Avoid The Urge To Give Excuses

When someone does something and it seems to go wrong or if they fail at doing a particular thing, the easiest way out may be to give excuses so as to try to exonerate themself from bearing the responsibility for the action. However, this is been proven to have negative consequences because the more you give excuses for failure, the less success you experience. A lot of people have been shielded from personal growth simply because of the excuses they give. This is why, if you want to succeed in life, then you have to resist the urge to give excuses.

_{Image from Pexels}

What a lot of people who make excuses do not understand is that, even though they may get a temporary or momentary relief at the point of giving the excuse, but it will come back to haunt them because they will be hindered from growth, development, and from learning from their errors. It is not bad if you have taken a step in error or have not gotten something right, but you need to accept the responsibility for the step, not give excuses for it, so that you will learn something from it and have a better step the next time. If you were to give excuse for each time something goes wrong, then you may remain at the same spot for long because the excuses will not allow you to see why it happened, so you cannot prevent it from happening again.

The major reason why some people resort to giving excuses is because of fear. This touches a lot of fears; like fear of uncertainty, of failure, of what other people will say, etc. By giving excuses, they may think that they have absolved themselves from the consequences of their actions, not knowing that they actually opened themselves up to a greater consequences - because this will create a failure-oriented mentality within them, and also bring about the mentality of helplessness, hopelessness, and self-doubt. But when you learn to take responsibility for your actions and inactions, no matter what goes wrong from it, you will still make a headway in it.

We may all be familiar with the legendary story of Thomas Edison who was among the celebrated scientists of the 19th century. Before he gained fame for his invention, he tried multiple times and in all of them, he did not succeed. But instead of him to give the excuse that it was simply not possible, he took responsibility and kept trying. He was not discouraged by how many times he had failed but he was encouraged by the fact that he knew that success will definitely come. After nearly a thousand times of almost futile attempts, he eventually got his invention running. If he had resorted to excuses after a couple of failed attempts, he would not have been listed among the "Hall of Fame Scientists" of the 19th century.

Another example of resisting the urge to give excuses and going ahead to succeed is the story of the Wright Brothers, who were recognized as the inventors of airplane. Before this, it was recorded that the president of the Royal Society at that time; Lord Kelvin, said it was impossible for a machine that weighs heavier than air to fly. To bring this to perspective; Royal Society is a group that comprises of renowned scientists. So it was like a very discouraging statement coming from the people who should actually champion their course. But this did not give the Wright Brothers the excuse to stop trying, rather it made them more encouraged to try even more. Well, they later succeeded with their invention and it became a milestone achievement and changed the world for good.

If you will not resort to excuses, then you are on the right course to achieving success. When you learn to take responsibilities for the result of your actions (which include your inactions), it will make you to embrace more accountability. Which also makes you a goal-setter and a goal-getter.

_{Image from Pexels}

More often than not, the enemy that fights someone's success is not from outside but from their own excuses of not trying. Do not become your own resistance to success, avoid every urge that prompts you to give excuses. Instead of saying; "it is not my fault," or "I have tried my best," try saying "I own up to responsibility, what is the way forward?" Avoid the urge to give excuses.

Thanks for reading