AN EXCUSE TO LET GO OF “NO EXCUSES”

Let’s talk about the tough love trend of “no excuses”.

So often, when clients explain to me why they didn’t follow through with an intention they set, they’ll end up saying something along the lines of:

“I don’t know. I just need to stop making excuses.”

But I don’t agree. What I hear when my clients tell me their “excuses” are quite literally the things that are holding them back from accomplishing their goals. And that’s valuable insight! Our “excuses” help us understand the

obstacles
barriers
challenges

that are holding us back!

Identifying these things gives us some really helpful, (and pretty obvious), hints as we try to figure out the answer to the question: what do I need in order to make this goal a reality?

What

tools
skills
mindset

will get me there??

The reason why positive mantras and motivational quotes aren’t enough is because they don’t help us overcome the obstacles, barriers and challenges that make it so difficult to get it done.

The reason why dismissing our excuses doesn’t work is because we need to acknowledge and work with our reality in order to identify the tools and skills that are essential to our success.

If a person set a goal to travel across the water to the other side of a lake, but 1. didn’t know how to swim and 2. didn’t have a boat (or anything else they could use to travel across water), we’d set them up for failure, (and potential danger), if we simply said “Ok, well do it then! No excuses!” We need to make sure they have the tools - floatation devices, a kayak/boat, etc - and/or the skills - the ability to swim - in order to safely and successfully achieve their goal.

So make your excuses! But don’t stop there… Figure out ways to prevent those obstacles, barriers and challenges from having as big of an impact on your efforts.

Approached from that angle, our “excuses” are actually the key to our success!