Are You Going After Your Dreams – 5 Excuses We Make

Top 5 Excuses for Not Going After Your Dreams

 

 

achieve greatnessWhat are you waiting for? You have plans and aspirations that you’ve been putting off for years. We’re great at putting things off and convincing ourselves that we’ll get them done someday soon. Eventually, we all run out of somedays and our options become more limited. If you’re not enthusiastically pursuing your goals, there’s a reason. And it might not be the reason you think.

Most excuses are actually a form of fear camouflaged as another challenge.

Identify your excuses and take action today:

  1. A perceived lack of resources. Perhaps you need additional knowledge, education, money, or time. This is the most common excuse for not taking action. These excuses might be accurate. You might not have enough time. However, it’s up to you to make the time. It’s up to you to find the money you need.
  • A lack of resources can’t stop you if you’re determined. Using the lack of resources as an excuse suggests another underlying issue.
  • Find a way around your lack of resources. There’s a solution available to you right now if you want to find it.
  1. Your belief that you’ll fail. Maybe you’re not afraid of failing, but you anticipate failure. No one would waste their time taking action if they expected a negative outcome. Use every tool at your disposal to change your belief. Try using logic or convince yourself that you’ll give it a try anyway. Meditation, self-hypnosis, and visualization are other possible options.
  • Get expert advice or consider changing your objective to one that’s more believable.
  1. Fear. The is the most accurate answer most of the time. Doing something significant involves change, both the change that results from success and the chance necessary to create success.
  • The most effective way to combat fear is to jump in with both feet. The apprehension that results from thinking about taking the first step is more severe than the apprehension that accompanies real action. Once you get started, the fear subsides considerably.
  • Fear has been around since the beginning of man. It’s not going away, so it’s important to build your ability to manage it.
  1. A lack of motivation. Why aren’t you motivated? Is it due to fear or something else? A little success can create motivation. Starting a diet can be challenging, but your motivation grows after you’ve successfully lost 10 pounds.
  • The solution to a lack of motivation is the same as the solution to fear: take the leap. Get started and hang in there until you’ve experienced some success. At that point, you’ll find that your lack of motivation is no longer an issue.
  1. The need for perfection. This could be the need to have ideal conditions before getting started or the need to accomplish your goal without experiencing any failure along the way. Perfectionism is just another manifestation of fear masquerading as a socially acceptable excuse.
  • There is no failure, provided you don’t give up. Expect that things won’t work out 100% according to plan. Accept this fact and move ahead.
  • Take action. Taking action is the best way to reduce your fear. You don’t need to be perfect. You only need to be “good enough.”

If you’ve been finding reasons to put off your plans to some unidentified point in the future, it’s time to examine the reasons. Fear is the biggest reason for chronic procrastination. It’s your responsibility to determine why you’ve been waiting. By finding an explanation, you can begin to take motivated action and see your dreams come true.

To your success

Michael W

Michael W

Expand Your Comfort Zone To Grow

13 Ways to Expand Your Comfort Zone

 

 

comfort-zoneYou’ve been told countless times that you must go beyond your comfort zone if you want to accomplish anything worthwhile. You may have noticed that’s a scary place to be. But there are ways to expand your comfort zone gently. It doesn’t matter how you get there, as long as you complete the journey.

Expand your comfort zone and your life:

1. Start slowly. It’s the bigger changes that tend to stimulate feelings of discomfort. The thought of doing 50 pushups for the first time in five years is daunting. The thought of doing one isn’t a problem.

  • Create small changes and then increase those changes over time. This is a great way to keep discomfort at bay.

2. Eat something new. Most of us are a little hesitant to try a new food, but it’s a non-threatening way to stretch your comfort zone. Try a new restaurant or a new fruit from the grocery store.

3. Read something completely different than your usual fare. If you’re a man, a book on feminism might be just the ticket. If you’re Christian, a book on the Muslim faith might shake things up a bit. Read something you would ordinarily never read.

4. Take a new route to work. Better yet, don’t look at a map beforehand. Follow your instincts and see where you end up. Hopefully, you’ll make it to work on time.

5. Unplug for an entire day. Turn off your phone, the internet, and the television. This will be more uncomfortable than you think.

6. Sit in a different place. Sit on the couch instead of your favorite chair. Choose a different seat at the dining table.

7. Strike up a conversation with a stranger. It doesn’t have to be a twenty-minute affair. If you can maintain a conversation for 30 seconds, consider yourself successful. There are plenty of people in the world available for practice.

8. Ask your boss for a review. Tell your boss you’d like to sit down with him and review your performance. It might do wonders for your career and will stretch your comfort zone.

9. Apply for a new job that’s a step up from your current position. You might feel like a bit of an imposter, but that’s okay. Worst case? You might get the position and a new career. Your bank account might even benefit.

10. Call someone you haven’t spoken to for at least six months. Just pick up the phone and do it. You’ll feel great about it afterwards.

11. Travel out of the country. If you’ve never travelled outside your home country, you might be in for quite a shock. The food, people, and culture can all be different. Apply for a passport and consider where you’d like to visit.

12. Give yourself a thrill. Tackle something that makes you a little fearful. Go skydiving or ride a roller coaster. Give a speech. Take a dance class.

13. Sit by yourself in silence. This can be tougher than you think. Turn off all your devices and just sit alone with yourself. Avoid allowing yourself to daydream. Just stay with yourself for at least 30 minutes.

Expanding your comfort zone opens up numerous possibilities. Think about how your life would change if your comfort zone were larger. It’s possible to accomplish this without the pain you might imagine. Stretch your comfort zone a little each day.

To your success

Michael W

Michael W