The Life Choices Foundation Program – What Everyone Should Know.

 Andrew “Fishtail” Fisher and his Life Choices Foundation team have worked tirelessly for years in both Australia and New Zealand to support and guide vulnerable individuals towards living a more positive, productive life. One way the Foundation achieves this is by providing the tools that teenagers, prisoners, detainees, as well as other vulnerable individuals, need to make more informed decisions, enabling them to move forwards rather than backwards. As their motto states - “It’s your life so make it count!”

The Life Choices Foundation programs are not only entertaining and engaging but are specifically tailored to the particular group of people in the audience. In this way, we can be certain the information is not only relevant to our audience members but is transferred in a way that is effective and impactful. The Foundation also provides a variety of online programs which are available at any time – an important resource in the era of COVID lockdowns.

At the heart of the important work we do is the desire to assist people in improving their lives by making them more aware of their decision-making processes and the consequences of those decisions. The best chance of producing a positive change in someone’s life is by helping them to make the necessary changes, rather than forcing change upon them. One way we facilitate this is by giving individuals the confidence to say “no”, to not go along with the flow if they feel something is wrong, and to understand that every decision and every action has its consequences. We show them how one small decision can lead to a life-changing action, albeit one for the better or one that is not so welcome.

The purpose of the Life Choices Foundation is not to preach; our intention is not to impose ideas. Instead, we hope to promote self-awareness and understanding, to inspire our audience to make something of their lives, and to create a legacy that may inspire others around them to want to do better in their lives.

It seems to be a winning formula with overwhelmingly positive feedback from both students and teachers, prisoners and correctional centre staff, as well as other community groups and their leaders. The most common words and phrases used include ‘inspiring’, ‘engaging’, ‘producing an atmosphere of reflection’, ‘a positive impact’, ‘powerful’. There has been feedback referring to school bullies becoming aware of how their actions truly affect those around them, and even prisoners who have finally understood the impact they’ve had on the lives of their victims and expressed genuine remorse.

There is also a considerable amount of feedback that pays particular attention to the connection Andrew creates with his audience, regardless of whether it is an audience of teenagers, prison inmates or other at-risk individuals. Feedback consistently points out Andrew’s ability to be hard-hitting, to not sugar-coat anything, while at the same time as creating feelings of hope and positivity in audience members. It’s quite a difficult skill to master, one akin to walking a tightrope, but when done successfully it can have a powerful, long-lasting effect on those who are exposed to it.