ex•cuse
n. ik-skyoos
An explanation offered as a reason for being excused; a plea offered in extenuation of a fault or for release from an obligation, promise, etc.
I don’t have enough money.
It’s too hard to find an audience.
I don’t have the talent.
I started blogging too late.
I don’t have a quiet place to work.
I’m tired.
Nobody will hire me.
Really?
Leo Tolstoy wrote War and Peace while living in a small house with his wife and 13 children.
Greta Garbo held steady through seven months of hardball silence after negotiating a new (fair) contract with Louis B. Mayer. Mayer eventually caved and she got her price.
Walt Disney was a failed, bankrupt, small-time ad man before that whole mouse thing happened.
J.K. Rowling was on the dole. Her first Harry Potter book was rejected by twelve publishers. It was eventually purchased by the relatively small Bloomsbury in London, and that only because the CEO’s daughter begged him to print it.
Mark Twain sunk $300,000 of his own money (and much of his wife’s) into a typesetting machine that was eventually, brutally, made obsolete.
e.e. cumming’s first book of poetry was rejected by fifteen publishers. He self-published it, dedicated it to the fifteen rejectors, and became one of America’s greatest poets.
Crippled by depression, self-doubt, and living in a cruelly sexist era, Mary Anne Evans changed her identity to George Eliot and became one of the most beloved English novelists of all time.
Abraham Lincoln lost multiple jobs, went bankrupt, and failed in numerous bids for public office before being sworn in as the 16th President of the United States.
Georges Simenon completed each of his legendary Maigret detective novels in an undisturbed, 11-day sprint.
Isaac Asimov wrote or edited more than 500 books in his lifetime. Oh, and that’s in addition to being a professor of biochemistry at Boston University.
So you’re going to let your excuses stop you? Really?
Go ahead and drop your favorite excuses in the comments below. Then let us know what you’re going to pull off when you quit listening to them …
About the Author: Robert Bruce is Copyblogger Media’s Copywriter and Resident Recluse.
Wow… Reading that “Leo Tolstoy wrote War and Peace while living in a small house with his wife and 13 children,” sort of makes my “I have too many other demands on my time,” excuse sound pretty thin!
Same here! Though the Tolstoy bit doesn’t appear to be accurate as he had 350 serfs… http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0866243/bio Doesn’t take away from what is a really inspiring post though.
Also, Tolstoy wasn’t a mom…but we get the drift.
Well, what does being a mom or not a mom have to do with it? I think the point is the environment was not ideal for trying to think and write. Even if the 13 kids (or 9 rather after the 4 died) were in no way your responsibility, you cannot tell me having them around you in the house would not be distracting. Now I don’t know that he lived in the small house during that time though… Anyway, don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater… this is an important reminder. If your backup plan is just your plan, then you’ve assumed you can’t accomplish your goals.
The point is that Tolstoy was not taking care of those kids.
everybody take care and he also care… but he did work for acheiving his goals and never give up.. he dont stp my deciding there is noise and i dont want to make noise in my writting
I have to agree having doubts on whether if he lived in a small house. I really think it’s hard to define what is considered as a small house. A lot of full size families in Hong Kong live in a 400 sqf. homes. That is the size of my room when I lived in Vancouver. These people still get by everyday thinking it’s normal. Anyways, my point is their stories are inspiring because they have earned their life changing experience through hard work and not giving up.
I have subscribed to Copyblogger through email but immediately after reading this post, I knew I have to comment. I haven’t blogged for the longest time. In fact, this comment might have been the longest piece of writing I’ve done in 2011.
Well…I’ve just read every word you wrote and your thoughts added to my understanding of myself…. sincerely hope you continue.
War and Peace was the reading that made my thirteen year of life.
I had to opportunity to read it in the native, russian language
My “excuse” is that it simply takes time in my industry.
Each year you build a little until you reach critical mass and can take off.
Robert:
We need only look at the failures of great achievers. But they kept on going. Last night, there was an open mike for aspiring authors at Anderson’s book store in Naperville, Illinois USA. It’s interesting you mention J.K. Rowling, who was a former welfare mom. Anderson’s had her speak before she became well-known.
And you can add others to the list. Perhaps Colonel Harland Sanders… He was broke and in his sixties, before he started on the road to success… Or David Ogilvy…he had about 12 different dead-end careers, before entering the field of advertising – the rest is legend.
For inspiration, you can read books like “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill or “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie.
Let me end with the story of the Two Frogs, which you can Google.
Two frogs were paying on a rainy day. Slowly, they hopped and hopped and came into a house. There was a churn of milk. Both the frogs fell into the churn.
Both the frogs tried for some time, but in vain. One of the frogs lost hope and said, “I can’t swim any more” and he drowned to the bottom. The other did not lose hope.
He kept on swimming. His movements churned the milk into butter. The frog climbed on to a pat of butter and hopped out of the churn.
Great inspirational post today!
Randy
Inspiring. Just what I needed to read.
Laziness, and the fact that I’m easily distracted. That’s what prevents me from achie…
Ooh, a bird. Wish I could be bothered to go take a closer look.
Exactly my case. You just took the words out of my…
Ooh, that is one beautiful bird!
