“Excuses are Like Nose Holes… EVERYBODY has Them!”

“I’m too busy!”    “I have to take care of ______ (you fill in the blank).”    “I shouldn’t take this time for me when I could be working on _____ (same, again).”  “I might become a great success and then lose all my friends!”  “I  …blah,blah,blah.”

I know – I’ve been there.  Thinking up all kinds of reasons to not get around to doing the very thing I really want to do!   Still getting around to getting around to it.

A wonderful woman once told me, “Janus, Excuses are like nose holes….EVERYBODY has them!”  (Thanks, Maureen!)   OK, that got me thinking… (After my pride stopped smarting)  The sad thing is that I knew she was right!  I had golden opportunities wasting away that I could have taken advantage of but didn’t.  I did make all kinds of great excuses.  They sounded noble, honorable, and self-sacrificing to my ear.  But when I told Maureen, she’d bat down every lame excuse with reality.

“But Maureen, I really should be helping you clean barn!”  (See? Noble, honorable, and self-sacrificing!)

“Well, Janus, if you really want to help me, get off your seat and do what you know you can do and you’d be helping ALL of us!  Besides, you could just get up earlier to clean barn then have plenty of time to get on with your other stuff.  Bottom-line?  You’re just plain scared.”

What!!!!  Heck No!  I’m being noble, honorable, and self-sacrificing, right?  Who wouldn’t want to proceed with the project or work of their dreams?!  But I had to admit – not going for it made it really easy to NOT fail, to Not show up my friends, to NOT become someone folks might come to depend on, to NOT embarrass myself, to NOT seem braggadocios, to NOT seem overambitious, to NOT be rejected….All things that I secretly feared would make others maybe not like me or might be scary to face…

Well….BULL-PUCKY!  Excuses ARE like Nose-Holes!  EVERYBODY does have them!  The difference is that  SuCCessful Folks do their own thing ANYWAY!

So… I ask you?  What IS your latest excuse to not do what YOU really want to do?  Here is your SuCCess Task:

1.  Write down as many reasons as you can possibly come up with for NOT getting on with ______________. (Leaving lines between each excuse.)

2.  Next (Email, fax, hand-over ) your list to someone you trust to be kind but truthful with you. Instruct your partner to be brutally honest with you and to refute each one of your excuses.

3.  Plaster a smile on your face, drop the defensiveness, and copy down each “reality” given to you by your partner.

4.  Thank them – maybe take them to dinner – and be grateful you have someone in your life that won’t pretend to believe your Bull-Pucky!

If you are really feeling ornery, send that list to me.  I’ve probably used most of those Nose-Holes myself.  I’d love to be your SuCCess SideKick!

See You Down the Trail!!

Janus  Moncur – The Co-Creative Coach™

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE/BLOG IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Janus  Moncur – The Co-Creative Coach™- is a Certified Professional Coach,  CEO and Founder of Co-Creative Coaching, LLC.  She works with individuals as well as groups to overcome fears, conquer challenges and navigate transitions on the ride toward re-creating one’s personal and professional success. Janus specializes in helping new solo-prenuers, as well as those involved in career and life transition, in a playful, non-threatening format with her horsey-sense stories and pet parables.  For more information or a free sample consultation session, please feel free to connect with Janus at https://www.theco-creativecoach.com.