Your Decisions Control Your Destiny

3/7/2025

I am not a product of my circumstances.
I am a product of my decisions.
Stephen Covey

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by Skip Cohen

A few weeks back, I started sharing a quote each week from what's become one of my favorite motivational books, One Day At a Time by Lou Mitchell. Reading something inspirational first thing in the morning gets the gears in my brain moving in the right direction. The quote above was for today, March 7, and Mitchell went on to write:

Life often throws unexpected challenges our way, but it's our decisions that define us. Stephen Covey's words remind us that we hold the power to shape our own destiny. Rather than being passive victims of circumstance, we can choose how we respond to life's events.

And there it is, my whole point to wrap up the week. It's the decisions we make that lead us closer to our goals or push us farther away. Here's a great example from a few years back during the pandemic:

JP Elario is a remarkable photographer. When the pandemic hit, everybody was a victim of how it changed our lives, especially if you were a business owner and photographer. Well, JP looked at the challenge and created Facetime Portraits. He worked with his bridal clients, and captured stunning engagement portraits using Facetime, combined with his understanding of lighting, posing and composition.

When most photographers were desperately looking for ways to save their business, JP built a new income stream for engagement photography. His story was later picked up by the 6:00 PM news in Albany, which added to his brand awareness. Facetime Portraits didn't completely replace the lost revenue from photographing weddings, but it did create a new income stream. At a time when other artists were acting like a deer in your headlights, JP didn't let the panic of the pandemic slow him down. I grabbed a few of JP's images below to make my point.

Too often, we're victims of our own decisions, NOT the unexpected circumstances that arrived on our doorstep.

Wishing everybody a weekend ahead loaded with great decisions and time to reflect on all the things you can do to move closer to your goals.

Happy Friday!

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."
Steve Jobs