Excuses – The Trademark Of Mediocres (Part II)

Permit me to start the concluding part of this article with words of Stephen Grayhm “Excuses are the tools with which persons with no purpose in view build for themselves great monuments of nothing”. The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses.

Did you read the story I started with in the 1st part of this post? If you haven’t, I strongly recommend that you read it. I shared the story of a man who invited some guests over for dinner. Surprisingly enough, despite a long notice and a reminder, they all found excuses not to attend the dinner. Can I take on the story a little bit more?

The 2nd guy in the story also gave an excuse for not attending the dinner. His excuse? ‘I have just bought five yokes of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out, Please excuse me’. Wow. What an excuse. I have the same comments like I had for the 1st guy. This guy could have chosen another day to do this inspection. He could also have done the inspection earlier in day and still make it for dinner later in the day! Apart from the excuse he gave, I also saw folly in his act. How wise is it to pay for something you’ve not seen, especially when that thing is a living thing! He was just looking for a way not to come for the dinner! An excuse is worse than a lie, for an excuse is a lie, guarded.

The 3rd guy had his own excuse too. ‘Still another said, I just got married, so I can’t come’. Don’t you think he could have taken his wife out for dinner? It could have been a romantic evening together.
We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse. I have never stumbled on the success story of any man who excused his way to success. Have you? Excuses will take you no where. I like the way someone puts it. He said “We are all manufacturers. Some manufacture good, and others excuses!
What excuses do people make for not fulfilling their visions and dreams? Let us examine 2 more and their underlying myth.

I don’t have the connections

This is a common excuse with those who thinks getting to the top a matter of who you know. They feel that they are where they are because they don’t know the right people to help. “I don’t have the necessary connection” is a nice way of saying “I am not willing and ready to cultivate the relationships I need to reach my goals”. That’s the real truth behind that excuse.

I am sure you know that you are 5-7 people away from anyone on this planet. Yes, you are. You can create and cultivate any relationship you so desire. I am not saying that this easy and will be a walk over, but it is possible. You can get connected to top people in your field of endevour for instance. You can, if you are willing to cultivate the relationship.

I don’t know how

This is one of the feeblest excuses of all. I don’t know how to make a web site. I don’t know how to write well. I don’t know how to get a better job. Are you capable of learning? Did you stop after learning to crawl, complaining, “I don’t know how to walk?” The truth behind “I don’t know how” is “I’m unwilling to learn.” In other words, you have to admit that you’re lazy. And you need to do something about that. Are you willing to invest time in learning anything you need to learn? Anything that is worth knowing is worth learning.

I challenge you to keep learning and shatter the myth of this excuse.

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you, never excuse yourself.

You are too loaded to fail!