MakingWiseChoices
Apersondefinesandredefineswhotheyarebythechoicestheymake,minutetominute.– JoyceChapman
TheWiseChoiceProcess
Inthefaceofanychallenge,youcanmakearesponsibledecisionbyansweringsixquestions.Youabout
tolearnasystemthatwillempoweryoutotakefullresponsibilityforcreatingyourlifeasyouwantitto bedespitetheinevitablechallengesthatlifepresent.Anexampleisofferedinitalics.
1.What’smypresentsituation?Beginbyidentifyingyourproblemorchallenge.
Istayedupallnightstudyingformymathtest.WhenIfinishedtakingthetest,IhopedforanA,atworsta
B.WhenIgotthetestback,mygradewasaD.FiveotherfriendsgotA’s.Ifeeldepressedandangry.
2.HowwouldIlikemysituationtobe?Youcan’tchangethepast,butifyoucouldcreateyourdesired outcomeinthefuture,whatwoulditlooklike?
IwouldliketogetA’sonallofmyfuturetests.
3.Whataremypossiblechoices?Createalistofpossiblechoicesthatyoucoulddo.
•Icouldcomplaintomyhistoryclassmatesandanyoneelsewhowilllisten.
•Icoulddroptheclassandtakeitagainnextsemesterwithanotherinstructor.
•Icouldcomplaintothedepartmentheadthattheinstructorgradesunfairly.
•Icouldaskmysuccessfulclassmatesforhelp.
•Icouldaskmyinstructorforsuggestionsaboutimprovingmygrades.
•Icouldreadaboutstudyskillsandexperimentwithnewwaystostudy.
•Icouldrequestanopportunitytoretakethetest.
•Icouldtakealloftheonlinepracticequizzes.
•Icouldgetatutor.
4.Whatthelikelyoutcomeofeachpossiblechoice?Decidehowyouthinkeachchoiceislikelytoturnout.
•Complaintoclassmates:I’dgettheimmediatepleasureofcriticizingtheinstructorandmaybegetting other’ssympathy.
•Droptheclass:I’dlosethreecreditsthissemesterandhavetomakethemuplater.
•Complaintodepartmenthead:HewouldprobablyaskifI’vespokentomyinstructorfirst.
•Askclassmatesforhelp:Imightlearnhowtoimprovemystudyhabits;Imightalsomakeanewfriend.
•Askinstructorforsuggestions:Imightlearnwhattodonesttimetoimprovemygrade.
•Readaboutstudyskills:I wouldprobablylearnsomegoodstrategiestoimprovemytestscores.
•Requesttheopportunitytoretakethetest:Myrequestmightgetapprovedandgivemetheopportunityto
raisemygrade.
•Takeallonlinequizzes:Thisactionwouldn’thelpmygradeonthistestbutitwouldprobablyimprovemy nexttestscore.
•Getatutor:Atutorwouldhelp,butitwouldprobablytakealotoftime.
5.Whichchoice(s)willIcommittodoing?Nowcreateyourplanyourplan.Decidewhichchoiceorchoices willlikelycreateyourdesiredoutcome;thencommittoactingonthem.
•I’lltalktomysuccessfulclassmates,makeanappointmentwithmyinstructorandhavehimexplainwhatI coulddotoimprove,andI’llrequesttoretakethetest.I’llreadaboutsuccessfulstudyskillsandifthese choicesdon’traisemynexttestscoreI’llgetatutor.
6.WhenandhowwillIevaluatemyplan?Atsomefuturetimeyouwillwanttoevaluateyourresults.Todo so,compareyournewsituationtohowyouwanttobe.
•Aftermynextmathtest,I’llseeifIhaveachievedmygoalofgettinganA.IfnotI’llrevisemyplan.
InthisactivityyouwillapplytheWiseChoiceProcesstoimproveadifficultsituationinyourlife.Think aboutacurrentproblem,onethatyou’recomfortablesharingwithyourclassmatesorteacher.
Perhapsthissituationhastodowithagradeyoureceived,ateacher’scomment,oraclassmate’saction. Maybetheproblemrelatestoarelationship,ajob,money.TheWiseChoiceProcesscanhelpyoumakean empoweringchoiceinanypartofyourlife.
AnswereachquestionfromtheWiseChoiceProcessasitrelatestoyoursituation:
1.What’smypresentsituation?Beginbyidentifyingyourproblemorchallenge.
HowwouldIlikemysituationtobe?Youcan’tchangethepast,butifyoucouldcreateyourdesired
outcomeinthefuture,whatwoulditlooklike?
2. Whataremypossiblechoices?Createalistofpossiblechoicesthatyoucoulddo.
3. Whatthelikelyoutcomeofeachpossiblechoice?Decidehowyouthinkeachchoiceislikelytoturnout.
4. Whichchoice(s)willIcommittodoing?Nowcreateyourplanyourplan.Decidewhichchoiceorchoices willlikelycreateyourdesiredoutcome;thencommittoactingonthem.
5. WhenandhowwillIevaluatemyplan?Atsomefuturetimeyouwillwanttoevaluateyourresults.Todo so,compareyournewsituationtohowyouwanttobe.
Destinyisnota matterofchance;itisa matterofchoice.Itisnota thingtobewaitedfor;itisa thing tobeachieved.- WilliamJenningsBryant
SkipDowning,OnCourse:StrategiesforCreatingSuccessinCollegeandinLife(Wadsworth,CengageLearning,2011)