There is a single mental move you can make which, in a millisecond, will solve
enormous problems for you. It has the potential to improve almost any personal
or business situation you will ever encounter ... and it could literally propel you
down the path to incredible success. We have a name for this magic mental
activity ... it is called DECISION.
Decisions or the lack of them are responsible for the breaking or making of many
a career. Individuals who have become very proficient at making decisions,
without being influenced by the opinions of others, are the same people whose
annual incomes fall into the six and seven figure category. However, it’s not just
your income that is affected by decisions; your whole life is dominated by this
power. The health of your mind and body, the well-being of your family, your
social life, the type of relationships you develop … all are dependent upon your
ability to make sound decisions.
You would think anything as important as decision making, when it has such far
reaching power would be taught in every school, but it is not. To compound the
problem, not only is decision-making missing from the curriculum of our
educational institutions, up until recently, it’s also been absent from most of the
corporate training and human resource programs available.
So, how is a person expected to develop this mental ability? Quite simply, you
must do it on your own. However, I think it’s important to understand that it’s not
difficult to learn how to make wise decisions. Armed with the proper information
and by subjecting yourself to certain disciplines, you can become a very effective
decision maker.
You can virtually eliminate conflict and confusion in your life by becoming
proficient at making decisions. Decision making brings order to your mind, and
of course, this order is then reflected in your objective world ... your results.
James Allen may have been thinking of decisions when he wrote, “We think in
secret and it comes to pass. Environment is but our looking glass.” No one can
see you making decisions but they will almost always see the results of your
decisions. The person who fails to develop their ability to make decisions is
doomed because indecision sets up internal conflicts which can, without
warming, escalate into all out mental and emotional wars. Psychiatrists have a
name to describe these internal wars, it is ambivalence. My Oxford Dictionary
tells me that ambivalence is the co-existence in one person of opposite feelings
toward the same objective.
You do not require a doctorate degree in psychiatry to understand that you are
going to have difficulty in your life by permitting your mind to remain in an
ambivalent state for any period of time. The person who does permit it to exist
will become very despondent and virtually incapable of any type of productive
activity. It is obvious that anyone who finds themselves in such a mental state is
not living; at best, they are merely existing. A decision or a series of decisions
would change everything.
A very basic law of the universe is “create or disintegrate”. Indecision causes
disintegration. How often have you heard a person say, “I don’t know what to
do.” How often have you heard yourself say, “What should I do?” Think about
some of the indecisive feelings you and virtually everyone on this planet
experience from time to time.
LOVE THEM - LEAVE THEM
QUIT - STAY
DO IT - DON’T DO IT
GO BANKRUPT - NO DON’T
GO TO WORK - WATCH TV
BUY IT - DON’T BUY IT
SAY IT - DON’T SAY IT
TELL THEM - DON’T TELL THEM
Everyone, on occasion, has experienced these feelings of ambivalence. If
it happens to you frequently, decide right now to stop it. The cause of
ambivalence is indecision, but we must keep in mind that the truth is not always
in the appearance of things. Indecision is a cause of ambivalence, however it is
a secondary cause, it is not the primary cause. I have been studying the
behavior of people who have become very proficient at making decisions for over
a quarter century. They all have one thing in common. They have a very strong
self image, a high degree of self-esteem. They may be as different as night is to
day in numerous other respects, but they certainly possess confidence. Low
self-esteem or a lack of confidence is the real culprit here. Decision makers are
not afraid of making an error. If and when they make an error in their decision, or
fail at something, they have the ability to shrug it off. They learn from the
experience but they will never submit to the failure.
Every decision maker was either fortunate enough to have been raised in an
environment where decision making was a part of their upbringing, or they
developed the ability themselves at a later date. They are aware of something
that everyone, who hopes to live a full life, must understand: Decision making is
something you cannot avoid.
That is the cardinal principle of decision making. DECIDE RIGHT WHERE YOU
ARE WITH WHATEVER YOU’VE GOT. This is precisely why most people never
master this important aspect of life. They permit their resources to dictate if and
when a decision will or can be made. When John Kennedy asked Werner Von
Braun what it would take to build a rocket that would carry a man to the moon
and return him safely to earth, his answer was simple and direct. “The will to do
it.” President Kennedy never asked if it was possible. He never asked if they
could afford it or any one of a thousand other questions, all of which would have
... at that time ... been valid questions.
