7 Deadly Excuses That Keep You From Getting Ahead

If you are not happy with the results you have achieved so far in your personal, professional or financial life, chances are you have what you believe to be perfectly good and valid reasons.

Being able to distinguish between valid reasons and excuses is very important, although the distinction may not always be obvious.

In this article I will share with you 7 excuses that you may very easily mistake for perfect reasons as to why you are not living up to your full potential.

 1.  “I don’t have time to learn anything new”

It is very difficult to get ahead in life if you do not improve yourself. Failing to find the time to learn could mean you are focusing on activities that are not contributing towards your goals.

Learning something new every day is very vital to your personal development, so make the time for it.

2.  “My best friend’s uncle tried that and it didn’t work”

Oftentimes this excuse serves as a perfect alibi for indecision. If someone you heard about and probably never met tried something and failed miserably, that was them.

You cannot compare your skills, abilities, talents, commitment and effort with those of people you don’t know.

3.  “My spouse believes I am wasting my time”

One of the biggest advantages you can have when it comes to pursuing a course of action that has the potential to turn your life around is a supportive spouse.

To understand the source of this excuse, you have to ask your spouse whether the lack of confidence in you is as a result of a failure on the part of your spouse to believe in your abilities, your projects or a combination of both.

4.  “This is not the right time; I’m too busy right now”

We are all guilty of procrastination at one time or another.

However, when you consistently fail to move towards your goals, you may want to ask yourself whether you have your priorities right.

Furthermore, you will always believe that you’ll get around to taking the necessary action that can lead to your success after you get over the “one big obstacle” you are dealing with right now.

In many cases, confusing activity with productivity can keep you busy without leaving any trace of tangible results for your efforts.

 5.  “What if I fail? What will my friends and family think?”

The fear of criticism is one of the biggest obstacles to your success. This fear is compounded when it comes to the opinions of those who are closest to us.

If you are taking steps to improve your financial situation for the better, the moment you start getting results, your family and friends will be the first to come to you for financial help, so keep reminding them of that fact and make it happen.

 6.  “I don’t believe I have the power to improve my situation”

When it comes to success, we want instant results. In many cases, the viable solutions presented to us create the impression that we may be setting ourselves up for disappointment.

A lack of self-belief can be very crippling, and this is especially true when the time comes for us to stretch beyond our comfort zone. Do the best you can and leave the rest to God.

7.  “I’ve tried everything and nothing seems to work”

It helps to quantify everything.  How many strategies, tactics, tools and activities have you really tried before you can comfortably say you have tried everything?

Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb, found over 10,000 ways that did not work before he finally found what worked. How about you?

Take the time to evaluate how you may be mistaking excuses for perfect alibis when it comes to achieving your greatest potential.