Have you ever had a deep desire to do something but never seized the moment because it wasn’t the right time, or you decided that you were going to wait until you had enough money, or until your kids got older; you know, the ubiquitous excuses for everything in life? The reason for not doing what you desire doesn’t actually matter because you can always find a “good” excuse for not doing something.
You can fill in the blanks with a million excuses:
– I was going to do it but ____________
– I really want to _______ but _____________.
Have you ever noticed that highly successful and well-respected people never have excuses? It is the one thing that separates them from the rest of the pack. What’s so different about them?
Essentially, they are Doers – not Talkers. They take action even in the face of fear, even when they know that there is a possibility of failure. Most people just want to be comfortable. Doing something that takes you to the next evolution of yourself means that you have to expose yourself to things outside your comfort zone. For example, when you are going through something that creates adrenaline in the body and you are familiar with that experience the emotion shows up as excitement. When that same adrenaline shows up in unfamiliar territory, it emerges as fear. It can be paralyzing and prevent you from taking action and moving forward.
Here is the key, to act in the face of fear, to keep moving towards your desires: DO NOT create an excuse for why you didn’t do it – have faith that everything will work out. The opposite of fear is faith, because if your mind is telling you that something is dangerous, risky or uncomfortable, you have to act in faith that everything will be OK. And most of the time not only is everything OK, but the results are usually exactly what you had been dreaming about your whole life.
Do something everyday that takes you outside of your comfort zone. The body and the nervous system will adapt – that’s how growth is created, then you can move on to bigger and better things. When it comes to exercise, that is exactly how training works. Push a little bit further past your comfort zone each time so that the body adapts and recovers as a greater and stronger you. Then when you look back to see where you started and how far you have come, you may not even recognize yourself. Remember, every success begins with taking that step into the unknown with unwavering faith that this action is for the better and life will – and has to – improve!
