No Excuses
No Excuses.
Wisdom sometimes comes in the brevity of a saying. The
two words in the title of this post are so simple, yet enormously powerful. Anyone
could have come up with that phrase. And practically everyone I know
has said it at one point or another, in reference to a number of
things. From the parent demanding their child’s room be picked up
“before dinner, no excuses”, to the boss of a company stating that they “need
bigger returns this year, no excuses!” Everyone has heard these words.
But too many times, when this phrase is thrown out there, it
has been used in such a manner that those declaring it fail to embrace what is
actually being said. Think about this for a second. No Excuses. When
you actually take this saying in the utmost literal sense, you are basically
denying any possible chance for failure on an objective. You are
immediately denying yourself any way out of a “why” this or that, did or didn’t
happen. Let that truly sink in. Your reason for not
completing something does not exist. It just isn’t there.
Because a potential alibi is no longer lingering as a
possibility, what does this actually mean? It means that whereas
before you had two options for the outcome of a goal, you now only have
one. Whereas before you either “will” or “will not” achieve success,
you now just “will”. There is no “will not” in the equation
anymore. Yes, it really looks and is that simple, as you just read,
and you know this already, so why do so many people fail at seeing things
through?
Whether you set out to lose/gain weight, to get a different
job, to go back to school, to go up to that person and say hello – whatever it
may be, why are you not able to do it yet? It could be that you get
invited to all these functions (birthday parties, dates, family gatherings, job
related outings, etc), and it would be very impolite not to partake in the
festivities, right? I mean, you actually want to lose weight, but
all these things aren’t letting you. But now, if you throw in the
true meaning of “No Excuses”, what happens? All your reasons as to
why it is impossible for you to lose weight are no longer
valid. They aren’t valid, because they don’t exist. They
don’t exist, because YOU don’t allow them to exist as excuses.
But, if you truly,
truly, follow the “No Excuses” mantra, there is no whining. There is
no searching out for sympathy on excuses. There are no excuses – no
reasons to give the air as to why we did not complete our goal. So
what is left? Commitment. Determination. Resolve. When
there are no excuses, there is only accomplishing. You WILL lose
weight. You WILL get a different job. Because there are “No
Excuses”, your only absolute option is to succeed. Whether it takes
one month, one year, or five – your only option is to accomplish whatever goal
you have set for yourself, the minute you commit to “No
Excuses”. When you do this, you are making yourself 110% responsible
for the outcome of your steps, and actions, as it pertains to the attainment of
your goal. You alone are responsible for your success. Once
you hold yourself completely accountable with no excuses, you realize that you
HAVE to succeed.
To get the point
across even further, let's say that you are naturally shy. Let's
even say that you are mortified of talking to strangers. Let's also
throw into the mix that there is a particular stranger, that you actually have
noticed for quite some time - say in school, at work, wherever. Your
desire, when you see this person, is to go up to them and say
hello. Unless you have been extremely shy at some point in your
life, this may seem like one of the easiest tasks in the world. But,
for someone who is naturally very shy, or even who lacks any type of confidence
whatsoever, this is the most nerve wrecking thing. So how would this
person employ the "No Excuses" mantra in this scenario? In
its most simple breakdown, this scenario has two options for the taking:
- Go up to the person and say hello, or
- Use the shyness, fear, panic attack (whatever you call this inner hold back) as an excuse to run away.
But, what happens when you take away
your excuse? What happens when you take away the option that is
being used as an excuse? What occurs when you have just reduced a
decision making process, to an inner command?
- Go up to the person and say hello
Imagine if you are driving down a path
that you are unsure of, and you come to a fork in the road. You can
either go left, or go right. Without a map, or GPS, you don't know
what the outcome of either choice is going to be. You have to make a
decision. Now, imagine that you are driving down the same path as
before, but this time, there is no fork in the road. To the left is
a dead stop, and your only option is to go right. You HAVE to go
right, in order to keep moving forward. That is essentially what is
being done when you annihilate excuses as options.
Maybe
it is decision making that is the real dilemma for
someone. If that is the case with you, the next post to follow this
one will address that. For now though, strip away all the
alternatives you are
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