MOTIVATION – The Smallest Decision – The Biggest Change

MOTIVATION – The Smallest Decision – The Biggest Change


By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – March 2010

Kerri Russell says “Sometimes it’s the smallest decisions that can change your life forever.”

Much has happened in the last week that not only echo these words but also highlights them and I must admit that I sat in front of a blank screen for quite a while, waiting for inspiration to show itself.  Not that I have ever suffered from writers block, you understand, but purely from a place of finding the right words.

We make hundreds and thousands of decisions each day – some of them are conscious and many are not.  Some have little or even no consequence (that we are consciously aware of – but remember every action has a consequence) others carry profound consequences.

Think about if for a moment – how many times have we taken the wrong fork in the road and ended up lost or going in the wrong direction?  How many times have we second guessed ourselves only to find ourselves in a place that we really didn’t want to be or even need to be.  Those are the negatives and as negative as they seem to be, they are a reality and we need to be aware of them and aware of how we deal and engage with them. 

I want to however, deal with the positives.

I have often had the pleasure of a chance encounter with someone, who has then turned out to be ‘exactly what the doctor ordered’.  It is said that the Universe or God (whomever you perceive him to be) sends exactly the people that you need in your life at exactly the right time that you need them and I certainly find this to be true in my life. I have often made a last minute decision to go or be somewhere and then met someone who has had a profound effect upon my life.  I have often, as an afterthought said or done something, that has led to greater things or even a greater understanding of who I am and what my life’s purpose is.

Many of the articles that I write here, under the banner of “Motivation” have been written to challenge you the reader, but believe me most of them have challenged me, many have taunted me until I got it right or made the decision or changed my mindset.  The fact that I am writing at all was because of the ‘smallest decision’ and look at the profound affect it has had on my life.

Each day, as I sit down to write the article, especially the “Motivation” articles, I often find myself excited, nervous and above all eager to find out what it is that I will write – what the words will mean in my life and how I will choose to react to them. I find myself smiling at my recognition of the truth as I read the words that I am writing.  I find myself kicking my own rear end, as I take up the challenge that I have just laid down for you to do and I find myself wanting to know more, to understand more and to be all that I can be.

Who would have thought that Vanessa’s (my mentor and friend) statement that I should be writing would one day turn into this?  Who would have thought that a little decision to write, to commit my thoughts and opinions to paper, would result in international ratings and rankings and recognition.

Who would have thought it  . . . . . certainly not me!

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za