Transformational Income: Make Up Your Mind

Do you dither? Flip-flop? Delay making a decision for fear that you will make a mistake? Do you put off making decisions until you have ALL the information or until conditions are RIGHT?

You are not alone. In fact, so many of us have this same problem that lack of decision is near the head of the list of the 30 major causes of FAILURE in Napoleon Hill’s classic, Think and Grow Rich.

Hill’s seventh step toward riches is the mastery of procrastination.

Through over twenty-five years of study of successful people, Hill concluded that successful people REACH DECISIONS PROMPTLY and change those decisions SLOWLY, if and when they change them at all.

On the other hand, people who fail to accumulate money, without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions, IF AT ALL, very slowly, and of second guessing themselves, changing their decisions quickly and often.

Part of the problem for the majority of people who fail to accumulate money sufficient for their needs is that they are easily influenced by the “opinions” of others. They permit the media, some blow-hard talk show host, the internet, or their friends and neighbors to do their “thinking” for them.

Sad to say, but if you are influenced by “opinions” of others when you reach decisions, you will not succeed in any undertaking, much less in that of changing YOUR OWN DESIRE into money.

In fact, if you are easily influenced by the opinions of others, chances are you will have no DESIRE of your own. You will be like the lemming, following the latest trend, the most popular “pop” philosophy, or the fashionable guru to the edge of the cliff and over.

You have a brain and a mind of your own. USE IT and reach your own decisions. If you need facts or information – as you undoubtedly will, to make an informed decision – gather the information that you need quietly, without disclosing your purpose. It is true that it is better to keep your mouth closed and risk appearing a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

Let me repeat that: You have a brain and a mind of your own. USE IT and reach your own decisions. When you begin to put into practice the Think and Grow Rich principles, keep your own counsel, reach your own decisions and follow them.

Indeed, to protect yourself from the well-meaning but often mis-informed opinions of others, 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.

It is characteristic of people who have a little knowledge to pretend that they have a lot. Such people generally do TOO MUCH talking and TOO LITTLE listening. You will be wise to keep your eyes and ears wide open and your mouth closed.

Close friends and relatives, while not meaning to do so (although some may mean to do it), often handicap you through “opinions” and sometimes through ridicule, which is “meant” to be humorous. Many people suffer from inferiority complexes because some well-meaning but ignorant person destroyed their confidence through “opinions” or ridicule. Don’t let this happen to you.

There is another good reason to play your card close to your vest. Bear in mind that everyone 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 to learn that someone else has beaten you to YOUR goal by putting your plans into ACTION while you were still talking about them.

You will have an opportunity to test your ability to reach quick and definite DECISIONS when we finish this series and you are ready to begin putting into ACTION the principles you have learned. Let one of your first decisions be to KEEP A CLOSED MOUTH AND OPEN EARS AND EYES.

Those who reach their own DECISIONS promptly and who definitely know what they want generally get it. INDECISION or PROCRASTINATION is a habit which follows LACK OF A DEFINITE PURPOSE. Financial independence, wealth, desirable business and professional positions are not within reach of anyone who neglects or refuses to EXPECT, PLAN, and DEMAND these things, so make up your mind what you want and how you are going to get it.