Psycho-Cybernetics Part 11 of 30: Don’t Worry After the Bet is Placed
May 21, 2009 by dr. lam
Maltz observed that when gamblers played roulette they would haphazardly put their bets down but once the wheel started to turn a look of anxiety and consternation would prevail. His gambler friend advised: ”Do your worrying before you place your bet, not after the wheel starts turning.” Sage advice. Oftentimes we make a decision then start to second guess it rather than support it. We worry constantly, “Did I make the right decision? What will now happen?” Instead, we should consciously support that decision and allow it to go forward to fruition.
Kennedy, Maltz’s protégé and editor for the current edition of Psycho-Cybernetics entitled The New Psycho-Cybernetics, uses Al Gore’s famous line (whatever your political persuasion is, this reference is not meant to be political) of a “lock box”. He argues that once we have made a decision that we should put the fear and anxiety away in a lock box, i.e., to lock it away. We should think before we make a decision whether it is a good one but once it is made to let that decision go.
In his lectures to business leaders, Maltz quotes a few cogent remarks from his attendees:
“Dr. Maltz, the truth is that there are few inherently right decisions or wrong decisions. Instead, we make decisions, then make them right. That’s what leadership is all about.”
“You can always correct a poor decision, but if you do nothing, you can never get the time back.”
We will explore these ideas more in depth in coming blogs. You might want to reread some of these blogs at the conclusion of reading all of them because you will probably see more synthetically how everything fits together. Right now you are only getting pieces of a larger jigsaw puzzle.
Maltz contends that to allow our Creative Mechanism to flourish we need to live in the present moment (sound familiar?- Power of Now). If we constantly worry about a decision we made in the past or that we will have to make, we do not allow our unconscious mind to take action. Instead we cloud it. Obviously, at times we need to think and think hard of a decision but once it is made to let it go. We should practice the art of decisiveness and letting go…at a restaurant, at the shopping mall, wherever.
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7 Responses to “Psycho-Cybernetics Part 11 of 30: Don’t Worry After the Bet is Placed”
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That is a very good point to make about decisions making.
My sister, Holly, and I were talking about making decisions yesterday, so I’ll mention this to her. Great!
Thanks, Dr Lam!
I agree that making a decision, even if you need to take corrective action later on, is better than not making a decision at all.
However, at times this is tough to do. For example, it took me quite a while to make the decision to get my nose and eyes “fixed”, but as the results are not what I expected, I do at times question my decision. Admittedly, I didn’t like the way they looked before, but the changes were just much more obvious than I wanted them to be. On the upside, if I didn’t feel the need to take “corrective action” I wouldn’t have looked around for someone who could correct the too obvious changes and wouldn’t have come across your site!
So, my new decision is to see you as soon as I can:)
That is a good point.
Love it, Vancouver!!!
I think another way to look at corrective action is just another decision. Now, you have decided to have me fix it and then you can be at peace with that decision. Thanks for sharing. We missed you in our humble blogs! Have a safe and wonderfully inspiring trip coming up. I know you will do a lot of good!
Yes, of course, you are correct – taking corrective action is a decision in itself – d’uh, totally slipped by me:)
I’ll be able to catch the Monday meditation before leaving. Thanks for the good wishes for my trip and for your supportive comment! I’ll miss reading both your and Heather’s insightful postings for the next six weeks, but who knows, maybe I’ll be able to sneak a peak occassionally from the other side of the globe, and if so, you’ll hear from me:)
great! we will feel your positive energy from half way around the world!
Have a great trip, Vancouver!!