Yes, this is a very profound and fundamentally correct perspective. We can understand this statement from several levels:
1. Core Idea: The Compounding Effect of Choices
Your question perfectly captures one of the essences of life: countless small, seemingly insignificant decisions, through accumulation over time and persistence, can have a tremendous, decisive impact. This is akin to the compounding effect in finance.
Formation of Habits: Choosing to spend 15 minutes reading instead of scrolling on your phone each day will result in a vastly different knowledge base a year later. Choosing to walk a few more steps instead of taking the elevator will lead to a significantly different physical state in a few years. These are habits shaped by small decisions.
Mastery of Skills: No one can 'decide' to become an expert overnight. Becoming an expert is composed of countless 'decisions' to practice, 'decisions' to learn, and 'decisions' not to give up.
Building Relationships: A deep friendship or love is composed of countless small choices: choosing to listen, choosing to care, choosing to spend time together, and choosing to lend a hand when the other needs it.
Turning Life's Trajectory: Sometimes, a small decision, such as choosing to attend a gathering, choosing to take an elective course, or choosing to talk to a stranger, can open up a whole new career direction or chapter in life. This is known as the 'butterfly effect'.
2. However, life is not entirely under our control.
To make this point more complete, we also need to recognize that personal decisions are made within a vast external environment filled with variables. We are the helmsmen of our own lives, but we cannot control the ocean itself.
Starting Point: We cannot choose our family of birth, the era we live in, or our socio-economic status. These factors set the initial runway for our lives and present obstacles or advantages that are beyond our control.
Luck and Serendipity: Life is filled with randomness. A chance encounter, an unexpected opportunity, or an unforeseen accident—none of these are our 'decisions', but they profoundly influence our lives.
The Choices of Others: Our lives are also greatly affected by the choices of others, including decisions made by parents, partners, friends' suggestions, and even the choices of policymakers.
Biological Factors: Our genes, innate temperament, and physical condition also influence our emotions, abilities, and decision-making tendencies to some extent.
Conclusion: Harnessing the Power of Choice Within Constraints
So, the most accurate description might be:
Each person's life is ultimately shaped by countless decisions, big and small, under the constraints and opportunities of the external environment.
We cannot choose the direction of the wind, but we can choose to adjust the sails. We cannot decide what cards we are dealt, but we can decide how to play the hand we have.
Thus, the reason your point is so important and powerful is that it emphasizes the part we can control. Acknowledging the existence of external factors allows us to reduce unnecessary self-blame and understand the complexity of the world; while focusing on each of our small decisions is the most effective way to firmly hold the reins of our lives. It reminds us that every small choice made 'now' is quietly sculpting the 'future' version of ourselves.
New Question for You: Since we recognize that countless small decisions shape our lives, when facing the uncertainties of the future, do you think a person should focus on crafting a grand, long-term life plan, or should they concentrate on making the best of every small decision at hand? How should one balance between the two?