“Well, the economy hasn’t been very good at all and people just aren’t spending like they used to.” “I had planned to go to the meeting but the game went into overtime and obviously I wasn’t going to miss that!” “I just feel like I have bad luck, nothing ever seems to go my way.”
Have you ever made any of these statements or something along those lines? Have you ever made similar statements? Those are what are known as excuses… otherwise known as a well-planned lie. Excuses are the enemy of entrepreneurs. They allow us to justify our oftentimes inexcusable actions and serve no positive purpose in our lives. We’ve all made them, but we should all try to avoid them in the future.
Excuses: How Many Have You Made Today?
An excuse is something that holds back 99% of the population. They either think their circumstances dictate what they can become or they settle for something much less than what they are capable of achieving. Everyone is born with a gift and dreams. Everyone can do whatever possible to turn that gift into something special and make their dreams come to fruition. Constantly making excuses is not the answer. You need to be recognizing when you are making excuses for yourself. I’m not saying you’re Superman, but don’t fool yourself into thinking you are giving your best effort when deep down you know that you aren’t.
The competition is too established, being too young or too old, not having the time, are all just more excuses. Business involves risk. And everybody can find time to do something they truly want to do. Do you watch television? Stop and use that time to grow a business. There you go, now you have time. That wasn’t so hard, was it?
Pursuing your dreams is about taking action and doing whatever is necessary to make your goals a reality. It involves sacrifices which may include giving up a few things you enjoy doing to have more time for your business. I’m not suggesting you stop spending time with your family or neglect your health. What I am suggesting is that many other people have continued living their lives while growing a business. They are committed to figuring it out. They don’t make excuses!
From this day forward, make a commitment to identify when you’re cultivating an excuse and stop yourself. Instead, make yourself accountable for all of your actions and recognize we all have the same 24 hours in a day which to make something of ourselves. Say goodbye to excuses and start saying hello to accountability, and eventually success.
“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” -Benjamin Franklin