“It doesn’t matter.  Come on, honey, it’s not that difficult.”  My youngest was agonizing over this standard menu.  “Just pick something.  Decide.”  Gone were the days of a simple Happy Meal.  The Gen Y worker stared at us, unhelpfully, wondering why I failed to teach my daughter how to make simple decisions.  I could feel the cattle getting impatient.

“Just decide!”

Some of us make a huge deal over simple decisions–decisions of no real consequence: what to eat, what to wear, what music to download.  Bigger decisions: who should I call on today?  what attitude do I choose?  should I close again?  Biggest decisions: where to live, where to work, whom to marry.  Certainly the big ones require more thought or prayer.

However, you find that if you don’t practice making decisions, you’ll tend to procrastinate, which in turn will reinforce a bad habit–indecision.  A quick decision is often the best decision and is certainly better than no decision.  My advice to you as a sales professional: practice deciding!

Research has shown that successful people tend to make decisions quickly and are slow to reverse a thoughtful position.  On the other hand, people who fail usually decide slowly and change their minds a lot.  So, make decisions and stick by them.

Decide to be on schedule.

Decide to really connect with prospects.

Decide to ask for the order.

Decide to become a great decision-maker. 

Indecision is the greatest thief of opportunity.

Question: how do you make decisions?  How do you weigh your options?  Are you a Big Mac person, or do you go for the value meal?  Better yet, how did you decide to sell another summer with Southwestern–in spite of your anxiety?  Think about your mental process and feel free to share your thoughts with everyone.

Her self-talk was part of her problem; her habit of not deciding was another part.  I shared with her that the more decisions she made, the better she’d be at making decisions.  Making decisions is like working out: the more you do it the easier it gets–just like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it gets.  (Wow, I’ve just incorporated a simile!) 

I also thought it would be good for her just to practice deciding.  We started off with easy stuff: where she would get lunch; what she would do back at school, etc.  Doing reps with a 5 pound weight would be easy (this is what we call an analogy). Later, we discussed bigger decisions: her goals, her purpose, and her plans for next summer–heavier weights for sure. 

I told her what I’d learned from Southwestern sages ages ago: that you have to decide not to decide!  That procrastination is a decision–a decision to delay.    I also shared that putting off decisions rarely solved the emotional challenge she was feeling.  

I liken it to a pilot landing a plane in rough weather. 

Have you ever been on board a plane that was approaching the runway, and then just took off again for reasons unexplained?  Making a decision might be like landing a plane (another simile)–as you approach your “decision runway”, it gets tougher; there is stress.  Deciding not to land, “taking a wave off” and heading back into the sky definitely reduces the stress of having to land, but you are still aloft!  The holding pattern can only last so long.  At some point, you need to land the plane (or decide).  All the emotions, the fears, the stress–they are present whenever you decide.  The momentary relief of procrastination does not solve the problem–it just delays it. 

So guess what my advice is?  Don’t delay. Decide!  As Socrates once said, “I have heard; you have listened.  You know the facts.  Now give your decision.”  Socrates was hard-core logical.  (I’ll let you try to use that as a close in your next sales presentation.)  

As a salesperson, are there decisions you need to make-soon?  Are there clients you should be contacting but haven’t?  The saying about “putting off until tomorrow what you should do today” is better said: “Do it now!”