Over the recent past, there’s been a heavy increase in commentary online about ‘taking control’, ‘doing your own thing’, ‘just say no’, etc etc etc. And while I’m a big fan for every single person to always look out for #1 (that’s you, by the way), there are unintended consequences that may result in you just deciding, without really thinking it through, or doing a deeper analysis of what will happen when you make that all-important decision.

A story to illustrate the point:

For years, my wife and I have run a fun little exercise where oftentimes, in the deepest of her slumbers in the middle of the night, she gets too warm and removes a layer of bedding from above her in order to be as comfortable as possible. Completely fair. No one should suffer if the easy removal of a duvet can fix your rising body temperature. However, the unintended consequence of the removal of the duvet from her, means that the duvet needs to go somewhere else: Onto me. With the quick flip of her hand, half of the duvet soars through the air and lands on top of my existing duvet-coverage, making mine a “double-doov”.

The result? I start to burn up as I’m now doubly-covered, and in turn need to navigate my own extra duvet part removal without placing the unwanted half back onto my wife. Tricksy business while half-asleep. The task has made for interesting morning coffee banter over the years. And while a double-doov is pretty warm, even in summertime, when an unwanted additional sheet finds its way onto me at midnight, the result is, again, a too-warm Don. A real pickle, let me tell you.

So why am I telling you about our midnight antics?

Well, sometimes (through no fault of our own) we make decisions that will impact ourselves directly for the better – whether the decision is made consciously or while fast asleep – and there are others left in your wake who have to deal with the results of that decision which impacted them directly. And again, while I’m a big fan of ensuring that each individual needs to drive to be the best that they can be, always be mindful of the butterfly effect of your actions, and where they may lead.