There will always be things that you will consciously decide you don’t want to do, for one reason or another. But it’s those things that you are not willing to do out of DISGUISED EXCUSES that will hold you back from achieving your goals.
Now I’m not talking about anything immoral, unethical or illegal. Hopefully you have good, valid reasons for not wanting to do anything like that!
I’m talking about those things you know you SHOULD be doing, but you don’t do.
You have an excuse for them, don’t you?
“I just don’t understand technology, so I’m not going to set up a new website.”
“People don’t care what I have to say, so I’m not going to make videos.”
“Calling leads doesn’t work, so I’m not going to talk to anyone on the phone.”
Look carefully at these “reasons” for not doing something. Each of them represents one of the disguises of excuse.
If your mentor tells you that you need to start marketing with video, and you start making excuses like, “I can’t make a video because…”
“I don’t have a video camera,” or
“I don’t know how to make videos,” or
“I don’t have the right software,”
…or excuses like, “I can’t write an article because…”
“Articles don’t generate enough traffic,” or
“People will not be interested in what I have to say,” or
“Writing articles takes too much time,”
…or excuses like, “I can’t talk to that person because…”
“They probably won’t want to talk to me anyway,” or
“I’m just not a social person,” or
“It’s not the right time, they look too busy,”
…then you are making excuses.
Can you identify the EXCUSE DISGUISES, as I described in the video, in the above examples?
Someone who does not make excuses doesn’t say those things.
Someone who TAKES ACTION will say,
“I’ll make the video, AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.”
“I’ll brainstorm a couple article ideas, start writing, AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.”
“I’ll talk to that person, AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.”
A person without laziness and fear doesn’t make excuses.
They might produce some videos over a two month period and determine that its not a good source of leads, or that they really don’t like doing it and want to replace it with another marketing source.
They might call a lead with a script that doesn’t work. So they use that information to create a new script and try again. They seek out and find people who have had success calling leads and learn what that person does. They might ultimately decide that calling leads is not for them.
But they only make the decision AFTER they have a LEGITIMATE reason. After they’ve had an EXPERIENCE and gotten some RESULTS.
You should ONLY make decisions based on results, NOT based on the DISGUISES of an EXCUSE.
Learn to recognize when you are avoiding the STEPS to a goal, or your decisions have no FACTUAL basis, or because you feel FEAR.
And don’t think, I’m just making an excuse for this ONE thing, so it’s OK.
That’s an excuse, too! If you make it for ONE thing, you give yourself PERMISSION to make it for OTHER things as well.
Have courage, take baby steps, and commit to making your decisions based solely on facts and experience.
Hi Jason,
I think it’s human nature to avoid things that we don’t particularly like or that feels uncomfortable. On the other hand, we often get attached to what we do like and what does feel comfortable. Neither of these patterns support growth.
It is so important to address both issues in the same manner. Work on our personal development and push ourselves beyond the realms of comfort and into the realms of discomfort.
This is really how we as people and more specifically entrepreneurs grow. By consciously facing head on all the things we have may have an aversion to. The mind and the ego will come up with all sorts of “excuses” to hold us back.
~Fredric
From Fredric´s blog… Personal Branding & Blogging Blueprint Part 1
It doesn’t take much movement outside your comfort zone to create growth. Small steps outside the zone will create discipline, and that will lead to greater ability to step out of your comfort zone.
Hi Jason
Just had to say thanks for the post and vid – very true what you say about fear as I do this a lot of times – I still have not overcome this yet so your xid has helped me a lot
Fear is good in a protection way but it can also hold us back too
Anyway thanks again
Peace Barry
From Barry Fenner´s blog… Test Post
Right on, Barry. Knock out that fear, bro… it doesn’t do you any good!
Jason, excellent post and video. Thanks for getting this important message across. It helps a lot and is very timely, as it really got me into the awareness of some of the excuses I still have… which are nothing but disguised fear.
Thanks again!!
Andre
From Andre´s blog… Don’t Even Try to Build a Network!
Fear frequently hides behind excuses. Glad you found the post helpful!
This is a great post because so many people, including myself at times, often hide behind excuses in order to avoid doing something we should be doing.
Often times, it’s simply fear that holds us back. Though I’ve found that some of my best work was done when I felt uncomfortable or fearful of the outcome. It pushes me to want to overcome that fear.
Thanks for the great post! I look forward to coming back for more.
~Angel
From Angel Taylor´s blog… Supercharge Your Relationship Building on Facebook
The only way for a person to grow is to move through their fear. It can be very uncomfortable, but it’s a great feeling to have accomplished something that you were previously afraid to do.
Thanks for stopping by, I look forward to you coming back for more!