DECISION AND DEVELOPMENT OF ACTION.

DECISION AND DEVELOPMENT OF ACTION

MASTER PROCRASTINATION – THE OPPOSITE OF DECISION: As per psychologists, the various analyses of thousands of persons who had experienced failure disclosed the significant fact that – those who failed they lacked the capacity to take decisions. On the other hand, analyses of those who succeeded in accumulation of great fortunes revealed 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 achieve prosperity, without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions, if at all, very slowly and of changing these decisions often quickly.

Procrastination is a common enemy that practically every man must conquer. Procrastination robs you of opportunity. You are fortunate if “Ambition” drives you into action; never permitting you to falter or turn back, once you have rendered a “Decision” to go forward. “Time” is running a race with you. Delay means defeat, because no man may ever makes up a second of lost “Time”. “Time” is a master worker that heels the wounds of failure and disappointments, rights all wrongs, and turns all mistakes into capital. But it favours only those who kill off procrastination and remain in “Action” when decisions are to be made. The great leaders of the world were persons of quick decision. The suspense of indecision drives millions of people to failure. Indecision is the devil’s favorite tool.

Imagination alone is not enough to insure success. Millions of people have imagination and build plans that would easily bring them both fame and fortune. But, those plans never reach the “Decision” stage.

Men of “Decision” usually get all that they go after. All these men have two outstanding qualities: “A Definite Purpose” and a “Firm Decision” to transform that purpose into reality. The man of “Decision” cannot be stopped. On the other hand, the man of “Indecision” cannot be started.

Take your choice. Observe this significant fact that – The Successful Men And Women Are Those Who Reach Decisions Quickly And Then Stand Firmly By Those Decisions After They Are Made.

If you are one of those who make up their minds today and change them again tomorrow, you are doomed to failure. If you are not sure which way to move, it is better to shut your eyes and move in the dark than to remain still and make no moves at all.

The world will forgive you if you make mistakes, but it will never forgive you if you make no “Decision”, because it will never hear of you outside of the community in which you live.

Life is a great checker board. The player opposite you is “Time”. No matter who you are and what may be your life work, you are playing checkers with “Time”! It is always your next move. Move with quick “Decision” and “Time” will favour you. Stand still or hesitate and the “Time” will wipe you off the board. You cannot always make a right move. But, if you make enough moves or keep moving, you may win; because you take advantage of the Law of Averages and pile up a credible score before the great game of LIFE is ended.

The only real capital is “Time”, but it is capital only when used. You may be shocked if you keep accurate account of the “Time” you waste in a single day or a single week. The man of “Decision” gets that which he goes after, no matter how long it takes or how difficult the task. He does not sit idle and waste time, because “no idle person is ever safe, whether he be rich or poor, white or black, educated or illiterate”. --- Emerson.

DEALING WITH PROCRASTINATION:
More than 20% of adults consider themselves to be chronic procrastinators – and the other procrastinators didn’t get around to filling out the questionnaires. It has been estimated that there are six styles of procrastination—

I. The perfectionist.
II. The dreamer.
III. The worrier.
IV. The defiant.
V. The crisis maker.
VI. The over-doer.

If you are procrastinator you can probably identify quite easily which is your main style. Regardless of the any style, it is possible to overcome procrastination. The first step is to accept that you have been a procrastinator in the past, but now you are fed up with the difficulties this has brought into your life. In this way you can work on changing the balance of the costs and benefit of the change, and by doing this you can move yourself out of the contemplation stage into the action stage.

ASK YOURSELF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS—
1. How do I feel about the task I am putting off now?
2. What are the advantages starting it right now?
3. What excuses am I making for not doing this task right now?
4. Will it kill me to do it for a few minutes at a time?
5. How can I break the task into manageable sections?
6. What reward can I give myself for finishing it?


TIPS ON MAKING YOUR OWN DECISIONS:
(I) Reach your own decisions and follow them: You have a brain of your own. Use it to reach your own decisions. Those who fail to make decisions are generally influenced by the” opinions” of others like the relatives, common friends, newspaper reports and gossiping neighbours. Sometimes, their “opinions” may be humorous and may result in ridicule, thereby causing inferiority complex in the mind of the person who seek such “opinions”.

Therefore, take no one into your confidence, except the members of your own “Master Mind” group, which consists of only those who will be in complete sympathy and harmony with your purpose. If you need facts and information from other people to enable you to reach decisions, acquire these facts or secure the information you need quietly, without disclosing your purpose.

