Less Excuses More Solutions
I recently said in a meeting at work:
Less excuses, more solutions is what a business needs to move forward
Easier said than done for some.
For many, people see excuses as valid reasons. It is actually what happened, so it’s not really an excuse, right? How can I be told that my answer is an excuse when it is the truth? Afterall, I’m just telling you what happened.
An example … I didn’t get the project done because Joe didn’t send me the files in time. I didn’t fully understand the directions. There’s just not enough time. It’s how we’ve always done it.
Where these become excuses is when it becomes the norm. When the person is consistently defending not doing something because of someone else or the process, then it is an excuse. Instead of saying it can’t or won’t be done, stop and think about how it can be done. Remove can’t from your vocabulary. Trust me, this will take a conscious effort for awhile to do it. You’ll get to a point where you notice others using can’t more. It will start to annoy you. I’m annoyed just typing the word.
Instead of continue to succumb to the excuses, or valid reasons to anyone that has not run more than a 5k, I flipped the problem on its head. Rather then saying it wasn’t possible, I started with saying it is possible. Afterall, I don’t convince my mind it can be done, there is little chance my body will go along for the ride.
I decided to double my weekly running total. Not every week, but this week. I told myself that I didn’t have to do this every week, but just this one. Yes, my mind knows I am completely playing a game with it that I will request it do the same the following week. My brain only needs to be convinced to achieve the goal this week. Sometimes the brain needs to be convinced it can be done today.
Don’t get me wrong, I have big goals for the next year. I just don’t think of it constantly. Every run and every week that goes by is towards that goal, but I don’t let it overwhelm me. Thinking about the big goals can start to make that 6 mile run feel real trivial. Remember this:
Every step forward is a step in the right direction … no matter how many steps you take.
People say to me: I ran a half marathon which doesn’t seem like much.
To which I reply: Did you think a year ago you could run 13.1 miles?
The answer is always no. The response is similar to “I didn’t think I could run a 5k a year ago.”
We forget how far we have come. For us to continue forward, we have to celebrate the victories along the way and use them to fuel the train. If you are noticing you are making excuses for not exercising, at least take the time to go into a quiet place and think about your achievements. The victories don’t have to relate to exercise … it could be that you got the kids to school on time, finished your coffee before it turned cold, or reached out to a friend. The celebrations are waiting for you … just point them out.
I found myself falling into the class excuse:
I don’t have the time to do that.
As I discovered, I was doing the wrong things with my time. We all have the same amount of time in a day, take a step and re-look at how you use it.
Great post! Achieving a goal requires some sacrifice. And, the bigger the goal, the bigger the sacrifice. If it were easy, everyone would do it. And a hundred other cliches.
But you’re right. I found myself thinking back to when I thought a 3 mile run was a big deal. Lately, I’ve been thinking in a joking way, “Is this even worth getting up for?” I know truly that it is worth it & even the bad or shorter days are good for the long term goal.