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The 5 Steps to Making the Right Decision
Powerful Business Ideas – Week 1
In today’s podcast to discuss the powerful business ideas, we’re going to discuss five steps to making the right decisions and the reason I have chosen this subject is because often in business or in professional or personal life, we have decisions to make. It’s not always right, it’s not always wrong; we just don’t know. Interestingly enough, there is nothing more challenging in life and nothing more detrimental to anyone than being at a fork in the road and not knowing which way to go. At least if you go right and you make a mistake or if you go left and you make a mistake, you’re moving, you’re not stagnating. You’re going somewhere, but being stuck at a fork in the road and not knowing which way should I go? What should I do? How should I react? What will be my next move? That’s a very, very difficult situation to be in.
So in making the right decision, there are three different levels, if you think about this. One is personal, professional, and spiritual. In the personal, you have to have a vision. You have to have a vision of what you want to do, where you want to get to, and the person and the character, and development that you’re trying to reach. From a professional standpoint what you’re looking for is goals. What goals can I achieve and what can I do in my professional life to become the person that I want to become? And from a spiritual standpoint, it’s about the dream reality of what you’re trying to reach, irrespective of the religion that you follow or even if you’re an atheist, it’s irrelevant. You’re always looking at a dream that you’re trying to follow to better yourself from a personal standpoint.
So let me just say that in order to have the proper perspective and setting up steps in making the right decision and making the decision in the way where you will benefit, what is important first is to master the fundamentals in life, and there are not many fundamentals at all. There are not many. There are just a few that make a difference and these will shape what you do, where you go, what you think, what you have, who you become, all that.
Here’s the first one that you have to understand and that is that everything that you need in your life is within your reach. You need to understand that, you need to realize it and you need to believe it. Everything that you need in your life is within your reach. There are no obstacles. There may be challenges. There may be opportunities that may seem difficult, but these obstacles are a vision in the future that you don’t need to control, and if you are committed to your future, you can commit to your vision of who you want to be. It is a given principle that the creator of this world has given each and every human being all the powers that they need to do whatever it takes to accomplish their mission and you can overcome all challenges, and the choices are part of life’s growth. Now, there are fundamental truths about life that you have to understand, that you have to agree with, that you have to realize, but there are no new fundamentals for human achievements. It’s interesting, I once heard someone say that they have new antiques for sale. Well, that’s an oxymoron, antiques cannot be new. If they are antique, they are the old type of furniture which basically has weathered through years of time and that’s what is there now. You don’t create or manufacture antiques. It’s impossible. It develops over a period of time. And there can never be a single ultimate answer to life’s processes because there will never be a single ultimate question. So think about that for a moment. Since there are no new fundamentals, all the basics have been given in this world and everything has already been established, prepared, laid, and certainly put in front of you to learn on how to manage your life, so everything is there, and therefore, there are no new fundamentals for the achievement that a human being can develop and engender upon, none, but you need to understand that there can be never be a single ultimate answer because there will never be a single ultimate question. Now, you may say, what does that mean? You see, to every process, there will be more than one question. Therefore, there will be more than one answer. Is there a right way and a wrong way? Not necessarily. The fact that you are moving, that is already right. The fact that you possibly could make a mistake and make the wrong decision, that still makes you the person that’s moving as opposed to the one that stagnates. So making the decision is part of the success. Making the right decision, it’s part of the greatest success and that’s what you need to understand. So that is a step that you need to take to understand this process.
Now, to do this, as I mentioned before, the five critical steps to see results, there are things that you have to do if you’re looking for the results and looking to get these right results. What are they? Okay, so here’s number one: there are always just a few important principles that account for most of the progress you make in your life. What that means is that the principles that you set forth, the ones that you have as a basis – ethics, tips, protocols, systems that you learned from your family, your parents, your peers, from the books that you read from the religion that you follow a priest, a rabbi, imam, whatever it maybe be. Those people have taught you basics and fundamentals. These few important principles, they account for most of the progress that you’ll make throughout your life, and you’ll need to know that, so that’s the very first step, the critical step, to see a result develop in your life.