(II) Deeds count: Deeds and not words are what count most. 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. So, one of your first decisions should be to keep a closed mouth along with open ears and eyes. “Tell the world what you intend to do, but first show it”.

(III) Have a vision: To make your own decisions, you need to have a clear vision of what you intend to do with yourself and the world around you. It is not beyond your capacity to create a vision. Lack of vision and the will to do may be fundamentally because of a distorted understanding of the real-life situation faced by you.

(IV) Be realistic to avoid confusion: At many times, most of us are in such a state of confusion caused by thoughts and emotions, where mind is captivated by wrong perceptions of reality. Part of this confusion arises from the fact that many people go through their lives without understanding what they really want. Even if they do know, they neither have the will, nor the vision to create lives of their choice. Consequently, they settle for whatever is easily attainable within their reach. However, they actually need to trust their minds to decide what is possible and what is not. Based upon their conclusion, they need to create a vision within themselves as to what they really care for and want in their lives.

(V) Believe in self-effort: Your Decision for “Destiny” whatever possibly you mean by that term, should be something to be understood, felt and realized in action, in deed and not merely in words by your self-effort. One who says, “Fate is directing me to do this” is brainless. The Goddess of Fortune abandons him. Hence by self-effort, acquire wisdom for the purpose of achieving success. Here “Effort” means every thing that we make of ourselves through our actions. You could make whatever you wanted of yourself – you could be a brave person or a coward, wise or foolish, strong or weak. But, “Effort” for success is preceded by a decision of value.

(VI) Develop courage to implement your decision: The value of decisions depends upon the courage required to render them. Socrates’ decision to drink the cup of poison, rather than compromise in his personal belief was a decision of courage. His decision gave to the people then the unbroken right to freedom of thought and speech.

(VII) Know What You Want: Those who reach decisions promptly and definitely know what they want and gradually get it. The world has a habit of making room for a man whose words and actions show that he knows where he is going. Indecision is a habit, which usually begins in youth. The habit takes on permanency as the youth goes through grade school, high school and even through college, without definiteness of purpose. The habit of indecision goes with the student into the occupation he chooses – if in fact, he does choose his occupation. Generally the youth just out of school seeks any job that can be found. He takes the first place he finds, because he has fallen into the habit of indecision.

(VIII) Develop Personal Power through Action: The development of “personal power” is the first step towards success. Remember that all success is based upon power, which grows out of knowledge that has been expressed in terms of ACTION. In this respect it is not the schooling, which you have had, that counts. It is the extent to which you express that which you have learned through well organized and intelligently directed ACTION. We are living in a world in which the law of survival of the fittest is everywhere in evidence. Those who are fit are those who have “power” and “power” is organized effort.”

(IX) Believe in Doing Well Through Creative Action: A man who wants a chance to show his worth may create it through action by ever updating his skills and re-checking the development of the essentials of success. However, if he waits for someone to hand it over to him on a silver platter, he will meet with disappointment. This excuse is one of the commonest causes of poverty and failure.

NEVER—DO—WELLS: Every city, town and hamlet has its population of those well-known characters called “NEVER—DO—WELLS,” and if you would analyze these unfortunates, you will observe that one of their outstanding feature is procrastination. Lack of action has caused them to slip backward until they go into a “rut” where they will remain, unless through accident, they are forced out into the open road of struggle where unusual action will become necessary. However, the victims of procrastination have not developed the habit of expressing themselves in action, but they wait for a chance to show their assumed talent to the world. They need to understand that the world never gives any one a chance to show their worth.

MAJOR ENEMIES OF “ACTION” TO BE CONQUERRED:
1. Lethargic Attitude: Give up the habit of “inaction” or “lethargic attitude.” Form the habit of “Intensive Action.” There are men who dream, but do nothing more. There are others who take the visions of dreamers and translate them into reality. There are still others who both dream and translate these dreams into a great reality. They are dreamer—doer—type. There are psychological as well as economic reasons why you should form the habit of “Intensive Action”. Your body is made up of billions of tiny cells that are highly sensitive and amenable to the influence of your mind. If your mind is of lethargic or inactive type, the cells of your body also become lazy, inactive and even diseased; just as the stagnant water of an inactive pond becomes impure and unhealthful.

2. ILL-Health: You need to take care of your health. You cannot be a person of action, if you permit yourself to go without physical attention until physical auto-intoxication takes your brain and kneads it into an inoperative mass.

