Here are three common lies we tell ourselves that negatively affect our decisions:

1. No time. I do not have time to do the right thing so I must continue wasting time on activities that will less positively impact my life. This is the biggest challenge for many of us because we say "no" to taking actions that we know are right because it is easier for us to continue in our bad habits.

2. Something better. Rarely verbalized, but many of us procrastinate making decisions because we think something better might come along later. It will. The problem is that "something better" usually requires us to complete the good activities we are avoiding today to get the most out of it.

3. Too expensive. We do not invest money in programs to improve our business even when it has a satisfaction guarantee because we worry about making a mistake. One key area of procrastination is investing to improve our company culture by developing the skills of our employees with training, tools and coaching.

Bottom Line: The decisions you make determine the results you achieve.

There are activities that you could stop doing today and you would still be able to achieve every one of your major objectives in 2011. Now you have the time to do what is right instead of what is easy.

There are programs you could implement today that would advance your company a critical step forward so you are not farther behind the competition when the next opportunity to improve presents itself. Now you have "something better" today that you can build upon for a stronger tomorrow.

There is always a portion of your budget that is available, or something that can be cut, so you can invest in developing your company culture, leadership skills and employee development. Now it is not too expensive, because you are following the example of best-in-class companies that regularly make these investments rather than average companies that do not.

Before you get too far down the 2011 runway consider gathering your team to pause and reflect, and possibly debate, the decisions you are making that will significantly affect your ability to achieve results. Where can you create time, invest in something that strengthens your company culture today and develops your organization into a best-in-class company?

MEETING IDEA

Deceptive Decisions is a slap in the face to wake-up about how we deceive ourselves too often into continuing our bad habits instead of investing ourselves in activities that will enable us to have a breakthrough company.

If you eliminate distractions, get everyone to slow down... and evaluate the decisions you are making it is quite possible you may identify alternative decisions that ultimately will have a more significant impact. Here are some questions to discuss with your team:

1. What should we be doing but we are not because we just do not think we have enough time?

2. What is the worst case and best case scenario of the impact on our business in 2011 and beyond if we did commit ourselves to doing these activities instead of something else?

3. What is the most important thing we could do this year to strengthen our company so it has a sustainable competitive advantage? Is this anything we discussed in #1?

4. What are our most common bad habits as an organization?

5. How are we developing our people in 2011 so we stop demonstrating these bad habits?