He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” – Benjamin Franklin
EXCUSES: We all have lots of them, don’t we. I’m too tired, too busy, it’s too difficult, It’s too risky, I don’t feel like it, I don’t have the energy, why bother,I won’t be able to do it right, I can’t..fill in the blanks.
There are a multitude of excuses we give ourselves for not taking the actions we need to take, and many of them are rooted in our past conditioning.
Let’s look at some of these excuses.
- It will be difficult.
- It’s going to be risky
- It will take a long time
- There will be family drama
- I don’t deserve it
- It’s not my nature
- I can’t afford it
- No one will help me
- It has never happened before
- I’m not strong enough
- I’m not smart enough
- I’m too old (too young)
- The rules won’t let me
- It’s too big
- I don’t have the energy
- It’s my personal family history
- I’m too busy
- I’m too scared
It will be difficult: Who said life would be easy? Change is challenging and so we get comfortable with our dis-comfort. We presume we’re stuck with it. But are you? Or is simply an excuse for not taking action?
It’s too risky: All life is a risk, right? We get out of bed in the morning, and trip on the carpet twisting our ankle! We enter relationships and hope they will be what we want. We take jobs that don’t offer fulfillment or satisfaction. We cross the street and don’t look both ways. (I got run over doing that one time!) Life is a risk. Stepping up to the challenge means dealing with uncertainty.
It will take a long time: How much time do you have? Why would you want to postpone what you need to meet the challenge, change your behavior, change your thinking, enter the game of living the life you want to live NOW!
There are no guarantees on ANYTHING, but if you set your mind to achieving what you want, you’re much more likely to get there and it may not take as much time as your thought.
The universe has a great sense of humor. Think you’re in limitation, and it will absolutely deliver it to you. Think you’re in abundance, then there is no limit to what you can achieve. As someone said, reach for the stars, and you may touch the moon. I’m all for it.
I can’t afford it: Whenever we discourage ourselves with the belief that our financial situation is preventing us from anything, that’s an excuse. It’s rarely about the money. It’s about limited thinking. Now I can hear those who love this excuse exclaim, “how can you say that. I don’t have that much money in the bank. I don’t have a high paying job. I am unemployed. I haven’t got anyone to support me.” But if you want something badly enough, you will find a way.
Excuses are the arias you sing whenever you are confronted with your fears. You can find a thousand things to keep you busy, keep you distracted, and keep you from implementing steps that would lead you to a more positive outlook on life.
The (dis)comfort zone is seductive. We think that it has always been that way, and it will always be that way. If you are a master of procrastination, these excuses keep you from truly living the life you want. Much better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know. But my response to that is “why would you want to live in hell?”
If you’ve been reading my articles, you understand by now that the power of your beliefs keep you stuck. These deeply ingrained notions affect how you live your life, how you speak about yourself, how you interact with others, and what you’re willing to do or not do to make a difference to your circumstances, your life.
Can you make dramatic changes in your life? Absolutely. Are you willing to make these changes? That’s another thing entirely. Are you full of excuses as to why not? Then change the story.
Excusitis is a dis-ease of the mind. It is curable.
Every self-limiting thought you have ever had is an excuse for not taking life by the reins and living it to the fullest. Author, James Allen said “We do not attract that which we want, but that which we are.”
Who I am is first and foremost determined by what I believe – and if I am living my life with limitations, I’m going to focus on these limitations.
But what happens when we take the viewpoint that our mental state is far more powerful than we think. That we have the power to overcome our early influences and conditioning, and move beyond them?
In War and Peace. Leo Tolstoy said “All happy families resemble each other; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” From that point of view, most of us grew up unique. How wonderful is that?
When you use excuses as the foundation for not taking opportunities, for not fully embracing the life you want to live, for missing out on the chance to be a better version of you, you are rejecting life itself.
Excuses are the barrier to joy and fulfillment. You either make excuses or you make progress. Your choice!
Ask yourself:
- Where do I make excuses for not taking action?
- What is the biggest excuse I have for not making significant changes in my life?
- If I stop making excuses what could I achieve?
Stop making excuses and start making opportunities. Life is too short to do anything else.