HOW TO MAKE FIRM DECISIONS

Ronald Reagan, a former president of the United States, enjoyed telling the story of how he learned to make firm decisions. When he was a boy, his aunt sent him to a cobbler to have a new pair of shoes made for him. When the shoemaker asked, ‘Do you want a square toe or a round one?’ he hemmed and hawed, so the cobbler said, ‘Come back in a day or two and tell me what you want.’ Later the cobbler saw Reagan on the street and asked what he had decided about the shoes. ‘I haven’t made up my mind yet,’ he answered. ‘Very well,’ the cobbler said, ‘your shoes will be ready tomorrow.’ When Reagan got the shoes, one had a round toe and the other a square toe! Reagan said, ‘Looking at those shoes every day taught me a lesson. If you don’t make your own decisions, somebody else will make them for you.’ Worst case: if you get it wrong, you’ll learn what not to do next time.