*Chuckles*
::: Squirrel~! :::
(“Up” reference
My favorites are “Not enough time”, “No quite place”
I tell these quite often to myself! Then i slap my face and go back to work!
cheers!
These are my two favorites too. This year, I’m trying to solve these. I use half of my lunch hour to write while in the middle of the lunchroom. If I can write here, then nothing can stop me but myself.
Right now it’s now about excuses but more about organizing and ‘getting to it’ then not beating myself when something is not accomplished.
Just keep plugging away and get away from any excuse whatsoever.
This may sound weird, but what was holding me back was simply reminding myself about HOW I should be doing things, not necessarily WHAT I should be doing.
My word for the year is “Relentless” I just wrote about this earlier this week on my own blog. No promises, just passion.
I like Paul’s Flanigan’s comment… Promises to one’s self can become impositions (tediously binding and subsequently counterproductive and disheartening when not achieved). Passion, however, allows you to just be…
Inspiring list, and there are oh-so-many more! We are held back by our “programming,” our belief that we cannot do more. Taking a look at my own life, I am more afraid of what people will say about my writing, than I am willing to write in spite of them. My 2011 is committed to writing what I think is worthy of saying, regardless of who might think it is worthy or not.
Thanks for reminding us that achievement is within our grasp!
I really get this post, enjoyed it and agree wholeheartedly with the premise. However, I think it would have been way more powerful to have used examples that people can relate to really easily.
And I’m being serious when I say bloggers like Baker at ManvDebt, Johnny Truant and Naomi Dunford who have overcome lots of their own crap and are highly visible doing what a lot of the readers here would like to do.
Inspiring stories are cool in all shapes and sizes, but they are uber cool when we ‘know’ the people involved and can relate exactly to them.
I agree with you, Tim. When you have to go look up who ee cummings is (I know that makes me a total ignorant heathen) or have never read Tolstoy (sounds painful)… It’s easier to relate to immediate situations we live in now and people we see every day.
And yet, people tend to put these “exceptional” people up on some unreachable pedestal. But they’re just people who kept trying until they achieved exceptional things. People really need to get that, just like Johnny, Naomi, etc. got it and did it.
Right. No one is born “exceptional.”
Brilliant post Brian, a gentle reminder that what the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. And you’re right, the ‘icons’ as these people are constantly referred to as, are only iconic figures because they never stopped believing. They had FAITH, first of all that they would one day find something at which would succeed, and secondly that they would indeed succeed, no matter how many times they were thwarted.
One more, then I’m off for my medication I promise,
Winners Never Quit – And Quitters Never Win
That is actually hand written by me on a piece of paper and stuck above my desk where I see it every day, and it reminds me, just in case I’m having one of those days…
And you’re right, the ‘icons’ as these people are constantly referred to as, are only iconic figures because they never stopped believing
History is littered with icons that had dreadful insecurity and a crippling lack of belief in themselves. Especially in the more creative fields.
Yeh, but that’s never going to happen. It’s like saying everybody should choose to be happy because happiness is a choice. On the surface, great advice and true, but it wont necessarily be that helpful.
The simple act of mentioning people in a post like this is putting them on a pedestal. However, when we don’t know the person it seems the pedestal is that much higher.
If we know them we think “Wow, I can build my own pedestal”
As I say, it’s not a knock at all, but I have zero affinity with Tolstoy or EE Cummings.
@James – I knew the name, but that’s about all I could have told you, so we’re both ignorant heathens.
See what you mean Tim, but surely the point is they were ‘mere mortals’ but they had the balls to never give up and pursued their dream until it became a reality.
Thats what sets them, and anybody who foolows their example, apart from everybody else. We all know the theory, but few of us do the practice. Either through procrastination (which I’m definitely guilty of) or sheer lack of willpower essentially, and that, when you think about it, is just about the dumbest excuse ever.
@ Barstool Buddy
Agreed we’re all ‘mere mortals’ but it’s easy for people to forget that when they think about the super achievers and see them (often unconsciously) as being ‘different’.
Few people look at JohnnyBTruant and think “I could never do that” (sorry Johnny my old mucka!), but that’s exactly what many people think when they look at Richard Branson, JK Rowling, Oprah, Nelson Mandella etc.
As for willpower that is a brilliant excuse. Willpower is a finite resource dictated by glucose levels to the pre-frontal cortex (hence why people often run out of willpower when they are fatigued) and we all run out at times. However, some people think they have run out when in reality they just lack motivation.
I would say one of the common factors that runs through the super successful is the knowing. Knowing why they are doing what they are doing. If you have no idea what the bigger purpose is there’s a great chance you’ll come up short.
All of these people listed in the article are way more widely read than any blogger on the internet.
That only matters if “become a world famous blogger” is your goal.
I write this in reply to Tim’s message stating: “However, I think it would have been way more powerful to have used examples that people can relate to really easily.”
I think that the people listed in the article are some of the best examples that could have been put forth because they are much more widely read than a blogger. As such, they should be even more inspirational.
Teh internets. Cats. F***ing cats everywhere.
I’m on ur day planner. Stretched out over ur plans.
That’s not something I’d admit in public.
I’m constantly reminded of something my dear friend Merredith told me. I don’t know if it’s a quote or what, but it hits home every time: sometimes, it’s easier to pine for what we want than to face the reality of actually receiving it.
