Reasons or Excuses?

As a performance psychologist, and someone who talks to business owners on a daily basis, some who are my clients and many more who are not, I’ve heard an incredible number of reasons why businesses are struggling or failing.

 I know that 99 out of 100 times that  a reason‚ really isn’t a reason at all, it’s aexcusesn excuse. There’s a big difference, and I’ll tell you what it is.

A reason is an explanation for why something is the way it is, with everyone involved taking accountability for their part in a situation.

An “excuse” is an explanation for why something is the way it is, that always involves the blame being put on someone or something that isn’t involved in the conversation, and not able to share their side of the story.

What’s the difference?

Accountability!

Let me give you some examples of common excuses for why businesses, fail:

  1. The market is flat
  2. There’s a recession
  3. Too many people doing the same thing
  4. I’m depressed
  5. It’s not perfect
  6. I don’t know what to do
  7. There’s not enough hours in the day

This list is endless. There are as many excuses for failure as there are failed businesses. If a person were to take accountability for their decisions and their actions, those excuses could be seen as the real reasons for failure, and they would look more like this:

  1. The market is slow, so what CAN I do to make it better
  2. One man’s recession is another mans OPPORTUNITY to grow
  3. How CAN I stand out above the others
  4. I feel low so what CAN I do to feel better
  5. NOTHING is perfect I‚’m just going to get it going
  6. What do I need to LEARN to do this
  7. How CAN I manage my tasks better

You probably notice a pattern forming here. For every excuse that a business owner can give for a business failing, there is a real reason that points back to something THEY did or didn’t do.

I’m sharing this information not to make anyone feel bad about their struggles or mistakes, I’m ssave youharing it to help business owners realise that they are the only person that controls their destiny.

Nobody is going to save you. You are responsible for you, get over it and get on with it.

For every mistake someone else makes that affects your business, there is a system & process you could have put in place to increase your chances of avoiding the mistake in the first place.

Until you learn to be accountable and responsible for you and your choices, you’ll be doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, everyone does, and only those people that admit their responsibility in the mistake learn from it. These are the people that can keep trying and eventually taste success, after all, a mistake is only a mistake if you make it twice. The first time it is a beautiful lesson!

Those that want to blame someone else, themselves or circumstance for their failures are dooming themselves to a life full of them.

You can choose reasons (excuses) or you can choose results; unfortunately you can’t choose both!

Do It Now! DIN!

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