How To Make Great Decisions (2)

[muppet]

Hi Guys

Email from Graeme:

How To Make Great Decisions (1)
Procrastination will cause you to miss some of your greatest opportunities. But what if all your life you've been cautioned about making the wrong decisions concerning relationships, finances, education, career, or life in general? Now you're like the mule standing between two bales of hay; unable to decide which one to eat and afraid of making the wrong choice, you stand there starving to death.
You must act.

The need to do things perfectly and the desire to control every possible outcome will keep you stuck. Anytime you're immobilised by the prospect of making a mistake you've forgotten this principle: failing doesn't make you a failure, quitting does.
Not learning does.
Failing to see beyond it does. And remember, over time goals can change; what's needed today may not be needed a year from now. So reassess your plans regularly, and be willing to change direction when needed.

Regards

[Julian]

Good thoughts, as always,
Julian

[janesco]

Hi Muppet

To be fair I think I am the King of procrastinators. I keep remembering that if I miss out on this deal theres always another one on it's way.

Having said that I can certainly relate to the "fear factor" experienced by the mule Graeme mentions.

A few years ago I purchased my first IP. I had dreamed about it for a couple of years. read all of the good books(including Graemes). Finally I had pre approval from the bank. I had advice on real estate salespeople to deal with. I had even set up the LAQC. Time to buy right????

This was the hardest time. I found the house, well two on the one section actually ( Mr Trass would be pleased). $395k negotiable. sounds good finally offer $385k. The vendor wouldn't budge $395k take it or leave it. What do I do? What do I do?

Fear is the one emotion that can both motivate you into action or totally immobilise you. Thoughts charged through my mind. "The deal is still good you know it is. Do it. Do it. Do it. " " But what if ....." I'm sure you get the drift.

I could never Bungy Jump. "The cord won't break you know it won't. But what if..."

The first deal was the hardest I have ever had. Yes I did buy it. Yes it was one of the best moves I had ever made. The property concerned is in Papamoa. I think everyone knows what has happened to prices in the area. I still own it and it is the Jewel in the crown of Janesco. But it was the hardest to move on.

Today I find that I have gone unconditional or taken possession on properties and not even given it a thought on the day it occurs.

But that first one........

[fudosan]

The first purchase is always the hardest, as it involves a lot of uncertainty and other people's money.

[muppet]

Hi Guys

Here is Part two from Graeme

How To Make Great Decisions (2)
Usually our biggest mistake is being afraid of making a mistake. In 'The Psychology of Achievement', Brian Tracy tells of 4 multimillionaires who made their fortunes by age 35. All 4 tried an average of 17 different things before they found what made them successful. Imagine failing 16 times before you discover what works. Could you handle that? We're too quick to judge things as failures when they're just learning experiences. Edison said, "Many of life's failures were just people who didn't know how close they were to success when they gave up." Only by allowing yourself to fail, do you give yourself permission to succeed. So, what should you do?
(1) Consider all your options. Then discuss them with the right people.
Find those knowledgeable in your field who are willing to support you.
And never hesitate to discuss your plans because you're afraid they
might not work. Swallow your pride. If you grew up in a culture where
failure always brought condemnation, you must change your thinking
before you can move forward.
(2) Lighten up. Nowadays everything's a big deal. Chill out and stop
taking yourself so seriously. J.I. Packer says, "A moment of conscious
triumph makes one feel that after this, nothing really matters; a moment
of seeming disaster makes one feel like this is the end of everything.
But neither feeling is realistic; because neither event is really what
it's 'felt' to be." Don't get bent out of shape; you'll handle it. Remember: 'All that happens... is working for our good.'

Regards

[fudosan]

Very inspiring!

[Julian]

Janesco

Your story sounds similar to many in Susan Jeffers' book, "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway!"

For others that catch themselves vacillating when interesting opportunites present themselves this could prove a good read.

Julian.

[orion]

Here's Part 3, not sure why it wasn't put on before.

How To Make Great Decisions (3)
(1) Learn from every decision. When things don't seem to work out, we've
a tendency to play the blame-game. That's not good. One woman said, "I
hated my broker when my stocks plummeted. Finally, after admitting that
nobody twisted my arm to buy, I realised that: (a) I should have done
more personal research; (b) I needed to deal with my insecurities; money
is a big trigger for me; (c) it wasn't the end of the world; stocks go
back up as mine did later. So, it wasn't such a bad decision after all."
Stop allowing yourselves to be unsettled. By accepting
personal responsibility for your life and learning from each decision,
you gain wisdom.
(2) Never protect what you need to correct. Don't become so invested in
a decision that you stick with it regardless. Writer, Stewart Emery
describes being in the cockpit of a plane and noticing a particular
console whose function was to keep the plane on course and on time.
Anytime the plane veered off course the system corrected it and they
arrived on time - despite having been off track 90% of the time. Emery
says: "The path from here to where we want to be, starts with an error
which we correct, which becomes the next error which we correct, etc.
The only time we are truly on course is the point in the zigzag when we
actually cross the path." So stay flexible and learn to make course
corrections - the quality of your life depends on it!