The Magna Carta of Decision
The only thing standing between you and what you desire is a decision.
A study in what it means to make a decision: the first step of all achievement.
These are not merely words. They are a philosophy. Study them until it feels as natural and automatic as breathing.
Glossary of Terms
Decide — from Latin decidere, from de (off) + caedere (to cut) — to cut off.
Indecision — from Latin in (not, without) + decisio (a cutting off) — the absence of a cut.
Procrastinate — from Latin procrastinare, from pro (forward) + crastinus (of tomorrow) — to push forward to tomorrow.
Sacrifice — from Latin sacrificium, from sacer (sacred) + facere (to make) — to make sacred.
Consecrate — from Latin consecrare, from con (completely, wholly) + sacrare (to set apart) — to make wholly and completely sacred.
Preamble
A decision is a cut.
From the Latin decidere — to cut off.
When you decide, you sever yourself from every other possibility and commit to one.
The blade falls or it doesn't.
I. On Indecision & Procrastination
Indecision is the absence of a cut. Procrastination is a broom, sweeping the task into tomorrow.
This is purgatory: the land of indecision and procrastination. Not here, but not there either, a no man's land. You are straddling two desires while living neither. It's the bind between the seductive possibilities of what you want and the warm comfort of what you have.
A decision is freedom from purgatory.
II. The Condition for Making a Decision
There is only one condition for making a decision.
Do I want it?
Not: is it realistic? Not: is it guaranteed? Not: will everyone approve?
Do I want it?
That is the only condition for making a decision.
III. The Cost of a Decision
Every decision incurs a loss. It is the loss of everything else you didn't choose: the graveyard of unchosen "what if's."
If it requires grieving, grieve it.
The cost of a decision is everything else you could have chosen. The cost of not deciding is the thing you actually want.
IV. On Sacrifice
Every decision requires sacrifice.
Every time you choose one thing, you give up everything else; it is sacrificed for the thing you choose.
From sacer — holy. Facere — to make.
The things you release in the act of choosing are not wasted. They are made sacred by the act of letting them go.
V. On Consecration
To consecrate is to make wholly and completely sacred.
A decision is a consecration — the total giving of yourself to the one thing you have chosen.
This is where decision becomes devotion.
Decision is the blade. Sacrifice is the release. Consecration is the vow.
VI. The Trilogy
Decision. Sacrifice. Consecration.
You decide — and cut away everything else. In doing so, you sacrifice — the unchosen paths are made sacred in the act of releasing them. What you are left with, you consecrate — you give yourself to it completely. No half-measures. No one foot in, one foot out. No straddling two choices while choosing none.
This is how a decision creates freedom, power, and results.
Decision. Sacrifice. Consecration. You choose. You release. You commit.
VII. On Definiteness
There is a different energy to a definite, clear decision than an ambiguous, vague one.
The definite decision clears the room. It tells your mind: this is settled, now execute.
The vague intention haunts the room. It sits in the corner and stares at you.
Clarity drives action. Decisions that are vague are not actionable.
VIII. On Courage
The value of a decision is proportional to the courage it costs.
Great decisions — ones that change the course of a life — require you to assume great risk.
Most decisions are not asking you to stake your life. Most decisions are asking you to stake your comfort. Your certainty. Your need for everyone to think you are doing the right thing.
IX. On Opinions & Counsel
Opinions are the cheapest commodity on earth. Everyone has a flock of them, ready to hand over whether you asked or not.
Close friends mean well but beware: they will still clip your wings with a laugh, a raised eyebrow, an are you sure about that?
Guard your decisions. Know the difference between a hostile environment and a fertile one. One grows and advances your decision, the other smothers and kills it.
X. On Leadership & Direction
The world makes room for the person whose words and actions show that they know where they are going.
Leaders decide quickly and firmly. It is the service they render — they end the uncertainty so that others can move.
To know what you want, decide you want it, and decide you'll have it — that is the beginning of all achievement.
XI. There Are No Bad Decisions
There are no good or bad decisions. There is only this decision and then a new decision.
You are not trying to find the perfect choice. You are building the habit of choosing.
Each decision strengthens the muscle. Each one closes the gap between who you are and who you are becoming.
Make the decision. Then make the next one. That's what successful people do. That's what great leaders do. That's what you need to do.
XII. The Oath
I know that the only thing standing between me and what I desire is a decision.
I will not push to tomorrow what belongs to today.
I will make that decision.
I will sacrifice willingly, knowing that every cut honors what I release.
I will consecrate what remains, committing myself to it completely.
I will remember that indecision and procrastination are not protecting me: they're stalling me.
I know that the cost of not deciding is the thing I desire.
I know that the world makes room for those who know where they are going.
Decide. Sacrifice. Consecrate.
I choose. I release. I commit.
Therefore, I move. Therefore, I arrive.
XII. The Oath
I know that the only thing standing between me and what I desire is a decision.
I will not push to tomorrow what belongs to today.
I will make that decision.
I will sacrifice willingly, knowing that every cut honors what I release.
I will consecrate what remains, committing myself to it completely.
I will remember that indecision and procrastination are not protecting me: they're stalling me.
I know that the cost of not deciding is the thing I desire.
I know that the world makes room for those who know where they are going.
Decide. Sacrifice. Consecrate.
I choose. I release. I commit.
Therefore, I move. Therefore, I arrive.
Unless you know better ones.
