Give Up The Excuses For Not Starting
Have you ever had something that you dreamed of when you were a child, but then you grew up and kind of left that dream behind? And maybe this dream has come back to you, but every time it does, you shake it off because you don’t want to waste your time thinking about the steps you would have to take to even make that dream possible.
It’s intimidating. It feels unnatural. It is 110% outside of our comfort zone. This is how it feels BEFORE taking the first step to our dreams. Literally the hardest part of doing anything seems to be just getting started. We may not realize it, but we constantly make excuses to ourselves about why we can’t start working towards our dreams.
A very wise person once asked “what is holding you back?” This question makes us think of any reason why we can’t get started right now, and many of the times it ends up being a common excuse. If we let ourselves dwell in these excuses, we will go nowhere, so that is why we must counter them and work towards solutions.
I decided to quickly counter 8 common excuses for not starting:
Excuse #1: “I am too old/too young.” False. There are many people who have done very significant things, and became leaders starting in their 50s,60s, 70s, and even in their teen years!
Excuse #2: “I do not know how to do it.” Look. There are two different ways you can go about solving this: find someone to help or go and learn it for yourself.
Excuse #3: “I do not have enough time.” Real talk. It is not a time problem you have; it is a values problem. Sometimes you must sacrifice part of your time for something of more importance.
Excuse #4: “I do not have enough money.” Rethink this. You may not have enough money to be at the point you have in your head, but you can choose a different starting point to progress, earn, and work up to be at that point.
Excuse #5: “I don’t want to fail/get rejected/make mistakes.” Change your story. Putting yourself out there and being vulnerable, gives you the unique opportunity to learn, grow, and experience things that others haven’t and won’t.
Excuse #6: “I am concerned about how others will think of me.” Big restraint. There is a real shift when you finally free yourself to become yourself. The people that like you for your authentic self are more valuable than those who don’t.
Excuse #7: “It is going to be too hard.” Option time. You have two paths to take: the path to discipline or the path to regret. Both are hard, but only one path makes you stronger.
Excuse #8: “I am not sure if it’s the right time to start.” It is. The moment you feel that spark is the moment you should start. This will give you momentum off the starting line. You can always be doing something to move forward, regardless of what time it is.
I want to end this first article with one last thing. Here is a quote that I have on my desk:
“I’ll start that tomorrow” will turn into “I should have started yesterday” and this is why YOU START TODAY!
