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I just wanted to share this great article I just read.  I’m sick of people using excuses to avoid anything and everything.  The video at the bottom accentuates the article very nicely!  Enjoy!  Don’t forget to let me know how you feel about the topic in the comments!  I love feedback!

We all make excuses.

But the successful ones are those who can kill the excuses like the miserable maggots they are.

I’m too tired. I don’t have the time. I don’t feel motivated. I’d rather do nothing. I don’t have the money, equipment, space. I can’t because …

We’ve all made the excuses. Here’s how to kill them.

1. See the positive. Excuses are usually made because we don’t feel like doing something — we’re accentuating the negative. Instead, see the fun in something, the joy in it. And maintain a positive attitude, or you’ll never beat the excuses.
2. Take responsibility. Excuses are ways to get out of owning up to something. If we don’t have the time, money, equipment, etc., then it’s not our fault, right? Wrong. Take responsibility, and own the solution.
3. Find a solution. Just about every problem has a solution. Don’t have time? Start with just 5-10 minutes. Make the time. Wake earlier. Do it during lunch. Don’t have a gym membership? Workout at home or in the office. Don’t have the energy? Do it when you have higher levels of energy. You’re smart. Figure out the solution.
4. See your goal. This is your motivation — your reason for doing it. Sure, you could just lay on the couch, but if you think about why you really want to pursue a goal, you’ll be motivated. Visualize that goal and just get started.
5. Be accountable. Have a workout partner, a project partner, a team, someone to report to. If you have to meet a coach or partner, you’re more likely to do something.
6. Go ahead and make your excuses. Then do it anyway.
7. Watch this. Then go and do it.

-Leo Babauta, ZenHabits

“Never be bullied into silence.  Never allow yourself to be made a victim.  Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.” – Harvey S. Firestone

Have you ever been around those people who can never blame themselves for their difficulties in life?  Those who always have an excuse for their problems and why they are there EXCEPT for the simple and usually true circumstance that they just didn’t perform or just didn’t do it themselves?

That’s what this post is all about.  I’ve been wondering why so many times in my life and possibly in your life, we have made ourselves victims all the while blaming those around us for our problems.  Why not take control of your own life?  The only way to do that is to take responsibility for our actions and the consequences of those actions.

“If it’s never our fault, we can’t take responsibility for it.  If we can’t take responsibility for it, we’ll always be the victim.” – Richard Bach

If you want to be physically fit, then stop eating junk food and start exercising.  If you want to have financial and time freedom in your life, get past American Idol on Tuesday at 7 and start taking the steps necessary to do so.  If you want to get out of debt, then please, oh please, stop blaming the credit card companies for abusing you and stop using their services.  If you want to do well in school, then put in the work to do it.  I don’t mean to be harsh, but you create the life you want for yourself.  The way you’re living now affects the way you’ll be living tomorrow.  Fix it today and live up to your own expectations.  Everything you want in this life is achieved by you and only you.  Create your future by taking responsibility for where you are at today and where you will be tomorrow.

“Accept fate, and move on.  Don’t yield to the seductive pull of self-pity.  Acting like a victim threatens your future.” – Unknown

Life is good, only if you make it so.  Live, love and laugh!