Are you stronger than your excuses?

May 7, 2025

I saw this little Zen saying on one of the word games that I play on my phone – “I am stronger than my excuses.”

That little saying resonated with me because I realized that often I am not stronger than the excuses that I come up with and that results in procrastination or paralysis. You can substitute “imagined negative outcomes” for excuses, if that makes more sense to you.

Humans are blessed with great intellectual abilities (as compared to other species) and imagination, out of which comes great ideas and inventions. But, with that ability to think and imagine also comes the liability of imagining all of the possible negative outcomes of any situation – those become the excuses for doing nothing.

One of the traits that often define some of the greatest thinkers and inventors in history is the willingness to try and fail at something and then try again and again. Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Imagine how many great inventions we would not have had if Edison had let the fear of failure stop him from trying. He was stronger than his excuses.

It is in substituting the word “fears” for the word “excuses” that the saying reaches its full potential. Excuses are just rationalizations for our inability to overcome our fears. Those fears cause us to stop and maybe never venture a step further. We may even have some understanding that as George Addair said, “Everything you’ve ever wanted is sitting on the other side of fear.” Yet, many just make excuses for not moving forward and trying to get to that “other side”.

Are you stronger than your fears (excuses)? What fears have you let stop you? Are you really happy with the excuses that you’ve created? What can you do about that?

Perhaps a start to overcoming the fear that paralyzes you is found in this quote – “Fear is only as powerful as the attention you give it.” ― Glody Kikonga

Think about the news stories that you see from time to time about someone rescuing an injured driver from a burning car. Often when they are interviewed later someone will ask the hero of the story, “Weren’t you afraid of getting burned or of the car exploding?” Often the answer will be something like, “I didn’t think about it, I just saw the need and acted.” The hero didn’t stop to give those fears any attention. Action overcomes fear by pushing it aside and focusing your mind upon the tasks at hand.

man jumping off cliff

So, maybe the key to being stronger than your excuses (fears) is to jump into action, rather than sitting there thinking about all of the ways that you could fail. Once you are in motion, taking actions, you will find that your amazing mind refocuses upon problem solving, rather than excuse creation. You may initially fail, but you will learn from that failure and setting out on another try will be that much easier.

Allow yourself to try and fail and try again. You are stronger than your excuses, so let yourself do whatever it is that you have been making excuses for not doing.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Vividly experience the opportunities that life gives you…

January 14, 2025

“In the pursuit of extraordinary performance, it’s easy to succumb to anxiety and pressure, because so much is out of your control. When you learn to live a life that is fully engaged, however, then you can perform your best and love the challenge. Every performance, presentation, or problem you face is an opportunity to learn and grow and vividly experience each moment.” From “Inner Excellence”, written by performance coach Jim Murphy.


Life’s opportunities come in all sizes, shapes and forms. Some are purely pleasurable, simple and straightforward. Some are mysterious or complex. Some are frightening. All are new. How you react and what you do when presented with a new opportunity will determine the satisfaction that you get out of life. Get fully engaged in life.

Some spend their lives trying to avoid or run away from the opportunities (or challenges) that life presents. They may choose never to take a chance for fear of losing, looking bad or getting hurt. That can extend to relationships with others. Some may never ask that special girl (or guy) out for a date or to dance for fear of rejection. Some may never experience the exhilaration of a roller coaster ride out of fear of injury or thoughts about some catastrophic failure of the ride. Some may choose to limit themselves because they don’t want to do the work necessary to get ahead or make a change. Get fully engaged in life.


I suspect that many hesitate in the face of an opportunity because they see it as one big whole thing that must be tackled all at once. In most cases, whatever the challenge is that one is facing, it can be broken down into smaller manageable and achievable steps. One just needs to take the time to think about it in that way and then commit to taking the first small step. Once you have taken two or three of those small steps you will feel a sense of momentum that will propel you towards the solution or end point – you will be living in the moment, vividly learning and growing from the experience. Get fully engaged in life.


