During my internship for my Masters in Psychology, the therapist I interned under had me study in great detail the field of Transactional Analysis (TA) developed by Dr. Eric Berne.

From the Transactional Analysis point of view, there are three components to living consciously. They are Awareness—Choice—Control.

Awareness is paying attention to what’s going on within your environment, the world, etc., and what’s going on within you as well. It is observing how others are behaving and speaking, and your response to those interactions. Awareness is becoming conscious of the various options you and they both have as you deal with each other.

Choice is what you are choosing to do in any given situation. Everything we do is the result of a choice.

You will hear someone say, “I have to work. I don’t have a choice in the matter. If I don’t show up for work my boss will can me.” That may be true. But they still have a choice. They may not like the choice of getting fired, yet it is still within their options to go to work or not.

What you do or do not do is your choice unless someone had you bound and restrained from doing what you want. Most assuredly there are times when you don’t feel like you have a choice. What you really don’t like are the options you have in front of you within the choices.

Third in this process of living a conscious life is control. First you become aware of the patterns of you and others, and what’s going on around you—then second you make choices about the actions you will or won’t take. Through this awareness and your choices you will gain, lose or maintain control.

Consider what’s coming down the road at you, so you can preprogram a more appropriate response. Through this thinking ahead you gain control. You don’t have to anticipate every eventuality, but considering options will assist greatly.

Through consciously staying more aware, you can make better choices. And through that you will gain more control. Focus your brain for success.

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