You are responsible for your position in life at this moment. It is your responsibility to create the person you want to be and the life that you want to live. Do you want to carry on as you are? Do you want to change so you can create the life you want?
Something you have to do is cut out the excuses. No matter how many excuses you can come out with, they are nothing more than a way to convince yourself to stay right where you are.
Just think about it, you are the one that’s allowing words, opinions and situations to hold you back, and rob you of your potential.
We all have the ability to change and improve ourselves and our lives. I started this blog so that I could contribute my knowledge on healthy lifestyles living, playing my small part in offering people the information to make their world a better place,
Moving from an average to a brilliant life will require you put in a load of effort. It isn’t easy. But it’s possible. You have to change your mindset, your behaviour, actions and habits. To be brilliant you have to take responsibility for your own life, thoughts, behaviours and actions. But many people run away from their personal responsibility, by using one very popular word… EXCUSES.
The only thing that can stop us adopting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is ourselves. The main way we will do that is to make excuses why we can’t. So what does this very well used word mean.
According to the Oxford Dictionary… ‘A reason, either true or invented, that you give to explain or defend your behaviour’. In Collins Essential English Dictionary definition of excuse as a Noun – an explanation offered to justify an action which has been criticized or as a reason for not fulfilling an obligation. As a Verb:1. to put forward a reason or justification for (an action, fault, or offending person) 2. to pardon (a person) or overlook (a fault) 3. to free (someone) from having to carry out a task, obligation, etc.: a doctor’s letter excusing him from games at school 4. to allow to leave
We often use excuses to hide from our fear that we can’t really change or that our life can’t be any different. Our excuses can often prevent us from achieving brilliance. Making excuses is a bad habit that keeps you from being as successful as you can be.
We have been making excuses right from the beginning of the bible. When God asked Adam if he had eaten of the tree he was commanded not to, Adam went into excuse mode, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” (Genesis 3:12) And when God asked Eve what she had done, she also gave an excuse, “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” (Genesis 3:13)
I found a great song by Alanis Morissette called Excuses:
Why no one will help me
I am too dumb I am too smart
They’ll not understand me
I am lonely
They’ll hate me
And there is not enough time
It’s too hard to help me
And god wants me to work
No resting no lazy
These excuses how they served me so well
They’ve kept me safe
They’ve kept me stuck
They’ve kept me locked in my own cell
I’m too far from home
It takes far too much energy
And I cannot afford to
No one will ever see me
These excuses how they served me so well
They’ve kept me safe
They’ve kept me stuck
They’ve kept me locked in my own cell
These excuses how they’re so familiar
They’ve kept me blocked
They’ve kept me small
They’ve kept me safe in my own shell
Bringing this into the light
Shakes their foundation
And it clears my side
Now my imagination
Is the only thing that limits
The bar that is raised to the heights
No one can have it all see
I have to they want me to
And I can’t let them down
I’ll never be happy
These excuses how they served me so well
They’ve kept me safe
They’ve kept me stuck
They’ve kept me locked in my own cell
These excuses how they’re so familiar
They’ve kept me blocked
They’ve kept me small
They’ve kept me locked in my own cell
We often use excuses that prevent us from doing something that in truth could be easily accomplished. Eradicating excuses can set you on the path to accomplishing nearly anything you want.
Having worked in the fitness industry for many years, you can bet I’ve heard nearly every excuse for not getting started on introducing exercise into somebody’s lifestyle. Here are some of the excuses that I’d liked to have received £1 each time I’ve heard it. I would of amassed a fortune by now.
- “I hate the idea of exercise.”
- “I’m too tired to exercise.”
- “A person my age would look ridiculous Working out.”
- “I feel fine, I don’t need to exercise.”
- “I’m too heavy to exercise.” “I don’t have time.”
- “Exercise will make me hungrier”.
- “I don’t have time to work out.”
When it comes to dieting I’ve heard some whoppers (oh dear you may think I’m dreaming of Burger King)
- “Eating healthy is expensive”
- “I can’t cook, so I have to eat out”
- “I don’t have the time”
- “I don’t have willpower”
- “I don’t like fruits and vegetables”
- “I have to keep junk food around for my kids and/or boyfriend.”
- “I have too many business dinners and social gatherings. I can’t lose weight in that environment!”
- “I love food too much to diet”
- “I travel much in my job and have to eat out a lot”
- “I will not be able to work if I am starving”
- “It runs in the family”
- “I’ve tried to lose weight before, but I just can’t do it.”
