Excuses. We can all get caught up in them. I know that I can definitely be guilty of letting excuses stop me from moving forward. Either, I tell myself that I can’t for whatever reason or that I’m not ready. Though probably the biggest excuse that many of us can use to stop ourselves is, “I don’t have enough time.”
Yet, how many minutes (or sometimes hours) do we spend mindlessly engaging in activities that don’t help us move closer to achieving our goals?
My weakness lately? Binge watching “Once Upon a Time” on Netflix. I never watched when it originally aired but now I am hooked.
Riding the Excuse Train
When we ride the excuse train we push things off for days or even weeks. Heck, sometimes we can inadvertently put things off for months! Like, this blog for example.
It can start off small. “I’ll do ____ tomorrow. Only, tomorrow comes and it gets pushed to another day. Next thing you know, more time has passed than you realized.
When too much time passes, it can be harder to pick back up where you left off.
When you stop making excuses and cross things off of your to-do list? The relief and sense of accomplishment you feel is huge! Maybe it’s just me, but I often realize that the task I was putting off took no time at all to finish.
So What’s the Problem With Excuses?
Putting off the little small tasks that you need to accomplish can create a block in your mindset and can stop you from achieving your bigger goals.
I know for me, that if I don’t stay on top of the little mundane tasks around the house that they can start to take up a lot of mental bandwidth. There is only so much capacity that I have to work with that spending time thinking about dirty dishes or whatever is just something that I can’t afford to do.
Two of the biggest contributors to making excuses? Doubt and fear.
“I’m not ready.” “I need more time” I’m not _______ insert your excuse of choice here.
These thoughts can weigh us down and can stop us from moving forward with our goals. Learning how to change your mindset is one of the best ways to overcome procrastination and to stop making excuses.
How to Stop Making Excuses
Changing our mindset comes down to making a choice. I can do this now, or I can do it later.
One way of looking at a task, is to think in touch points. If I put my dirty dish onto the counter, then into the sink, and then into the dishwasher that’s 3 touch points. If I take my dirty dish and put it immediately into the dishwasher that’s 1 touch point. The idea behind this is to create less work for yourself by reducing your touch points.
When it comes to the work connected to my bigger business goals, a question that I like to ask myself is, “what can I do today that will help future Charlene?” 5 minutes of work today is 5 minutes less that I have to do another day. A day that might be even busier than today.
So, do it now. Stop putting things off and say goodbye to making excuses.
A great way to learn how to change your mindset and to gain clarity is through a regular mindfulness meditation practice. Meditation can help you learn how to clear out the noise inside your head so that you can get out of your own way and make progress towards your goals.
[emaillocker id=”5071″] [/emaillocker]Learning mindfulness has been a real game changer for me. Not only did it lead me to discover a new career that I am passionate about but it also helped me to reduce my social anxiety. These days, I no longer feel shy when I am around new people. Which is HUGE! I can actually talk to people now in a way that I never could before. Life changing.
What kind of excuses do you tell yourself? Let me know in the comments below. If you want to learn more about mindfulness and how it can help you feel free to send me an email.
