The other day I read a terrific post from a marketing expert and in the comments, someone posted a “yes, but…” reply with a couple excuses about why she couldn’t do what he was suggesting.
In my 15+ years training
people on our ‘Go for No’ strategies, I have seen a good amount of excuse-making.
(And I have made plenty of excuses myself in my life, don’t get me wrong.)
But, you know that saying, ‘the truth shall set you free?’ I’ve learned that it does and the faster I have
told the truth about what I really want, the better.
Richard and I have learned something over the years and that is, you can never get enough of what you don’t want.
In John Maxwell’s book, The Dream Test, (highly recommend, grab it here) he asks ten questions to help you determine if you can turn your dream into a reality.
And the very first question seems odd and yet I am willing to bet, is the root of many excuses, stalls, and
procrastination.
Question #1: Is my dream really my dream? If you want to achieve your dream, you must “own” it. It must be yours, not your parents’, teachers’, or anyone else’s. If the achievement of a dream is not of great importance to you, it’s unlikely that you will do what’s required to accomplish it.
It’s okay not to want something. It’s okay not to want what everyone else wants.
But it’s a tragedy to get stuck in the middle.
You don’t want what people are telling you to want, but you still care about what
they think so you grab onto some good excuses and you don’t move. You don’t do anything.
The faster you tell the truth to yourself the quicker you can get on with living the life you really want.
With no excuses.
