25. |
Make Decisions Quickly |
A young Napoleon Hill stood before the steel mogul Andrew Carnegie, wondering why he had been summoned to meet with one of the richest men in the world. Carnegie, the sly old Scotsman, told the young, ambitious Hill that he had an assignment that might interest him. He went on to explain that he wanted Hill to interview the most successful men in America and learn why they were so successful.
He said it would take about twenty years to do this and, holding true to form, said he was not going to pay Hill for the work but would provide introductions to whomever he needed to meet. And, by the way, he wanted Hill’s answer in sixty seconds.
What would you have done?
Hill thought about the offer for a few seconds and said yes, at which point Carnegie revealed the stopwatch he was holding behind his back. He was timing how long it took Hill to decide. Had Hill taken too long, Carnegie would have withdrawn the offer. Hill made a life-altering decision that would, over time, change the fortunes of millions of people — and he did it in less than a minute!
The result of Hill’s work was, of course, the landmark book Think and Grow Rich, a book that is credited for creating more self-made millionaires than any other.
If you study successful people from all walks of life, you will find that they make decisions quickly and rarely change their mind once the decision is made. Too many people agonize over decisions, even small ones, and are quick to change at the first sign of a problem. The inability to act quickly has cost many a person the chance of a lifetime.
If you want to be more successful and as a result happier, cultivate the habit of making decisions quickly. This does not mean, however, that you should go off half-cocked. When faced with a decision, gather all the information available. If possible, talk it over with a trusted adviser, coach, or mentor. Pray and meditate about it, and then, once you’ve done all you can, make your decision.
Having made your decision, take whatever appropriate action is indicated, immediately. As I’ve said, the Universe likes speed.
Will every decision you make be the right one? Probably not; however, if you’ve evaluated the possible choices to the best of your ability, listened to wise counsel, and followed your intuition, the likelihood that you will make the right decision will be greatly increased.