But as someone who has a fair chunk of an ee cummings poem inked on her back, I find much more exhilaration in getting what I want and then using the thrill of victory to fuel my next conquest. There’s no stopping, but there are plenty of moments to remind yourself that YOU are capable of incredible things (and there’s no shame in reveling in the achievement on occasion).
You can wish in one hand and crap in the other – see which one fills up first.
*applause*
We make so many excuses for what we’re not doing. We either don’t really want to do it (but say we do), or we’re scared (modern fears are so silly sometimes.)
My philosophy for 2011 is quite simple: either face the truth and embrace it or stop making excuses and do it.
@Robert, Nobody on this earth will better motivate me to drop the excuses, get out there, and enjoy the journey better than Nick Vujicic. How ironic I just tweeted this guy as my follow Friday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ZuKF3dxCY
A brilliant, inspiring post. I don’t have any excuses good enough to share here, other than the one that so many of us clutch secretly: we’re afraid to start in case the going gets too tough. I wrote a blog post about that a little while ago. Here’s a link to it, I hope you find it useful: http://www.inspirationzone.co.uk/inspirationblogpost.asp?serialnumber=121
This might just be the best post I’ve ever read. The truth in it really hits home. Most of us (humans in general) fear the unknown, hence the reason we sit still, going through the same paces as we did the day before. Those without fear, are the ones that make it.
Great post. We procrastinate a lot with lame excuses. I also do it often. But fortunately I read these posts or my wife and daughters remind me why I do what I do and start with reinvigorated strength. Nice post.
I’ve been guilty of using the fatalist’s “it obviously isn’t meant to be.”
Silly? Sure. But it goes to show that even self-rescuing damsels occasionally question their ability to pull through…
In those moments, it’s all I can do to remind myself that there are no predestined victims in this world. Present circumstances do not have to dictate future opportunities… unless we let them.
Rock on, Mr. Bruce.
Overuse of Twitter is often my excuse – which is how I found this article when I should have been writing this morning…
Thanks for the kick in the pants.
I think the first and foremost ingredient of someone who is not achieving their goal is because they got too comfortable.
Too comfy in the position their in at the office, in their life or in their startup.
I kind of go a long with Alowetta. I do not consider myself a great writer. My thoughts are all jumbled up in my head and it hard to put them to paper. I am also really afraid of what people will say about my writing. I am doing it anyways. It is hard but I know it will get better with time. I found your post to me very helpful. Great examples of leaders and successful people throughout time. I look up to these people and a lot of people in our days also. Thanks
Nicely timed! I’ve just blogged about failing to complete NaNoWriMo, but I’m past the point of making excuses now. I’m just going to get on with it
This is exactly what I needed. Have been spending too much time on the excuses lately and not on the achieving.
I was quite busy making excuses to not write a post on my new blog this morning.
I am happy to say that I didn’t listen to the nagging excuses and I decided to blog instead.
What a great post to read to back up my decision to ignore them (the excuses).
In order to become the type of blogger I aspire to be and to contribute to the world in my own unique way- I actually need to (revelation here) blog.
Oops, you pegged me on a few excuses. Just this week my husband told me I was giving excuses about an issue we were discussing. To me they were valid, big obstacles.
Funny thing is I can be the best motivator for others. Just seem to stumble when it comes to me, myself and I and my dreams. I think fear is one of my biggest excuses. Unbelief too.
I guess I need to count the cost and evaluate whether or not it’s worth it.
And when I do that I realize IT IS.
So with that, I will get back to business. With the dream of writing a book to help those stuck in shame.
Thanks for the great motivation this Friday.
Peace out,
Tiffany
Oh, how I love this post!
Yes, success comes only after we’ve learned from our failures and moved on (which really doesn’t make them failures but learning experiences). The most important part is “moving on” and not quitting from the disappointment of rejection. This is what separates those who succeed and those who don’t. Great! Thanks for this post.
Nice kick in the pants.
Thanks
This is a truly amazing and inspiring list. I love real behind the scenes stories of people who have achieved success. Thank you for sharing this list. I have often used many of the excuses named in your list above. Most of them boiled down to just one thing – FEAR. Fear of failure. Fear of success. Fear I just wasn’t good enough. Overcoming self-doubt can be tough but it is absolutely worth it.
Success has nothing to do with failure; it has everything to do with the response after failure.
Thanks for the inspiration! Did you mention Stephen King? I don’t have any real excuses for not having already published the big novel or collection of poetry or whatever, but I have had some hard lessons about distractions of all kinds. Right now my excuse for not working on the inspiration for a blog post I had a few minutes ago is that I sat down at my desk, checked email, and found this inspiring post, and then got distracted with a need to post a comment lol
A year ago this month I walked out of a job and said F-it, I’m writing and that’s all. So the roof is leaking? I don’t care. I’m not starving–far from it! Yay.
OK back to first inspiration. Thanks
Sylvester Stallone was so broke before he sold the “Rocky” script that he sold his dog.
Walter Mosley started writing at age 34 after taking a writing course at a public college. Now at age 58 he has 33 books under his belt.
