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It's an ancient disease. It can infect just about anyone at one time or another. Symptoms include chronic procrastination, justification and laying blame. It results in sufferers living way below their true potential. Dr.David Schwartz, in his classic book 'The Magic of Thinking Big' called it Excusitis - the failure disease.
Yes, I'm talking about giving excuses. I'm sure you have heard of some, if not all of these lines before. "I can't finish the task because blah, blah, blah.", "You don't understand my situation. I was born blah, blah, blah.", "Do you want to know why I can't succeed? It's because of what my parents/teachers/colleagues/ex-boss/current boss/spouse/cat/dog did to me 10 years ago. Blah, blah, blah."
The funny thing about this disease is you can't buy off-the-shelf cure to get rid of it. Many people attend seminar after seminar hoping to find the magic key to success. They come back with books, CD's, DVD's, software and coaching programs only to find that they are still back at square one. People find that they still face the same challenges and problems despite attending the best and most expensive 'life-changing' courses out there.
What these people need is not to attend another seminar. Before they invest in attending another seminar, they ought to examine why they are not getting the results from the previous one. Ask this question. "Why didn't I get the result that the trainer or speaker said I would be getting?"
Some of the common answers I've heard are "The speaker is no good. What she suggests is not practical at all."; "The speaker is so boring. I just can pay attention to what she said."; "I've tried what he said. They just don't work at all." Now, answers like this tell me that the person may be suffering from a case of Excusitis.
Why am I so sure about this? The most obvious clue is they hardly ever consider that they may be the one at fault with the lack of results in their lives. It's always someone else fault. There's always a reason why it might work for others but not for them.
Or is that an excuse? Many people are confused about the differences between a reason and an excuse. A reason is something which you can't do anything about. An excuse is what you tell to comfort yourself because you know that if you tried harder, you can accomplish what you want.
Do you know who Nick Vijicic is? He was born without limbs. That's a pretty good, solid reason why he can't be a successful international motivational speaker, right? I mean, how would he prepare his PowerPoint, distribute notes to audience or perform physical demonstrations?
Well, Nick didn't allow the valid reason of him not having any limbs to become an excuse for him not to become a successful international motivational speaker who has touched thousand of lives and is continuing to do so today.
The differences between excuses and reasons are the choices that you make. With reasons, you don't have a choice. But with excuses, you make the choice. The interesting thing about this choice is you can make it anyhow you like. It depends on how you associate your excuses to the reasons. It's as easy for Nick Vijicic to think "I'm disabled, therefore I can't be a speaker" as it is for him to think "I am born without any limbs. Therefore, I can be an inspiration to millions of people in the world today."
Are you satisfied with the results that you have been getting so far? If you are not, it's time to ask yourself the question "Why am I not getting the results that I want?" When you answer that question, check if it is a reason or an excuse.
Luke Bong is passionate about creating breakthroughs and pursuing dreams. Visit his website at http://www.lukebong.com/ for more ideas and resources to energize your life.
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