Let’s be honest:
How many goals have you stopped yourself from achieving?
You know what you need to do.
But you have an excuse, or maybe a few, that hold you back.
Well, it’s time to destroy those excuses.
So find your excuse, and learn why it’s a bunch of crap so you can get on with being the awesome person you are meant to be:
1) You aren’t smart enough.
Richard Branson, John Rockefeller and Henry Ford were high school dropouts.
You don’t need smarts to succeed:
You need discipline.
The reason productive people succeed isn’t because they already know how it’s because they execute.
I performed badly at school, and I’m no Branson, but I still achieve my goals because I do the work (and don’t beat myself up for that C in Spanish.)
2) You were raised differently.
You may have had the most horrific childhoods, and mine was no piece of cake either.
But should that stop you?
No.
We can’t let the abuse / pain we have endured hold us back now.
All that does is create more pain!
Haven’t you suffered enough?
It’s time to put the past where it is – in the past.
Take whatever steps you need to move on, and move on.
Your past doesn’t have to define you – so do the work.
3) You are too poor.
I could give another list, but you’ve heard the rags to riches stories before.
Here’s the secret to doing what you want with a tight budget:
Live minimally.
You don’t have to earn a lot to have less than 100 items and not buy anything material.
You don’t need all of that stuff you’ve accumulated over the years that has no purpose.
Don’t need it? Sell it.
You can start companies for less than $100 .
You can travel around the world and get the money as you go.
You are only bound by your willingness to hustle.
So do the work.
4) You find it too hard.
It is hard.
But the struggle is unavoidable.
It doesn’t matter what you do:
If you sit around all day watching porn.
If you work your ass off in the gym.
If you sit on the beach all day every day.
If you try to start your own company…
There will always be a point where you struggle.
Either through dissatisfaction and boredom or through pushing yourself to the limit.
“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. ” – Jim Rohn
Don’t regret your life – it’s short and you only have on of it.
Anything worth fighting for is hard, and you know that.
Get to work.
5) You don’t know what to do.
I’m going to be a bit controversial here:
You do know, you just don’t want to work to get there.
You have dreams don’t you?
Aspirations and admiration for others are hard to avoid.
But what if you’re chronically depressed?
Then you know what you want to overcome.
Plan your future, plan goals , get therapy…
Do whatever is necessary to get where you need or want to be.
Do the work.
6) You don’t know how to do it.
Want to know a secret?
No one really knows what the hell they are doing.
No one starts off saying “I know exactly that I have to do X Y and Z”.
You can have a vague idea, knowing at least most of the steps to take to get to the end results.
But is it the right way?
Will the steps stay the same?
Will it work the same way it did last time you tried?
NO ONE KNOWS.
Even experts disagree on what is the best way to do something (have you seen the nutrition, fitness and dieting world lately?)
This world is a mess of people making stuff up as they go along.
So don’t worry – you’ll figure things out.
The most important part is starting – so get to work.
7) You don’t want to upset others.
Another controversial idea:
Be selfish.
You were told from the time we’re born that you must not think of yourself – only others.
You are here to serve others and that’s it.
Well, screw that.
If the world worked like a fairy tale and everyone was hugs, cuddles and rainbows, this method may work.
But it’s not.
Now I don’t mean you should be amoral, I just mean you shouldn’t conform to what you are told just because someone else says so.
You can still help others, just remember yourself too.
Other people are in it for themselves ass well, not all the time, but a lot of the time.
So when they get upset at you for breaking the status quo, or not behaving how they think you should:
Remember they are doing for selfish reasons.
Being a people pleaser and bowing down to everyone makes you weak and in the end, helps no one.
It’s time to step up and get started.
Get to work.
8) No one will care.
You are 100% right. No one will care.
And even if people do, they won’t for long.
But does that mean you should shoot yourself in the foot?
You’re asking the wrong question:
Don’t ask: will people care?
Ask: “Will I care?”
Because ultimately, you are stuck with you for the rest of your life.
And you should be making yourself happy, not just other people.
Screw them, and get to work.
9) Better to be safe than sorry.
