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

Have no regrets…

April 2, 2025


“Minimize regret by making decisions based on who you are, not who you wish you were.” (Unknown)
I recently saw that saying somewhere on-line (I can’t remember where). I Googled it and it turned out to closely match the sayings of a life coach who teaches people how to make decisions with minimal regrets. Who knew such people exist?


The other thing that comes up when you Google that phrase are stories about how Jeff Bezos made his decision to leave the Wall Street world and start Amazon. Out of his experiences has come a concept called the Regret Framework, a methodology for making decisions with minimal regret potential. I had no idea that a whole framework existed for avoiding regrets.


While interesting in the context of decision making, I think the basic concept of accepting and understanding who you are and using that understanding as the foundation for living your life is the key. I have posted here before about accepting and loving yourself (see Love Yourself First, and Forgive Yourself). Those are ways that you acknowledge and accept who you are. When you do that, you let go of the burden that comes with trying to be like someone else and can focus on just being the best you that you can be. You will have no regrets.


Our measurement-oriented society does not make living without regrets easy. From a very young age we are encouraged (indeed required) to measure ourselves against others. It is not just about how you did; it is about how did you do against Billy or Sally? Everything becomes a contest where there are declared winners and losers. Regrets are associated with being the loser in whatever it is. Those are most often self-inflicted regrets. Stop measuring yourself against others. You will have no regrets.


One of the organizations that has rejected that scenario is the Special Olympics, where every participant in an event is considered to be a winner for having tried their best. Everyone gets a medal and no one has to have regrets. Be the best participant in life that you can be. You will have no regrets.


If you accept and learn to love who you are you will have no need to measure yourself against others. You will stop trying to meet expectations based upon someone that you wished you could be. You allow yourself to be happy with what you were able to accomplish. You will have no regrets.


Forgiving yourself and accepting yourself are both solitary experiences and one might think that you will feel lonely in such experiences. I posted about that to in Don’t be lonely…love yourself. You will have no regrets.


If you find that you need a framework for your life so that you don’t end up with regrets, look to your faith. There are tons of examples and guidance for a regret free life to be found in the Bible. No better example for living a regret-free life exists than Jesus. Jesus does not ask that you measure yourself against him. Rather he sets the example of what to strive for, His life provides goals for us to use for our lives. Keep those goals in mind and You will have no regrets.

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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

Have no regrets…

October 7, 2024

The Best of Jack’s Winning Words 10/7/24 – Originally sent March 6, 2010.

“Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.” (George Halas) When I was growing up, the Chicago Bears were “my” team, and I admired George “Papa Bear” Halas. Win or lose, he could never be accused of not giving his best as a coach. His quote is more than about playing football; it’s about playing the game of life. Give it your best today. 😉 Jack

 Many times, giving something your best effort will still result in not winning. I chose to say it that way because, if you gave it your best, you did not lose; you just fell a little short of winning. If you watch sports events that involve individual competitions, such as track and field, you will often see athletes who did not win the event, but who are happy and maybe even celebrating because they may have achieved a personal best in the event. Have no regrets…

Life presents us with many opportunities (some might say challenges) and each time it does we are faced with the choice of giving it our best or just going through the motions. One almost always regrets later that they did not give the opportunity their best effort. Have no regrets…

In our personal lives many have lingering regrets about not being able to summon up the courage to ask out that person we’ve been admiring from afar. Maybe we regret having passed by the person begging for help. What would your best have been if you had not ignored that opportunity? Perhaps we held back when the call when out for volunteers to help on some project or effort that seemed hard or unglamorous. What difference to that cause would you have made, had you given it your best effort? Have no regrets…

A major difference between highly successful people and those who are not as successful in life is that the highly successful people don’t wait for opportunities to present themselves; they seek them out or create those opportunities themselves. Win or lose at those opportunities those highly successful people never regret having tried and giving it their best effort. In fact, many times they eventually win, or succeed, because they keep coming back and giving it their best shot again and again. Have no regrets…

Thomas Edison is the classic example of a successful person who did not let failures stop him. He is quoted as having said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”. Edison tried to learn something from each failure. So, keep giving it your best and learn from any failures. Most of all remember George Hallis’s advice and give it your all. Have no regrets…

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Posted by Norm Werner

Embrace your journey…

September 24, 2024

Today’s graphic, as applied to life, would seem to say that there are times or circumstances in our lives that we can accurately foresee.

Life is a journey, and it is not really possible to see a clear path forward. Some spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about the future and what might happen. Others waste time looking back at what was in regret or in fear the past repeating itself.

The truth of this graphic is that we must embrace the present – the journey – and live in the moment. We cannot stop the twists and turns and surprises of life from happening, but we can be better prepared to deal with them.

There are a few keys to being prepared to deal with life’s surprises. Probably the most important is having a solid foundation upon which to base your life. Some call this a moral compass. It is the set of core beliefs upon which you base your decision making before taking actions. For many this foundation is rooted in faith. Having a strong faith in God provides a foundation “rock” upon which to build the rest of your beliefs.

Once you have a good understanding of right and wrong, of good and evil and of love, compassion and understanding, you are ready to develop your own process for decision-making that will allow you to deal with the twists and turns of life’s journey. A good decision process usually starts with thought, with patience and with perseverance.

Taking time to think before acting allows us to measure the situation against our beliefs of right and wrong. Stopping to think also allows us to put the situation into the perspective of time and to apply the patience and perseverance that may be needed. Thinking about the situation also allows us to overcome initial reactions such as fear or anger.

The British phrase “Keep Calm and Carry On” seems applicable here. One keeps calm but thinking about things, instead of just reacting to them and that allows one to carry on with the journey. Perhaps it might help to start each day by resetting your moral GPS with a simple prayer. The one I use is, “Not my will but thy will be done.”

Where will your journey take you today? What twists and turns will you face? Are you ready for them? Have you reset your moral compass? Remember to Keep Calm and Carry On. Embrace the journey.

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Posted by Norm Werner