President Kennedy made a decision ... he said, we will put a man on the moon
and return him safely to earth before the end of the decade. The fact that it had
never been done before in all the hundreds of thousands of years of human
history was not even a consideration. He DECIDED where he was with what he
had. The objective was accomplished in his mind the second he made the
decision. It was only a matter of time ... which is governed by natural law before
the goal was manifested in form for the whole world to see.
I was ... just hours ago ... in an office with three people. We were discussing the
purchase of shares in a company. I was selling, they were buying. After a
reasonable amount of time, one of the partners asked me when I wanted a
decision. I replied, “Right now.” I said, “You already know what you want to do.”
There was some discussion about money. I pointed out that money had nothing
to do with it. Once you make the decision you will find the money ... every time.
If that is the only benefit you receive from this particular message on decisionmaking,
burn it into your mind. It will change your life. I explained to two of these
people that I never let money enter my mind when I am deciding whether I will or
will not do something. Whether I can afford it or not is never a consideration.
Whether I want to or not is the only consideration. You can afford anything, there
is an infinite supply of money. All of the money in the world is available to you,
when the decision is firmly made. If you need money, you will attract it.
I am well aware there are any number of people who will say that is absurd. You
can’t just decide to do something if you do not have the necessary resources.
And that’s fine if that is the way they choose to think. I see that as a very limiting
way of thinking. In truth, it probably is not thinking at all ... it is very likely an
opinion being expressed that was inherited from another older member of their
family who did not think either.
Thinking is very important. Decision makers are great thinkers. Do you ever
give much consideration to your thoughts? ... how they affect the various aspects
of your life? Although this should be one of our most serious considerations, for
many people it is not. There is a very small select few who make any attempt to
control or govern their thoughts.
Anyone who has made a study of the great thinkers, the great decision makers,
the achievers of history, will know they very rarely agreed on anything when it
came to the study of human life. However, there was one point on which they
were in complete and unanimous agreement and that was, “We become what we
think about.”
What do you think about? You and I must realize that our thoughts ultimately
control every decision we make. You are the sum total of your thoughts. By
taking charge this very minute, you can guarantee yourself a good day. Refuse
to let unhappy, negative people or circumstances affect you.
The greatest stumbling block you will encounter when making important
decisions in your life is circumstance. We let circumstance get us off the hook
when we should be giving it everything we’ve got. More dreams are shattered
and goals lost because of circumstance than any other single factor.
How often have you caught yourself saying, “I would like to do or have this but I
can’t because...” Whatever follows “because” is the circumstance. Circumstances
may cause a detour in your life but you should never permit them to stop
you from making important decisions.
Napoleon said, “Circumstances, I make them.”
The next time you hear someone say they would like to vacation in Paris, or
purchase a particular automobile but they can’t because they have no money,
explain they don’t need the money until they make a decision to go to Paris or
purchase the car. When the decision is made, they will figure out a way to get
the amount needed. They always do.
Many misguided individuals try something once or twice and if they do not hit the
bulls-eye, they feel they are a failure. Failing does not make anyone a failure,
but quitting most certainly does and quitting is a decision. By following that form
of reasoning, you would have to say when you make a decision to quit, you make
a decision to fail.
Every day in America, you hear about a baseball player signing a contract which
will pay him a few million dollars a year. You should try to keep in mind ... that
same player misses the ball more often than he hits it when he steps up to the
plate.
Everyone remembers Babe Ruth for the 714 home runs he hit and they rarely
mention that he struck out 1,330 times.
Charles F. Kettering said, and I quote, “When you’re inventing, if you flunk 999
times and succeed once, you’re in.”
That is true of just about any activity you can name, but the world will soon forget
your failures in light of your achievements. Don’t worry about failing, it will
toughen you up and get you ready for your big win. Winning is a decision.
Many years ago Helen Keller was asked if she thought there was anything worse
than being blind. She quickly replied that there was something much worse.
She said, “The most pathetic person in the world is a person who has their sight
but no vision.” I agree with Helen Keller.
