Last week, I ran across a quote that made me smile because it resonated with me. It was from Teddy Roosevelt, who was known to call it like it is. Here are his words of wisdom:
“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.”
The harsh reality is that we make choices, we make excuses and we make the life that we have. And if it’s not the life that we want, we have only one place to look to find the culprit – the mirror.
So, let’s do a reality check. Do you find yourself caught in some of these limiting patterns that keep you trapped in a life or a situation that is not in your best interest?
Putting Off Happiness
The first set of excuses fall in what I call the deferral of happiness bucket. In other words, you may put up with a job that your burned out from, a relationship that’s gone south or some other situation that you endure, because it’s easier to stay in a land of status quo than to have the courage to do something about it.
- “I’ll make that job change once the kids get out of school. Between their schedule and work, I just can’t deal with it right now.”
- “It’s too hard with everything that’s going on now. I’ll deal with going back to school later.”
Not Enough Hours In The Day
A favorite rationale for many is the lack of time to do what is needed to make a change. If you fall in this camp, you’ll hear yourself saying things like:
- “I just don’t have time to work on making a job change now.”
- “I know I need to get back in shape, but I’m too tired at the end of the day. And my weekends are so busy.”
Clueless and Overwhelmed
Then there are the excuses that are rooted in a sense of helplessness over what steps to take to get some real momentum going.
- “It’s all a bit overwhelming. I mean, how do you really figure out what you want to be when you grow up?”
- “I don’t know how to even get started. I haven’t put together a resume in over 20 years.”
Are any of these excuses yours? Are you rationalizing your lack of action for a better life, a better job, a better education, or a better relationship with your significant other or kids? Are you putting off your health and fitness for when things get less stressful? Are you wasting precious time because you are stuck? Do you need a good kick in the pants?
