15 Questions for Making Great Decisions
Which is Worse: Terrorists or
 Fear of Terrorists?
To Tell the Truth
15 Questions for Making Great Decisions
To succeed, you need self-confidence. Luckily, self-confidence is easy to obtain.

"SELF-CONFIDENCE is nothing more than belief in one's ability to decide and in one's decisions." -- L. Ron Hubbard

Everyone has made bad decisions: choosing friends who stab you in the back, saying the wrong thing to your spouse, spending your money unwisely. Yet to succeed and have self-confidence, you must make decisions.

When you are afraid of decisions, you build up stress, create confusion and make people wait. When you put off making decisions, you miss important opportunities.

The worst way to make decisions is to take a vote. Asking for people's opinions is like saying, "I don't have any self-confidence. Please tell me what to decide."

The first thing you need to decide is that you can make good decisions.

And how do you make good decisions?

"Given information and the purpose, anybody can make a decision." -- L. Ron Hubbard

Decision making is like playing cards. If you know the cards each player is holding, you make great decisions and win all the money.

To make good decisions, you simply need enough information.

15 Questions to Answer Before Making a Decision

You can make all of your own decisions on your own. From starting a business to changing careers, buying a house to choosing a vacation. Any decision is easy to make.

First, list all of your options.

For example, Steve is trying to decide about buying a new car. His choice is not "to buy or not to buy." In this case, he actually has three choices: 1) buy the $60,000 new BMW, 2) buy the $30,000 used Acura, 3) fix up and keep the old Toyota.

As another example, Bob asks Dorothy to marry him. Dorothy looks it over and decides she has four choices: 1) Marry Bob immediately, 2) Marry Bob after a long engagement, 3) Don't marry Bob, but keep dating him, 4) Don't marry Bob and stop dating him.

Once you have listed out your options, find the answers to these 15 questions for each of your options. You will know some of these answers and can find out the others.

Somewhere along the line, your best correct decision will be obvious.

1. What is the goal or purpose of each option?

Steve writes, "1) The purpose of the BMW is to ride in style and luxury while impressing the heck out of my friends. 2) The purpose of the Acura is to have comfortable transportation without big loan payments. 3) The purpose of the Toyota is to have good reliable transportation at a small cost."

Dorothy examines the purpose of each of her options. She writes, "1) The purpose of marrying Bob immediately is to move on with our lives together. 2) The purpose of a long engagement is to leave plenty of room for me to change my mind. 3) The purpose of not marrying, but continuing to date Bob is to learn more about him without a commitment. 4) The purpose of not seeing Bob any longer is to look for someone else. Well, I can eliminate this last option as I'm sick of looking and really do love Bob."

2. How do the purposes of each option align with your goals?

Steve writes, "My goal is to drive something comfortable I can be proud of, but not consume all of my extra money. The Acura fits that goal best."

Dorothy writes, "I have the goal to get married, so the first two options line up with that goal."

3. What are the statistics for each choice? Each of your options has statistics.

Steve can learn maintenance costs, resale value costs, miles per gallon and so on.

Dorothy can check out Bob's statistics in life. How well does he keep his word? How much money does he make? What happened with his past relationships?

When hiring an employee, his or her statistics in life and at the last job are important.

When deciding on a job, a career, a relationship, a new business or anything, you can find the track records.

4. Finances? Two vital questions: What will each option cost? How much money will each return? The cost is not a barrier if the predicted return is greater than the cost.

5. Sequences? Most people forget to look at the exact steps involved with each solution. For example, you are notified by mail, "Congratulations! You have won either a deluxe AM/FM radio, $500 cash, a 60" TV or a cruise to Alaska!" You decide to go claim your prize. You never read the fine print or ask what steps are involved. After a four-hour Mexico condo timeshare sales pitch, you get a coupon for a cheap radio.

"If I decide to buy the BMW, what happens next?" You might realize you need to wait two months before delivery. You also realize you need to get insurance, pay registration fees, sell your Toyota and so on.

When interviewing job applicants, ask "If I asked you to start on Monday, what would you do?" Some applicants say, "Well, I might not have a car. . ." or "My bird has been sick . . ." A smart job applicant says, "I'll show up five minutes early!"

6. Is this choice legal and ethical? Is it fair to everyone involved? Will you be proud of your choice in the future? Would you have any problem telling a judge or TV reporter about your choice?

7. What is the probability of success? For example, how many BMW or Acura buyers are happy enough to buy a similar car? How long will the Toyota last?

Estimate the odds of success for each choice if you have no concrete data.

Dorothy estimates the odds of a successful marriage to Bob are higher with her second option, if she has a long engagement, than the other two remaining options.

8. Do I have the resources? Resources include people, space, skill, knowledge, money and time. Do you have the necessary means for each choice?