J. M. Coetzee is painfully reclusive. He won the Booker Prize twice but didn’t show up to get the award.
Appreciate the reminder to forget the excuses and just do it! Some people keep persevering until they achieve their goals–and some of us are still learning to persevere. I’m improving. It’s encouraging to look at signs of progress: writing a to-do list for every day, assigning a beginning and ending time to each project, reviewing what did get done and noting what I accomplished by persevering. These steps motivate me to keep going.
What an amazing post–I suspect this is the one-size-fits-all post of the year thus far (I know it fits me!). I’m in the ‘as soon as I x, y and z, then I’ll get back to the important stuff” camp.
Fortunately, I’ve been changing that. Sixty days ago I’d have been too lazy to click on the Twitter link and read your post (after all, I still had x, y and z to complete) but now…
What am I gonna pull off? I’m gonna finish editing my NaNoWriMo novel and get on with the next one. I am!
Great Friday post! Thank you.
And then there´s the reality of failures. At times you really do fail, and that´s when it is more important than ever to rise again, look at what went wrong, learn from it an keep going even though you feel like quitting. Painful but necessary, and oh so rewarding!
I used to be driven by fear – it stopped me from going forward even though I had talent. Now, by the grace of God, I never allow fear to stop me, I just keep going, keep learning and keep winning because I know that I am loved, I know what I was made for and I enjoy my life to the full!
The dog ate it.
I guess my favourite excuse is that I’m employed ft as a writer, so it’s quite difficult to go home and write some more. That said, I have managed to pull it together to start my second novel, it’s been far far too long since I finished the first!
Gotta say, I also find the War and Peace story most inspiring!
I LOVE these kinds of articles! Thanks for all the reminders!
For me? The answer is simple:
NOTHING!
Nothing is going to hold me back this year! I’ve been getting up two hours early every morning this week to write “that book” I’ve always wanted to write – so far I’ve got +5,000 words – THAT is motivation to keep getting up early next week!
I did my running this week – 9 miles so far, 4 more today – that is old hat, started the habit 2 years ago when I couldn’t even run for a sustained 60 seconds, now it’s just maintanence.
With that, I still did my “real job”, and my “escape velocity” job – both of which I truly love, so it’s not like it’s that big of a deal.
Yeah – this is the year. So was last year. And so will be next year. You’ve got to adopt the style that nothing will hold you back, and go do it. When we boil down all the psychology, self-help, and motivational speaking available, it really comes to that – Nike had it right: Just DO it.
Good luck everybody – go make 2011 crazy productive – from there, you just might be successful!
The biggest excuse?
“Oh, I love reading about people in the past who overcame adversity and made it big. This was a great read. Gee, I should leave a comment…. then I’ll get busy and write. (Well I need to get a coffee first) What’s that? There’s a game on? No, I’ve got work to do…. I’ll just watch to see who’e winning….”
I don’t blog yet because of the committment level. I want to blog. Have stuff to say in a blog. Study blogs and best practices of blogging yet, I have no blog. One of these days I will get around to it, like any good procrastinator.
Thanks for the inspiration. I felt compelled to actually comment.
On a lighter note:
Q: What’s Your Excuse for Not Achieving Your Goals?
A: Keyser Söze
It’s almost as if our brains try diligently to come up with an excuse, especially if the process is not or doesn’t seem fun. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of having the right kind of willpower.
oh, and for me it’s: I don’t have the time, or I just tired, or I don’t want to.
I’ve actually worked hard to eliminate my excuses, although when I’m down with a cold, it’s still hard. The ones that drive me craziest are “I don’t have the space to write.”
I get that one from my sister, a lot. We grew up sharing a room with no desk and a bunk bed. She made time to write there. When she lived in that house again as an adult, she still could choose to – but she would rather complain she can’t write and spend her time Tweetling LOL cats and some weird game thing than she would taking the risk involved in creating something.
I think less people than we think are lazy. I think most are just afraid of what will happen once they set creativity into motion.
I work with kids with autism and cognitive disabilities. They keep trying, no matter how tough life is…they could use excuses and most often don’t. Me? I have it easy compared to those kids, so I have to throw my excuses out the window. To hang on to them is disrespectful to those who really have things to overcome.
My main excuse: I have too many interesting things to do!
What I’m gonna do when I stop listening to the excuse: Change the world with my music!
This blog post remind me of something similar Connor Freff Cochran wrote in Keyboard Magazine in the eighties. He listed a lot of well known composers and when they wrote their best stuff. Some wrote it early and did nothing more interesting after that, and some wrote their best stuff when they where old and grey.
It’s never, ever too late to start doing it right!
Excellent post. The best part is reading the comments and knowing I’m in good company. The irony for me is that I wrote my first screenplay, and my first book, at times when I had legitimate reasons for not being able to write. Now that my life is more comfortable, I find less of that angst that drives me to sink or swim (and write.)
The biggest issue for me right now is overload of ideas, projects, and directions. Just last night I cleared the decks, and named three priorities for me which include getting back on track with my blogging. Gotta tune out the noise, ignore the ideas that come fast and furious whenever I sit quietly. Frankly, I need to devise something like an “idea vault” where I can store these distracting, yet tantalizing ideas, until I’ve completed the work at hand.
Very inspiring.
Wow, way to make me even more depressed about my own worthlessness.
I kid, I kid.
No excuses! Not even the flu!
