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This week, there are two principles that you must adhere to in order to make your dreams a reality. One is “decision” and the other is “persistence.”
Successful people don’t quit. They don’t ponder decisions, they move without the fear of failure.
A decisive person is someone very powerful. They just go, they are not starting and stopping, they definitely do not procrastinate. If you are the person who wants your dream to become a reality, stop wishing and hoping for the right resources — you must be resourceful and make decisions quickly.
Never give up, and be persistent. You will have failures. You will have obstacles. There will be times you will question why you are doing what you are doing, times where you will be judged, but you can’t give up. Show up every single day and take action. The little steps, the small actions, add up to results. Rome indeed was not built in a day.
These are principles to success by Napoleon Hill. This week, we are discussing the two aforementioned principles, which changed my life and will change yours too!
This series is designed to help you understand the findings of Hill during 20-plus years of research which shows the secrets to success. 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 Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times before he made the electric light. His success formula describes steps that can be considered an insurance policy today, against failure for everyone who follows them.
“We THINK our way to success, as we apply the rules Hill uncovered.” These principles to success are intertwined with Scripture. This column provides a glimpse of the principles discovered by Hill. This week, we take Hill’s principle of “decision” to see how you’re doing in this area, and add his principle of “persistence” to it.
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, also tells us a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Do you decide one thing today and something different tomorrow?
Hill’s research disclosed the fact that successful people had 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, without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions, if at all, very slowly and of changing these decisions quickly and often,” says Hill. Don’t let this be you!
The decision to start a small business was one of the best decisions I have made. Though I didn’t become a millionaire, my sisters and I certainly did achieve success in many ways, for example, I had political appointments, large contract awards, meeting and working with many celebrities, etc., look at the power of making a decision from my very own example!
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 if I had not started my small business; I wouldn’t be a member of All Nations Baptist Church. And finally, I wouldn’t be here writing this column today, because Denise Rolark Barnes would not have met me. 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 Los Angeles or somewhere in California, maybe up north near San Francisco in the Bay Area, but I would not be the woman that I am today!
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.
Study more on this principle and the power of making a decision. Then once you start, never stop until the job is done.
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 Twitter @LyndiaGrant and on Facebook.