Here’s the second one: you will never be able to master every aspect of life. It’s impossible. Think of it, for instance, for the housewife. They should be a phenomenal business woman, a mother, also exercise every day, take care of everything. At the same time be a full-time professional person in her job and accomplish all of it all of the time and be a master at it. All of it? That’s impossible. No, for anyone for that matter, but you can master many aspects in your life. Mastering means being able to be in full control of it and understanding them, and using them to the advantage to make them even better. That’s what it means.
Here’s number three: you look for a few things that make the most difference in your life and you’ll find happiness. Find the few things that you think matter to you. Every single person has a choice in life to design and develop the life that they wish to have. Some people don’t take the time for that. It’s strictly up to them but if you design the life that you wish and you pay attention to those details, those few things will make the most difference in your life and that’s what you need to pay attention to. That’s the direction you want to go.
Here’s number four: make a plan. I’ve heard this sentence so many times but so many times, I’ve repeated it and people just hear it, understand it but they forget. Here’s what it says: no plan is a plan to fail. You’ve got to have a plan. A plan has to have a structure. It has to have a beginning and an end. When would you make that plan? Very simple. Every single beginning of every single year, you need to lay out a plan for the whole year as to what you’re looking for – developments that you want, systems that you want to implement, goals that you want to reach, achievements that you’re trying at the end of each period of time. You do this at the beginning of each year, then break it down by quarters. Four times a year, review your progress and see how you’re doing. Are you at the level where you wish to be? Are you moving in the right direction? Third, break it down into months. At the beginning of each month, write the process that you want, write the process that you’re looking for the next 30 days and things that you will accomplish for that time. Then, break it down per week. Take the very first day of the week and decide, what can I accomplish this week? What am I looking for? How many things can I get done? What is a priority? And do the same thing at the beginning of each day. Each day, decide, what do I need to do today to make this day the full day? You know, it’s interesting, I say prayers every single night before I go to sleep and in my prayer book that I have, I open it and there’s a piece of paper which is actually on a little laminated sheet which I’ve made myself. And there are a few sentences that I have in there which I read every single night before going to bed and here’s what it says. It says, “Tomorrow will be better than yesterday and greater than today,” and the second thing, it says, “Did I do everything I could’ve done today?” and the third thing, it says, “Could I have done more?” You see, by reading these few sentences, it reminds me as to what my future could be tomorrow and if I messed up today or yesterday, it’s alright. Tomorrow will be a new day and I will be able to overcome that. I’ll be able to start fresh, I’ll be able to start anew. There’s nothing wrong with that. All of us have gone through trials and tribulations and I’ve had my fair share, just like everyone. Sometimes, it feels that I’ve had more than others, but so does everyone else. People say, “Why does this happen to me?” What happens happens to everyone. No challenge comes to anyone that they can’t handle. It’s impossible. So know that by making a plan, you will develop these systems that you need to put in place. So again, briefly, make sure that you do this at the beginning of each day. Again, review that at the beginning of each week, review this again on a greater scale at the beginning of each month, and then each quarter, and do the same at the beginning of each year, and just break it down. This way, you might – you might – mess up one day, you might skip a day or two because he didn’t do right, but then if you look at the rest of the month and you’ve done well, then you’ve got a great attitude, and you’re okay. Things will be fine.
Here’s number five on our list about the five critical steps to see results. This is important and here’s what it says: give up the blame list. You can blame the economy, the interest rate, family issues, you can blame so many different things. Stop with the blames. If you’ve made a mistake, except it and say it’s my mistake. It’s as simple as that. Blaming others or blaming places, or blaming concepts, or blaming ideas, it’s only for you to be able to say, “I’m not guilty. It’s not my fault.” Take responsibility. If you made a mistake, admit it, deal with it, and move on. It’s as simple as that. If you want to change, if you’re looking for an opportunity for you to become better, if you’re truly looking for you to be the best person that you can be, give up the blame list and ask yourself every time something happens which is either challenging or overwhelmingly difficult to overcome, and then somebody asks you, “What happened? Why did you do that?” Let’s see how many times you say, “Well, it’s because –” and then that’s where the blame list comes in. “It’s because my mother made me do this,” or “When I was a young boy, this is what happened,” or “My sister did this to me or my colleague, or my friend, or the government, or things are there.” You know, I once heard someone that says that they couldn’t afford to buy things because things were way too expensive. They were so expensive that they just couldn’t buy them, but that’s not the case. Things are not too expensive. Nothing is expensive in life. If you have enough money, you can buy anything you want. It’s just a matter of earning enough money that you can buy it, so it’s not expensive. It’s just that you can’t afford it. See the difference? If you can afford it, then that makes sense. If you can afford it, then that’s your problem, that’s your issue, so it’s not expensive. Nothing in this world is expensive when you have the money. Nothing in this world can stop you from being the person that you want to be if you have the courage and the ambition to be that one person, and it’s not what happens that determines major part of your future, not at all. What happens happens to everyone of us. It is what you were going to do about it, that’s where the difference can make.
