Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an
understanding of ourselves.
Carl Jung
Editorial
,
Now, this issue's article is about a critical life skill: the power of Decision. It may not have occurred to you before,
but this is THE vital skill that can totally change everything you do. I hope you enjoy the article .
Please feel free to discuss the article at the
discussion forums:
In his classic work, "Think & Grow Rich", Napoleon Hill stated
that 98% of people are in the jobs they have through INDECISION,
i.e. because they never made the decision about what they wanted
to do in their lives in the first place. Sadly, nearly a century
later, we can say exactly the same thing.
Decision is the key to transformation. Yet, most of us never
learn this from our parents, from school, or indeed from anywhere
else. It is one of the key character traits distinguishing high
performers from the vast ranks of the mediocre. Can you DECIDE
upon anything? If you can, almost anything you want in life can
be yours.
If you think back in your life to some of your greatest
achievements, those things you are most proud of, you will see
that behind it all there was a decision you made at some point,
and persisted with against all opposition, right through to the
successful conclusion.
For me, it was the three tortuous years I spent laboring away on
my Ph.D, doing a subject that was so complex that after a while,
all I had left was persistence and determination to see the
decision I had made through to its final conclusion.
Indecision explains why many people feel that they have a life
purpose, but have no idea what it is. We have lost the use of the
decision muscles that should normally enable us to manifest into
our reality what we decide upon, and persistently hold in our
minds. Ask a child what it wants to have and you'll get a long
list. Ask an adult the same question and you may well be greeted
with silence.
The problem is that all too often, people hunger for instant
gratification. The ability to engage in delayed gratification,
i.e. working hard for a goal NOW in order to see it realized at
some point in the future, seems to be a dying art. Hence our
ability to make decisions and see them through to a fruitful end
has grown very weak. For many people, the biggest decisions they
ever make in a year is where to go on vacation, how to get there,
and where to stay! Sad but true.
Decision is, by definition, behind every truly great achievement
anyone ever makes. Most of the people who live to be a hundred
actually DECIDED at some point in their life that they wished to
live to a hundred. Most millionaires, at some earlier point in
their life (often when they were heavily in debt), DECIDED that
they were going to be millionaires. The Buddha's enlightenment
came only after he DECIDED to seek Enlightenment and persisted
for six long hard years until the achieved it. Edison DECIDED to
invent an electric light-bulb and persisted despite 10,000 failed
attempts.
Decision coupled with Persistence is unstoppable. Napoleon Hill
also commented that, in examining the lives of Thomas Edison and
Henry Ford, the only quality he found in them that remotely
accounted for their success, i.e. was NOT common in ordinary
people, was that of Persistence.
Interestingly, the most successful people make decisions quickly
and change them slowly. They persist with the decisions they have
made. However, failures are very slow to make any decision at all
(most never make any), and they change the ones they have made
very rapidly indeed. Which description applies to you?....
It's not about making the "right" decision in the first place,
but rather about making the decision you have made "right". If
you wait to make the "right" decision, you could wait forever. If
you make your decisions "right", this means that you work with
the decisions you have made, adapting them as necessary to the
situation at hand.
Yes, of course it helps to make the best decision possible in the
first place. This is where excellent research and accurate
thinking come into play. You should do your best in this respect.
However, you also need to set some sort of deadline or limit to
this to be prevented from engaging in "paralysis through
analysis". At some point, you have to DO. Thereafter, you adapt
your thinking to actual circumstances, in order to ultimately
bring about what you have decided upon.
For instance, you may decide to live to be a hundred. However,
you then work with the existing health systems available to reach
that goal, adapting and choosing what is available to your
personal needs. You may decide to earn a certain sum of money,
e.g. a million dollars. From then on, you adapt your thinking to
the many means available.
You don't give up on the decisionn itself, although you may give
up on a specific means of achieving it, and instead move towards
another. Flexibility in the means of obtaining the outcome of
your decision is okay. Flexibility in dumping your decisions the
whole time is NOT.
The Latin root of the word decision means "to cut off from all
alternatives". This is what you should do when you decide. Don't
leave yourself a life-raft so that you can give up later. A
famous example of this kind of decision is Hernan Cortez, in his
conquest of Mexico. When the Conquistadors first arrived in
Mexico, Cortez literally DID burn their boats. There was no way
back home. They could literally only go forward and conquer. That
is how just a few hundred Spaniards, thousands of miles from
home, took on, and triumphed over, the power of the Aztec and
Mayan Empires. Decision!
Decide, and then act as if you could not fail. Interestingly,
this attitude of mind attracts to you forces from the universe
that are fully capable of supporting you and bringing your
decision into manifestation. If you ask a lot from life, you will
receive a lot. If you ask a little, that is what you will get.
Interestingly, the universe has no favourites and does not care
either way how much or how little you ask for. As and you shall
receive, is the way it was once expressed.
The key is to KNOW what you want ,
DECIDE to get it, and then
PERSIST until you have done so.
Copyright Asoka Selvarajah 2005. All Rights Reserved.
Asoka Selvarajah is a writer on personal growth and
spirituality,
and the author of "The 7 Golden Secrets To Knowing Your
Higher
Self". His work helps people achieve their full
potential, deepen their
understanding of mystical truth,
and discover their soul's purpose. Learn more about his work
"You Can Manifest Your Desires FAST!
FREE7-Day
Course Reveals..."
How To get rich, happy, and attract anything you want into your
life. Secret technique known only by the world's elite few.
Magnetize your desires, attract your dreams, create a life of
happiness, success and luxury. Join the FREE 7-Day Course NOW! http://www.aksworld.com/Resources/RobertAnthony.htm
"How To Quickly & Easily Achieve Abundance & Power In Your Life!"
Starting today, you can create the life you've always
wanted. Discover how to use your own subconscious energies
for health, prosperity and personal achievement!
but their laughter turned to stunned silence when I made 16
million dollars. Discover how you too can use these simple
secrets to escape wage slavery & debt forever, and easily
generate the spare cash to live as you've always dreamed.
"Dream-Minder Helps You Break The Success Barrier NOW."
With Dream-Minder, you set goals, determine your life values,
record your achievements, and regularly review what really
matters to you. Life transformation is just one step away...
Find out more: http://www.aksworld.com/Resources/Dreams.htm
Disclaimers
Although Aspire To Wisdom is interested in presenting
you with advertisements for quality products and
services, Aspire To Wisdom cannot spend the time to do
the due diligence it takes to ensure that only reliable
services and products are advertised with us.
So you should understand that Aspire To Wisdom does not
represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any
of the advertisements in our newsletter or the
quality of any products, information or other
materials displayed, purchased, or obtained by you
as a result of an offer in connection with any
advertisement.
Aspire To Wisdom encourages you to do your due
diligence before purchasing any product, whether it is
offered here or anywhere else for that matter, before
purchasing. Please use your judgment and carefully
check out those products that interest you.
We accept no
responsibility whatsoever for the content, profitability
or legality of any published articles or advertisements
contained within Aspire To Wisdom.
And, although all of the articles have been chosen for
their content, the publishing of such articles within
this newsletter does NOT constitute a recommendation of
the products or services mentioned or advertised within
those articles.
Be responsible! Always do your Due Diligence before
responding to any offer.
