Nope, I can’t.
I don’t have time.
I don’t have the resources.
Blah, Blah, Blah.
Excuses, Excuses…
Do you ever catch yourself making excuses all the time?
Have you ever neglected taking responsibility for the events and circumstances happening in your life?
Have you ever tried to explain away why you didn’t, couldn’t, shouldn’t or just wouldn’t do something?
These are all subtle signs that signify you are living a life of excuses. And these excuses subsequently prevent you from living your life to the fullest.
But believe it or not, there are people everywhere that are breaking away and making new patterns in their lives every single day. For as many people that seem stuck on the treadmill of wild promises, brief struggles, and regression to the mean.
People who have “been” stuck are getting unstuck and experiencing fabulous results. And that’s usually because they’re breaking free of excuses like these:
I don’t have the time.
When you make this excuse, it means that you lack discipline. Likewise, it suggests that your priorities are out of sorts and that you may be struggling to manage your time most efficiently.
If you don’t have time, build a plan that lets you leverage your money. Then squeeze in ten minutes per day. No matter how strictly regimented your time is, you can afford to give five or ten minutes to your work. It’s amazing how much progress you can make if you devote ten uninterrupted minutes to something. When you aren’t Facebooking, Tweeting, checking email or talking to someone else, you can get in a zone of uninterrupted productivity.
I don’t have the money.
When you make this excuse, it means that you don’t consider money to be a top priority in your life. You are merely looking for an easy way to make money and, therefore, don’t have the desire, determination, and persistence needed to achieve financial freedom.
This excuse also implies that you could simply be lacking creativity and resourcefulness.
Again, build a plan that will leverage your free time. Write articles. Comment on blogs, create products and make contacts. For most, connections are the most valuable thing that they have, and this can be done without money. All it takes is persistence and your willingness to reach out to other people and expand your network.
At every stage of our lives, there’s a trade-off between financial resources and time resources. The best people make the most of whatever situation they are in.
I don’t have all the knowledge and skills.
I don’t know how…
It indicates that you simply haven’t taken the time to practice, to learn, or to gain the experience or education necessary to understand what’s required to get the job done.
When you make this excuse, it means that you lack self-belief and confidence in your ability to achieve your goal. Look for plans that don’t require a big list of technical skills. There’s more than one way to skin a cat. Almost anyone can set up an account on Twitter, or make a video for YouTube.
Find people who fit in your “blind spot,” people with skills and knowledge that compliment yours. Reach out to them and work on a project together. By pooling your resources, you cut down on the piles and piles of work that’s needed to get any project off of the ground. Just get started, that’s the most important thing.
My family doesn’t support me.
That’s very tough. One of the things you can you do is rev them up in stages. Sell your friends and family in the same way you’d sell something to someone else. Start with the emotional stuff – tell them how it feels when you haven’t reached your goal (whatever that goal might be). Make sure that they’re on board with the idea that something is amiss and needs to change.
Then start discussing the causes of that problem, and how your solution will solve it. Chances are that somewhere along the line, there will be some objections – and you shouldn’t brush those aside because they’re from people that know you and have lived with you. But you’ve got to figure out what those objections are and address them, and dialogue is the only real way to do that.
If none of this works, you might have to put their concerns to the side and start educating them along the way. Nothing works to ease people’s concerns than seeing you make small successes, so start by focusing on the fundamentals and improving your ability to see things through to completion.
It’s just too hard.
Here is a scary technique that will help you see how easy your current situation is. Imagine if things got worse. If you lost your internet access, if your kids got sick if you lost your job or got stuck in a job that requires too much work for not enough money. Wouldn’t you be grateful for the opportunities that you have right now? Wouldn’t you look back and wished that you had the chance to focus, to give everything you have in preparation for future disaster?
It’s important to recognize that the excuses we make often lead to stagnation and a life full of regrets. Success in any field of endeavour requires a period of discomfort where we must venture into unfamiliar territories that lead to unexpected scenarios.
Apply that intensity and focus on that right now. Don’t let anything stand in the way between you and your success with your life and getting your finances under control.