If we were to ask the most successful people in the world about their number one secret to reaching the top, possibly the answer would be “take action”.
We train, we educate ourselves, we learn … but if we do not take action, it is very difficult to succeed in our own lives.
But often, many give up their dreams every time they resort to excuses.
Making an excuse means taking a step towards the resignation of your dreams
The excuse is the formula we use to externalize our failures. This is how we justify our actions and try to go forward without feeling guilty.
When something gets in the way of your goals, it is easy to fall back on the error of pointing fingers at everything else. At first you will feel good but in the long run, you realize that this has only cost you a waste of time and energy.
To achieve your goals, you must accept the obstacles that you encounter along the way, identify how you will overcome them to return to your background race towards the finish line.
If you are not achieving the results you expect, the time has come to say goodbye to your excuses. For this, I am going to give you a series of tips that will help you to say goodbye to them once and for all.
1. Assume your responsibility
On more than one occasion I have said in this blog: nobody is going to fulfill your goals for you. You are the one who has to fight and leave the skin on them.
Therefore, take responsibility for your life. Focus on everything you can control, this will help you say goodbye to your excuses when things go wrong.
Always, always and always be responsible for everything you do and what you do not do. Even when they are matters that are out of your control. Avoid making excuses and try to identify what you can change to get a better result next time.
Knowing responsibility means being the owner of your mistakes, which will make you learn from them and overcome them.
The excuses minimize your personal power.
Once you accept what is your responsibility, you are taking control of your life.
2. Do not blame others
Blaming others is only done by people who have a small mentality.
The technique of blaming others, constantly pointing out the mistakes of others, will only cause you to deviate your view of your own.
Throwing the balls away will only make you weak.
This point is intimately related to the previous one. Once you take responsibility for your failures – and obviously successes – the bad habit of blaming others disappears.
3. Do not waste your time on banalities
Spending excessive time watching television, hooked up to the mobile phone, attending unproductive meetings, and other actions that absorb your time and limit your productivity, should disappear.
Eliminate and replace these meaningless activities by anyone who approaches you to the fulfillment of your goals.
4. Focus on what really matters
Usually, we make excuses when something goes wrong.
It is very common when talking about time management. I do not know if it will be your case, but a significant number of people waste their valuable time on things that are not important.
The result obtained from this is not up to completing the important tasks. Finishing with an excuse in response to productivity problems.
The solution is simple, identify your priorities and concentrate on them to finish them successfully. Once these are finished, you can pay attention to all the others.
5. Do not forget your goals
Never lose sight of your goals. Maybe thinking about your long-term goals will overwhelm you a little because of the magnitude of it. And because the deadline that you have imposed on yourself is far in time.
This is why you must break down your big goals into small objectives that you can accomplish more quickly. This will mean taking steps towards your greater goal.
When you are tempted to put some pretext, say goodbye to your excuse thinking about your goals:
- The reason you decided to choose it.
- On where you are.
- Everything you have already done to reach it.
- The reward that awaits you at the end of the trip.
6. Invest in your passion
For me, for example, exercise helps me not only to be fitter, but also to clear my head. It resets my mind and fills my body with adrenaline to work hard during the day.
It is vital to devote time to everything that makes you feel good about yourself and is consistent with your goals. This way you will not have excuses not to do them.
7. Expect challenges
As you already know, life is not simple. Not everything is easy, and thank goodness, because otherwise we would never mature or learn. And it would be very boring, do not you think?
In addition, everything worthwhile is earned once a fight is won, however small it may be. It is an essential part of life. So you have to take it, commit to it and overcome every obstacle that we find in the journey.
The challenges allow you to grow as a person. Accepting them will avoid many excuses
Once you have acknowledged that you will face challenges in your day to day, you can say goodbye to your excuses and you will go ahead in a firm way to overcome them.
Remember that your excuses only take your focus out of your priorities and reduce your confidence. Face your challenges and you will be a more capable, confident and successful person.
8. Never stop learning
If you do not learn from your mistakes, each time they are presented again, you will act passively before them. Going back to the excuses.
Ask yourself what you can do differently next time. And move with the optimism of being able to solve a similar problem in a triumphant way.
Life is a training field. The obstacles will always appear. But do not miss the opportunity to learn from your mistakes. Always take a valuable lesson from all of them.
When you implement what you learn, the results you get are better. This will make you stronger and you will have an advantage before the next difficulties.
Therefore, avoid excuses and always look for the lesson to learn.
9. Doubt based on the past
On this point tell you that you should not let your failures of the past are the perfect excuse for not getting anywhere.
At present you will not be the same as the one from 1 year ago or 5. And your problems will not be the same either.
You’re not perfect, so take it up before you get disappointed. You will always have doubts when facing your problems, but do not stop moving forward.
So since you are alive and you have dreams to fulfill, put on your armor and go out and conquer them.
10. Develop problem solving skills
You can write down everything that bothers you and through a brainstorm you can get different ways of approaching the problem.
Also for each solution, I advise you to evaluate the pros and cons of each.
Take action and evaluate the result.
The more you are adept in solving problems, the less excuses you will put in when facing them.
An excellent way to relate this point to learning from your mistakes, and thus facilitate the development of this skill, is to point out all the problems that arise and the solutions you have put in place.
When you have doubts about what you did at a certain moment, you will only have to consult it. Even if the problem is not the same, you can clarify the resolution of the current problem.
Creativity as a basic tool
Ingenuity and creativity are key to overcoming any challenge.
Do not forget that these two characteristics are not incompatible with asking for help from your surroundings. In addition, this will make you not feel alone, so making excuses will be more complicated.
Saying goodbye to excuses is a great job of self-discipline. It is about taking responsibility for your behavior in life.
It also means getting the most out of life, taking off your butt from the chair and going out to run towards your goals.
Commit yourself to pursue your goals and you will be unstoppable.
Now it’s your turn. What is the last excuse you have put? Reflect and tell me if you tried to blame others or assumed your responsibility. What do you think of these tips? Are there any that you think will cost you more to carry it out?