Force yourself out of your comfort zone a few times and vividly experience the feelings of success or even of failure (from which you learn) and live in the moment. You may find yourself enjoying the feelings that you experience, even the temporary fears. People will often use the phrase, “I never felt more alive” to explain their emotions during those moments. You will never have those feelings in your safe, daily routine. Get fully engaged in life.


So, get engaged, scare yourself a little and experience life by accepting and taking on the challenges that life throws your way. Learn, grow and vividly experience every moment. Get fully engaged in life.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Start your journey to success…

May 3, 2014

“Don’t let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was.”  (Richard L. Evans) from Jack’s Winning Words.

I also like another quote that may serve as a starting point for today –“Where ever you go, there you are”- Jon Kabat-Zinn.

We are all somewhere in life, so there we are. Most of us have dreams or hopes of being somewhere man daydreamingelse, maybe to have a better job or just to make more money, maybe to be happily married, maybe to have children, maybe to have a bigger house or a better car. The things that we might be wishing for and dreaming about could probably be lumped into two broad categories – stuff and relationships.

Sometimes, when we spend time dreaming of things that we don’t have, of the place in life where we’d like to be; we get discouraged because our dreams seldom come with instructions on how to get there. Just dreaming about success or even visualizing it doesn’t accomplish anything. We need to stop and assess where we are currently (where we are beginning from). Once you have a good handle on where you are – what are your current skills, what is your current education level, what experience do you have that might help,  what resources and support (family, friends, etc.) do you have to begin with – you are almost ready tolist start planning how to achieve your dream.  Write all of those things down somewhere and keep that list handy. This is the “where I started from” list and you’ll have use for it later.

But, before you take that first step; sit down and have a heart-to-heart talk with yourself about your goals. Success in life does not come without dedication and hard work. Are you truly committed to do what is necessary to get where you want to be? Are you ready to take the training or get the education that is required, even if you have to take it just a little at a time? Are you ready to make short term sacrifices, to work longer hours, to miss out on some fun things today in order to get to the goal of tomorrow? Success in life is not about buying a ticket and waiting to see if you win the drawing. If you are committed, then step off on your journey.

Since this is a journey from where you were to where you want to be, having that list that you just made above will serve as a way to measure progress. Make a note of each training course that you take successfully or each educational course that you pass on your way to the certificate or degree that you need. That way you’ll at least be able to see the progress that you’ve made from where you were. So wherever you go, there you are; and, you can see where you came from – it’s sort of like marking your growth on the kitchen door frame when you were a kid; only now you are marking your growth as a person towards your goal . Be sure to reward yourself along the way as a way to keep motivated. Celebrate each success and record it.

angry accuserAnother important part of the quote that kicked all of this off is not to let anyone discourage you. Sometime we have supporters and sometimes we have those who would drag us back down with them; telling us that we’ll never amount to anything and perhaps ridiculing us for even trying. Those are not really your friends, so let them fall by the wayside as you make your way. You can do this. You know that you can do this. If they don’t want to be there cheering for you as you achieve your goals then don’t let them become roadblocks to your success. There are many bad things that you are leaving behind on your journey to success and they make be a part of that old baggage that gets left behind.

One of the interesting side benefits of taking such a goal-oriented journey of self-improvement is that your life will likely change for the better along the way. People around you – family, friends and co-workers – will likely take note of your attitude and determination and your increasing skills and education, not because you tout them, but because they will make a difference in how you conduct yourself. You will likely be more confident, a little more outgoing and a lot more interesting person to know.

You will also meet lots of new people along the way and many of them may become new friends. That’shandshake a good thing because they join and increase your support group. It’s not unusual that your current boss at work may take notice too and offer you advancement based upon your new skills or education and your new way of carrying yourself. Maybe you hadn’t thought of that as a step along your journey, but each step up the ladder helps and it gives you another small success to add to your list. Sometimes it will feel like baby steps and sometimes like giant leaps forward. The important thing is to keep moving forward to keep your eye on the goal. Everybody began where he was. You did too; but, you are no longer there. You have moved forward and there you are.  Congratulations!

 

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Posted by Norm Werner