There are always a thousand reasons not to do something.
- “I’ve never done it before”
- “What if I can’t”
- “I’m afraid”
- “What if people make fun of me”
- “I don’t have the time”
Are any of these excuses really valid though? Should they stop you from giving something a try? Turn the excuses into positive reasons to act.
- “If I don’t try it, I’ll never know.”
- “I won’t be able to at first, but I’ll learn.”
- “I will use the fear of failing to motivate me to succeed.”
- “People may not understand, but I don’t need them to.”
- “I will make the time because this is my only life to live.”
I have seen many people complain about where they are at in life and they continue to keep doing the same things day in and day out. Keep working at the same lousy job. Keep wasting the evenings on mindless activities. Keep wishing their life could change.
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
- Albert Einstein
If you end up thinking of all the dreams you have for your life and then immediately shoot them down with excuses, you’ll always be stuck.
Are any of these following phrases something you’ve said recently?
- “I can’t go and do what I want to be because I have to…”
- “I want to change my future, but it is already all planned out for me.”
- “I am not good enough to…”
If you sound like this when you talk, you need to take a step back from your busy life and do some real soul searching.
Who says you have to do anything you don’t want to do? Last I checked, a human only needs food and water to survive, the rest is just icing on the cake. Control your own life.
Your future is not planned out for you. The only thing you have absolutely control over is the present. Don’t ever think you can’t do something.
You are good enough. Most everything can be accomplished with hard work and dedication.
After you read this, take 10 minutes and think about all the walls you have built to keep you from your lifelong dreams. Then tear them down and reach for the stars.
Live the life of your dreams. It is the only one you have.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Caleb, this is a really great post - so much of the stuff we could do, but don’t… we don’t do it because we set boundaries on ourselves that don’t really need to be there.
I wrote a guest post about this on SteveScottSite: http://www.stevescottsite.com/how-to-chain-an-elephant
I think the messages are very consistent.
The chaining of an elephant you describe in your guest post is the perfect example.
If you’ve read The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau he describes a similar story using a cage of monkeys that no longer try to escape because the rest of them keep pulling them back down. It has stuck with me since.
Haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my list. I’ve heard that example with crabs in a barrel rather than monkeys in a cage, but it plays the same way.
Caleb,
Great stuff!
These phrases you listed are very common.
Let me add others to the list: “It’s too late to do that …” or “they are so much better than me ..:”.
Hey Caleb,
Such a good message. I know so many people that should read this. It’s also a good reminder for myself. I think finding excuses and taking action on each one helps in accomplishing big goals.
One thing though: you didn’t quote the original source
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0664512/quotes top quote
I hate when people do this because it looks like they’re ripping it off.
Hey Joe,
Thanks for the kind words and yes, The Office uses a similar quote.