Do you have a decision to make? Are you unable to make decisions? Here’s a tactic we heard on the To the Lost episode of Boardwalk Empire:

Flip a coin.

Whether it comes up heads or tails barely matters. What does matter is how you feel when it’s in the air. What are you hoping for?

It’s your intuition at work. And ultimately, it can be an important decision-making tool. If you prefer, you can use a Magic 8 ball to make your next decision.

(Unless you usually get it wrong. Then you may want to use
George Costanza’s technique.)

Whatever you do, there’s an important concept underlying these methods. It’s a systematic way to apply your intuition. Once you grasp it, it will help you make decisions in life.

Frame your options as a binary choice: heads or tails, yes or no, this or that, either or.

For example, let’s say you want to start a business. One question you may ask is when.

So get out your coin. Heads you’ll go into business now. Tails you’ll wait.

Flip the coin in the air. Do you feel a knot in your stomach? Which side do you want to come up?

More importantly, don’t stop there. Take the hoped-for answer and expand on it. Create a series of choices:

Part-time or full-time? Online or off? Start or buy? Independent or franchise?

Of course, the choices will be determined in part by the type of business you want to own. Step-by-step, you’re creating a decision tree.

By getting it on paper, you’ll be able to quickly see how choices now affect options later. You can weigh what you’re giving up against what you’re getting. Then you’ll be able to make a decision that leads to BIGG success!

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We saw a great post on BNET a while back. It was by Margaret Heffernan, author of a great book Women on Top. She talked about entrepreneurs and risk.

When writing her book, she conducted a study and found:

• women generally start their businesses with less money
  
• they have a higher success rate
  
• their firms are more profitable
  
• they create more jobs
  

What is their secret?

She notes that “the most successful had taken huge risks.”

What did they have on the line?
Savings? Check.
Houses? Check.
Retirement accounts? Check.

Did they have a product? No.
Customers? No.

Most importantly, she points out that they had no safety net.

This reminds us of something one of our friends once told us.

He started out in the corporate world. He was receiving promotions and pay increases.

So his employer was disappointed when he told them he was going to leave to start his own business. They told him he could come back at any time.

That’s where the story gets interesting. He told us that whenever things got tough, he always remembered what they said.

And it almost kept him from succeeding!

So he mentally threw their offer away. He told himself he had no other options. He had to make it. He had to win. He had to be a BIGG success.

Now he’s a millionaire many times over, in part, because he wouldn’t turn back. He wouldn’t lose. Because he couldn’t afford to.

A safety net can keep you from reaching BIGG success. Do you have a safety net?

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We continued our discussion on The BIGG Success Show with Les McKeown about his new book The Synergist. Les started over 40 companies before launching Predictable Success, a business education and consulting company that helps organizations of all sizes – from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies.

Last time, Les told us about three of the four business personalities, and how they work together in an organization to create stability and success.

Click a player to hear Les talk with George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcast.


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• why the three main personality types form an unstable triangle
  
• common conflicts between the personalities
  
• how these conflicts can hold a business back
  
• how highly successful businesses punch through this stranglehold
  
• why the Synergist is the stabilizing force
  
• how to become the Synergist

Hear more in this series
Les McKeown on The Synergist – Part 1
Les McKeown on The Synergist – Part 3

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00775-012512.mp3

We were thrilled to visit with a returning guest on The BIGG Success Show today. Les McKeown started over 40 companies before launching Predictable Success, a business education and consulting company that helps organizations of all sizes – from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies.

We talked with him about his latest book,
The Synergist.

Click a player to hear Les talk with George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcast.


iPhone/iPad/Mobile Podcast Player

• why Les wrote this sequel to his first book, Predictable Success
  
• the four personalities present in every growing business
  
• the strengths of each of those personalities
  
• how they work together
  
• which personality types work best with each other

Hear more in this series:
Les McKeown on The Synergist – Part 2
Les McKeown on The Synergist – Part 3

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00774-012412.mp3

BIGG success is life on your own terms. It’s about taking control to build the life of your dreams.

Your life is your enterprise. And you’re not the brand manager of this amazing institution.

You’re not just the CEO either. You’re the entrepreneur in charge. You own it.

Listen to this post! Click a player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcast.

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You can think about this enterprise – your life – like a manufacturing business. As a manufacturer, you carry three kinds of inventory:

Raw Materials
Your raw materials are your God-given talent, your experiences, your ideas, and more.

You bring these commodities together to create a product. While we use the term “commodities”, you should realize that your commodities are unique to you.

Work-in-process
Raw materials have value in and of themselves. However, they can be transformed into something of greater worth.

You have your natural talent. But that alone is unlikely to take you to the top. It takes work to develop your talent to its fullest.

You have your experiences. You’ve formed perceptions based on your experiences. You have to be careful here – your perceptions can increase or decrease the value of the finished product.

You have to be objective about the subjective! You have ideas. But ideas aren’t enough. As ideas go down the assembly line, your goal is to turn them into an opportunity.

Finished goods
As your ideas line up with an opportunity, a concept develops. You are able to apply your fully developed talents to this concept. You’re ready to show the world your finished product.

But you’re not through yet. You’ve manufactured the product. Now you have to sell it.

But here’s the best part – you CAN sell it. You WILL sell it.

Because it’s unique.
There’s no other product just like it in the whole world.
It’s completely custom.
It’s the secret to building your dream life.
That’s BIGG success!

Need help manufacturing your dream life? Maybe we can help.

Thanks for checking in with us today. Until next time, here’s to your BIGG success!

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00767-010412.mp3

Image in this post from Flickr