So you may ask a question, “Okay, fine, all this is great but how do I change this? How can I make this better?” Well, how can you change? The truth is if you will change, then everything will change for you. You don’t have to change what’s outside, you don’t have to control the weather and the seasons, and the government, and the taxes, and the people, and the traffic, and your job, and your parents, and your friends, and your boss – you don’t have to change all of that. You don’t have to change what’s outside. You don’t have to change what’s not within your control. All you have to change is what’s inside: who you are, what you’ve got, your attitude, your vision, your dreams. That’s what you got to change. You can’t change the circumstances but you can change yourself. That is such a true statement. It is a fact of life for every single person, and you could change that by doing the right thing. How do you do that? Very simple. Analyze your situation right now and look at yourself and say, is this the right way? Is this the right thing? And you can have more by becoming more if you do that. So again, don’t try to change the rain and the seasons, and the weather, and the government, and everything that’s out there; change yourself. Change your attitude, change your vision, change the way that you look at things, and everything will change for you. It will. It’s quite amazing.
The power of choice is something which is given to each and every individual in this world. Every single human being has the dignity given by the power of the creator to do whatever they wish. You see, an animal cannot do that. An animal is stuck to their instincts. They don’t have much choice. Their DNA has been designed to do things according to their animalistic instinct, that’s it, and the same thing goes for vegetation. A tree cannot decide just to move. They’re there, they’re stuck, that’s what it is, and neither can the wind become water. All inanimate objects are inanimates. A stone is a stone, it will remain stone. But human beings have this ability, the dignity that the creator gave us to make choices and do whatever we want with choices, and decide at a given time to go in the direction that we wish, and that’s what we need, that’s what we have, that’s what we want. To be all to be designed or to be part of the design to be. To be all to be designed to be or be part of that design, that’s up to you. You have given this opportunity to yourself if you’ve already in the past decided that you wanted more. It’s interesting that the greatest value that you get when you extend yourself to others, it’s not really the greatest thing in the world; it’s how you feel about yourself. It’s how it feels for you to help someone else see themselves greater than they are. It’s not you get what you get, how you get, that makes you valuable, is what you become. The person that you become and the things that you develop. I heard once at a seminar, somebody said that you have to work harder on yourself than you work on your job, because if you work on your job, you’ll make a living but if you work on yourself, you’ll make a fortune and that is so true. Such a valuable piece of information which I have carried in my life and continuously have looked after.
Work on yourself. Work harder on yourself and work continuously on yourself. Become a better person, a person of value, person of character. Not a person of delinquent development. Look at the things that you’re doing and find out, what is good for me? How can I become that great person? The three words to remember for that: you can get stronger, you can get wiser, and you can get better. Make a note of these three words, they’re important to remember: stronger, wiser, and better. That’s what you want. Make each day your masterpiece, make each day count, make each day the day that you are so much better than you were the day before. Don’t look at the last 10 years. Don’t even look at your past. Past is past, it’s gone, there’s nothing you can do about it, but you can look at today, and the future is not in your control yet. It’s going to be if you don’t pay attention to that and you will mess it up if you don’t pay attention to what you’re doing, but think of today, that’s what you want. Always remember that success is a piece of mind obtained only through self-satisfaction of becoming the person that you need to be, knowing that you made be effort to do the best of what you’re capable of doing, that’s what you want. Personally, professionally, and spiritually, the vision, the goal, the dream, that’s what you’re looking for, and that’s what it takes. Those are the steps that you will need to take and it will make a difference concept. It will bring you to a higher level and it will really get you where you need to be, and I wish the best for you because you deserve it.
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