I’m going OT, for you uninformed that means “off topic”, today. I’m going to veer from my usual home improvement subjects and blog today about what I consider a “life improvement” subject. DECISIONS, and how your inability to make good quick decisions can paralyze your personal and business life. In these days of bad economy, world turmoil and general confusion it becomes harder and harder for all of us to know where to turn next. Should we spend money and help improve the economy or continue to hide what little we have in the mattress or in the famous hermetically sealed mayonnaise jar on “Funk & Wagnall’s front porch, in deference to the late Johnny Carson. For you who don’t know who Johnny Carson is well maybe I'm preaching to the wrong audience.
Let me start out by relating my favorite personal story about a person who couldn’t make a decision despite himself. I went to school with a guy named Pete Picci. One night a bunch of us in the dorm were going to go to McDonald’s and asked Pete of he wanted to go…”sure I’ll go, no…no I’ve got homework to do I’ll stay here bring me something back, NO never mind I’ll go…no I’d better not spend the money you go on without me… Yeah Yeah I’m going wait on me….No go on without me. Well needless to say the 5 of us that wanted to go were tired of waiting and so we just left and went on without him. We were gone for maybe 30 minutes got what we wanted came back and continued with our homework and as I passed Pete’s room I could hear coming from inside….No, No you all go ahead without me…Hey guys wait I’m going. We had been gone and back and poor Pete was still arguing with himself trying to make the simple decision as to whether to go or not and in the meantime he lost his chance. How many times in life and in business do you miss an opportunity because you just could not make a decision? Or worse is you business or life suffering because you are paralyzed with fear as to what to do these days because of the state of affairs? My guess is, like my friend Pete, many of you are doing the same thing…arguing with yourself trying to decide what to do next, spending sleepless nights with your mind racing with thoughts about what if I do the wrong thing, literally causing problems with your family, friends, employees or your employer because you are stuck on the fence of indecision. Now of all times is not the time to fall into that trap. Its time to do some quick self reflection, decide what it takes to come up with a plan of action you can agree with yourself on and dive in. Yes I know I said “decide”…there’s that word again so let me just tell you what to do and take the “decide” out of the equation.
After 30+ years of having to make some difficult decisions the one thing that I know is ME and what I need to satisfy myself that I have enough information to make a good decision. This is where most people fail from the starting line. They keep on gathering more and more information to help themselves make the decision when in reality the more information they gather the more confused they get. Depending on the given situation when faced with a question I immediately decide in my mind the simplest yet most important things that I need to know to make a good decision and set forth to ask questions do research and analyze the situation to satisfy myself that I have those questions answered. I do not allow myself the luxury of grass growing beneath my feet in getting these answers then proceed to say Yea or Nay and then I’m on to the next thing on my agenda. You will not find me sitting 30 minutes later saying….YES…..NO….YES….MAYBE….NO,NO, I am not Pete Picci. I’m am going to make the decision and lead my family, my employees, my friends, or if going it alone, take myself merrily on down the road to success or failure, BUT I AM GOING TO DO SOMETHING. I'm not going to be sitting aside twiddling my thumbs letting the world and opportunity leave us behind for the lack of a decision. In reality the true secret is twofold and is not rocket science.
1. I know myself and have self confidence. After 61 years of life and 30 some odd years in business I know what I need to make a decision and I am confident in my abilities. This is where most people stumble from the beginning, they fear failure or lack the self confidence in their own abilities to carry out a plan of action. In the face of that fear of failure they, instead, don’t
make a decision or wait too long and miss the boat completely. In doing so they have become a self fulfilling prophecy .
2. To over come any of the points in #1, here’s the Warren Theory. SHHHHHHH! Not a word to anyone else, this will be just our secret. When faced with the dilemma of making a decision you think “what’s the worst thing that can happen if I’m wrong?” Plan for that eventuality, a plan B so to speak, and how you will correct your Plan A if it fails. With this plan of action in place you will have the confidence in yourself to proceed forward. You will not have to fear the unknown of “What If” that paralyzes so many folks. You will already have that answer in place and have nothing to fear.
Over simplified? Not at all. It is that simple. Most people can’t make decisions because they lack self confidence in their own abilities. The more decisions that you make that can be deemed to be successful the more confident you will become. Until the time that you have a few under your belt build your self confidence by simply always having your plan B in place and you will look and feel self confident. The biggest mistake you can make is to miss an opportunity because you did nothing. Don’t be a Pete Picci and go to bed hungry, join the crowd and go on to McDonald’s. Or in real life step out in faith and self confidence and do SOMETHING to better your business or your family as opposed to being paralyzed with fear and indecision.
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