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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

Most of my posts start out with something like, “I just happened upon an article that made me think the other day…”  This one is no different!  Sorry!  I know, I need to come up with some original content, but sharing content that’s already out there that has had an impact on my life isn’t so bad either, as long as I add a few comments of my own, right?

I recently read an article entitled, “Stop reading about it and do it.”  It caught my eye because Charissa had once shared with me a quote that has stuck in my mind since.  First, the quote:

You cannot be successful without passion, but passion alone will not make you successful. ~Chelsey Rippy~

So very true!  Passion, enthusiasm and excitement are very necessary to success, but true learning, experience and the actual end result of success comes through doing.  Here’s the article!  It’s not very long, so don’t whine about reading it. 

We learn more by doing than by reading.

That’s a simplified statement, of course, because reading teaches us a lot, but it’s in the actual doing of things that we do our real learning. It may be a fairly harmless statement for most of us, but think about this: do you actually put it into practice? How about in your efforts to improve your life?

It’s easy to see how this applies in a school situation: In an article in the Chronicle for Higher Education, studies show that the best way to study for an exam is not to read and re-read, but to put the book down, try to recall what you read, then write it down. Much more effective.

But how about in your everyday life? This isn’t as obvious, but it’s just as effective.

When you want to improve your life in some way — by simplifying, by being more frugal, by starting to exercise or eat healthy, by learning more productive habits, by being a more positive or compassionate person — you are learning a new skill.

And when you learn a new skill, all the reading in the world won’t teach you the skill. You have to learn by doing.

So reading countless self-help articles and books are great — I’ve written a few myself — but remember that it’s only the first step.

You have to put the personal development posts away, get away from the computer or book, and start doing it. Today.

Only in doing it will you actually learn.

Reading does help though: first in helping you to understand what to do, and second in keeping you motivated as you actually do the skill. But it’s not a substitute for doing.

So stop reading this post, and go do what you want to learn to do!

- Leo Babauta, Stop Reading About It and Do It

So what’s the end result to us doing instead of just being passionate about something or reading about it and thinking it’s a good thing to do?  We learn, gain new experiences, and actually grow, instead of rely on a roller coaster of emotion that is bound to have peaks and deep valleys.  When we are doing, there is no time to dream, because we enable ourselves to live the very dreams that we are passionate about.