Take No Excuses…

Excuses, the main thing many people like to ling to, the thing many people think is acceptable. I try to live by no excuses. Lets say for example (I am a man of integrity), I like to be on time to whatever I have agreed to. If my family slows me down and I arrive late, instead of blaming my family, I take the responsibility on myself. What I am actually doing here is making myself better, I am giving myself the opportunity to make myself better. Excuses are like a ceiling, a ceiling we impose on ourselves at time to say “it is alright, this happened or that happened.” When you take excuses out of the equation, what you are actually doing is saying to yourself, no matter what I need to deliver. It no longer matters about what your family is doing, it no longer matters about friends and outside opinions, it solely comes down to you.

What you will start to see is an elevation in your productivity, you will see growth in your performance. Hall of fame coach Pat Riley says “If you are not getting better, you are getting worse.” Every time you use an excuse as an escape route from success, what do you think you are dong? Like the hall of famer says, you are getting worse, because there is no getting better from excuses and there is no middle ground. Famous philosopher Aristotle said it this way “We are what we repeatedly do.” If you continue to moan about excuses and rely on excuses, that is what you will be.

Instead of looking outwardly, learn to look inwardly, this is where the change must occur. When speaking on archery Gilbert Arland said “When an archer misses the mark he turns and looks for the fault within himself. Failure to hit the bull’s-eye is never the fault of the target. To improve your aim, improve yourself.” Realising that more times than not, looking in the mirror is the first place one should look in regards to success and development. It solely comes down to one’s mentality and beliefs. British Poet among other things James Allen said “People are anxious to improve their circumstances, but they are not anxious to improve themselves and they therefore remain bound.” I’m here to tell you that your mentality and action are linked. For you to change your circumstances, you need to change yourself.

I tell people frequently, don’t highlight problems, highlight to me the solutions. This is what the top performers in life do, they focus on positives instead of negatives. 19th century oil tycoon John D Rockefeller determined to not let negativity stand in his way and said “I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity.” Where one man/woman would quit, those who hold on often reap the rewards they were after. Take No Excuses…