A Good Excuse

In researching an article, I was writing I decided to Google the word excuse.  I wanted to see if there was anything available on the problem of making excuses in our lives.  What I found was several websites that helped and encouraged people to make “good” excuses.  Most were how to create a good excuse for missing work.  It was not the fact that these sites existed that surprised me but that there were so many.

It is no secret that the great American work ethic has suffered much in recent years.  It has become too easy and in fact encouraged that people do less and expect more.  This is where the “I hate Mondays” crowd come from.  They treat Monday like it is a punishment for a fun weekend.  The first day of the week should be the best and set the pace for the days that follow.  Success-minded people know that if they can create a successful and productive Monday, the rest of the week is bound to be great.

You also have those who believe that we should get more and more while we do less and less.  That somehow we are owed a good life just because we are on the planet.  I love the wise words of Mark Twain who said, “Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”

Success-minded people know that work, hard work, is not a curse that should be avoided but a blessing that should be pursued and embraced.  Hard work does more than just get the job done, if gives us a sense of purpose and the knowledge that we have been productive.

Forget the excuses on why you cannot achieve your goals and dreams.  Not a one of them is worth the energy to say them.  Excuses only keep you down and never, I mean never, cause you to excel at anything.  There is just no such thing as a good excuse for not achieving your dreams.  Today is yours to create something great.  Yesterday is gone and you cannot change or correct it, so let it go.  Author, Alan Cohen said, “Don’t use the past as an excuse to miss out on your future.”

Understand that your dreams were meant to be achieved.  That is why you have them.  The only catch is that you have to make it happen.  It will not happen for you magically and no one else is going to do it.  It is up to you.  That really is the good news.  That means if you are willing to work for it, you can make it happen.  It is in your control and no one can take it from you.

Get to work.  Drop the excuses and start making it happen.  Will it be easy?  Most likely not.  Will you make mistakes along the way?  If you are really giving it all you have, then yes.  We learn from mistakes and we grow from that learning.  There is only one really good excuse for not achieving your dreams; and that is…..  Sorry, I was wrong, there is no good excuse.

To discover how you can achieve the dream you have believed was impossible for too long, read On The Journey To Achievement by John Patrick Hickey.  You can get a signed copy for yourself and get one for a friend, by going to http://www.johnpatrickhickey.com/it-is-good-to-set-goals-better-to-achieve-then/.  Now available on Kindle, Oops! Did I Really Post That? Online Etiquette in the Digital Age by John Patrick Hickey.

© 2016 John Patrick Hickey. No part of this may be reprinted or published without permission of the author.