Chrystal Hurst breaks choosing into three steps: slow down, take inventory, and commit. Real change requires a concrete plan, a framework, and accountability partners to keep you consistent. She uses examples like shifting from a McDonald's to a Chick-fil-A mindset to show how intentional choices reshape your life.
The next thing that you have to do is decide, is you have to choose. Now, most of us are like, I know I have to choose. Like, that's, that's not rocket science. Yes, but this is where most of us get stuck. It is that simple. But what a lot of us need in order to choose is a plan, a guide, and a community to keep us on track when today we feel like choosing and tomorrow we don't. So choosing means it's the simplest thing and the easiest thing in the short run, but it's the hardest thing in the long run to be consistent with doing. You're going to have to choose. You're going to have to look at the things that you want to make room for in your life and then decide how you make room. You're going to have to ruthlessly uproot things in your life that are getting in the way of the results of your inventory assessment. You want greater room for relationships? Where are you going to fit that? Where are you going to have time for that? Are you going to get out from in front of that TV or off social media? Are you going to work less? Are you going to make room in your life intentionally? You have to choose. You can't just say, I take inventory and I want more real relationships with real people in my life. Where are you going to put that? All right, you need to choose. You wanna actually improve your ability to get your job at Chick-fil-A from McDonald's? Okay, well then you're gonna have to choose to practice smiling more and choose to be pleasant and choose to engage in small talk with people because that's what Chick-fil-A people do. You're gonna have to choose. Now, will it feel good? Will it be natural? No, because if it was natural, you'd already be doing it. Taking inventory says, what is in my life that needs a shift? And choosing says, what am I willing to do to bring that shift into existence? Choosing says, how am I going to make room for the best of me? That's what choosing says. How am I going to make room for the best of me? When you take inventory, you are making sure that everything you're supposed to have is on the shelf and on display. And if it's not and you need to rearrange things, you're gonna have to choose what you take off the shelves that have been occupying space, or that it doesn't have worth, nobody's picking it up, or that it doesn't bring nutritional value. And you're gonna have to replace your limited shelf space, your limited time, with what really needs to be on your shelf. Don't you hate it when you go to Costco and where they had something last week is not where they have something this week? But you want to know what they're doing? They're moving things around to make room, to make room for seasonal items, to make room for something that they had in stock before that, but they want to add to their lineup. And in order to do that, every time they make room for something they think I'm going to love, after taking inventory of what they have and what they don't have, they have to choose to move things or even to discontinue things. I still need them to bring back a Cup of Noodles. My children love Cup of Noodles, and it's much better for you than ramen noodles. And they got rid of Cup of Noodles because they started selling pho. We don't want no pho. We don't want no P-H-O. I don't even know if I'm saying it right. The point is we want Cup of Noodles. And all of a sudden I couldn't find Cup of Noodles because they said the world needs pho and we're going to make room for pho and Cup of Noodles got to go. Ooh, did I just rhyme? I love it when that happens. It's so unintentional, but it is so me. Now, did I like it? No. Did it make room for some new stuff? In the store? It did. Did I figure out another place to get Cup of Noodles if it wasn't on my Costco shop? Yes, I did. The bottom line is you only have so much room, and stores know this, and they sell to you, and you don't even pay attention to what they're doing to put in front of you what they want you to have. And here's what I want you to know: when you take inventory of your life, then you become the responsible party for putting in front of you what you really say you want to have. Ouch. You only have so much time, girl. I know that a few guys are watching and a few husbands are tuning in. You only have so much time. And if you say, this is what I want to be a part of my story, this thing that I love, this, this thing that I want more of, this career, this relationship, no shade, no shame. But how many women made a bunch of room for their career and then realized that they didn't leave room for the man that they said they wanted? Or vice versa. They were so interested in the man that they didn't leave room for the best of them. Ouch. And then you have women whose kids leave the nest and then they go, I don't even know who I am. Or you have women who have reached the pinnacle of success and they're like, I never paid— I never made room for the thing that I wanted. And again, no shade, no shame. But what that means is that today, not only do you get to slow down? And you watching and joining me today, is that you're slowing down to listen and to look. You also have the opportunity to take inventory. What do I want to put on my shelf at eye level so I see it, so I can't miss it, so that it gets my first energy and effort? And what am I going to take off the shelf and give away, sell, or toss? Because it no longer serves me. Choosing means that sometimes you let go. Sometimes it means you grab hold. Sometimes it feels easy. Sometimes it feels hard. But once you slow down, pay attention to the scenery of your life, take inventory about what you're seeing that you want in your picture frame, what you're seeing that should not be in your picture frame, what you want more of, that should be in your life's picture, then you choose. And if you have trouble choosing and sticking with your choice, let me encourage you to do this with help. People will say, I don't have people, or, you know, I have friends, but they're not serious, you know. And everything that I have ever done, anything that I've ever done that has been successful has always involved other people. People with me, people behind me, people in front of me. It's just the way it works. And so we're going to talk about the next thing that you can do to build and buoy yourself in this new season as you take inventory and you choose. Okay. Slow down, take inventory, choose to change. Choose. It's not— may not be easy, but it sure is simple.
