon the choices that people make. Okay, so your transformational takeaway is, if you don't like where you are in life, start making different choices. Okay, so the next episode, we're going to talk, I'm going to actually dig into an email that I got from someone, and I see a theme this may or may not apply to you, but I see a theme and it's definitely worth me answering and spending some time on on the next episode.

But this when I say I will, me back up here is I attract a lot of entrepreneurs, not everyone's an entrepreneur, but I attract a lot, or people that are wanting to start their own businesses. And they basically the gist of the email is this. This was a question in there by Susan. She said, I started my own business, and it's not working out. What do I do now? Well, I want to share with you guys on the next episode. If you're like, Susan, if you've got a business, you started your own business, and maybe it's doing a soon okay, but it's not doing really well or you started the business and it's not doing well at all. I want to share with you what you may want your next steps to be. Okay, thanks for listening, and I'll catch you over on the next episode or whichever, whichever episode you hop around tostay well and make it a great day to day. Bye, bye.

Conclusion

Thank you for listening to this entire podcast. If you're the kind of person who likes to help others, then share this with your friends and family. You know, if you found value, they will too. So please share via your social media channels. Also, if you have questions, I'm here to assist. You can email me questions to support@jimfortin.com. And I may even use your question for a future podcast episode. Also, if you want transformational content like this daily, connect with me on Instagram, my Instagram name is @iamjimfortin. Finally, I do have a personal request. I believe that we're all here to help others and to grow and evolve ourselves. together. You and I, let's help more people. If you would, please leave a review on iTunes and a good one by the way. I'd be grateful and through your assistance together, we can transform more lives. Thanks for listening.

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Jim Fortin

Jim is an international subconscious self-transformation and high performance expert with over two decades of expertise in brain based transformation and high performance. Using a brain based approach coupled with transformational psychology and ancient wisdom Jim has created programs that create long-term core-level life transformation in his students.

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