Don’t almost do something.

In this down economy it’s easy to wallow, to let fear paralyze us from doing what we need to do. According to research by survival psychologist John Leach, when a random group of people finds itself in a sudden emergency like a fire or a natural disaster, 10 to 15 percent will consistently freak out, 10 to 20 percent will stay cool, and the rest will become dazed and hesitant sheep.

The twenty percent that stays cool, engaging tough situations with calm and confidence, are decisive people. They make decisions and go after them. They don’t hesitate. They don’t almost do something. They know that speed of execution is key to success and essential for resilience.Even a bad decision is better than no decision at all. Life is ambiguous. If we wait for absolute certainty before deciding then we may never act. You can’t wait to take a trip until all the lights are green. You’ll never go. Trying to always make the ‘right’ decision assumes that life is always simple or even simplistic. Yeah, right.

Sometimes there are no ‘right’ decisions, only alternative ones. The point is to keep acting on them and learning along the way. To do something.

Imagine there are five frogs on a log. One of the frogs decides to jump. How many frogs are left on the log? Still five- there is a big difference between deciding to jump and actually jumping. All decisions that are acted on strengthen the muscle of resilience.  As Conrad Hilton pointed out, “Success…is connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” They decide not to…