I recently received an email from someone I had met several weeks ago. We had created a great idea for her business growth. It was a simple and sound plan with a positive ROI. Her excuse for not following-through? She wanted to stay focused on what she was currently doing and wouldn’t be able to implement the idea. Huh? Then, like most of us do to when confronted to move outside our comfort zones, she listed several “excuses” and included a quote from a well-known author to support her rationalization.
Our automatic excuse-maker kicks into full gear and we can come up with amazing reasons to justify not acting upon ideas or following-through on plans! The problem is, we engage our mental monologues in time-consuming thoughts that take more time than implementing the process would require! Then, we spend additional time (yes, and money) to enroll others into our justification for achieving poor results. We falsely await an epiphany without doing the necessary work! We rely upon mysticism that if we don’t act upon something, or follow-through, it wasn’t meant to be. Unfortunately, these cyclical excuses intensify as we use them more and more often.
How do we break out of this nasty trap? How do we move outside our comfort zones before they shrink to ensnare us completely? How do we achieve our goals with ease and positive financial results?
First – Hire a life coach or biz advisor who will propel you forward. You are still required to do the work, yes. The difference is a coach helps you break through the barriers to do what you have been avoiding, so you can have what you always wanted!
Second – Complete the five exercises in the book, “It’s Time to Brag!” (TimeToBrag.com) and become aware of your past accomplishments. You can’t build on weaknesses. Use these “brags” in a biz savvy manner for sales presentations, retaining clients, and asking for new job assignments.
Third – Create a blueprint based upon future goals, not simply recreating what you did in the past. This can be a challenge since human beings love to operate inside their comfort zones, which include either generating strategic ideas that cannot be implemented, or tactical plans that only regurgitate our current work with a new twist. Neither provides “value-added” results.
Fourth – Ensure a positive ROI. It’s like any investment of time or money. Ask yourself, “Does the plan provide a potential positive cash flow as it is designed, based upon the hours, days, or months involved?” If it does not, modify.
Fifth – Learn to recognize and shift your automatic excuses immediately. Saying “no” to requests may feel liberating. But in reality, if it’s not used judiciously, it only serves to entrench us deeper into our ruts. Learn to maneuver successfully through inevitable challenges via conversations with your biz advisor for positive results!
(c)Jeannette L Seibly, 2012
