Why do we make excuses for everything in our lives? I have done it and you have too.
We are drowning in debt but our excuse for not getting a side hustle is, “I don’t have time.” We hate our job and have a dream of what we would love to do with our lives but our excuse is, “I don’t know where to start.”
We see others who are living the life we really want and we say to ourselves, “They have a fantastic family who has supported and loved them since they were young. If I had that, I would be successful too.”
There are hundreds of other excuses we could list here but you get the idea.
So sad that we allow our lives to pass without ever really living. There is so much we dream of doing yet we allow excuses to rob us of all of that possibility.
Excuses will rob you of every dream, goal and desire you have!
Why not decide to make the second half of 2018 the season where you stop making excuses?
The definition of excuse is interesting…
Excuse: to give an apology for or to try and remove blame from.
Interesting, our life is OUR life, but everything (or everyone else) is to blame for the circumstances we find ourselves in.
I do understand that things happen in life that truly are not our fault. Difficulty comes, people are mean, we lose our job, our parents did this or that to us, we were qualified for that promotion and didn’t get it. We went through that divorce and were left with a mountain of debt. I know! Some things happen and we find ourselves digging out of a hole that we didn’t create.
However, what you choose to do from this moment forward IS your fault! You can choose to make better decisions, go back to college, start a business, pay off your debts and choose better people to be around.
If you don’t stop with excuses then your life won’t change and you will be exactly where you are one year, three years, and even five years from now.
“Time will pass, what do you plan to do with it?”
Let’s get rid of that debt THIS YEAR! Let’s start that side hustle THIS MONTH! Let’s create that budget THIS WEEK! Let’s sit down TODAY and make a plan for your life! Stop sitting around hoping and wishing that your dreams will just happen. They won’t!
Here are Seven Ways to KILL Excuses!
Apply these to debt, creating a side income stream or anywhere your life needs improvement.
1. Own where you are.
You cannot change anything until you see that there IS a problem. Take a long look at where you are. Once you own it, then you can change it.
Write down on a piece of paper what your current circumstance is. Next, write down how you got there. Regardless of how it happened, you are now responsible for changing things.
2. Refuse to be negative.
Every time a thought comes into your mind that is negative, replace it with three things that are good in its place. There is no room for that negative voice if you drown it out with positive.
What you look at the longest, becomes the strongest. So stop looking at the negative. Replace every negative thing with something positive.
3. Make a plan. Excuses will rob you of everything in life that you really want. Instead of sitting around telling yourself and everyone around you why you cannot do things to change your life, plan for success!
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.
Write down what your game plan is. Step one, step two, step three. Sometimes, just writing it down makes it all feel different.
4. List. Change. Repeat.
List all of the excuses you can come up for why you cannot get out of debt or start that side hustle. I mean it! EVERY single excuse you can muster.
Once that is complete, right beside it change the excuse to the exact opposite.
For example, “I can’t get a side job because I have kids and I have no one to take care of them.”
Now, on the other side write something like this, “I need to get a side job because I have mountains of debt and if I don’t find childcare this debt will never go away. Now, who do I know that is willing to help me?”
Do this over and over again until you actually DO something about your situation. I find that when I change what I am saying to myself, I change my actions.
5. Be accountable.
Tell at least 2 people what you are doing, why you are doing it and ask them to check in with you on your progress. When others know what we are doing and they also know we have chosen them to be accountable to, they tend to ask about our wins.
A word of caution here! DO NOT tell “Negative Nancy” what you are doing! She won’t be the one who will encourage you to go for it! She will be the voice of doom and will STEAL your dreams every single time. Go to someone who truly cares about you and be open about what you want to do, your fears and concerns and what your “game plan” is to get started. Telling someone who is a positive resource in your life will prove to be the best decision you will ever make!
6. Visualize yourself at the finish line.
This is huge right here! You must sit on your own from time to time and see yourself at end of your journey.
What will life look like for you? How will you feel? What will you be able to do that you can’t do right now? What vacations will you be able to take? How will you be able to bless others who are in need?
If you don’t visualize what success looks like, how will you know once arrives?
7. Believe anything is possible.
Did you know that you believe the sound of your own voice more than any other? So, if someone else says they believe in you that is good. However, if YOU say that YOU believe in what you are trying to accomplish that means something totally different.
I know you have probably heard the statement by Henry Ford,
“Whether you think you can or you can’t. Either way you are right.”
Your brain is very powerful and will work overtime telling you what you can or can’t do. It is time to make your brain behave! Start to believe that you can achieve what you desire.
When you stop making excuses, you have removed the ONE thing that stands in your way of success! Excuses have the power to destroy your biggest dream! If you replace excuses with belief, it will build your life to everything you are dreaming of.
Good luck in your journey towards eliminating excuses! If you never allow yourself to make them, then there will be nothing standing in the way of your success!
I would love to hear what you have been able to achieve in your life once you eliminated excuses. Please share with our readers!