- “My loved ones nag me about my weight and it makes me want to rebel.”
- “Tomorrow for sure” or “I think Monday is the right day”
Often these “so called” obstacles are really excuses to validate the fact that they can’t be bothered making the effort to get into shape, or lose weight. Also it means the pleasure of the results that would be gained is less than the pain in their minds of exercising and dieting. As well as many are afraid of failing at any attempt to improve their health and fitness so they blame something else for their lack of trying as the easy way out. I’m not being critical here, or offensive. I love exercising, as much as I love the benefits, and the greatest pleasure to me is when a client succeeds by achieving results from following through. The greatest frustration to me is those I can’t help, because they won’t make that first step.
Here are some great quotes:
- An excuse is worse than a lie, for an excuse is a lie, guarded. Alexander Pope
- Every vice has its excuse ready. Publilius Syrus
- He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else. Benjamin Franklin
- An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie; for an excuse is a lie guarded. Alexander Pope
When you make excuses, blame other people, complain, or criticize, you give your power away. You turn over control of your emotions to the people and situations you are blaming or complaining about.
We all can find excuses as to why we can’t do something. Making up excuses takes a lot of energy and time. Instead of focusing on what we can’t do, lets focus on what we can do. Instead of coming up with all kinds of excuses why it won’t work, lets focus on why it can work. Recognize when you are making excuses and propel yourself toward action, toward accomplishing all the things you want to do, and ultimately, toward self-realization and happiness, and living with a healthy lifestyle.
When you accept complete responsibility for your life, you will no longer make excuses or blame others for anything in your life that you’re not happy about. You would refuse to criticize others for any reason. You refuse to complain about your situation or about what has happened in the past. You eliminate all your if-onlys and what-ifs and buts, focusing instead on what you really want and where you are going.
So make the decision to accept complete responsibility for yourself, your life, and your results, with no excuses. From this moment forward, no matter what occurs, say to yourself, “I am responsible, 100% responsible for what is happening in my life “. Understand that you are the only person responsible for your current circumstances. You realize that you are where you are and what you are because of your own choices and decisions in the past, and since you made those choices and decisions, only you are responsible.
You will now refuse to make excuses or to blame anyone else. You see yourself as the primary creative force in your own present and your own future. Realize that your success or failure depends on you. It depends on the choices you make. It depends on your attitude. Resolve to start accepting responsibility today. Don’t find an excuse, find a way. Don’t make excuses, make good. Remember what Winston Churchill said, “Responsibility is the price of greatness.”
Get real with yourself – stop making excuses. Don’t any longer let your excuses get in the way of you adopting a healthier lifestyle. Commit yourself to getting the most out of life by overcoming your excuses. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.
The mark of brilliant people is that they refuse to make excuses, blame others, or complain about their situations. Instead, they say, over and over, “I am responsible!” Whenever something goes wrong, resist the temptation to become angry, blame others, or make excuses. Instead, ask questions like, “What’s the solution? What do we do now? What is the next step? How do we solve this problem? How do we limit the damage? How can we prevent this from happening again? Where do we go from here?”
I know this is a difficult subject to deal with. I know that its often automatic response to make an excuse. Often we’ve opened our mouth and made it, before we have even thought things through. It’s an area that I take very personally. Why? As a coach it has to often been the greatest barrier I’ve met when working with others. And, a very dear, close friend has allowed her life to be stuck in a time warp, where she can’t move forward, and won’t allow herself to find happiness, joy, peace or success. Everything that happens in her life, everything that does happen in her life, she finds someone or something to blame. She has all the talents, abilities and is passionate about helping others, and the day she sees her excuse mentality, and removes it, she will move forward in leap and bounds. So will you, if you eliminate excuses from your life. Take action, start now!
The first step in overcoming excuses and freeing yourself of their boundaries may be one of the hardest, seeing what your excuses are. Try to listen to the words you use to explain your behaviour and spot every time you come out with an excuse. A second method is to make a list of the places where you feel stuck in your life, and then look at why. You will see the excuses behind the “why” that results in the behaviours that hold you back in some way.
Making the changes will improve your life giving you the power to create the life you want. Once you say no to the excuses that hold you back, you will be amazed at how good it feels.
The question you need to ask yourself is whether you want to sit and wonder what could have been?
So, if I don’t have writers block, get abducted by martians, forget how to turn on my computer, or can’t get my daughter off the computer, I will be back within a week.
” I attribute my success to this – I never gave or took any excuse”. Florence Nightingale
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