Today, I’d like to keep investigating with you some of the reasons why we should stop procrastinating:
How to stop making excuses and start making choices
First of all, let’s think of what are choices.
We make choices when we have control over what is happening to us. There are options, we do our research and then we choose.
If by any chance, what we chose is not exactly what we wanted, we have the power to either change it completely or adapt according to the circumstances.
This means that we take action and when you take action you get the results you want. (Read more: How to learn to take action)
Instead, excuses work in the opposite way.
By excuses, I don’t mean the kind of excuse when you are invited to a party and you don’t really want to go, then you call and say you are not feeling well, or you double-booked yourself or similar.
Or when you slept through the alarm clock and get late to work and then you blame it on the train or traffic.
I mean excuses when you give the control over what happens to you to circumstances or to people that you have absolutely no power or control of.
So let me give you an example using myself as an example.
I usually do a live video on my Facebook Page every Wednesday evening. However, this Wednesday I know that there is absolutely no way I will be able to do it.
So, if I’m on the side of excuses I can use that, I can give the control over to time.
I can think
I know I can put up a live video every week, but tomorrow I won’t be able to. So, there is nothing I can do because you know I wont have time.
Then, nothing happens, I don’t have the control, I don’t have the power and I’m stuck, really.
I let myself and the people following my Facebook Page down.
Instead, if I see that from the perspective of choice, I know very well that I cannot control time. Tomorrow will happen whether I want it or not.
But I have control over my time. So, I make the choice of doing my Facebook Live today.
Even though most of the people following my Facebook Page may not know that I will do the live video today, at least I take control, I change and adapt. I take action and I get the result of having a live video on my Facebook page once a week. Perhaps not on Wednesday but it’s still once a week.
So what is your excuse over time?
Time is an element that cannot control itself.
For this reason, so often we say to ourselves
“I am so busy, I don’t have time for myself”.
That is a powerful excuse.
It may be true and a fact that you are busy, but if you give control of your life to time, there is nothing you can do because you know you cannot control time.
So, you lose the power, you can’t take action because it’s time, not you, who decides and you get stuck.
Instead, if you own your time perspective, then you can think of ways of making time for yourself, to see your friends, to see your family, to have fun.
Another major and very dangerous excuse is money.
We all need money, we all have responsibilities and bills to pay.
However, we cannot give control of your life to money. We should not, for example, remain stuck in a job that we don’t like. Otherwise, we may suffer from the Sunday evening syndrome, get frustrated and angry because we have to work doing something we don’t want to do for 8 hours a day, five days a week.
We often apply the I don’t have money excuse also when we want to do something, like going on a holiday, doing a course, buying something. In this case, then we lose control. Whereas, if we think about choice, then we can think about ways of making our money multiply, without the proverbial miracle. Perhaps we could restructure our finances, or invest some money.
Another common excuse is age.
We sometimes use the age-excuse when we think we’re too young, fresh out of University or doing our A levels or in an apprenticeship. We may think we’re too inexperienced and nobody will give us a job.
But we cannot wait till we are 30!
Or when you are my age, early sixties,
“Oh, now I am too old, who would want me? Or, start over? Start a new thing at my age? Never! I’m too old”
We know very well that none can stop the ageing process. And we also know very well that we are still alive.
So looking at our age from a choice point of view, we take action and do what we want to do.
If you want to retire, by all means, retire.
But if you think that you’d like to start over, or do something completely different, go for it!
Get the control, have the power to take action and get the results that you want.
So, here’s how to stop making excuses:
First of all, pay attention to the moments when you find resistance in yourself.
We usually give the power, the control to the circumstances outside of us when we find resistance in ourselves.
Perhaps you are afraid. You may think that something is a good idea, but ….. What comes after “but” is an excuse.
Yes, it’s a good idea but I didn’t do it because ….. What comes after “because” is an excuse.
Pay attention and go back to looking to the choices and the options you have in a choices-perspective.
Get control, get the power to change or adapt, take action and get the results you want.
I know now you’re thinking:
“That’s easier said than done!”
I know, it is not easy. In the beginning, it is actually quite hard because you have to pay attention to what you are feeling and what you are doing.
However, after a while, I assure it becomes natural and quite easy.
When you live your life with no excuses, having absolute control over what you want to do, you live the life you choose to live.
That is a massive achievement!
Read more: How your choices shape your future
Now if your excuses got the better of you, then let’s have a chat. Contact me for a 30-minutes free consultation.
Get in touch with me, and please do a favour for me right now, with absolutely no excuses, please share this article with others so they can benefit from it.
Here’s the video version of this article:
