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Call It What You Want, It's Still an Excuse
Sometimes we don't ask for productivity right away. All we ask for at first is activity. Now, it's pretty easy to check activity. If someone joined the sales organization and he is supposed to make ten calls the first week, it's pretty simple on Friday to say, "John, how many calls did you make?" Johnsays, "Well..." You say, "John, 'Well...' won't fit in my little box here." AndJohnstarts on a story. You say, "John, the reason why I made this box so small is so a story won't fit. I just need an activity number from one to ten."
Jim Rohn, excerpted from Take Charge of Your Life
How big are the stories you tell? Does your checkbox keep getting larger?
What is your story? What's your reason not to do what you ought to do? Call it a story, a reason, an explanation, the rationale behind the reason, or a "just because." They are all excuses.
Excuses are lies (usually) we tell ourselves to justify our actions or inactions. Have you ever used the following stories?
Excuse: It takes too long. Story: I don't want to put in the effort or the time it takes to make this happen. I am impatient. I want things NOW, not later.
Excuse: I don't have time. Story: There are too many other things to do and they keep distracting me. OR, I haven't been willing to make this a priority - I am too busy doing less important tasks and/or not making the best use of my time.
Excuse: I don't have the money. Story: I am overspending on frivolous items, my credit cards are maxed out, I lent my friend money and he hasn't repaid me yet, I am not a wise money manager, and I'm stuck in a dead-end job.
Excuse: I just don't have the energy to work out. Story: I work long hours, eat on the run, smoke too much, the health club is too far away, and I like to watch TV.
Excuse: I can never learn how to do that. Story: I don't want to take the time to learn a new skill. I'm too old and too set in my ways to learn anything new. It's too much trouble to attend class, it costs too much, I can't find the time...
Excuses hurt. They keep you from doing what you ought to do and from developing the discipline to make that happen. When you tell yourself "I can't", "I won't", or "I didn't", and accompany those words with a story you will continue to complain about how tough life is and how nothing ever works out for you. Success will remain elusive.
Change your words to: No matter what life brings my way and no matter what I want to accomplish I will find a way to make it happen. I will take control of my life and stop making excuses.
How do you stop making excuses?
- Write down three things you really want to do, which you haven't been able to do because you keep making excuses.
- Write down the excuses you've made for each one which keep you from moving forward.
- For each excuse, come up with a plan to defeat the excuse. For example, if you tell yourself you don't have time to exercise, then you must reprioritize and remove a low priority activity that takes time away from the more important one of exercising. Likewise, if you don't have the money because you spend too much, then freeze your credit cards and leave home without them.
Excuses, or whatever you want to call them, are self-defeating. Don't let them defeat you. Replace the stories in your checkbox with an activity number.
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