What I'm talking about are decisions. Those little choices you and I must make every day that we are alive. Some decisions may seem insignificant, but often, even the smallest decisions will result in major shifts in your life.

The challenge is that most of us are so out of practice at making decisions that we struggle with just about every decision we know we must make! Think about this.

How long does it take you to decide what to eat for lunch? If you ask any successful person, they will typically tell you that they are quick to make decisions and slow to change their mind about the decisions that they do make. In contrast, if you ask any unsuccessful person about their decision-making habits, you'll most often find that they are slow to make decisions and tend to change their minds about the decisions they do make rather quickly.

In effect, they are not successful because the decisions that they do make, they never commit to. They change their minds long before the decision they've made even has a chance at working out for them.

Let's look at that for a moment. What happens when you wait too long to make a decision? In many cases, you miss the opportunity. Remember that the world is not going to stand still while you figure out what you want to do!

The second part of the process is what you do after you have made a decision. If you are quick to change your mind, chances are that you will never stick to any decision long enough to see it through! Even though you may have made the right decision in the first place, if you don't hang on long enough you may actually turn a great decision into a bad decision!

On the other hand, if you stick to your decision, chances are that you will find a way to make it work. It's not about getting on a train and staying on as the train goes off the cliff; it's about getting on the train (making the decision) and getting off when you have achieved what you set out to achieve.

What moves us forward is the fact that we make decisions, take decisive action, and see it through. It's such a simple formula, yet so many business professionals just won't subscribe to it! And the result is that they struggle, struggle, and eventually go out of business.

I can't tell you how many business professionals I have spoken with who all freely told me that they waited too long to make a critical decision and it cost them their business!

Since that's not our goal, we have to get used to making decisions! It's not hard, but it can be a stretch for you if you are the type of person who over-analyzes every little detail. In fact, if you wait for all the planets to align before you make a decision to do whatever it is that you know you must do to move forward, you'll never make that decision.

I so often hear people tell me that they know what they need to do, but in the very next breath, they also tell me that right now is not the right time. Even though they know they must make a decision, they shy away and put it off again and again. The result is rarely the one they hope for. In fact, what they often end up with is a decision that is made for them because time has run out or the opportunity has long passed them by.

The secret is to get into the habit of making decisions. You need to build up your decision-making abilities. Start with the little things in life. Things like what to eat for lunch. Or perhaps what to do first when you get to your office. By getting into the habit of making many small decisions, you'll find it easier and easier to make the right choice the first time, often without hours, days and weeks of procrastination. There's nothing wrong with wanting all the facts before you make a decision, but once you get the facts, make your choice and move on. There is no value served in pondering an impending decision after all the critical facts are in.

While you ponder a pending decision, another person or business may jump at the opportunity and leave you asking yourself thousands of times why you didn't make the decision first. The only way to improve your decision-making abilities is to practice making decisions again and again.

Think about it. Just look at your day today. How many decisions did you make or fail to make? How many decisions are you still waiting to make? Then ask yourself how your business would be better if you just made the decisions in front of you and were able to move on to the next decision. Or maybe by making a decision, you would feel less stressed. How would that change your business and personal life?

The truth is that by making the decision now, instead of pondering it for months, you'll be less stressed, and will have a decided competitive advantage. By getting on with things, you'll move your business, your personal life, and your finances forward quickly.

You see, if you don't practice honing your decision-making skills, it may cost you your business, your relationships, and your finances. As with any other skill, the more you practice the better you will become. So start right now and make the decision to practice making decisions.

Begin by deciding that you will, from this day forward, master the art of decision-making. Pay close attention to every decision you make during the day. At the end of the day, ask yourself what had to happen in order that you make each one of those decisions. In other words, what caused you to be able to decide? Was it certain information, your mood, the person or persons involved? Write this information down in your journal.

When you are clear about what it takes for you to make decisions quickly, you will know what to do when you are stalled. Just get the pieces of the puzzle that are missing, make your decision and move on. As in anything else you do, practice makes you better.

As you continue to build your decision-making skills, you'll soon find that the decisions you make will not only be made faster, but that you'll be making better decisions that will result in more income, better relationships, and a dramatically improved life!

Now, have you made the decision to commit yourself to improving your decision-making skills? If not, now would be a great time to make that decision. . .

�1999 by Robert Imbriale. All rights reserved.