Unintended consequences
What makes us do or say things on the spur of the moment that we later regret? Or what is it in us that causes us to make rash decisions without the necessary thought even though those decisions can have major implications in our life?
Have you ever found yourself in a full blown argument which was precipitated by a loose unconsidered word, even worse does this happen habitually almost following a particular pattern. You say one thing and your spouse, child even business colleague or friend reacts to what you say and then you react to what they say and there it is the resultant argument bares no relationship to the original comment.
Many years ago I was presented with a business opportunity that seemed to good to be true. As you know when things seem too good to be true they normally are. A small investment was going to give me a very quick and sizeable return. I had to make a quick decision and having decided that it wasn’t illegal or unethical I decided to go ahead. As you may have guessed my rash decision not only lost me money but a lot of time, energy and impacted some of my business relationships built over a long time.
I have often taught about the concept that short term pain leads to long term pleasure, yes by putting in the hard work up front for whatever you want in life over the short term you can have many pleasurable years in the long-term. Conversely if you want the pleasure in the short term like spending all your money when you are young always thinking you have enough time to save for later years will mean in later years you will find yourself like most of the population at age 65, that is broke.
What I haven’t articulated so readily but on a similar theme is that hasty reactions can lead to long-term undesired consequences.
The answer is not to react to situations that you find yourself in based solely on your emotions or state that you are in at the time, (although it is good to be decisive since successful people do not procrastinate) but what is important is that you take the time to consider;
• What you are going to say before you say it,
• What you are going to do before you do it,
• What are the consequences over the long term before you decide it.
Some 2000 years ago James one of the biblical writers said it more eloquently he said,” be quick to listen slow to speak and slow to anger” I encourage all of this month to heed these wise words and to guard ourselves from the unintended consequences of a rash word or decision.