Are you really?
Answer me this:
Do you feel better that you remain unaccomplished, stuck in one place without direction?
I can guess the answer is no or you wouldn’t be looking for solutions.
So if you have a choice between 100% unhappiness and lack of success, or a 50% chance of succeeding and happiness…
Why are you choosing the worst odds?!
You’re better off doing something, failing, apologising for being a twerp and then trying again than remaining in one place.
So use the odds in your favour and get to work.
10) You don’t have the experience.
“Life experience” is a lie.
The world is constantly changing – there will never be a person who 100% knows how the world works.
So why do you expect to have the same level of experience?
Whatever has gotten you to this point of making a decision to achieve something is experience enough.
So get to work.
11) You don’t have what you need.
If you could only achieve your goals based on what you were given, there would be no revolutionaries.
There would be no Ghandi’s or Luther King’s.
You can start anything with what you have, from where you are.
I can guarantee there is someone who has done it with less.
And if there isn’t?
Then you will be the first.
There is always a way to achieve what you want.
You just need to start.
You already have what you need so get to work.
12) You’ll get to it later.
THE TIME IS NOW.
There is no later, only now.
GET TO WORK!
13) You aren’t as lucky as others.
Think you will win a million dollars in the lottery?
You’re more likely to be bitten by a shark while getting struck by lighting AT THE SAME TIME
Does that mean you will never “get lucky”?
No.
But you shouldn’t rely on luck to achieve anything because it really isn’t paramount for success.
And if you do more, you are raising your chances of getting lucky because you put yourself out there.
But ultimately, you don’t need luck:
You need to start – so get to work.
14) Someone won’t let you.
Unless you’re stuck in solitary confinement, trust me other people are not going to physically stop you.
They can cry and moan about it, but that doesn’t realy stop you.
When you say “someone else isn’t letting you” the truth is:
You aren’t letting you because you don’t want to upset others.
If your parent’s aren’t letting you, get a job and move out so you can do what you want.
If your boss isn’t letting you, lay down the law and either quit or find a way.
Stop worrying about other people – what matters right now is you.
So get to work.
15) You need to wait until…
There will never be a perfect time.
There will always be obstacles in the way.
The moon won’t shift and cause all your problems to dissapear.
The only real obstacle standing between you and your goals is you.
Your problems aren’t going away until you solve them.
So get to work.
16) Failure is painful.
Why do we have pain?
So we know what we are doing is wrong and we need to change.
Our bodies don’t give us the pain to make us suffer for the fun of it.
It’s a signal to do something:
Bandage the wound.
Change your tactic.
Try again.
Pain keeps us moving and it’s actually our friend.
Embrace the pain and get to work!
17) You tried before and failed.
Everyone fails more than they succeed – but we only see the end result.
“My dad told me, ‘It takes fifteen years to be an overnight success’, and it took me seventeen and a half years.” – Adrien Brody
“Anyone who wants to sell you overnight success or wealth is not interested in your success; they are interested in your money.” – Bo Bennett
Keep failing, and fail faster.
Learn from each failure and make your strategy better.
Don’t give up – get to work.
18) You’ve done bad things in the past.
We’ve all done things in the past we regret.
But as I said before – the past is in the past.
You can’t change what you’ve done.
But you can change what you are.
Think you shouldn’t be happy because of who you are?
Then change who you are and get to work.
19) You already did everything you could.
Really?
Because if you did – you are more likely to have already succeeded.
Change your strategy and try again.
Keep learning from your failures and do the work.
20) You don’t have the confidence.
Confidence, like everything, is a learned skill.
You are an adaptable creature:
If you sit indoors all day glued to your computer, you aren’t going to become Don Juan anytime soon.
You are going to stay shy and introverted if you don’t give yourself any reason not to be.
Change your environment, go out there and get to work.
21) You don’t deserve it.
You don’t.
No one deserves anything.
You have to earn it.
You are only given what you earn.
So go out there and earn your goals.
Earn the life you want.
Earn your success.
Get to Work.
Thanks for reading!
– unfluffed
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.