Decide -Or Else!

An annotated excerpt from Expect to Win by John Mason *

After his first audition, a casting director told actor Sidney Poitier, "Why don't you stop wasting people's time and go out and become a dishwasher or something?" It was at that moment, recalls Poitier, that he decided to devote his life to acting. He wasn't going to let someone else decide his life path. "There's nothing in the middle of the road, but yellow stripes and dead armadillo," says Jim Hightower. Decide to do something now to make your life better. The choice is yours. "My decision is maybe—and that's final." Is this you? Being decisive is essential for a successful life. If you deny yourself commitment, what will you do with your life? Every accomplishment, great or small, starts with a decision. David Ambrose remarked, "If you have the will to win, you have achieved half your success; if you don't, you have achieved half your failure." The moment you definitely commit yourself, change begins. All sorts of things happen to help you that never would have otherwise occurred. Kenneth Blanchard observed, "There is a difference between interests and commitment. When you are interested in doing something, you only do it when it is convenient. When you are committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results." Lack of decisiveness has caused more failures than lack of intelligence or ability. Indecision often gives an advantage to the other person because they did their thinking beforehand. Helen Keller said, "Science may have found a cure for most evil; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all—the apathy of human beings." Don't leave a decision for tomorrow that needs to be made today. Remember, don't be a "middle-of-the-roader" because the middle of the road is the worst place to try to go forward. You can do everything you ought to do once you make a decision. Today, decide on moving your dream forward.

Quartermaster’s Perspective:  The world is continuously moving on – in its own way, on its own course and according to its own terms … with or without our participation.  If we want to participate – and if we want any of OUR terms included, we’ve got to get on track and consciously commit to making something positive happen.  If we don’t decide, circumstances or others affected may do the deciding for us.  And the decisions others make on our behalf – particularly without our personal consent, commitment and impassioned determination – will almost certainly yield a poor outcome.  You be the “Decider”.                    

*SOURCE: Simple Truths, LLC, 1952 McDowell Rd Ste 300, Naperville, IL 60563