Quite often we are blinded to the reasons why we don’t achieve success in any given area. We have a list of reasons why we can’t do something or why we weren’t successful, but more often than not these lists of reasons why we didn’t achieve success are actually the culprit to our lack of success.

Recognising excuses for what they are is the first step in overcoming our blocks to success. Our excuses can seem like valid reasons and sometimes we can be so intelligent that we will completely fool ourselves into believing our own bullshit.

Excuses take on various guises, the most popular and most destructive, being blame. Blaming others for why we didn’t achieve or succeed can also ruin relationships and make us bitter. We blame our parents, our education or lack of, the government, spouse, business partner or whoever is close enough and in our line of site to throw some mud at.

This is of course very disempowering because as soon as we blame someone or something then we have no power–we have given our power away to the person that we are blaming. Its a choice that we make and it is not real!

We also make justifications, which is a step up from blaming but still, it is a block to our success and every time we make a justification, we miss out on a learning experience. If something doesn’t work out the way we plan it then that is fine, not only fine but part of the road to success.

Think about it like this…If we have a 500 piece jigsaw that we are putting together, we don’t just slot in every piece perfectly without getting one wrong…no, quite the contrary. We match up pieces as best as possible and will turn them around and swap them up until we get it right.

What a waste of time and energy it would be to every time we didn’t get it right to come up with a big explanation to why the puzzle piece didn’t fit. We would never get the puzzle solved. We could also justify why we never got started. “Well I took all the pieces out and there were just too many to even get started…I couldn’t imagine where to begin.”

That is an example of a justification. What if the person decided to blame as well as justify? It might look something like this. “How could I possibly get started? My parents never bought me any jigsaw puzzles as a kid and one time when we were at my cousins house doing a jigsaw puzzle, I overheard my mother tell my auntie that I was no good at stuff like that.”

That above is some blaming and justifying rolled into one. You could also just say “Screw the past, I am going to keep going until I achieve and succeed.” Doesn’t that sound a bit more empowering and isn’t that person much more likely to take action and have success?

Did I say that there was ‘one thing that would overcome anything?’ I did and I am going to get to that now, because the ‘Anything’ part of it, is the excuses. So what is the one thing that will overcome all excuses. That my friend, is desire! Your desire to achieve and succeed must be greater than all your excuses and all your fears!

Why do you think that we make excuses anyway? We make excuses because we are afraid. We have insecurities and so we mask these fears and insecurities with excuses. Seems reasonable doesn’t it? The problem is that it stunts our growth and learning. We don’t get to exercise and build our courage. Our comfort zone doesn’t expand, but instead contracts and our life force shrinks.

Desire is the one thing that will allow us to overcome all our fears, insecurities and excuses and the greater our desire is, then the greater our success and achievements will be in the long run. Desire can also be called hunger and I have heard great inspirational speakers like Les Brown and Tony Robbins talk about the hunger that one must have for success.

The question that then comes up is how do we develop this desire or hunger within ourselves. Some people just seem to have it while others don’t. Is this something that can be changed in an individual? Can we develop an insatiable hunger and desire to achieve and succeed in our ultimate vision for our lives. Are there strategies and processes we can do that will turn up our desire until it is so hot that it burns through all our excuses?

That is what we will find out in the next blog!! In the mean time I would like your input. I want to know what drives you, what is your source of fuel that allows you to overcome and break through the thresholds? How do you develop desire? Comment below now and I may add your experience in my next post!!