This series is designed to help you understand the research discovered by Napoleon Hill during 20 years; research that shows the secrets to success, now available to anyone willing to apply them. He discovered these secrets by watching and interacting with Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, John Wanamaker, founder of the first department store (Hecht’s and Macy’s), and others. Hill reminds us how Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times before he made the electric light. His success formula describes the many steps that can be considered an insurance policy against failure, which changed my life. Once my mind was made up to practice these principles, everything changed for me, and it will change for you too.
We must THINK our way to success as we apply the rules he uncovered. These principles to success are intertwined with Scripture, which is extremely remarkable. This column provides a glimpse of the principles discovered by Hill. This week, we take the principle of “decision” to see how you’re doing in this area.
Before embarking upon the journey caused by a decision you’ve made, ask yourself: “Does this decision bring glory to God? Would it dishonor God?” Allow the Lord to direct your path.
The Scripture in the Book of James tells us how a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Do you decide one thing today, and tomorrow something different? That’s double-minded.
Hill’s research disclosed the fact that successful men and women must have the habit of reaching decisions promptly and changing these decisions slowly, if and when they were changed at all.
“People who fail to accumulate success or money,” says Hill, “without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions, if at all, very slowly and of changing these decisions quickly and often.” Don’t let this be you! Don’t live with an uncertain mind, can’t make a decision.
For me, the decision to start a small business was one of my best, and though I didn’t become a millionaire, my sisters and I certainly did achieve success in many ways: political appointments, large contract awards, meeting celebrities, coordination of major special events such as festivals, inaugural parades, events for D.C. mayors and two U.S. presidents. I was paid to work on the inauguration for George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton too. Look at the power of making a decision!
In fact, serving as project director for a national monument where more than 100,000 people visited annually from around the world wouldn’t have happened.
Finally, I wouldn’t be here writing this column today, because Denise Rolark Barnes would not have met me in the manner she did; it was during the annual Georgia Avenue Day Festival and Parade back in the 1980s and ’90s.
Had I not made the decision to start a business and to do everything I possibly could, with my hand in God’s hand, none of this would have happened. I would still be living in the Oakland Bay Area or in and around Los Angeles!
There is enormous power unleashed by a simple decision. You wouldn’t go to a restaurant, and after looking at the menu say, “I don’t want that, I don’t want that, and I really don’t want that, and that makes me sick to think about it,” would you?
Isn’t it a lot faster to make a decision about what it is you do want? Often, we move through life more focused on those things we do not want. Make a decision about what you do want and begin to take action, day after day just take another step up on your ladder to success.
There is a parable of a father, his son and his son’s friend. They were all sailing when a storm kept them back from shore. The father could not keep the boat upright, and the three were swept into the ocean.
Though he grabbed a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life; he knew he could only save one of the boys. The father knew his son was a Christian, but his son’s friend was not. The father yelled out, “I love you, son!”
This father knew his son would see Jesus and decided to save his son’s friend. He wanted the boy to also step into an eternity with Jesus. God gave His Son for our sins, didn’t He? He gave us Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Study more on this principle and the power of making a decision.
Lyndia Grant is a speaker/writer living in the D.C. area. Her radio show, “Think on These Things,” airs Fridays at 6 p.m. on 1340 AM (WYCB), a Radio One station. To reach Grant, visit her website, www.lyndiagrant.com, email lyndiagrantshowdc@gmail.com or call 240-602-6295. Follow her on X @LyndiaGrant and on Facebook.
