Excuses

10. EXCUSES

Excuses are just the voice of fear getting in the way of our dreams. We can talk ourselves out of anything and every-thing if we let fear have a voice.

When we try something new, we probably won’t be good at it. No matter what opinion we have, there will always be someone who disagrees. No matter how we do something, there will always be someone who does it differently. What if we choose to accept that being different makes us interesting, that trying something new is brave, and that we don’t need everything to be perfect to have a fulfilling life?

The silver lining of struggling, and one reason to not let excuses stand in our way, is that the most inspiring experiences are usually the anomalies. Inspiration will more likely stem from times of overcoming struggle, which means we have to experience struggle in the first place.

For example, who inspires you more? The singer who moves to Nashville and gets a record deal after her first open mic night? Or the singer that moves to Nashville, works three different odd jobs, plays at thousands of open mic nights, bars, and street corners, gets a record deal, gets dropped half way through, waits outside of a different record label for three days playing on the street until they finally decide to sign a final successful record deal?

The singer could make a million excuses to keep her from her dream because it didn’t come easy. She could say she’s not good enough, doesn’t have enough money, isn’t cute enough, should do something with more stability, or should go back home.

We aren’t as inspired by the Nashville singer that’s handed a contract on her first day compared to the one who challenged herself through a twisty pathway of unknowns to reach her dreams.

We aren’t inspired by “easy.” Seeing someone triumph over challenges with more perseverance than we judge ourselves to have inspires us to believe that we might be more capable than we currently believe. We get inspired to believe that perhaps we have a greater potential for strength and courage. We use our role models to lift the ceiling of our perceived limitations, therefore inspiring us to dream bigger, be braver, and feel more confident.

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIVING AND FEELING ALIVE

We don’t learn anything from easy experiences. We also don’t build confidence or challenge our endless capacity if everything is easy. If we calculate away too many opportunities because they are not easy enough to achieve, we are missing out on the most rewarding experiences that make us feel that we’re not just living, but that we are alive.

Pay attention to what excuses come to mind when your dreams come calling. Remember you have a choice, and you are the only person who can limit your potential to reach your dreams. Remember that those we admire the most likely didn’t get the metaphorical record deal on their first night. We relate to real people who aren’t perfect. We are inspired by people who fought past the fear of their excuses, broke through limitations to which most others conceded, and who honored themselves to live their inspired life. We are inspired because we want to be that courageous.

Even the most successful people go through the same exact challenges in not letting excuses and rejection deter their dreams.

J.K. Rowling, multi-millionaire author of the Harry Potter series, had to overcome as a single mother on welfare.

 

Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, received over 27 rejections from publishers before getting his break. In one rejection letter, Seuss was told that his work was “Too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling.”

 

Vincent VanGogh sold only one painting in his lifetime and yet completed over 800 known works, not becoming famous until after his death.

 

Soichiro Honda, founder of Honda Motor Company, was rejected by Toyota for an engineering job, unemployed for quite some time, expelled from college, survived severe illness, and even filed for bankruptcy before becoming successful.

 

Walter Elias “Walt” Disney’s first animation company went bankrupt and was rejected by more than 300 bankers before he was able to secure funding for his theme park. Early in his career, Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”

 

See these and other examples here: Celebrities that Overcame Adversity by Jason Spencer

No matter what excuses or real limitations we may have, we can still get inspired. Whether we’re facing physical, financial or circumstantial limitations, there are always opportunities to be inspired; many that don’t require physical exertion, money or complete re-route of our lives.