While you’re saying something can’t be done, somebody’s out there doing it; please get the hell out of their way!  Today I want to talk about four excuses that will halt your progress and prevent your success, if you allow them to.

I want to encourage you to move from “Excuse-ville,” to the land of possibilities.  Benjamin Franklin said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else,” I think that sounds about right.

You see, making an excuse is simply a way of placing the blame of an internal problem on an external condition.  It’s a way of looking without for a cause that can only be found within.  There’s a Yiddish Proverb that says, “The girl who can’t dance says the band can’t play.”

Excuses don’t profit you much, so it’s best you not make them, as Rudyard Kipling once said, “We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse,”  I like that.  Because when it’s all said and done, guess what, there are no excuses. 

You have all that the greatest of men have had: a mind and a will; so use them in accomplishing your dreams.  Use these assets to create your dream, not to create imaginary walls to keep you from achieving the dream.  The reality is, there’s nothing you can’t do, if you make the decision, to make it happen!

4 Excuses That Will Prevent You From Succeeding:

1. Not Enough Time

Let’s talk about this classic excuse, “I don’t have enough time.”  Of course this comes from the individual who watches two hours of television a day.  You have the exact same amount of time as everyone else.  Your lack of time is most likely a lack of focus, a lack of priorities, a lack of passion, a lack of discipline, and a lack of direction.  You are lacking something alright, but it’s not time.

When someone tells me I don’t have enough time, what I hear is “I don’t have very much focus.”  I hear, “I’m double-minded;” and the scripture says a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. 

The truth is, you make time for what you consider important, so if you don’t have time to write a book, there’s one reason for it – you don’t think it’s very important.  You certainly don’t think it’s important enough to re-prioritize your life, or to be inconvenienced for.

“Your time” is how you show value.  If you spend 40 hours a week at work, then that tells me that you value having a job.  If you only spend five minutes getting dressed in the morning, then that tells me that you don’t value how you look.  Time is the currency that shows what you value; if you’re not giving something “time,” it is because you don’t value it.  Plain and simple! 

Let’s be serious for a moment.  It’s not that you don’t have the time, it’s that you don’t feel like “taking the time.”  But at least be honest about it; I can respect the person who says, “I don’t want to workout, I’d rather watch television!” 

You have the time to succeed; the question is “How badly do you want it?”

2. Not Enough Money

Another classic excuse, “I don’t have enough money!”  This one is truly an excuse; it embodies the very essence of the citizens of “Excuse-ville.”

Who are the rich today, but the poor of yesterday?  You don’t need money to succeed; you need determination, and an unrelenting attitude!  With these items you will gather all the funds you require.

You can always find a way to get something when you’re determined to have it.

When you say, “I don’t have enough money,” what you are really saying is that “I don’t want it badly enough.”  You’re saying that “I don’t prize it enough;” you’re saying, “It’s not that important.”  You’re saying, “I want it to be given to me.” 

So the question remains, “How badly do you want it?”

3. I Don’t Have An Education

This is a classic example of any excuse being as good as another.  Walt Disney dropped out of high school.  Thomas Edison, the inventor of the everyday light-bulb had to join the railroad at 12 after receiving most of his education from home-schooling.  The billionaire S. Daniel Abraham, who founded Slim-Fast, did not have a college education.  Tom Anderson, who co-founded MySpace, dropped out of high school.  Rachel Ray, the Food Network star, had no formal culinary training and never attended college.

Milton Hershey, founder of Hershey’s Milk Chocolate had a fourth grade education.  Kevin Rose the founder of Digg.com, was a college drop-out.  Dave Thomas the billionaire who founded the Wendy’s fast-food chain, dropped out of high school at 15.  Dustin Moskovitz is the co-founder of Facebook and a college dropout.  Jimmy Dean is the founder of Jimmy Dean foods and a high school dropout.  I could go on, but the question would still remain, “How badly do you want it?”

4. I Don’t Know How

What an excuse!  If you haven’t “learned,” of course you don’t know how!  This may very well be the worse of the four excuses. 

It is practice that makes perfect.  What you don’t know, you can always learn!  Thomas Edison didn’t know how to invent the everyday light-bulb, but he learned.  There was a time when Rachel Ray didn’t know how cook, but she learned.  Dave Williams didn’t know how to run a fast-food chain; he didn’t know how to manage billions of dollars, but he learned.  Whatever you don’t know, you can certainly learn, and you can start today!

But you must first answer the question, “How badly do you want it?”

In Closing

If anybody could have sat around and made excuses Helen Keller would be the one, blind and deaf, but she didn’t let that stop her becoming a success. 

Let me encourage you to stop making excuses today; know that you can do whatever you want!  You have the ability, and you have the power to turn your dream into a reality.  So the question is, “How badly do you want it?”

Please Read: A special thanks to everyone who has signed up for my weekly motivational e-mails!  I’ve started a series titled 101 success tips.  Every week I will send out one success tip that I’m personally working on, and that you should be working on as well.  I’ll see you at the top!

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