My mantra of late has been, “Success is created by the choices we make every day.” I was quite surprised by a commercial on television the other day entitled “Parallels” that paralleled that thought. A commercial for, of all things, Jim Beam bourbon whiskey.

At first, my interest was sparked by the familiar voice of one of my favorite actors – Willem Dafoe. I’ve always been struck by his ability to be a chameleon, taking on each role with immersive conviction. Then the message of the commercial began to sink in and I went back to copy down the specifics:

Life boils down to a series of choices.
Before long, the choices you make and the ones you don’t, become you.
But which you? Worse. Better. Someone you can’t even recognize?
It can make you question everything.
Whether you’re strong enough…good enough.
All choices lead you somewhere. Bold choices take you where you’re supposed to be.

The scenes phase from character to character, each of them Willem in a new persona. 2 buses – 1 to new York. 1 to Milwaukee. A man on a bench deciding which way to go. Factory worker. Trapeze artist. Elephant poop shoveler. A guy who owns a plane. The chauffeur driving the plane owner. Skinhead. Designer. Chess master. Sumo wrestler. He boards the bus to New York.

Which bus will you board today? What choices have you been making (and yes, not making a choice is indeed, making a choice) that enable or defeat your success?