The point of choice has really got me thinking.

I was talking to an agent the other day who wanted to get back into shape and lose some weight. It was almost an identical conversation I’d had a few day earlier with a friend. I gave an identical pitch to both of them about lifestyle change, nutrition and fitness. Basic principle, nothing truly groundbreaking.

That’s where the encounters hit a fork, the point of choice. They were interested in what I was talking about, but one response hit me as strange. I realized that I’ve heard this response a million times, a million different ways.

 ”Oh, I’d love to do [XYZ thing], but it just doesn’t [random excuse].”

Whenever you hear someone say this, or you say this, you need to realize you’re saying two things.

The first is easy enough, you’ve made a choice. Many people think that they’ve actually avoided making a decision in that moment. However, by deferring a new, possibly better, alternative to a current thing, you’ve chosen the old thing. Ultimately, there is absolutely no harm in that. However, now you’ve lost your ability to complain.

The second is that you probably haven’t put forth much effort to do any kind of research. All over the country agents are using new tools, learning new platforms or starting new marketing initiatives.

(And the twist, because there is always a twist, is that first guy, you know the one that took me up on my advice, he said the same thing with his response. He made a choice and he was yielding that he hadn’t done much research on the topic. The art of turning away from the status quo rests on the point of choice. I struggle daily trying to silence the lizard brain. Bet I’m not alone.)