“I need you to go out to the orchard and pick a basketful of apples,” a mother instructed her young daughter. “Just walk row by row and pick the prettiest ones. There are plenty on the trees, so just check each tree once and move along. You won’t have time to dawdle; I’ll need them in time for lunch in a half-hour.”

The girl thought this should be simple enough when she arrived at the orchard. However, as she walked the rows of trees, she found it difficult to choose. Each apple she inspected seemed to be of exceptional quality.

She would look over one tree, but decide that the next tree might hold better apples. After all, she only wanted to pick the best and reddest. But when she reached the edge of the orchard, her basket was empty. And she was late for lunch!

“All those trees and I couldn’t make up my mind,” she thought. “What if I didn’t get the best ones?”

Was it the fear of making a poor decision or just uncertainty? That day, she realized that hesitating to make a decision and holding out for something better had prevented her from realizing the value of what was right in front of her.

We have all second-guessed ourselves or hesitated at some point -- and usually for good reason. Perhaps new information came to light, or a budget couldn’t be stretched, or staff couldn’t handle any more work. Those are reasonable causes for hesitation.

And while I often advise people to trust their instincts, it’s also important to know the difference between hesitating and deciding on inaction because you don’t know where to begin.

Small or large problems that can be overcome should not hold up a project when all the other elements are in place. Putting off a decision disrupts the momentum when key players are ready to go.

When indecision and hesitation go beyond the necessary fact-gathering and initial planning, find a way to take a first step.

If making a decision is the problem, explore the possible reasons: Fear of failure, fear of success, lack of resources or experience, tight deadlines, even sheer laziness -- all are potential buzzkills.

Those are, however, all surmountable problems. Fears, even when reasonable, are only as scary as you make them. Failure isn’t fatal, as I like to say, and success is sweet. Visualize what a completed project would look like and go from there. Put your imagination to work, and allow yourself to dream a little. Think about what could go right instead of what could go wrong.

When resources are in short supply, turn it into an opportunity to make do with what you have. Look for ways to repurpose existing budgets or staffing to adjust to changing needs. It's not always simple, to be sure, but organizations face similar challenges every day.

If you’re short on experience, get busy and study up. Find a mentor, take a class, read everything you can get your hands on. Pick the brains of your staff and colleagues.

If laziness is the big issue, then my suggestion is to move aside and get out of the way for those who can get the job done. Seriously. Motivation is critical to decision-making, and if your hesitation is causing a project to suffer, then the problem is not the project.

I’ll share a little rhyme that has helped me get moving when I need a jump-start. I wish I could find the author so I could express my gratitude for the inspiration. See if it doesn’t help you too.

How and When

We are often greatly bothered

By two fussy little men,

Who sometimes block our pathway –

Their names are How and When.

If we have a task or duty

Which we can put off awhile,

And we do not go and do it --

You should see those two rogues smile.

But there is a way to beat them,

And I will tell you how:

If you have a task or duty,

Do it well, and do it now.

If you see yourself in this little ditty, it’s time to rethink your future. Because the future belongs to those who act!

Mackay’s Moral: “Do it well” -- or why bother? “Do it now” -- and then get on to the next challenge!

I’ve been mighty busy lately launching my new book, “You Haven’t Hit Your Peak Yet!” So it was a real pleasure to finally get to the neglected stack of books in my office that I have been saving to read and savor.

One in particular commanded my attention, and it was absolutely worth waiting for. My old friend Jack Canfield wrote a real masterpiece, “The Success Principles,” in late 2004 and has since revised and updated it. Frankly, it wouldn’t matter when this book was written. The advice is timeless.

You likely recognize Jack’s name from the wildly successful “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series, co-written with Mark Victor Hansen. The first book was rejected by more than 100 publishers and was eventually sold to a small Florida publisher. They had the last laugh. Since the first book came out in 1993, the series has sold more than 500 million books worldwide.

Success is perhaps my favorite topic. The definition of success varies from person to person. Is it all about financial achievement and status? Is it more narrowly related to job satisfaction? Is it enough to be happy and grateful for what you have?

Probably the question I am asked most often is “How do I become successful?” Jack quotes our friend, the late Jim Rohn, who explained, “You can’t hire someone else to do your push-ups for you.” That’s the formula for anyone who wants to achieve success in any endeavor. YOU have to do the work. YOU have to stay motivated. YOU have to have the plan to get to where you want to go.

As Jack writes, “If you want to be successful, you have to take 100% responsibility of everything you experience in your life. This includes the level of your achievements, the results you produce, the quality of your relationships, the state of your health and physical fitness, your income, your debts, your feelings -- everything!

“This is not easy,” he warns.