9. What are the end results? If everything went smoothly, how would each choice turn out? What would the results be? How would it change things in a year or two?

10. What do others want me to do and why? As your choice probably affects other people, you want to know what choice they want you to make. More importantly, why they want you to make it.

Make a list of everyone who is affected and what you believe they want.

You are not asking them to help with your decision, you are merely gathering information.

11. What are the potential gains and benefits? List each of these categories for each choice.

12. What are the potential losses and liabilities? Worst-case scenarios and risks. For each risk, look at how you can protect yourself or your group.

For example, David is considering a major expansion of his hair brush company. He looks at the risks and realizes he could end with too many hair brushes in storage. To protect his group, he realizes he needs to expand his marketing and sales before increasing his manufacturing to ensure he won't have a storage problem.

Dorothy evaluates the risks of a marriage and realizes a long engagement has a much lower risk of divorce than a fast marriage.

13. What are all the barriers and difficulties for each choice? What gets in the road of each choice. Lack of money? No one else wants it? Not enough time? Fear?

David sees months of hard work to cause the expansion.

Steve sees no difficulties in buying the BMW or Acura, but lists several problems with repairing his old Toyota.

Dorothy realizes Bob might not like the third option of just dating, but would support a long or short engagement.

14. What would be easy and effortless about each choice? Some choices involve no barriers at all.

15. What do I really want? What am I willing to do? What interests me? Which choice turns me on and makes me happiest? Why do I feel like doing it?

This last question is the deal breaker. Interest and enthusiasm are vital to a decision ending up being the right decision.

An okay decision with lots of interest and enthusiasm is more successful than a brilliant decision with no interest or enthusiasm.

You never regret a correct decision. It stands the test of time. A series of correct decisions will build your certainty and confidence. And once those around you learn you are usually right, they follow your lead without hesitation.
Which is Worse: Terrorists or Fear of Terrorists?
Since 9/11, three years ago, many people are still afraid to fly in airplanes, visit New York or work in tall buildings. Many Americans are afraid of anyone who comes from the Middle East.

Just as fear of terrorism can affect a country, fear can hurt your success. Instead of working on your career or future, you get quiet or hide.

If you feel afraid, you make poor decisions. You fight the wrong targets. You feel confused.

Fears make you imagine the worse. You play little movies in your head that have nothing to do with your real life. Life seems dangerous.

Fear can also hurt your health. Your body is tense. You sleep poorly. You do not feel active.

Terrorism is a big fear, especially for many Americans. So where is the threat?

Personal Experience

Have you ever seen a terrorist? Not on the news, but with your own eyes?

If you walked in any direction from your home, how far would you have to walk before you were threatened by a terrorist? For most of us, it's a very long walk.

Have you lost money, peace of mind or personal freedom because of a terrorist? Or maybe people's FEAR of terrorism is the bigger problem.

Terrorist Purpose

The only thing terrorists want to do is scare you. That's why they're called terrorists!

Have you let terrorists achieve their purpose?

Another question: Who is helping terrorists with their mission? Who makes money or gains power from terrorism?

Chaos Merchants

L. Ron Hubbard invented a new term: Chaos (disorder, confusion) Merchants (sellers, promoters) to describe a serious problem we have in our society.

Anyone who profits from the suffering of others is a Chaos Merchant. Anyone who seeks to increase their popularity or power by making the world seem worse than it is is a Chaos Merchant.
"It is to their [the Chaos Merchants'] interest to make the environment seem as threatening as possible for only then can they profit."

"Look over a newspaper. Is there anything good on the front page? Rather there is murder and sudden death, disagreement and catastrophe. And even that, bad as it is, is sensationalized to make it seem worse." -- L. Ron Hubbard

Chaos Merchants include politicians, lawyers, arms dealers and most of all, news organizations.

Politicians feed on our fears. For example, a politician makes crime statistics seem bigger than anyone ever imagined. He promises to fight crime better than his opponent. He wins IF he scares enough people.

Weapons dealers also make huge profits by spreading chaos. For example, an arms dealer tells the leaders of one country, "That country over there has bombs pointed at you. You need to buy more bombs to point at them." Weapons dealers quietly make billions in profits.

Of course, newspapers, news magazines and television news also make big profits by spreading as much bad news as possible. The more terrifying the news, the more people will watch their television news or buy their papers and magazines.

News shows and newspaper executives say, "If it bleeds, it leads" meaning violent death or injury (blood) is the first story (the lead) for their news show or newspaper. The more vicious the crime, the more attention it receives, and the more money they make.

Terrorist Test Question

If you never watched television news or read articles about terrorist attacks, why would you be afraid of terrorists? Would you even know they existed?

More than 126,000 US citizens have died since 9/11/01 in traffic accidents--forty times more than died from terrorism. Are you more afraid of automobiles than you are of terrorists? Maybe you would be if car accidents lead the news each night.

