"IT JUST SUDDENLY happened to me." How many times have you said that to yourself? Whether it was good or bad, it just suddenly happened. But nothing just suddenly happens.

There is a cause and effect in everything you do, and you have been doing it your whole life. You don't suddenly lose weight, lose a job, lose a relationship, lose a client, lose your money. Nor do you suddenly gain weight, get a promotion, fall in love, gain a new client or get rich.

There is a cause and effect that is put into motion. It's "for every action is there is a reaction." It's a kind of Karma, a cause and effect that defines the destiny of your life.

Cause and effect don't happen suddenly. For example, if you plant grass (cause), it takes one to three weeks to see a blade (effect). Of course, there are factors such as soil, sun and water that will affect the cause and effect. If you do the same with an acorn, it will take years to see the oak tree. The same is true in life….

If you are slacking at your job and your performance is low (cause) after a while you may get fired (effect). You didn't suddenly get fired, you started the process a year or months ago.

If you ignored a client (cause) and lost the business to a competitor (effect) it didn't happen suddenly: You decided to ignore your client. But your competitor started wooing your client a year ago (cause) and got the business (effect).

You ignore a spouse, relationship, a friend (cause), then you may lose a spouse, relationship or friend (effect). But it didn't happen suddenly.

A person I know started a new job as a salesperson. When he got there, he realized that the hierarchy was already established at the next sales manager was already preordained. And that person knew it. My friend wanted that job and put into motion (cause) the things that would make him stand out. He gained more industry knowledge, got to work early, participated in meetings and events, gained new accounts, and made himself available to help other sellers.

The preordained person started slacking off (cause) because he knew the job was his, and he started taking liberties as if he was in the position. You can guess the end of this story. My friend was promoted (effect) to the sales managers position while the preordained remained a salesperson (effect).

Think about what you are doing in life with the decisions you put into action (cause) and how they will affect you down the road (effect).

I put it like this: Do whatever you want in life, just be prepared to accept the consequences.

Peter Remington is an executive at Houston CityBook and also a business consultant and life coach. For more information on him and his Prepare 4 More, visit here.