3. Negative State of Mind: Worry, envy, jealousy, hatred, doubt and fear are all negative states of mind, which are fatal to action. Any of these states of mind will interfere with, and in some instances destroy altogether the digestive process through which the food is assimilated and prepared for distribution through the body. Induce a laugh to chase worry. “Hearty-laugh” is a “gloom-chaser.” Five minutes of this sort will stimulate action.

SUGGESTIONS TO DEVELOP ACTION:
(1) Do the distasteful task first: Form the habit of doing each day the most distasteful tasks first. It will be difficult at first. Nevertheless, after you have formed the habit, you will take pride in pitching into the hardest and most undesirable part of your work first. Secondly, the most profitable achievement in doing so is that this will destroy the habit of procrastination and develop the habit of action in its place.

(2) Show results: The world or the people like to see results. Do not tell them what you can do, “show them.”

(3) Finish tasks timely: Do every thing that should be done, when it should be done and as it should be done.

(4) Do not postpone: To realize your “Definite Chief Aim,” you must develop “Action” right from “today.” Remember – What is ‘today ‘becomes ‘yesterday’ and what is ‘tomorrow’ becomes ‘today’. Give your best today; the best will come to you ‘tomorrow’.

Further, “the world steps aside for the man who never stops”. Carry out these instructions with faith in their soundness and with belief that they will develop “Action” in your body and mind. Man is a queer animal. Give him a sufficient vitalized motive and the man of but average ability, under ordinary circumstances will suddenly develop super power. There are three motivating forces to which a person responds in practically all his efforts or actions.

(i) Motive of self-preservation.
(ii) Motive of family and social power.
(iii) Motive of financial power.

JUST DO IT:
It may be merged with suggestions to develop action-mentioned above.
We procrastinate for various reasons. Sometimes it is to avoid a difficult task and opt for the easier one, or to evade tasks that take longer time for completion. Many procrastinate due to fear of failure. Procrastination is common behaviour that affects you on various levels – what initially doesn’t seem like such a big deal, soon becomes a major source of anxiety and stress. It is caused by lack of motivation, catalyzed by absence of time management.

Procrastination is not just about wasting time, but also about mental damage. When you procrastinate, you have subconsciously added unnecessary baggage to your mind. Every minute spent wondering now and when to start, is another minute wasted. When you procrastinate, you are not relaxing, but further burdening your mind with stress.

PROCRASTINATION IS A HABIT: Yes, it is habit, not a personal flaw. It takes persistence to change – with practice you can change this habit. The first step towards doing so is to recognize the psychological reasons that cause you to procrastinate. Self-defeating issues like fear, anger, indecisiveness, lack of time management skills, difficulty in concentrating and perfectionism are some of the reasons behind it.

You need to realize that procrastination is a self-imposed condition. Clarify your goals, make actionable plans to achieve these and follow them conscientiously, forgive your imperfections and be a motivated, self-disciplined individual. Here are few tips that could help –

1. Define your personal goals: Write them down. Stick this on your door, mirror and notebooks where you can see them regularly.

2. Break larger projects into smaller manageable parts: Create a deadline for yourself to achieve each small task.

3. Prioritize your tasks: Tabulate your tasks into “Urgent” or “Time-sensitive” and “Non-urgent” but “Important” activities: An urgent activity needs completion based on a definite deadline and should be tackled first.

4. Set a timer: It is amazing how much you can get done when you focus on time accountability.

5. Make leeway for ‘Procrastination’ time into your schedule initially.

6. Tackle the difficult task first: The first task you handle in the day should be one you like least: Tackling the task you are most prone to keep putting off helps immensely.

7. Honour weekly appointments with yourself to plan coming week: Have a concrete and realistic plan for following through your intentions.

8. If you often say, “I’ve got to” or “I should be” replace it with “I choose to”: This sends a positive message to the mind and makes you mentally accepting and less resistant of the task.

9. The visual impact of clutter stresses the mind and causes it to switch off or ignore: Set up a system to manage the clutter and make your work-place look mentally conducive to get work done.

10. At the end of every day, take fifteen minutes to compare what’s best done and take a look at tomorrow’s plans: This helps in being prepared for tomorrow.

11. Reward yourself for small steps taken towards your goals. However, delay awards until you finish a task: This method works best with much disliked easily completed tasks.

12. Learn from your mistakes, don’t judge yourself constantly: Know your escapes like socializing, reading or daydreaming. Correct yourself.

13. Avoid dwelling on setbacks or mistakes: Focus instead on success and expect the best from yourself.

14. Accept and forgive yourself for your inability to stick to certain schedules: Don’t expect to change overnight. Give yourself sufficient credit for tasks you accomplish as per schedule.