You Have More Choices Than You Think

If you’ve been running on autopilot and calling it “real life,” let’s pause and tell the truth: feeling stuck is often a story, not a fact. I’m Cynthia Van Warmer, and on Purposeful Living we slow down long enough to see what’s really happening so we can take our power back without losing our grace.

We dig into a simple but game-changing idea: you have more choices than you think. I walk through three questions that help you spot where you’ve been telling yourself “I have to,” and how to replace that with an intentional mindset. We talk about why growth usually feels uncomfortable, why “starting small” still counts, and how a single micro choice can change your day. If you’re navigating stress at work, corporate pressure, or constant overwhelm, you’ll hear practical examples like delegating sooner and choosing a thoughtful response instead of a fast reaction.

We also get into the identity shift that happens when you start seeing yourself as someone who has options. That shift fuels empowerment, leadership, and self-trust. I break down how I think about self-trust versus confidence, and why asking better “why” questions reconnects you to purpose, peace, and the version of you you’re becoming on purpose.

If this hits home, subscribe, share the episode with a friend who feels stuck, and leave a review so more people can find the support they need. What’s one small choice you’re willing to make today?

Interested in working with Cynthia?  Please visit purposefullivingcoaching.us

Transcript

Welcome And The Big Idea

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Purposeful Living with Cynthia Van Warmer, where we slow down long enough to see what's really happening and take our power back without losing our grace. Hi, welcome back to Purposeful Living. Today's episode, we're gonna be chatting about you have more choices than you think, my friends. More choices than you think. Three questions. Let's dive in. Let's

Where We Tell Ourselves No Choice

SPEAKER_00 0:32

go. Where in my life had I been telling myself I didn't have a choice? Well, back a few years ago, every day, every area of my life, I didn't have a choice. I had to do it because nobody else was going to do it. Right? I was um stuck. I felt like I was stuck, if that makes sense. Work. I had to do it. I have to earn money, right? Um, but I came to realize that choices come from the way we think, our perspective, the stories in our head we're trying that our brain is trying to tell us to keep us safe. Because it's easier not to do anything, right? Just to keep going in the motions. Um, but like I said in the last episode, I didn't like the way I felt. I didn't like the way I was showing up. So I told myself a new story. A new story, a more why, a more purposed, intentional way of thinking. That was my choice. Because I could have chosen to stay on the same path. But when I said, Cynthia, you're done. I am done. I am done living this way. I'm done living small. I want so much more. I want happy. I want peace. I want hope. I want inspiration. I want all of those things. So my choice was to do something different. Not because I had to or I needed to, because I wanted to. It was my choice to do something different.

Finding Small Options That Create Growth

SPEAKER_00 2:47

What choices are actually available to me? What choices are available to everyone listening? Even if they feel small and uncomfortable. Small. Start small. Small for me was going through a master coach, life coach certification to change my life. So I'm able to help people. Um, be the best version of me. Those were my choices. Something small, starting this podcast. Even though it seems huge at times. Am I uncomfortable? Oh, you betcha. You betcha. If you would have asked me a year a year ago, um, would I be doing a podcast? I would have said, no way. No. Thank you. That is too uncomfortable. But growth is built. It is built. Not only in the easy times, but in the difficult times, the uncomfortable times. That is where we have the biggest opportunity for growth if we so choose to go down that path, right? Little itty bitty choices, like in the workforce, right? In the corporate world, a small micro choice would be I'm feeling overwhelmed. I have a choice. I can sit here and be overwhelmed and do it myself, or I can delegate small, baby steps, right? Another choice we have, which I live by every day, because I want to show up as the best version of myself, is making that choice to be intentional instead of responding. Okay, let's take the workforce again, right? My boss says, that wasn't good enough. I have two choices. Okay? And our brain automatically will do this, right? But if we stop it before we respond, game over. Okay? So my boss says, that's not good enough. You'll need to redo that. The one path I could do is say to myself, oh, I'm just not good enough. Or I can choose to think, he thinks I have so much more potential, and let's go. Let's give him what he wants. Because I do have that potential. I am capable. Do you see the difference in the in the shift in it in how it how you would feel? I'm not good enough to. My boss thinks I have so much potential, and he sees my worth. So let's revamp it, right? Let's redo the project. Yes. So we can choose the way we think. I call it managing your mind. It's not easy. It takes repetition, it takes time. So we have think, talk, or speak, and act. So when you hear me in the episodes saying to show up is the best version of you. It's the way we think, the way we talk, and the way we act. And those three things, everyone around us sees it. They hear it, they feel it. Rome was not built in a day, my friends. Neither is the woman you're becoming on purpose.

Identity Shift Through Why And Self Trust

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Question number three: what changed when I started seeing myself as someone who had choices? Oh, here we go. Here we go. The list is endless. Identity shift. I started thinking more about the why. The why questions. The why questions are powerful questions. Have you ever asked yourself, why am I doing this? I would like you to ask yourself, why am I doing this? Why is it so meaningful and important to me, my family? If you don't like your answer to that why question, then stay tuned. Empowerment. Oh yeah, empowerment. I am capable. I am a leader. I have the potential to succeed. Self-trust. Maybe in on this podcast. Self-trust is there. Sort of like self-confidence. Self-confidence, I define as doing something that you've never done before, but you're going to do it anyway. Because you have the self-trust. Confidence is when you've done it multiple times, so you're confident in doing it. Confidence is not as uncomfortable, if you will, as the self-confidence. Leading. Five years ago I was leading, um, being that role model. But there was something missing. A part of me was missing. And then I found it. And then bam. Transformation. Game changing. And now I re I take the reaction and I do it intentionally. On purpose. On purpose. Instead of going down the negative path, I'm all about the why, the purpose, being the best version of me. And impacting others. Empowering. And in a future episode, we'll get more into leading and owning because they're two different things. Right?

Awareness Opens The Door

SPEAKER_00 10:43

In closing, you don't need to have it all figured out. You don't need to have it all figured out. You just need to recognize, become aware that you have more choices than you thought or you believed you did. But becoming aware opens up a whole nother door for you to be able to choose something different, to do something different, to say something different. And when you start there, everything begins to change. I'll see you on the next episode. Thanks for tuning in.

unknown 11:39

Bye.