| Every success starts with a decision. The biggest | | | | decisions, you can make that will take your company, |
| waste of time, the biggest waste of life, for most | | | | your life, or your business, or whatever it may be, to |
| people is the decision they need to make but haven't | | | | a completely new level. |
| made because they can't make up their mind. | | | | For example, last year I moved from Japan, where I |
| There is power in a made-up mind. Every one of us | | | | had lived for 22 years, to Singapore. When I moved, |
| is a decision maker. We have 50,000 to 100,000 | | | | one of the things I needed to do was to make up |
| thoughts a day. | | | | my mind about where I wanted to live. That decision |
| Consider executives. During the year these men and | | | | was going to affect every waking moment, every |
| women have to make hundreds, thousands, maybe | | | | sleeping moment of my entire life in Singapore, |
| tens of thousands of decisions. If they give equal | | | | because that is where I was going to be spending all |
| value to every decision, no decision is that important. | | | | my time. So I put an incredible amount of time into |
| They may give equal time to a $1 million decision, a | | | | making the decision about where I wanted to live. I |
| $100 decision, or a $10 decision as to a $100 million | | | | looked at 47 houses before I found one that was |
| decision or a $1 billion decision. | | | | going to be exactly the right environment for me. |
| Let's have fewer decisions that have to be made. | | | | That was a decision that was worth spending a lot |
| Let's resolve to make fewer decisions. | | | | of time on. |
| There are going to be more-important decisions, and | | | | Then it came time for me to get a local cell phone |
| there are going to be monumental decisions. There | | | | because I was now living in a new country. I spent |
| are going to be such big decisions that, as you look | | | | exactly zero hours, zero minutes, and zero seconds |
| back on them, you will say the decision was worth | | | | on selecting a new cell phone. |
| making; you'll say that was the decision that | | | | How did I do that? I told my assistant, "Get me a cell |
| leveraged the results of the company. | | | | phone." She asked, "What type?" I said, "I really don't |
| Very few people understand the importance of | | | | care; you figure it out." |
| making fewer decisions. You really need to start at | | | | What you want is to hire the best. One of the |
| the beginning of the year, and figure out what is the | | | | decisions you make is to get employees who are |
| one decision, or what are the two or even three | | | | better than you at some things. |