Cure Yourself Of Excusitis

You will find that the more successful the individual, the less inclined he is going to make excuses. But the fellow who has gone nowhere and has no plans for getting anywhere always has a book full of reasons to explain why he can’t……..

Persons with mediocre accomplishments are quick to explain why they haven’t, why they don’t, why they can’t, and why they aren’t. Like any disease, excusitis gets worse if it isn’t treated properly. A victim of this thought disease goes through this mental process: I’m not doing as well as I should. The problem is when you tell yourself these excuses so long you start to believe them and your actions move you to failure mode and eventually giving up. I have seen this in my business for the past 12 years, people start out great and when things get a little tough they start to talk negative to themselves that they can’t succeed. In reality if we don’t listen to our own excuses and listen to people who have succeeded we can and will reach their level, BUT it will take hard work and discipline. Some people think of hard work as not worth the effort, in reality hard work and a solid committment is the recipe for success.

Association, past accomplishments or lack of accomplishments need to be all learning experiences. If we hang around people who make excuses for everything that takes a little work, we will become lazy ourselves. If you want to further yourself you must associate with people who are going forward in life and accepting responsibility to do so. Most people’s excuses really need to be turned around as to reasons why they should do what they are making an excuse not to do. This is a cause and effect here. Here is what I hear when people make an excuse, “when the going got tough, I quit”, or “because I’m not as good at this as others, it’s easier to say I can’t instead of how do I?”

There are two things that make people use an excuse 1) Belief and 2) Ambition

1) Belief; when someone starts a sentence with “I can’t” they have already sold themselves that they won’t succeed at what they are trying to do. What needs to be done is to find a way to make it happen or fix the problem. When I say “I can’t get people to listen to me” then everywhere I go the issue is ME. Here is the good news, I can fix me if I have the ambition to do so.  Or the “I don’t have any time because we’re so busy with the kids and work and………ect. The good news is with some time management skills we can teach people how to get more done in each day with more effectiveness and less mental energy. But all of that takes ambition which is number 2.

2) Ambition; People who lack ambition are always full of excuses. An excuse that is often used is “I don’t have any money” now when we are talking about succeeding people should be ambitious to come up with money to succeed! But in their next breath that same person that just said they don’t have any money is going out to eat, has cable television, and is talking about a vacation they are planning. Or when they are offered overtime at work they grumble that they are too tired. Call me crazy but this is a big reflection of their wrong thinking.

There is a solution to these problems but again most people are quick to make the excuse with no ambition for a solution. There is a great saying “You can make a million excuses or you can make a million dollars but you can’t make both”.

Gang I challenge you the next time you feel an excuse about to come out of your mouth, seek first to understand where it is coming from and find a way around it. Look for solutions not excuses! Be a problem solver and an excuse eliminator.

Go chase your dreams!!!