DECISION
ACCURATE analysis of over
25,000 men and women who had experienced fail-ure, disclosed the fact that LACK
OF DECISION was near the head of the list of the 30 major causes of FAILURE.
This is no mere statement of a theory-it is a fact. PROCRASTINATION, the opposite
of DECISION, is a common enemy which practically every man must conquer.
You will have an opportunity to test your
capacity to reach quick and definite DECISIONS when you finish reading this
book, and are ready to begin putting into ACTION the principles which it
describes.
Analysis of several hundred people who had
accumulated fortunes well beyond the million dollar mark, disclosed the fact
that every one of them had the habit of REACHING DECISIONS PROMPTLY, and of
changing these decisions SLOWLY, if, and when they were changed. People who
fail to accumulate money, without exception, have the habit of reaching
decisions, IF AT ALL, very slowly, and of changing these decisions quickly and
often.
One of Henry Ford’s most outstanding qualities is
his habit of reaching decisions quickly and definitely, and changing them
slowly. This quality is so pronounced in Mr. Ford, that it has given him the
reputation of being obstinate. It was this quality which prompted Mr. Ford to
continue to manufacture his famous Model “T” (the world’s ugliest car), when
all of his advisors, and many of the purchasers of the car, were urging him to
change it.
Perhaps, Mr. Ford delayed too long in making the
change, but the other side of the story is, that Mr. Ford’s firmness of
decision yielded a huge fortune, before the change in model became necessary.
There is but little doubt that Mr. Ford’s habit of definiteness of decision
assumes the proportion of obstinacy, but this quality is preferable to slowness
in reaching decisions and quickness in changing them.
The majority of people who fail to accumulate
money sufficient for their needs, are, generally, easily influenced by the
“opinions” of others. They permit the news-papers and the “gossiping” neighbors
to do their “thinking” for them. “Opinions are the cheapest commodities on
earth. Everyone has a flock of opinions ready to
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be wished upon anyone who will accept them. If
you are influenced by “opinions” when you reach DECISIONS, you will not succeed
in any undertaking, much less in that of transmuting YOUR OWN DESIRE into
money.
If you are influenced by the opinions of others,
you will have no DESIRE of your own. Keep your own counsel, when you begin to
put into practice the principles described here, by reaching your own decisions
and following them. Take no one into your confidence, EXCEPT the members of
your “Master Mind” group, and be very sure in your selection of this group,
that you choose ONLY those who will be in COMPLETE SYMPATHY AND HARMONY WITH
YOUR PURPOSE.
Close friends and relatives, while not meaning to
do so, often handicap one through “opinions” and sometimes through ridicule,
which is meant to be hu-morous. Thousands of men and women carry inferiority
complexes with them all through life, because some well-meaning, but ignorant
person destroyed their confidence through “opinions” or ridicule.
You have a brain and mind of your own. USE IT,
and reach your own decisions. If you need facts or information from other
people, to enable you to reach decisions, as you probably will in many
instances; acquire these facts or secure the informa-tion you need quietly,
without disclosing your purpose.
It is characteristic of people who have but a
smattering or a veneer of knowledge to try to give the impression that they
have much knowledge. Such people gener-ally do TOO MUCH talking, and TOO LITTLE
listening. Keep your eyes and ears wide open-and your mouth CLOSED, if you wish
to acquire the habit of prompt DECISION. Those who talk too much do little
else. If you talk more than you listen, you not only deprive yourself of many
opportunities to accumulate useful knowledge, but you also disclose your PLANS
and PURPOSES to people who will take great delight in defeating you, because
they envy you.
Remember, also, that every time you open your
mouth in the presence of a per-son who has an abundance of knowledge, you
display to that person, your exact stock of knowledge, or your LACK of it!
Genuine wisdom is usually conspicuous through modesty and silence.
Keep in mind the fact that every person with whom
you associate is, like yourself, seeking the opportunity to accumulate money.
If you talk about your plans too freely, you may be surprised when you learn
that some other person has beaten you to your goal by PUTTING INTO ACTION AHEAD
OF YOU, the plans of which you talked unwisely.
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Let one of your first decisions be to KEEP A CLOSED
MOUTH AND OPEN EARS AND EYES. As a reminder to yourself to follow this advice,
it will be helpful if you copy the following epigram in large letters and place
it where you will see it daily.
“TELL THE WORLD
WHAT YOU INTEND TO DO, BUT FIRST SHOW
IT.”
This is the equivalent of saying that “deeds, and
not words, are what count most.”
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