Recommendations

To be a success, you must conquer your fears. If you feel anxious, afraid or nervous, you must make some changes to your life.

1. Stop believing Chaos Merchants. If you feel fear, notice who might have just sold you some chaos. Instead of believing them, look for yourself.

2. Stop reading about chaos in newspapers and news magazines. Consider cutting out all the news in your life. Instead, read an interesting book, do some work or have some fun.

3. When chaos is on television, watch something else. How does it help you or anyone to know about deaths, danger and catastrophes?

4. Avoid people who like to pass on disturbing "news."

Instead, spend time with people who like to pass on cheerful news.

5. After 7-10 days, notice how you feel.

If you are not sure if Chaos Merchants have any effect on you, do the above steps for 7-10 days. Then read about chaos in the newspapers and watch all the news. Listen to disturbing people for a few days. Notice how you feel now.

Benefits

Nearly everyone who breaks off all association with Chaos Merchants notices benefits like these.

* Life becomes more interesting and less dangerous.
* You eat better and sleep better.
* You laugh more easily.
* You feel healthier.
* You feel calmer.
To Tell the Truth
You succeed with you operate with honesty.

For example, you exaggerate a customer's problem so you can charge him more. This increases your income, but causes you problems. The customer can sense the lie, no matter how sincere you act. If you are caught, the penalties are painful.

On the other hand, if you understate the customer's problem, you are selling out what you know to be true. You prevent your customer from making the proper decisions. You feel like a wimp.

The only solution is to look your customer in the eye, without hesitation, and tell the truth. The customer can then act accordingly. You do your job, even if you don't make as much money and even if the person doesn't like the truth.

When you have the courage to call the truth the truth you become a powerful force. It is easy to hold a position on an honest fact.

For example, your software adds numbers incorrectly. You call the software technician who looks it over. He says, "the problem is the user; the software is fine." You pull out a calculator and prove the computer's answer is wrong.

Because you know the truth, you refuse to agree with the technician. No matter how smart the expert is, or how inexperienced the user is, you KNOW the figures do not add up. You have personal integrity.

The same idea applies to your family, spouse and friends. You agree or disagree based on what you know to be true, not on what THEY want you to say or believe.

Integrity

Integrity means you are honest, complete, honorable. It means you hold to your personal code of conduct. You stick to what you decide is right and wrong.

When you live with integrity, you succeed. You are open and honest. Your life is uncomplicated and less stressful.

When you have good integrity you do not lie. You can look at yourself in the mirror. You have nothing to hide.

The Best Code of Conduct for You

So what is right and ethical for you? How do you work out your own code of conduct?

"WHAT IS TRUE FOR YOU is what you have observed yourself

"And when you lose that you have lost everything."

"What is personal integrity?

"Personal integrity is knowing what you know--

"What you know is what you know--

"And to have the courage to know and say what you have observed.

"And that is integrity

"And there is no other integrity." -- L. Ron Hubbard

No one needs to tell you what is right or wrong. You can see and decide for yourself.

For example, Doug may decide it is perfectly fine to drink wine with dinner. Wally may observe the same issue and decide it is wrong to drink wine. Both individuals made their own decisions. Both are operating with integrity.

Maggie may decide spending money on vacations is a crime while Joyce may decide skipping a vacation is a crime. Both make their own decisions about what is right and wrong.

Like most people, you have probably decided it is wrong to not support your family, abandon a friend, steal from your company, cheat on your marriage, shoplift, abuse drugs and so on.

You probably believe it is good to work hard, be kind to your parents, have fun, pay your bills, tell the truth, return things you borrow and so on.

You know the truth when you see it. You stick to your guns and build personal pride.

When you deceive your partner, you both lose a little. If you lie to your spouse, you weaken your marriage. Whenever you abandon what you know to be true, you lose.

Nothing makes you more miserable than "selling out" and failing to stick to your integrity.

10 Benefits of Living with Integrity

1. When you decide what is right or wrong for you, and act accordingly, you do not regret anything you do.

2. People follow your example and act more honestly.

3. Your powers of observation are more accurate. You can see the truth about others more easily.

4. No need to keep your stories straight as your stories are facts. Less mental work is required.

5. You handle rejection and criticism more easily. For example, you are not bothered if someone says, "Your fees are too high!" As you have no doubt that your fees are fair, you know the other person has the problem.

6. You have fewer personality conflicts with others, even when you are aggressive.

7. You fight crimes against you with more ferocity when you have nothing to hide.

8. When you make a mistake, it is easier to find the truth, accept responsibility and move forward.

9. You earn a reputation as a person with integrity. For example, employees brag about honest bosses. "He might be more honest about your work than you might want to hear, but he's fair and doesn't lie."

10. Your odds of being sued, fined or convicted of a crime go way down.
Copyright © 2003 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard. Programmed in the United States.