Making decisions does not lead to your long term success but rather your decisiveness does. When you come to a fork in the road, making a choice creates the power, not the choice itself. Success is built on momentum so no matter what we have chosen, if committed to it wholeheartedly, momentum is generated.

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”  – Theodore Roosevelt

One of the places where indecisiveness had become an issue in my business was my ever growing project list. A few years ago I started to feel like the weight of the world was on my shoulders because of all the “stuff” I needed to get done.  I wanted to make the right decision all the time to avoid the pain associated with a wrong decision but I wasn’t avoiding it I was creating it!

To get my momentum rolling, I took on the mantra —

Do it, Delegate it or Delete it

Do It

Nike said it best with Just Do It! Don’t wait for the perfect opportunity, it will never come. Don’t wait for the right answers to come, you may be waiting forever. The sooner you make the decision the sooner you put it into action, so what if it was the wrong one now you know and can quickly move in the right direction. Doing nothing will never move you in the right direction.

Delegate It

This was a tough one for me in the beginning because I want everything to be just right. I quickly learned being a control freak perfectionist will kill momentum along with wasting tons of valuable time. Start building a core group of individuals you can trust with your tasks. They don’t need to be business partners or employees, for years I bartered services and outsourced when possible. Don’t be afraid to leverage your position, there is always someone willing to do the mundane tasks in exchange for your experience and knowledge. This is something we do in our “Circle of Awesome Sauce” (core group) constantly, everyone wins in this situation.

Delete It

My wife loves to watch the show Hoarders. It drives me crazy and I actually get stressed out seeing all the chaos people have created for themselves by never getting rid of stuff. The same holds true for our desktops, whiteboards and endless collection of note paper. We can hoard ideas to the point where enough of them will create that same chaos as the TV show. The more we hoard the wider we spread our focus and the more time we’ll need to dig ourselves out. Two of biggest benefits I found from just deleting projects was it narrowed my focus and took the weight of the world off my shoulders. When in doubt throw it out!

Below you can see the simple outline I use to prevent myself from slowing the momentum and losing focus.

Do This Every 90 Days:

1. Grab your to-do or project list
2. Go over every item and be decisive – either Do it, Delegate it, or Delete it
3. Develop Smart Objectives to stay on track for those you keep.

The more decisive you are, the more momentum you gain and remember momentum builds success.