Lack of Motivation…Most of my joy occurs when I’m designing, creating new websites or finished writing a great article however I spend most of my time marketing which is a necessary task but not very motivating.
How do you motivate yourself?
I think that I am afraid of failure. But who isn’t? It was nice to read about the failures of other people who eventually became successful. It’s a good reminder of pushing on and following your dreams. Thanks for the post.
Thanks for sharing these.
It’s always inspiring to learn of these “success stories” who persevered through failure and rejection. I would also add The Beatles, who were turned down by every major record label in the UK before George Martin took a chance on them for his Parlophone label, an off-shoot of EMI that specialized in comedy and classical records.
Having interviewed many musicians and read many bios, it always strikes me that the ones who succeed are often not always the most talented or the most creative (though those things are part of the equation) but the ones who simply wanted it the most, who never gave up in the face of adversity, rejection and nay-sayers, and who worked their asses off to achieve their goals.
I agree, and I see that in just about every field — the ones that are supposed to be reserved for the “talented” (music, writing) as well as those that are allegedly more objective (science, business).
My excuse is none… just that I see that too many people make too many excuses for not reaching their goals, when they could just take action, make lots of mistakes and reach some goals in return.
Very inspirational.
I’m newbie for blogging sometimes I feel that I’m too late to enter into blogging.
No holds bar just the thing to kickstart the new year. Amen.
Wow! Perfect timing. I have let excuses get in my way for years. Now I have a new opportunity to really make my dreams come true. It is going to take a ton of hard work but for the first time in many years I am feeling up for the challenge. Thanks for the reminder that many people have been faced with challenges and through patience and persistence they have reached their goals.
Correction: Thanks Bruce for the original post, and Brian for the point about people putting these guys on a pedestal, which I agreed with. OK, thats me done, Nurse!…
Search for Ted Williams on You Tube. There is some very current inspiration there.
I’m not one to talk though. I get very easily distracted. Especially by other blog posts. :O)
Great post! People forget that many people have overcome challenges to get where they are. How a person spends their time is a choice (to some extent) and you do not need a great deal of time accomplish a lot. Five minutes a day. All you need is five minutes a day.
Thanks for the inspiring post. There’s a great book called The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (http://www.stevenpressfield.com/the-war-of-art/) that speaks to breaking through the blocks that stop us from doing what we are meant to do. It’s a great read and really speaks in depth to your points in this post.
Thanks again, for the reminder!
If anyone is interested in doing away with excuses and/or how to deal with them, try reading a book by Wayne Dyer called Excuses Be Gone! Well worth a read…
My excuse is that I’m in the preparation stage. I read fabulous websites like this to learn the ropes and run out of writing time before I have time to write. Now, I’m setting a timer for prep work to help me move into the “do work” stage!
Here’s my excuse: I’m afraid that I might not be good enough and therefore might fail. Probably pretty common.
I think fear of failure is lurking behind most of our excuses.
Fear of success lurks behind just as many, oddly enough.
*ouch* My excuses…I’m not sure that this is *the* thing/maybe I should explore something else. Really it’s just fear of success and failure.
My response to my excuse…One day I’ll look back and it will be 5 years from now. Where will I be? Still not sure or proud of myself that I didn’t quit.
Procrastination and self-doubt are my worst enemies.
My primary obstacle?
Lack of discipline.
All too often, I know what I need to do, but fail to make myself do it.
Carrie L. Lewis
Horse Painter
I got on the Internet because I had a purpose: to let people know how I got rid of a malady that tortured me for about 40 years – I have “a vision” about it, since it concerns much too many people. As you can imagine, without knowing the “how to” of the Internet the mission is still not accomplished.
In the past, like many of you, I encountered many challenges in my life and I faced them, solved them or did overcome them satisfactorily or successfully, because I was in an environment I was familiar with. At the present I am “working” on a project {http://petitions.tigweb.org.merryChristmas}, which I also hope to complete favourably. But “Internet” is a complexed syber-subject and needs “holding hands”.
I am now in a situation that could be likened to the following: you give to a person a book to read – to learn, let’s say – “How To Swim”. After the person finished reading it, you take him/her to the deepest place in the Lake ,Ocean and ask the person to try it out. Well, you can imagine the outcome of it.
“Attending” Internet related Courses does not help by reading the digital material, without being exposed to the practical applications of “how to”, hence I am still “as smart as before” as far as this subject is concerned.
The answer to the Question would be in my case: the ILLITERACY.
Just when I thought I wasn’t gonna have to actually do some of this stuff I’ve set up to do….
Thanks for mashing this up. Definitely need to keep it handy, both for me and for others when they start handing me excuses.
bd
@bdunc1
It all comes down to fear, doesn’t it? Any excuse for not achieving your goal is tied to a fear of ridicule, rejection, failure, success, or the worst one of all: being ignored completely.
Gulp? I guess I’d better get back to that manuscript on the table and off this machine…
…writing from Samoa
A wonderful post, I felt really inspired. The comments, well they get lost in translation, my husband is still wondering why I am laughing out loud at cats on planners and “oh look! a bird…”
My favorite excuses?
- I am too busy.
- I am too young.
- I don’t have anything to say.
- I am too tired
- I haven’t read enough.
There are so many more. They are all going in the toilet.
Thank you
Serial procratinatror! But I’ll start tomorrow!
