Deciding to Decide: The Second Step in the Military Decision Making Process

In the process of developing a warrior mindset, why not consider implementing the seven-step process known as the Military Decision Making Process used by the United States Army. Last month, we talked about the first step in the MDMP, which was identifying your mission and developing laser-beam focus to achieve success on that mission.

The second step in the MDMP is mission analysis. This is where you analyze your mission, break it apart, and identify what actions are necessary to accomplish the mission. Part of the mission analysis for building a successful mortgage practice is writing your business vision, a business plan and then management of your priorities.

Consider writing a business vision of what your mortgage practice will look like in one year, five years and 10 years. It is amazing when I look back on the vision I wrote eight years ago and see where my business is today. Take a few hours away from the noise of the world, envision the perfect day in your perfect practice, and write it down. There is power in writing it down.

After writing the vision, it is crucial to formulate a business plan. How do you intend to take that vision to reality? It doesn’t have to be a detailed 30-page business plan. You can write it in longhand on one page of notebook paper. But write the plan.

And finally, it is about implementation. That is where the priority management is crucial. It is easy to get off-track from your mission. As I write this article, the news this week is that Stephen Covey, author of “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” died. One of his more famous quotes is: “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

A vital part of the decision making process is knowing if to decide, and then the when and what to decide, including the consideration of the consequences of decisions. An example from my personal life is my consideration to enter a 5K race in September. If I make the decision to enter that race, I must decide when I will start to train and what the method of training will be. Considering the consequences of my decision would include scheduling times and places to train for the race.

Maybe for you the decision is to create a purchase mortgage business in the middle of refinance mania. If you make that decision, then you must decide when you will begin to focus on creating relationships with real estate agents, instead of marketing to your database for refinances.

And then what actions or disciplines will you need to implement into your business to accomplish this mission? The consequences of your decision may be that your production numbers decrease for a short period of time while you stop chasing refinances and begin to build a purchase business.

But despite the short-term consequences, which might be negative, you remain focused on the long-term success of your mission: creating a purchase mortgage business.

Going through the process of the MDMP has many benefits (it is used by the military) and can give much clarity in reaching a decision. Success in any area of your life, whether it is physical, mental, financial, spiritual or emotional, starts with a decision. The definition of decision is “The act or process of deciding; determination...the act of or need for making up one’s mind...”

You have a mission. You have analyzed the mission with a business vision, a business plan and priority management. You have now decided to decide. You have made up your mind. Now go forth and succeed.