Have you ever had something that you’ve wanted or needed to do and just couldn’t push yourself to the edge and get it done? You know those things that after you finally did it you say to yourself: “What took me so long, what was I thinking, what an idiot I’ve been not to have done it long ago.”

I just had one of those experiences times two. For years and years I’ve been saying I was going to switch to an iPhone. For the past twenty years or so I’ve been a Nextel/Sprint customer. Being the loyal little fellow that I am I’ve always purchased their phones and made sure I had whatever their latest and greatest phone happened to be.

I don’t like to use the word “hate,” but I always ended up hating my phone. The reason I didn’t switch was fear. Fear that I would end up not getting the old line cancelled. Fear that I would lose the number I’ve had for 20 years. Fear of not being able to learn to use a fancy cool phone. 

Well, three weeks ago I did it. Yep I made a big boy decision to get on with it. Piece of cake. Nothing to it. A fantastic phone. Love it, love it, love it!  As for the customer service, totally amazing. You got questions, they got answers. 

My second decision involved my laptop. I’ve owned a Toshiba, several Dells and for the last two years an HP. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve had nothing but problems. You name it and I’ve had it.  For years I’ve been saying I was going to switch to a Mac. 

I had just finished a workshop for the Swope Group in Louisville, KY on Wednesday afternoon two weeks ago. Everything worked fine with my power point during the workshop. I get to the airport; turn my computer on and absolutely nothing. I said nothing. Zilch, Zippo, Nada, Nuttin! 

Ok, I lied. I was getting a message that said it couldn’t find the hard drive. Talk about panic. As soon as I got back in town I took it to a computer wizard to see what’s up. The wizard tells me it’s done. Hard drive is dead.  You know that feeling you get when you see those red and blues lights in your rear view mirror. That would be me. Sick to my stomach is an understatement. 

So, at this point I have nothing to lose. Apple store here I come. If you’ve not been to an Apple store you need to go. Those people know what they are talking about. Not only do they know what they are talking about but they are enthusiastic about their products. They aren’t paid on commission and they love their job. Maybe something to be learned here for your business?

If you ever buy a Mac make sure you buy the “One to One.” You can go online and make an appointment for one-on-one training. You show up at the store and spend an hour with a real expert. Awesome would be an understatement! You can learn anything and everything you could want or need to know about a Mac. 

The next time you have a problem or a question about a PC try calling your PC maker to get an answer. At best they will want to charge you for the answer and at worst you get to speak to someone in a foreign country who can only say “Did I satisfy your problem today” in very broken English.  

I purchased the Mac version of Word, Power Point, Excel and Quick Books. With a little help from the Apple trainers it’s turned out to be a piece of cake. 

If you’re still reading you’ve got to be thinking what does this have to do with my business and me? Plenty. Fear of making decisions that you know you need to make is the one thing that’s holding you back from making real progress. 

There are things that you know you need to get on with and get handled, but you continue to talk yourself out of it. 

You may be like me where it’s something as simple as a phone or replacing a laptop.  Or it may involve bigger decisions like people, facilities, training, advertising, software systems, marketing, a photo booth, one price selling, pay plans, or used car reconditioning. The list can go on and on. 

Life is full of decisions. You make dozens of them each day. Some small like which snack to buy at the Seven Eleven store. Some are large like who to keep on staff, who goes and who comes. 

But, the one absolute is that the sooner you get on with the decisions the better and then you will say “What took me so long.” That’s all I’m gonna say.