Wow. That was a huge kick in the BUTT.
I guess I tend to use the I’m too young, I’m too broke, I’m single, It’s a Recession! etc.
You have inspired me to knock those excuses out the window.
THANK YOU!!!
Hi Robert!
These are all good accounts of goals achieved and success reached through patience, perseverance, and undaunting and unwavering faith in one’s self!
I have no excuse. I am so greatly motivated! Thanks!
A friend of mine is a counsellor. She says most people are scared of their own success or, more specifically, the changes they’ll have to make to their lives when they are successful! So they find lots of excuses not to do things so that they don’t have to deal with change.
Great inspirational post. I love some of the references and excuses vs. accomplishments. I’m hanging this on my bulletin board!
So glad this landed in my inbox today, as I too have been dragging my feet on something I really, really, want to get off the ground. My excuses? Not enough time, lots of self-doubt.
Judging from these comments nearly all the rest of the world is sharing these issues.
So, many thanks for the swift kick, and I *will* make progress with my project.
G’Day Robert,
Until I started my own business, I didn’t realize the value of persistence. Now I do. But I also value what John Wooden said, “I’d rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and little talent.”
A lot of those people you mention personify another Wooden saying; “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
I’m currently reading “The Happiest Refugee, A Memoir” by Ahn Do. Ahn escaped from Vietnam with his family in a small boat when he was four years old. The book is subtitled, “….. a boy’s journey from starvation at sea to becoming one of Australia’s best loved comedians.”
He’s not famous in the same way as the people you mention. But if you want to read a fabulous story about overcoming adversity that most of us couldn’t even conceive of, grab a copy of this book and read it. And you’ll laugh a lot too.
Thanks for your most timely reminder.
Regards
Leon
How about including those who did not make it despite struggles?
Everybody struggles in life, but our culture only likes to honor the winner.
What about the losers? They have gone quietly into the night, to paraphrase Dylan Thomas.
It’s sad when we only decide to glorify the success stories.
A lot of these people also had the right connections. No wonder they got lucky breaks.
What about those who died unhonored, unsung and unheard, to paraphrase a poet?
Who will write about their lives? Who will share their stories?
It’s sort of like, the not invented here syndrome. However, I enjoyed reading your article.
You sense of optimism is welcome, like a beacon of hope in a dark world.
Thanks for sharing your perspective and have a nice day. Cheers.
It is good to see that excuses can win even in the face of a blog post like this one
Excellent examples! I love stories like these, and I use them in my Splat to Spectacular audios.When we look to people who have triumphed in spite of what many of us would think of as excuses, it helps erase our petty “not enoughs” or “too muches” and gives us access to, “Yeah, I could do that.”
Thank you so much for sharing this with us Robert.
Now I know what I’m going to read first if I ever catch myself at finding excuses…
Cheers,
Togrul
Perfect examples for our complaining generation. There are no excuses for great things.
Thank You!
I’ve been working hard on researching and trying to find more sites where I can work, or at least get more higher, paying clients. So far, i have found a few that have not let me down. But my hard work starts to slow down as soon as the work starts coming in.. I really think I just trust that my clients will ALWAYS be there, and I don’t continue to work as hard, after I land clients.
Also, there is the issue of investing time on my blog. I started working on it again, and now i’m just looking for places where I can get paid to blog, and places where I can find jobs as a blogger. This also takes me away from achieving my goals, and getting what I want out of my writing.
Anyone have any suggestions on what can help me?
I was thinking of the excuses I used to find for myself for not starting to diet, or to exercise, or to make this new blog of mine and here what I’ve come up with:
- I didn’t have enough time;
- I wasn’t in the mood to;
- I was lost in too much info — addicted, actually;
- I thought the house was not clean enough to start doing gym on the floor;
- I was lost into temptations : fast food, sandwiches, fried meals;
- I had too many gym videos and dvd’s, didn’t know what to start with;
- I was disappointed that after 3 days of diet & gym I was not seeing big results (ha,I know this one it’s amusingly ridiculous, but it’s true)
Well, I hope you noticed that it’s all in past tense.
Come and visit my blog to see why.
….
Suddenly none of my excuses seem good enough! I should get some work done now.
Damn excuses are the father of failure!
Enlightening stories. I read their successes but I failed to realized the thousand stages of failure they experienced before they scaled the heights to success. For not achieving my goals last year, I will not offer any excuses. I’ll just have to stick to my plan and minimize wasting time.
My excuse used to be the “peanut gallery’s” negativism towards me being able to do anything. Once I stopped believing them, I taught myself just enough webdesign so I could create my own website featuring recipes for those with food allergies. However, one can’t make money that way, so eventually I’ll write a few cookbooks.
My goal? Get off of disability so I can afford my own way in life – completely.
What else? Get a real house with a kitchen that is better suited for creating recipes. And, a real office so I can focus.
Lastly? Get those bats out of my attic! And sue the property manager (who the association hired) because he’s been blatantly lying to me, and jacking me around. In short, taking advantage of my dad and I. Yep, I plan on suing under the ADA act for discrimination, lying, and whatever else I can get. And, if I win enough money, I’m going to hire me a programmer so I can get my site into the next level – complete with a state of the art search engine that caters to those with food allergies. And ultimately, be able to stay off of disability and pay it forward! Very important to me, because it will help me help others.
