Snap Out Of It! Just Go And Do It!
I don’t get out much these days. It’s partly because of my aggressive schedule and partly because of my financial situation. However, when I do get out and fellowship with people I’ve noticed a pattern in their conversations that was not there BP (before prison).
Recently when people are talking about the misery of their present circumstances the conversations always veer off into excuses for why they can’t move forward. Instead of laying out a strategy to make their lives better, help their children achieve, improve their financial status and achieve their ultimate goals all I get is excuses, excuses, and excuses.
Maybe people are losing hope because they see the Country declining rapidly in every area. Maybe they don’t feel they can make a difference. But that is not the truth. This is the time to shine. Since so many are unemployed or underemployed, over worked and under paid, this is the time to put on our thinking caps and create the life that we want for our families. Instead of excuses we should get a pencil (so we can erase) and a pad of paper and draw out plans for our eventual success. If you don’t know where you are going you will not get there every time.
When I make suggestions like this, I can see the hesitation in people’s eyes. When I probe further as to why this idea “won’t work” I get more excuses. When I observe closely I see the problem. They are all talk and no action. The “stuff” of life has them trapped on a daily basis and they don’t have the will to escape. They have become comfortable and complacent with the status quo of life and have become afraid or indifferent about REAL CHANGE.
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Snap Out Of It!
I have a few suggestions to get us to start moving forward to a brighter future in 2014:
- Turn off all idiot boxes (televisions, DVD and CD players, video games and even radios).
- Turn off the computer UNLESS you are researching your life improvement plan.
- Take the pencil and write down everything you like to do. (As you can see, I love using pencils).
- Write down everything you are good at – your areas of expertise.
- Write down things that you can do, now, to improve your current condition. (Refer to the exercise in the December 2013 Newsletter).
- Write out a plan that will ensure constant enrichment for your family in the future.
- Get with willing friends and family members to flesh out your ideas for improvement.
- Devise creative ways to decrease expenses.
- Devise creative ways to increase resources. (I have two great home-based businesses if you need some suggestions).
- Take the weekends to develop your new plans.
- Get your children and grandchildren involved (They can do without the idiot boxes too).
- Get into the habit of researching via the Internet or even at the local library.
- Make new friends that are solution oriented so that you can hang around people on the move upward. (If you can’t change the people that are around you, change the people that are around you)!
These are just a few ways that we can start moving forward and thwart the “excuses syndrome”. Nobody but us is responsible for us. Sitting on our druthers is not going to make things happen. Complaining and making excuses only hardens our minds against venturing out and tackling our problems. We can make an exciting new future for ourselves if we just put aside all the daily distractions.
Just Go And Do It!
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along this line of thought, I had an epiphany a few weeks ago. I awoke from a siesta on the beach, and pretended that I just arrived in this body, with all its strengths (and of course weaknesses) and all my life experiences and knowledge gained. sorta like reincarnation but with one’s memory intact. it has been a very liberating way of thinking, and I find I’m able to experiment with new things without having to schlep so much “baggage” around while attempting it.
Great newsletter Sherry with awesome suggestions. I often run into some of those same people and its disheartening that people feel like its impossible for them to go higher in life because of various circumstances or they believe that what worked great for another person wouldn’t work for them. But when it all comes down to it the real issue is their belief system and they don’t have vision. They’ve been rehearsing the problem in their mind so long that they can’t see anything else.
The excuse people are not the right ones. Just find the people that want what you want and they will want you.
Very good advice Sherry, we need not be prisoners of our own minds.
I like your style of expression, outstanding blog!