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Many men are unable to lead effectively because they spend too much time making excuses to why they cannot lead effectively. Men it is time to stop letting excuses control your life and hold you back from living your best life.
Making excuses is a negative attitude that leads to negative action or NO action whatsoever. You have the power within you to stop the negative stronghold that excuses cause in your life. The only way to stop the negative effect of excuses is to make an immediate shift in mindset.
Until you make a shift in mindset, you will continue to make excuses that hinder your progress. A change in mindset is not a one-time deal, but a daily freshen of the mind that keep excuses from infiltrating your leadership. However, with the most sincere desire to deflect excuses you can still allow them to creep in and take over without you ever noticing.
Five Strategies
Here are five strategies you can implement today that will help you defeat your excuses and lead the way you were meant to lead.
1. Take responsibility.
The extent to which you live your vision and achieve your goals depend on you taking responsibility for your life. Too many men have a habit of blaming others for their circumstances. They say their parents did not support them, the company did not promote them fast enough, the job market did not provide the right opportunities and the list goes on and on.
You must always accept responsibility for the things you do and the things you fail to do. Even when events outside of your control occur, you should avoid making excuses and identify the things which you can change to get better results the next time. When you accept responsibility you take control of your life. Making excuses robs you of your personal power.
You may have to admit that your situation may be a direct result of the choices you made. If you want to live life at maximum capacity, you must take responsibility for where you are, stop blaming others, learn from your mistakes, make any necessary changes and move forward.
2. Focus on what matters
You can take an ordinary magnifying glass and position it in a way to focus the rays of the sun and it will burn a hole in a board in a few minutes. If those same rays are not focused through the magnifying glass, it will only heat the board significantly.
But, when the rays of the sun are focused through that magnifying glass it can do what it cannot do unfocused. Just imagine the power your personal vision can have in your life and those connected to you when it is focused on what is possible for you.
Why does focus matter so much? With Focus, distractions are kept to a minimum and your days are spent in meaningful ways. You regain control over your life and no longer feel like you’re wasting time. I usually advise individuals to focus on no more than one or two major goals at a time. Having too many goals spreads your focus too thin, and makes it less likely that you’ll complete any of them.
Each of us has the same twenty-four hours a day and one-hundred, sixty-eight hours a week. The key questions you should ask yourself are, ‘Where am I focusing my time’, and is it where I need to focus’. If you cannot give definitive answers to these questions then you may need to refocus.
3. Expect Challenges
Almost nothing worthwhile in life comes without a fight. Challenges are an essential part of life which should be embraced, engaged and overcome as they allow you to grow as a person. Whether you like it or not, you will face challenges along the way, so you might as well avoid making excuses and get on with the job of overcoming them.
Excuses won’t get you anywhere at all. Instead, they are a terrible distraction which take your focus off of your most important tasks and, reduces your confidence and belief. So, avoid making excuses and face your challenges head on. You will be more empowered, more confident and more successful.
If you want to get from where you are in life to where you want to be, you need to avoid making excuses and focus on the tasks that are going to get you there. If excuses were currency, we would all be rich but for all the excuses that we make, they provide nothing of value. Instead, they strip you of your confidence, courage and creativity to meet your challenges with the expectation of victory.
4. Develop a support team.
Think about the people who are supportive or would be supportive of your vision if you told them. Surround yourself with people who lift you up, not those who drag you down. If you want to do great things in life you need to surround yourself with a strong support system. You need to connect with people who will support your vision and who will be a listening ear.
There will always be people who tell you what you can’t do. They will provide the statistics and data that will discourage you from living your dreams. And then there is that little voice inside of your own head that says “what am I doing? I should throw in towel.” Don’t Listen to Them! Believe in yourself. Visualize your success and persevere.
Don’t let anyone keep you from living your authentic life. You know what you want. You know it’s in your heart to create an extraordinary life for yourself and those connected to you. What excuses are currently holding you back from living your best life (intentionally or not)? What steps can you take to disconnect from them so you don’t become trapped in a life of mediocrity?
5. Take immediate action.
Do you want to start exercising? Do you have a great business idea? Do want to change careers? Eliminate the things you do from day to day that distracts you from taking action for example TV, social media and listening to naysayers. Take action now. The longer you hold on to an idea without taking action, the weaker it becomes and the more power you give to the naysayers, doubters and haters.
The bottom line, it is time to stop making excuses and take action. Conditions may not be ideal to move forward, but usually they are not ideal. You cannot afford to keep waiting for the optimal conditions because if you do, you will miss your opportunity to shine. Choose today to take action.
“The person who really wants to do something finds a way; the other person finds an excuse.”
-Author Unknown
Question: What excuses do you need to eliminate to move forward in living your best life? Leave a comment.
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Photo Credit: Getty Images