(Sorry, won’t be able to reply to any comments here because I fear too many ‘followup emails’ that don’t apply to me.)
For me it’s assigning myself TOO MANY goals. In the past that strategy has challenged me to push myself – the reach for the moon and if you get to the stars you’re still ahead – approach. Coming into this year it’s thrown me into serious “overwhelm!” mode so I’m hitting the wall on everything and as a result spending some quality time on the pity pot beating myself up for not making enough progress. Wah, wah, wah. Time to climb down. Regroup. Get real. Thanks for the inspiration!
What a great post, Next time I moan about lack of motivation I’ll think of this.
Just thought that several commentators might enjoy reading Peter Shallard’s free ebook, Seek and Destroy. It’s available on his home page for download (look in the sidebar).
It’s all about learning more on what’s holding you back (in short, what’s your excuse?) and gives you some pretty good insight on the real problem and tips on how to overcome it. I highly recommend it and hope that some people might finally get unstuck!
Yeah excuse making is our natural habit. I don’t think so many of us can stop this
I need to catch up on lack of sleep from insomnia….
But I think I’ll finish that next promo instead.
Too social~!
When I took the Dale Carnegie Course years ago, the instructor said, “I know people in the ranks swho will stay in the ranks. Why? Because they haven’t the ability to get things done”.
I was stuck yesterday with too many things to complete: a marketing plan, a speech for Tuesday, bills to pay, thank you notes to write…and bags of stuff to donate to the Salvation Army stuck in the back seat of my car…and guests coming to play bridge last night.
I had a pity party for an hour. Then I made my list and just kept on going (helped by some peanut butter on crackers) through the day. Felt good when it was all done. Except never got the Chapter done for my new book. That always seems to come last!
Thanks for the inspiration today!
I have learned to use successful people’s before-success stories to keep me motivated and on track. One of my favorites is that John Grisham’s A Time to Kill was rejected numerous times and that his second novel The Firm got published first. After its success, A Time to Kill was published and became a major bestseller wiyh a movie deal. Also, Timothy Ferriss was consistently rejected but we all know where he and his book The 4-Hour Work Week are today…
Thank you for reminding me all the other great examples.
I’m starting to think that people are almost hard wired to make excuses. It’s incredible.
Personally, I always try to turn my excuse into a benefit and opportunity.
Example of two contrary nonsense excuses turned into opportunities:
“I’m too old”
vs
“I’m too young”
can be easily turned into:
“I’m starting younger than anybody else, that means I have an advatage over them – better ideas, I can learn from their mistakes, I have more time or whatever.”
vs.
“I’m starting older than anybody else, that means I have an advantage of having many experineces and I’ve further knowledge than the younger guys.”
Don’t let your excuse keeping you from succeeding.
Wow…this made me think for awhile. Its short the message is well said…my excuse way back, well, just the rest it’s very hard to land on a job…until I realize patience is a virtue. It’s natural that we fall at times, its where we learn and gather strength from. Think positive, some of the successful man on earth failed first at their first attempt, even on the second and third but they still succeeded. Love your article.
I am lazy
Amazing read, thank you for putting life and excuses into perspective.
Procrastination is the biggest excuse …. always something needs doing before DOING something (smile).
Thanks Robert – nicely put and very apt. Your timing for so many people is perfect. I shall now go and look at your stories. You obviously tell them very well.
After 41 years of getting to know myself, I found out that I only really do what I love.
Love is the reason. Love is the engine.
If I want something done I have to love it first, otherwise it will only be wishful thinking.
I feel free of having to explain what I do, because I love what I do.
When I was younger I let others dictate my activities and I did things that I did not love and my mind was entangled and my personality was poor. I felt that fitting-in was the most important thing.
Now my mind is at peace, my thoughts are clear, and my personality is open.
Well, there’s the time thing and the tired thing, for sure. I’m also pretty good at “getting ready to…” Have to make sure that I’m perfectly prepared. I mean, would anyone cook the perfect meal in a less-than-spotless kitchen? LOL! I’m most certainly moving forward, but that “novel in 11 days thing” makes me realize I could be doing that a bit more quickly. And once I’m really going, I’ll be sparking an epidemic of well-being. It’s worth it to get my butt in gear.
Oh a wonderful reminder of why I need to just do it! Thank you!
The Isaac Asimov reference in the article isn’t really accurate. He did write or edit more that 500 books, but only the first 25 or so took place before mid-1958, when the Boston University School of Medicine fired him (for, among other things, writing instead of doing research). He kept the title of Associate Professor, but they relieved him of his salary and teaching duties. From 1958 onward, he was a full-time writer.
Stories like that only depress me further.
All of you with a marketable passion and motivation are luckier than you’d ever admit.
Writing about what you feel you need to be marketable, or why you don’t have passion seems like a great place to start.
Actually, Asimov came to feel that the university did him a great favor by firing him. He had already reached the limits of what he could accomplish by writing in his spare time. His job was holding him back. But with a wife and children to support, he would never have been able to consider quitting a steady job for a freelance writing career; that would have seemed reckless and irresponsible. By taking the decision out of his hands, the university freed him to devote all his time to writing, and his success as an author skyrocketed after that.
