Think and Grow Rich - Chapter VIII, Decision

byEdwinBernard

9.2K followers

Updated 5 years ago

Chapter 8 - Decision, is one of the shortest chapters so far in the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, but an extremely important one.

It's premise is so simple and so profound.

The Price Of Indecision

Individuals who are most successful in life are good at making decisions quickly and are slow to change them. This also applies to people who have the ability to accumulate wealth.

Conversely, those who fail more often and find it hard to accumulate wealth are very slow to make decisions if at all, and are fast to change any decision they make.

Can you relate to that? Napoleon Hill teaches that it is OK to get the opinions of others and do our own research. In the end we have to use our brains to make our own decisions promptly.

Otherwise, we will let the opinions of others dictate our future. Or procrastinate and cause us to miss opportunities and fail to reach out goals.

The Effect Of Family & Friends

I found it interesting that all those years ago Mr. Hill saw that family and friends, although well intentioned, ridiculed those close to them who shared their plans.

With no facts to back up their advice they can cause a lot of harm to those who they give their opinions. Negative thinking people are prone to do more talking and less listening.

The best way to avoid getting into this situation is to keep ones plans quiet, except with your trusted mastermind group. Otherwise, we need to keep our mouths shut but our ears and eyes at full attention.

I love this advice given, "Tell the world what you intend to do, but show it first. Deeds not words are what count the most."

Decisive - The Declaration Of Independence

Napoleon described a time in the history of the United States of America where this principle was put into full force.

The 56 men who authored the Declaration of Independence were decisive. And staked their lives on it if they failed. In creating this momentous document they put into action the qualities of Desire, Decision, Faith, Persistence, the Master Mind and Organied Planning, all principles described in Think and Grow Rich.

When we seek to improve our lives or achieve an important goal, we must use as a minimum these same principles.

These words resonated with me, "Know What You Want and You'll Generally Get It." The problem most of us have is confusion in knowing what we want. It is imperative this must be crystal clear.

The last paragraph of Chapter 8 summarizes it so very clearly.

Your Life's Experiences and Decision Making

In my life the quickest decision I made was to resign from my job in England and Emigrate to Canada to seek my fortune, Once I made that decision I didn't inform the company I worked for. First, I had to apply to the Canadian Government who had to accept my application. It involved an interview at their Consulate. I was impressed with the Canadians as they made their decision on the spot to grant me an immigration visa.

It was only after that did I resign. I was so encouraged with the words of the head of my department. He had visited Canada many times on business and told me this was a good move for me. And I would love the country. He was totally right.

Oh Canada!

I didn't make this decision in a vacuum. I had family and friends who had moved to Canada and they all encouraged me to make this move. When I flew to Canada I decided to fly to Halifax in Nova Scotia and take the train across to Vancouver and back to Toronto my final destination. I scheduled a month for this journey and stopped at various cities along the way to get a real feel for my new Country.

Money was tight so I stayed in Youth Hostels, YMCA's and with family and friends.

I stayed one week in Vancouver with long-lost friends who had emigrated there from Calcutta, India where I grew up as a kid. I took a ferry ride over to Victoria on Vancouver Island.

It is a sobering thought that when I visited Vancouver Island, Kyle and Carson were not yet born! There were no personal computers, Internet, mobile phones back then.

But......

Oh Canada was so beautiful. Even though I landed in an Atlantic snow storm.

Closing Thoughts

There were several times in my life I had to make life changing decisions. Fortunately I made them promptly after weighing up the facts.

Yes, there were times I had procrastinated and suffered the consequences.

Can you think back in your life and remember one or more incidents where making a quick decision worked in your favor?

And one where you procrastinated before making a decision and then changed it very quickly that worked against you?

Sometimes we can luck out by not making a decision. When we do not make a decision to act on something using reason, that in itself is being decisive and doesn't count as not making a decision.

As always I shall be adding a link to this article in my original Think and Grow Rich blog post"

Think and Grow Rich Can Be Worth A Million Dollars To You

As a reminder, if you are following this book study group, do not forget to reprogram your mind twice each day using what you learned in Chapters 2 and 4.

If you cannot remember then it will be beneficial to return and read it. It's all about changing our habits to ones we must incorporate into our daily routine in order to succeed in Affiliate Marketing.

If we do not do the right things right and consistently, why are we even here?

It is OK to do the training at our own pace. As long as we do the right things right and regularly.

And if we fail, do not beat ourselves up. We all do. Learn from it and just fail forward.

Looking forward to hearing more great comments in the discussion area below.

Cheers.

Edwin

P.S. I was told by some that because everyone receives so many Emails and notifications it is easy to overlook my posts if it doesn't specifically state it has to do with the Think and Grow Rich book study. I listened and decided to use a title that makes it clear what these posts are about.

I thank those who gave me that excellent advice.