At 91, J.C. Penny was asked how his eyesight was. He replied that his sight was
failing but his vision had never been better. That is really great, isn’t it?
When a person has no vision of a better way of life, they automatically shut
themselves in a prison; they limit themselves to a life without hope. This
frequently happens when a person has seriously tried, on a number of occasions,
to win, only to meet with failure time after time. Repeated failures can damage a
person’s self-image and cause them to lose sight of their potential. They,
therefore make a decision to give up and resign themselves to their fate.
Take the first step in predicting your own prosperous future. Build a mental
picture of exactly how you would like to live. Make a firm decision to hold on to
that vision and positive ways to improve everything will begin to flow into your
mind.
Many people get a beautiful vision of how they would like to live but because they
cannot see how they are going to make it all happen, they let the vision go. If
they knew how they were going to get it or do it, they would have a plan not a
vision. There is no inspiration in a plan but there sure is in a vision. When you
get the vision, freeze frame it with a decision and don’t worry about how you will
do it or where the resources will come from. Charge your decision with
enthusiasm ... that is important. Refuse to worry about how it will happen.
Advanced Decision Making
We make advanced bookings when we fly somewhere - that is quite common.
We make advanced reservations to eliminate any confusion or problems when
the time arrives for the journey. We do the same with renting a car, for the same
reason. Think of the problems you will eliminate by making many of the
decisions you must make ... well in advance. I’ll give you an excellent example.
As I am preparing this message it is Ramadan, a time where all practicing
Muslims fast. I was in an office yesterday in Kuala Lumpur and was asked if I
would like a cup of tea or coffee. I replied that I would appreciate a cup of tea.
The lady next to me was then asked if she would like a cup and she replied ...
“No, I’m fasting.” When she was asked, she did not have to decide whether she
wanted anything or not. Whether she was thirsty or not was not a consideration.
A decision had previously been made and her advanced Decision was well
tempered with discipline.
The exact same concept works with a person when they are on a diet to release
weight. Their decisions are made in advance. If they are offered a big slice of
chocolate cake, they don’t have to say, “Gee, that looks good ... I wonder if I
should.” The decision is made in advance.
I made a decision a long time ago that I would not participate in discussions of
why something cannot be done. The only compensation you will ever receive
for participating in or giving energy to that type of discussion is something you do
not want. I always find it amazing at the number of seemingly intelligent people
who persist in dragging you into these negative brainstorming sessions. In one
breath these people tell you they seriously want to accomplish a particular
objective. And, in the next breath, they begin talking about why they can’t. Think
of how much more of life they would enjoy by making a decision that they will no
longer participate in that type of negative energy.
The humanistic psychologist, Dr. Abraham Maslow who devoted his life to
studying self actualized people, stated very clearly that we should follow our
inner guide and not be swayed by the opinion of others or outside circumstances.
Maslow’s research showed that the decision makers in life had a number of
things in common; most importantly, they did work they felt was worthwhile and
important. They found work a pleasure, and there was little distinction between
work and play. Dr. Maslow said, to be self actualized you must not only be doing
work you consider to be important, you must do it well and enjoy it.
Dr. Maslow recorded that these superior performers had values, those qualities
in their personalities they considered to be worthwhile and important. Their
values were not imposed by society, parents or other people in their lives. They
did make their own decisions. Like their work, they chose and developed their
values themselves.
Your life is important and, at its best, life is short. You have the potential to do
anything you choose, and to do it well. But, you must make decisions and when
the time for a decision arrives, you must make your decision where you are with
what you’ve got.
Let me leave you with the words of two great decision makers, William James
and Thomas Edison. William James suggested that, compared to what we ought
to be, we are making use of only a small part of our physical and mental
resources. Stating this concept broadly, the human individual thus lives far within
his limits. He possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use.
Years later, Thomas Edison said, and I quote, “If we all did the things we are
capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”
By making a simple decision, the greatest minds of the past are available to you.
You can literally learn how to turn your wildest dreams into reality.
Put this valuable information to use and recognize the greatness which exists
within you. You have limitless resources of potential and ability waiting to be
developed. Start today - there’s never any time better than the present. Be all
that you are capable of being.