Years later, under a different administration, the university contacted Asimov to ask whether he would be willing to return and teach again. He replied that while he was deeply flattered by the offer, he couldn’t possibly afford to consider it. He would take a huge pay cut by accepting a teaching post. Writing really was the best and most lucrative use of his time.
And in 1979, even though he hadn’t taught any classes at Boston University School of Medicine for two decades, the university promoted Asimov from associate professor to full professor of biochemistry.
I’m lazy and I sleep too much. I need to excersize and stop treating my body like shit. Cmon now.
I think it’s also crucial that we recalibrate what we mean by “success.” It seems we often peg success to have arrived when people achieve the Stephen King or J.K. Rowling level or [insert super-successful blogger's name here] level. Not every business needs to become a Walmart.
Are you earning enough to pay your bills and keep a roof over you head and maybe save a little? Or if your endeavour is a sideline, is it providing for you what you want it to provide – some extra cash, a back-up career path, or even just personal fulfillment? Define your own meaning of success.
Not many of us will achieve “storybook” success. But if we make a decent living doing something we love – I’d call that success.
It isn’t that I’m not accomplishing them – they are ALL being accomplished on a scale somewhat slower than I envisioned.
Case in point, my next book – which is proving to be a serious bit#$. If I don’t get that thing to an editor soon someone will come up with some of my amazing ideas – I just KNOW IT!
Typically when I don’t get a goal accomplished it’s because it wasn’t really a worthy goal anyway. The worthy ones – get done, every time.
I think that sometimes the biggest issue for me isn’t that I’m making an excuse, but that I’m not sure which path is the best one to take to my goals. Sometimes I feel like my efforts are reduced by being divided on multiple fronts.
No one taught me how to go about working towards my dreams. I come from what you would call a ‘broken down home’.
It took all my will power and strength (and god’s blessings) to figure out how to live normally.
Now, at 23 I finally have stability in my life. I have achieved things that many in my previous situations may never had.
From homelessness and sleeping in cars to deadly mingles with drugs and horrid expiriences straight from a horror movie, I somehow survived.
Not that its an excuse, but I tend to feel as though writing, or climbing are not worth the effort because I feel if I try my hardest-and get so close to the finish line- I might fall and lose.
BUT. I ask god to help me every day. Not to solve the puzzle for me, but to lay the pieces out where I can see them.
I have to ask for this everyday because it is what keeps my mind alert and my eyes open.
I was taught “Excuses are tools of incompetence and those that specialize in them rarely accomplish anything”.
One excuse that I’m overcoming is “There isn’t enough time”… I used to subscribe to this until I realize that there was time. I was just using it inefficiently. Once you stop focusing on the excuse and focus on the solution, you free up tons of time.
Very inspirational post! I’m going to print these success stories and look at them whenever I feel like making an excuse.
My daughter, who is my business partner as well, passed your post on to me. As my friend told me entrepenuers take risks. I finally took a huge leap and started my own business in 2009 then my website was up in 2010..
Thank you for your upliftng thoughts as it has shown me that failure is not an option. Just because one door is shut and shut and shut does not mean you give up until another one is opened. All the people you mentioned must have felt like I have at some point in their journey but they did not let the negative keep them from following their dream.
I like to say my excuses aloud a few times… sometimes they sound so @#$%^&*( pathetic it totally motivates me to try harder and keep working.
This comment will be probably lost among many others,
but might be, just might be someday you’ll see it… Thank you.
Brilliantly inspiring! Always helps to be reminded to keep on plugging away.
It took James Dyson 15 years and 5,126 prototypes to eventually market his revolutionary vacuum cleaner.
“A lot of people give up when the world seems to be against them, but that’s the point when you should push a little harder. I use the analogy of running a race. It seems as though you can’t carry on, but if you just get through the pain barrier, you’ll see the end and be okay. Often, just around the corner is where the solution will happen.” http://www.dyson.co.uk/insideDyson/article.asp?aID=storyofstruggle&hf=&js=
Well, I go for a variety of excuses, my favorite being that things don’t go as planned and I need to do more planning, scheduling, journaling, yoga and whatever to reach a moment of great clarity from which everything will flow easily, zen-like.
I carry a human brain though with all its features, among them a varying but generally short and jumpy attention span (it’s not a bug it’s a feature!), so I just succumb, usually to coffee and cigarettes, with which reading the internet goes well too.
I have come to realize there is no way not to bite that bullet (even 13 bullets) and get results. One has to choose what comes first and what second, the pleasure or the pain. Bite, take the pain (physical) and then sink into pleasure (inner), succumb enjoy a lazy day (physical) and then go to sleep with the pain (inner pain that is).
I’ll just stop now it’s turning into a blog post, have a good day.
WOW! I think that most of us thought all these people had it come easy. I personally never knew that they struggled so much to become history today. Great post, thanks for sharing..gives me the strength to continue on with what I’d like to accomplish in life.
Very inspirational. But it’s also very sad that for every dream realised, a million more are lost.
I think that’s my first excuse – apathy and hopelessness? (Though, I work for all my dreams everyday, I just carry an air of pessimism.)
I have several dreams though. As I make one come true, I have to sacrifice a large portion of the others. That’s my second excuse.
My third excuse: I’m happy regardless and just living life. I get caught in the present.