Decision – The mastery of procrastination

Prequote - Conceit is a fog that envelops a man’s real character beyond his own recognition. It weakens his native ability and strengthens all his inconsistencies.

According to Mr. Hill, “lack of decision is near the head of the list of major causes of failure." "Procrastination, the opposite of decision, is a common enemy that practically every man must conquer.” “A study of successful people found that every one of them had the habit of reaching decisions quickly and of changing these decisions slowly.”

Many will take this to mean that these decisions were made without the proper amount of fact finding. This is not the case. Through the powers of organized planning and the mastermind group appropriate facts are accumulated. However, there is a point of diminishing return. The true leader will, at this point, step up, make a decision and stick to that decision.

It is important for the decision maker to use their own faculties to reach the decision. Close friends and relatives often feel compelled to give their “opinions” with "your best interest in mind". As stated by Mr. Hill, “Many people carry inferiority complexes through life because some well meaning and ignorant person destroyed their confidence through opinions and/or ridicule.”

One of the keys to success is the ability to make independent decisions. This does not mean that you do not solicit the assistance of those with more knowledge. It means those that you trust who possess more knowledge, become part of your mastermind group.

A decision maker must be a good listener and have the ability to filter information. If you talk more than you listen, you not only deprive yourself of the opportunity to acquire useful knowledge, but you also disclose your plans and purposes to people who could use that knowledge against you. It is better to tell the world what you intend to do, but first show it.

Finally, Mr. Hill provided the insight that the value of a decision is gauged by the courage necessary to make it. As an example, he recounted the story of the courage required by the 56 men who signed their name to the Declaration of Independence.

We all have life changing moments where the decisions we make will determine the road we take. The complete path of our lives is based on the decisions/choices we do or do not make. Most of these life changing decisions are made based on the price we are willing to pay for success. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were willing to give up their lives for their decision. The ultimate sacrifice.

I found the most interesting point of the chapter was Mr. Hill’s impression that the lack of decision making can be traced back to youth and the failure of the education system to incorporate the habits of good decision making. He stated that the result of this is that 98 of every 100 people are in their current profession because they lacked a definiteness of decision to plan a definite position and the knowledge to choose an employer.”

While I concur that the inability to make decisions can be traced back to youth, I do not believe that the educational system should shoulder all of the blame. The family structure is also a large contributor to the problem.

Parents always want to “give their children more than they had.” However, I see time and time again where this philosophy has hindered the youth’s decision making ability and promoted procrastination.

Many parents do not demand that their kids earn that for which they receive and the parents acquiesce too easily to that which their children want. This has led to an entitlement mentality and allowed the youth to abdicate their responsibilities back to parents. I feel comfortable in making these comments because I have followed this path and strongly believe I have done an injustice to my children.

It is important that we learn early that we are the captains of our own lives and that the decisions we make will have a great impact on the direction of that life. If I could change one thing in how I raised my children, it would be to require them to take more control of their decisions and not allow them to abdicate that responsibility back to my wife and me.

I would change our role from doer to advisor. I am very proud of my children, but they have led a blessed life that has allowed them to make mistakes without paying the immediate consequences of those mistakes. Life has a way of catching up and making you pay for your sins. My concern is that the long term consequence of not paying the immediate pertinence could be very detrimental to their future.

Put succinctly, we have devalued the decision making process by eliminating the courage component. We learn not only from our mistakes, but also from the consequences of those mistakes. If we do not learn this when we are young, we will have a tough time avoiding procrastination and making important decisions later in life.

THE PROCESS

In order to make good decisions, it is important that the decision maker call on the powers faith, desire, autosuggestion, specialized knowledge, imagination, organized planning and the mastermind group. It is difficult to make a good decision without an understanding of the desired outcome. This requires the decision maker to spend some time determining what they value and the path they will take get there.

I have found that most people are lazy and would rather have someone else tell them what is best. They talk to anyone that will listen and solicit opinions. Opinions are the cheapest commodity on earth. People with just a smattering of knowledge routinely try to give the impression that they have much knowledge. By abdicating our decisions to these undeserving assistants, we leave ourselves open for failure.

Often, the most courageous decision is to tell family and friends that they do not know what is best.

Only through a thorough self evaluation can the decision maker determine their passion. Following a path laid out by others is a sure recipe for an unfulfillied life. Once your passion has been uncovered, it is easier to use your imagination to develop an organized plan to achieve your stated goals. It is than easy to incorporate the power of autosuggestion to build the desire and faith necessary to make ultimate failure a remote probability. In addition, this focus on your passion will lead you to like minded people that will become your mastermind group.

In most cases, there is no such thing as having all the facts. Those that are paralyzed by indecision and/or are easily influenced by their surroundings will have a difficult time reaching their objectives.