Wealth Indicator #1: Making Decisions Any business, success or activity begins with a decision. Napoleon Hill, the author of my all-time favorite self-development book, Think And Grow Rich, identified this trait during his study of hundreds of wealth people in the 1930’s. In fact, he concluded that every single successful person possessed the habit of making swift decisions, and once made, not wavering easily on that decision. Unsuccessful people, on the other hand, almost always were slow to make decisions (if they made any at all), and when they did make a decision, they changed their mind quickly and consistently. Some people are professional procrasinators, and thus try to get through life trying to avoid making as many decisions as possible. The reality is, by not making a decision, that in itself is a decision – you’re making a decision not to make a decion. Successful people recognize that decisions lead to actions, and actions lead to results, so making decisions is prerequisite to success. The act of making a decision IS an action in itself, and often times, once you’ve truly made a decision, that’s all the motivation you need and it sets you upon a course of action. Often times, we struggle and suffer through the process of trying to come to a decision, because we’re afraid – afraid of the unknown, afraid of making a bad decision, whatever the issue may be. However, once you’ve truly decided on something – assuming you are committed to the decision – then you can’t help but to move forward, because a decision means you’ve eliminated all other alternatives. The definition of “decide”, coming from the latin word ‘decidere’, is to cut off all alternatives. And therein lies the problem. Most people don’t want to eliminate their options or choices, because they fear that they may choose wrong and eliminate the better choice. Donnie Deutsche, the advertising agency owner who hosts “The Big Idea” on CNBC, has a book out called “Often Wrong, Never In Doubt”. I love the title of his book, because it speaks to this issue of making decisions confidently, even though you won’t always be right. Successful people often make strong decisions with conviction, but they’re not always right. However, you’ll find that someone who makes a lot of decisions – even if they’re not making all the right ones – will end up much further ahead in life than those who move slowly, and wait to make the ‘perfect’ decision. Most people drag out the true decision for a long time, putting themselves through misery and frustration. While it’s not an easy thing to do, developing the muscle of decision making is a powerful tool that will move you along the path to success and wealth the more you exercise it. Have you ever been out for lunch with someone who agonizes over the decision of what to get? They go through the menu 15 times, then ask the server “what’s good?” They then need a couple of more minutes, and then put the menu down in discouragement, not having been able to pick anything out. What is going on here? Someone that acts like this in a restaurant is likely to be someone who doesn’t make decisions in other areas of their life. How you do anything is how you do everything, and it’s true that if you struggle over small decisions, you’ll struggle even more on big ones. A great exercise to do, if you find you are a slow decision maker, is to go into small situations, like a restaurant, with the intention of making fast decisions. For example, the next time you go for lunch, make the commitment that you’re going to make a decision within 30 seconds, and then stay true to that commitment. While it seems silly to do this, what you’re doing is exercising your decision muscle, and by practicing fast decisions, you’ll start to adjust to the fact that while you won’t make all the perfect decisions, life continues on and you’ll have less stress and anxiety. So, make the decision to make more decisions!]]>