Are you the master of making excuses? Do you have a reason ready for every conversation when you’re asked why you haven’t taken any action towards your Big Goals yet? If so, it’s time to take action. Those Big Goals have waited in the wings long enough. Today is the day your life changes for the better! How? you might ask. Keep reading to learn some easy techniques designed to get you in to action and your life back on track, in no time.
7 Strategies to stop making excuses
1. Be you
If you think you can’t get anywhere because someone else already done it better, think again. Regardless of who you’re comparing yourself to, no one will tackle a problem in quite the same way you will. Instead, relax and jump into action – your way. See where being you can take you.
2. Step into the unknown
Holding back because you don’t know what’s going to happen next? Sometimes you just have to find your hidden adventurer and go for it. Indulge your curiosity and jump into doing the next step just to find out what happens next. All you need to do is the next step. What happens will inform your next step and your next step, and so on. Besides, if you’ve done your research, you probably already have a pretty good idea of just what’s going to happen next. So, it’s not really that unknown, is it?
3. Take responsibility
Feeling trapped into a cycle of not being able to act because someone else is holding you back? This is just another example of the blame game. Really, the only one holding you back when you make these statements is you. You’re where you are because you put yourself there as a result of the choices you have made. The key is to start making choices to move from this spot. Find a way to move forward without offending the person who you think is holding you back.
4. Break things down
Can’t start because you’re overwhelmed? Chop up the goal into a series of much smaller action steps. You may need to break your goal down into a series of levels before you have small bites to act on. Take action on the small bites, remembering to celebrate each milestone as you reach it. You’ll get to the goal eventually, just hang in there.
5. Focus on the positive
It’s too easy to quit because you see all the ways you’re not good enough. Instead, focus on your strengths and what you can do. Ask yourself, what can I do? Better yet, what do you need to know to push yourself forward? By recognizing your gaps, you can actively close or workaround them, allowing yourself to see what’s possible. By acknowledging what’s possible you’ll shift your thinking to a more positive outlook, and you’ll be more ready to act than hold back.
6. Do something!
In the end, you have to act. Making excuses about being tired or not having time isn’t going to cut it. If something is important to you, fatigue doesn’t matter. You’ll prioritize and make the time (like you did when you binge-watched an entire series on Netflix). The key is to take the first step. Guaranteed, what follows will become much easier once you start to gain momentum.
7. Revisit your big goals
If it has been a while since you dusted off your goals and reviewed them, now’s the time to do that. If you find your goals irrelevant or uninspiring – set new goals. There are no rules about having to follow through on goals that don’t excite you. Goals are intended to scare you a little and motivate you by the outcome they promise. If that’s not your goals, make some adjustments so they do scare and inspire you simultaneously. That’s how you know you’ve got the right goals.
By using these techniques, you’ll find you no longer need excuses. In fact, you’re probably feeling kind of eager to assess your goals and their relevance so you can get to work on chunking them down and starting to make progress on them. This is good news because good things are about to start happening!
If you’re sitting and reading this and wondering what goals to set or why you can’t get excited about setting goals, you may need the help of a professional to help you uncover what you really want and how to chunk it down. If that’s you, book in a confidential call with me and we can discuss what goals might be more inspiring for you.
