Excuse the Excuses: Five Ways to Do What You Want to Do (When You Don’t Want to Do It)

We all have big dreams. We dream of success, of turning our passion into our profession, of having time to enjoy our lives. So why is it that so few people actually materialize these dreams? According to international business strategist Dan Waldschmidt, “people fall back on excuses and give up on trying to reach their goals.”

So how do we overcome these excuses and attain our goals? Waldschmidt says that we must simply take time to proactively fuel our passions.1 This sounds easy and most of us would love to do it. So why is it that we don’t? Because it is not easy; it is hard. Just because we love something, it does not mean that the doing the work will be easy. Doing the work is hard. It takes discipline and tenacity. Proactively fueling your passion takes guts!

Leo Babauta, simplicity blogger and author, offers some strategies to help us to do the tasks we do not want to do:

  1. Focus on the “why.” Thinking about what the task will accomplish and who it will help can offer just the motivation we need. 
  2. Embrace the challenge. Doing the work probably is not going to be fun. Push through. Eventually you will get to enjoy the fruits of  your labor.
  3. Set limits. Give yourself time limits, only allow yourself to work on one task at a time, and set a deadline. 
  4. Take breaks. Try using a timer to get started on a task. Work in intervals. Work for 10 minutes and then take a break for five minutes. Use your break times to do some deep breathing, focus on gratitude, reflect back on the “why,” or drink some water. You will be more productive when you return to working.
  5. Find gratitude. Accept that it is going to be hard to do the work, but be grateful for the opportunity to do it. Know that, by pushing through the hard part, you have the chance to learn and grow and do some good in the world.2

References
1 Waldschmidt, Dan. “How to Overcome Excuses in 2014.” Ecopreneurist. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2014
2 Babauta, Leo. “10 Ways to Do What You Don’t Want to Do.” Zenhabits, 16 Apr. 2014. Web. 02 May 2014.

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