Are you making any excuses in your life that are limiting your potential? (Hint: The answer is almost guaranteed to be yes.) We all do it. We all have reasons why we're not showing up as fully as we could. We all have reasons why we're not living into our full potential.
The question is not whether or not you have excuses. It's what kind of role you are going to let those excuses play in your life. What kind of power are you going to give them?
In her book, The Best Year of Your Life, Debbie Ford has a chapter where she looks at the excuses we all make. She says:
We all have them, and we all pretend we are made powerless by them. But if we are to have the best year of our lives, we have to be willing to give up all the excuses we've used. We have to ask ourselves this fundamental question: "Do I want to align with the greatest vision of myself, or do I want to align with my excuses?"
That's a powerful question. When I first read it, it stopped me in my tracks. I asked myself, "Which am I doing?" While my goal is to align with my greatest vision of myself, if I'm being honest, all too often I throw my lot in with my excuses.
The either/or nature of this question is what makes it so powerful. It's probably a bit simplistic to think that you can make a sweeping, broad brush assessment as to whether you're aligned with your greatest visions of yourself or with your excuses, but you can use the question on an ongoing basis. It can be a great north star to guide your efforts.
Make it a habit to stop and ask yourself on a regular basis, "Am I aligning with my greatest vision of myself, or my excuses?" Notice what excuses you're giving power to.
When you see the excuses that are coming up, try a little exercise. Stop and say, "If I couldn't let this excuse stop me, or limit me, how could I get past it? How could I help my greatest vision of myself show up?"
I'm not saying that none of your excuses have any validity. We all operate within constraints in life. But - if your life is anything like mine - you probably give those excuses more weight and more power than they really merit. Making a consistent effort to shift your alignment away from your excuses and toward your greatest vision of yourself is a great way to start taking the power back.
--
If you liked this post, be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed.
--
Time for a career change? Launch it with...
The Occupational Adventure Guide:
A Travel Guide to the Career of Your Dreams
--
by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
Comments