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How Long Do You Take to Make Decisions?

There have been a few challenges recently that got me thinking about how long it takes some people and companies to make decisions.  I’m not suggesting you need to jump into everything without research, but so often people use the process of decision-making as an excuse for being short on business sense.

Years ago, before the Internet, a good friend’s advice to me was “Touch each piece of paper that comes across your desk once – make a decision and then file it!” No paper anymore, but the process is still the same and the advice so relevant.

I worked for somebody once who rarely made timely decisions. He liked to ponder and over and over again we missed so many great opportunities to grow the business. Many times we not only lost the opportunity but had to work twice as hard to regain the momentum lost in the decision making process.

So, on this beautiful Sunday morning, take a minute or two and just think about what you’ve pigeonholed on your desk or just in your mind. Stop procrastinating! Figure out what you want to do. Address it this week and accept whatever the consequences, good or bad, and just get on with building your business.

One of my favorite quotes from Zig Ziglar and I’m not bothering to even look it up, because I know I’m close to getting it right,

“If you wait for all the lights to turn green you’ll never get started on your journey!”

Stop waiting for everything to be just right – it’ll never be just right. But, here’s the cool thing – nothing is forever and even decisions that turn out disappointing are still great learning experiences.

It’s like having a lousy sense of direction, you can always turn around and go back to that turn you missed!