Essential Life Skills of Personal Change and Persuasion

Hi Everyone,

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about goals. It seems that goals
and excuses go hand-in-hand. So the thought came to mind that maybe if we
took a real good look at the excuse we could find some answers.

So if you think about what ever excuse you have been using cannot do
something that you want to do, what would that tell you.

So take a moment and think of your favorite excuse for sitting on your ass.
Now here are a few questions I would like you to ask yourself about your
excuse.

What does this excuse do for me?

How do I know when to use this excuse?

How you know when this excuse is no longer valid?

If I had to think of a different excuse what would it be?

What would happen if I couldn't think of an excuse?

What does this excuse insure that I will always have?

What does this excuse keep me from having?

Excuses seem to be the best pattern interrupt for success. There are some
people who have automatic excuses that just pop out of their mouths before
they even have a chance to think about it.

I have told this story before but I think it is worth repeating. I have a
cousin who ran in the Para Olympics. So I went down to watch him run. So
as I sat there watching people with no arms and no legs running, jumping,
and throwing, I sat in amazed humiliation. As I watched blind people run I
could only sit and wonder.

Later that night I think about six of the athletes down to the bar district
in Atlanta called Buckhead. As we drove down and I listen to the talk I
realized that I was the only person there who still had all the parts he was
born with. All night long I watched people with no legs dancing. The blind
runner who never seemed to lose her beer:).

I thought to myself, here's a group of people that could come up with any
excuse they wanted to. The majority of people would accept it.

As I sat there I thought back to earlier that afternoon when I went to the
concession stand to buy a shirt. Across the front in huge letters were the
following three words. "What's your excuse". So I bought 1. I also bought
about 12 coffee mugs that all said the same thing. I have given most of
them out to people that I know. They have come to refer to my gifts as
being mugged.

To get mugged you have to come up with a bullshit excuse for not getting
what you want.

My cousin did not win any of the races he was in. His leg kept falling off
:). It was not very funny at the time. It just seems funny to think about.

So when you think about it, what was your excuse?