In my experience, it is so much easier to blame someone or something else for my failures. But I would be wrong to do that. I understand that sometimes circumstances are beyond my control. That doesn’t mean I can ignore my reaction to those circumstances. I understand that people don’t always respond as I wish they would. That requires me to adapt my approach and reevaluate my actions. I need to be responsible for how I act/react.

Jack offers up plenty of lessons and exercises to put readers on the road to success. One in particular that really intrigued me was to make a list of 100 successes you’ve had in your life.

“My experience is that most people do fine coming up with the first 30 or so; then it becomes a little more difficult,” he says.

“To come up with 100, you are going to have to list things like learning to ride a bicycle, singing a solo at church, getting your first summer job, the first time you got a hit in Little League, making the cheerleading squad, getting your driver’s license, writing an article for the school newspaper, getting an A in Mr. Simon’s history class, surviving basic training, learning to surf, winning a ribbon at the county fair, modifying your first car, getting married, having your first child and leading a fundraising campaign for your child’s school. These are all things you probably take for granted now, but they all need to be acknowledged as successes you’ve had in life,” he writes.

I interpret that as meaning success begins long before you start a career or score a big promotion and corner office. You’ve likely achieved a good measure of success before you even graduate from high school. If that doesn’t boost your self-confidence as you approach your first job interview, I don’t know what will.

The bottom line is this: If you are determined -- and I mean really determined -- to succeed, you can. Success is not an end result; it is a series of actions, activities and relationships that prevail over all other factors. Bear in mind, you may have to adjust plans or expectations along the way.

Books like “The Success Principles” will help you define your future. But the only thing that keeps you from being successful is you. Or, as I like to say: Believe in yourself even when no one else does.

Mackay’s Moral: You become successful the moment you decide to be.

The Minnesota Vikings were playing the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the 2020 NFL playoffs when wide receiver Adam Thielen made a crucial mistake on the team’s opening possession. He fumbled, and the Saints were able to kick a field goal off the turnover.

Shortly after his fumble, Thielen was caught making a motion with his hand like he was flushing a toilet. Turns out he was implementing a “mistake ritual” called "the flush.” Dr. Cindra Kamphoff, a mental performance coach, taught this drill to Thielen and his college teammates, and it has served him well. He went on to have a big day and made the crucial catch to set up the Vikings’ winning touchdown in overtime.

“One component of mental toughness is the ability to live and let go,” Kamphoff told ESPN. “We’ve got to learn and burn. You have to learn from the mistake quickly and then we have to burn it. We have to let it go. That’s the heart of it. The reason we want to do that is to remain in the present moment because the past play we can’t do anything about. We can’t change it. All we can do is reset for the next play.”

The majority of us aren’t judged by our mistakes on national TV. Pro athletes, entertainers, restaurant owners, college professors, politicians -- anyone who is out in the public eye has to live with scrutiny and negative reviews on social media, and hope for the best. A little mistake looks a lot bigger when it's broadcast all over the country. Maybe it’s not always fair, but it’s the world we live in.

As I like to say, failure is not fatal. My best advice: Acknowledge that even as good as you are at your job or life in general, you are not perfect. That is not, however, a reason not to keep trying for perfection.

Despite your best and most creative efforts, your innovative project has failed. Don’t despair. Jeffrey Baumgartner’s Innovation Excellence website recommends analyzing the failure by asking these questions:

What went right? Most mistakes have some redeeming qualities. Identify things that went well. Incorporate those small victories into your next project.

What went wrong? Look at where you tripped up. Make a list of the mistakes you made so you’re clear on the root causes of the failure.

Why did it go wrong? Maybe your process was flawed, or you had bad information or you made incorrect assumptions. Ask the people around you for their perceptions. When you know why things went wrong, you’ll be better able to avoid mistakes when you get back to work.

Are you repeating mistakes? Make sure you’re not making the same mistakes over and over again. Look at past failures to determine whether your process is flawed in some way. As Winston Churchill said, “If you simply take up the attitude of defending a mistake, there will be no hope of improvement.”

What can you salvage? Take a look at the end result and see if you can find something useful to recycle -- data, equipment, product components, whatever. Your project won’t be a complete loss if you can repurpose at least some of its elements.

Thomas J. Watson Sr., an early CEO of IBM who was fundamental in shaping the trajectory of the company, said of mistakes: “Double your rate of failure ... Failure is a teacher -- a harsh one, perhaps, but the best ... That’s what I have to do when an idea backfires or a sales program fails. You’ve got to put failure to work for you ... you can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because that’s where you will find success. On the far side of failure.”

Mackay’s Moral: Don’t let a misstep make you fall flat on your face.