We always have a choice, although some choices may indeed be very difficult. Seth Godin posits, “’I had no choice,’ actually means, ‘I had only one path that was easy in the moment.’” When someone uses the words “I had no choice”, they come off as a victim or defeatist who gave up their locus of power or control to the circumstance.

We ought not make our circumstance decide for us. In every situation, there is and there will always be a choice in how we respond.

When someone says “I had no choice”; they did actually make a choice. They chose to avoid making the tough decisions that the situation needed, and just settled for the easiest one (even if it wasn’t one that would actually have helped them move forward).