In the 13th century, the head of the Khwarazm empire learned from an envoy that a trade delegation from a neighbouring kingdom had been robbed and killed by a local Khwarazm governor. The envoy asked that justice be done. The leader of the Khwarazm empire decides that this foreign envoy need not be listened to and kills him , sending the envoy’s head in a basket back to the leader of the neighbouring empire.
The leader ,to whom the envoy’s head was sent, was Genghis Khan. That should tell you all you need to know about what happened next. In case you aren’t a world history fan, here’s a short summary.
Due to this one callous decision by the Khwarazm leader, his empire, at the time the greatest power in the muslim world was conquered and their dynasty was wiped out completely. Genghis Khan ordered his men to kill every single person in the city ,between 700,000 to 1.3 million people; some sources claim Genghis had a river diverted through the birthplace of Kwarazm Shah, erasing it from the map completely.
It is thought that this conquest altered history as we know it because it shifted Genghis Khan’s focus from China , westwards and the rest is history.
Some research suggests the average person makes a staggering 35,000 conscious decisions per day. This includes everything from what to wear and eat to what route to take and what to buy. Unfortunately for us, the trait to predict the future only fell on our ancestors hence we may never know the true scale of the impact of our decisions beforehand or until we face them, even the insignificant ones.
But these decisions have to be made regardless, so how do we know we are making the right choices?
The answer, we don’t. I am a big believer in will power and one of my mantras is ‘Make a choice, prove it right’ .Where we lack in clairvoyance we have focus ,where we are uncertain, relying on ambition and will unveils an uncharted path that empowers us to forge our own destinies.
In Jordan Peterson’s book ,The 12 rules for life, Rule 12: Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street . My interpretation of this is to be receptive to unexpected opportunities for joy and connection and to choose small actions that contribute to a better world, however seemingly insignificant. Many times I have indulged in side quests which ended up getting me to my destination faster than expected. Random encounters that lead to referrals, shared spaces that led to collabs, bumping into old friends rekindling relationships. In fact , the past 4 years of my growth and experience can be narrowed down to a decision to have a conversation with a stranger handing out flyers in school ,who I bumped into on my way to get lunch on a random Saturday.
What's one decision you've made recently that you believe will shape your future? How can you leverage your focus, ambition, and willpower to ensure it leads you toward your desired outcome?