June 8

Today's Quotation:

Not all of your decisions will be correct.  None of us is perfect.  But if you get into the habit of making decisions, experience will develop your judgment to a point where more and more of your decisions will be right.  After all, it is better to be right 51 percent of the time and get something done, than it is to get nothing done because you fear to reach a decision.

H.W. Andrews

Today's Meditation:

Many people fear making decisions because they fear that they'll be wrong.  They fear making mistakes and then being mocked or ridiculed or being held responsible for those mistakes.  Probably the most tragic result of these fears is that they never learn what it's like to make a decision that's right, that's effective, that's helpful.  They go through their lives deferring to others, letting others make decisions for them.

I've never had this problem, fortunately.  At times, though, my decisions have been flawed because of my fear of being wrong, and I've made decisions that my heart told me were wrong because I thought others would want me to make them that way.  Most of the time, though, I have no problems making decisions and sticking to them and taking responsibility for them.

Part of the reason that it's so easy for me is that there are so few other people who are willing to do so.  It reaches a point at which someone has to decide, so I do so.

I know when I'm deciding, though, that my decision may be wrong.  I hold no illusions that my decisions are always the best course of action.  But at least I try, and at least I don't regret later having missed out on an important opportunity to make a decision that affects my life directly.

I will be wrong--and I'll be wrong often, I'm sure.  But it's often better to be wrong than it is to do nothing at all, for in being wrong, we learn.  In doing nothing, we stay at the same place.

Questions to ponder:

1.  Why does our culture value being "right" so much?  How does this value system affect the things we do (and don't do)?

2.  Is it as hard to make decisions if being absolutely right about it isn't one of the criteria that we attach to our decision?

3.  Think of someone who gets a lot accomplished.  How does this person go about making decisions?  How does he or she react when a particular decision turns out to have been the wrong one?

For further thought:

The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something.  It's as simple as that.  A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now.  Not tomorrow.  Not next week.  But today.  The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.

Nolan Bushnell

more thoughts and ideas on decision-making

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