Think about this scenario:
You’re at a trade show and get invited to a private after-party with an unlimited supply of free top-shelf liquor. The music is loud, and before you know it, you’re on the dance floor with an equally inebriated lady from the other side of the country when “IT” happens. The “IT” being she hands you her key and asks you to walk her to her room.
When you get to the room, you open the door like a gentleman, and she invites you to spend the night.
Do you know what to do?
Have you already decided? If not, there’s a chance you’ll do something stupid because ego, liquor, and being far away from home are not the ingredients of a good decision.
Situations like this are why you must take the time to decide what you’ll never do in advance. Pre-choose. If you wait you run the risk of being overcome by circumstances, stress, or emotions.
It’s not hard; get a piece of paper or open a google doc and put this at the top:
I Will Never
Then write down every idea that comes to mind. No editing- start writing/typing, and don’t stop until you run out of ideas. The list will probably be longer than you expected and most likely will have a few common themes:
● Keep my hands off other people’s stuff, especially their spouses
● Pay my debts
● Keep my word
● Don’t take advantage of others
One of the best things that comes from deciding what you’ll never do is you can take the time to think through situations and then make a great decision. Great decisions are ones you can have confidence in and that means you’ll be less likely to give-in when stress or your emotions kick in.
This works better than deciding from a position of fear. Not doing something only because you’re afraid you’ll get caught still puts you at risk of being overcome by circumstances.
Guys, we like to think we’re logical instead of emotional when making decisions. But men make decisions based on emotions and then try to find the logic to justify the decision. That’s why you need to decide what you’ll never do NOW.
PS
Here’s a great example of deciding what you’ll never do from the bible?
“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman.”
Job 31:1 NLT