Like many of you reading this post, I have had a number of dreams, aspirations and expectations, a few of which I did achieve. Unfortunately, I must also confess that I just haven’t managed to realize the vast majority of my plans and worse still, have made all sorts of convenient excuses to rationalize my inability to perform to my potential. At the end of the day no one is interested in excuses; the world recognizes only performances not promises. So then I asked myself ‘Hey dude what is stopping you?’ Here is what I found out …(Notice the point in red refers to the problem and the one in blue is the antidote for it.)
Lack of focus – Perhaps this is the one single most important reason that many of us don’t utilize our talents, stumble along life’s way and remain incognito most of our life. We have no idea of what we want to do with our life, we do not have a clear agenda for ourself and merely lurch from day to day hoping that each day will be better than the previous.
Goal setting – We have some haze idea as to what we want from life. However to be focused in life we have to make that effort to actually ask and answer the 5W’s and 1H that pertain to our own life. One has to write down one’s goals be it personal goals, academic goals, professional goals or social goals. Ask any Olympic participant and you will find one thing in common- each of them had a goal to represent their country in the Olympics
Over commitment – In our anxiety to make up for our lack of focus and experience a sense of achievement, we make the next cardinal mistake of attempting more than what we realistically can attempt successfully. We also end up being over-committed because we want to please as many people as we can and also because subconsciously we hope that we will strike it rich by having more options. What we don’t seem to realize is that all we end up doing is biting of more than what we can chew.
Learning to say NO – If one has a goal, life is a lot simpler for there is clarity of purpose. Yet we are often thrust with tasks that we do not want to do, are not capable of doing or which is just not your business. Refusing to do something is not looked upon kindly but if our goal is clear and the tasks not aligned to our personal goals it is best that one take courage to say a polite NO and get on with the tasks that take you closer to your end goal..
Surrendering to problems – Every excuse one makes is nothing but the articulation of a problem. Problems come in all shapes and sizes and we often end up seeing a problem as insurmountable either because we do not want to make the effort to find a solution or because we have psyched ourselves into making a mountain out of a mole hill.
Finding creative Solutions – Problems exist because someone has yet to find a solution. Why not have an attitude that the solution can be provided by ME? Get through the problem, under the problem, around the problem or over the problem but ensure the problem is suitably addressed. Also make it a habit never to give excuses and suddenly the problem is no longer a burden to be carried but a present to be unwrapped.
Sheer laziness – Ah I bet each one of us is seriously guilty of this. No amount of explanation can substitute for condoning this.
Penalize yourself – The system will penalize us for our laziness. The marks one got in academics in large measure reflected the effort one put in. Similarly the lack of success experienced can be seen as a penalty imposed by life especially when one has been tardy, casual and indifferent to the opportunities made available. Imposing an additional penalty on ourselves would be the best way to beat laziness.
Now when I reflect on the question ‘what is stopping you?’ the answer is loud and clear…NOTHING… it is simply ME not measuring up to myself.
Action Points:
- Play an indoor game like caroms or throw darts on a dart board to appreciate the importance of focus. Every time you miss your target, examine your response to it; are you blaming something or someone or do you refocus quickly with a better strategy?
- You are at a party and though playing a game of tambola or housie was planned as the last game, the housie board and tickets have been misplaced. The 50 odd revelers are badgering you to play the game. How will you come up with an innovative housie game that does not use the housie board nor the use of housie tickets. You can assume you have any other resource being at your disposal. Clue: You have sufficient stock of pen and paper
This post is courtesy www.actspot.com
You are also invited to visit our Inspirational and Motivational Blog
