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3 Ways I've Trained Myself To Avoid Making Excuses
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Ask "Is This True?"
An excuse is often masking the real, but hidden reason you're avoiding doing something.
If you catch yourself making an excuse, ask yourself if it is true, to discover what lies behind the excuse.
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Reflect On Your Excuses
At the end of each day, take a few minutes to look back on the excuses made that day, and try to figure out why you made them.
Look for better ways to approach them.
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Find People To Call You Out
Surround yourself with people who will hold you responsible for your excuses.
Find someone who will check in on you each day to ensure you met your goals.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Key Ideas
Defining excuses
Excuses are rationalizations we make to ourselves about people, events, and circumstances.
They are invented reasons we create to defend our behavior, to postpone taking action or simpl...
The Fear Trap
We make excuses for the following key reasons:
- Fear of Failure
- Fear of Embarrassment
- Fear of Success
- Fear of Change
- Fear of Uncertainty
- Fear of Responsibility
- Fear of Making Mistakes
- Perceived lack of confidence or resources
'There’s just not enough time'
It suggests the wrong priorities or time management problems. It could also indicate laziness or procrastination.
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Excuse-making
It's a defense mechanism you use in the battle between your positive self-identity and the common challenges of everyday life.
This habit comes down to an inherent need to protect your...
The self-serving bias
It encourages you to claim your successes and to deflect your failures.
When something good happens, you take the credit, but when something bad happens, you blame it on something out of your control.
Common types of excuses
- Lies: This is one of the worst types of excuses—a straight-up lie.
- Self-handicapping excuses: Such as “I don’t have the skills to do that”, or “That’s not my job.”
- Blame-shifting excuses: Instead of putting the blame on your lack of abilities, you accuse external factors for your missteps or lack of performance.
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Key Ideas
Being A Great Mentor
Being an effective mentor for employees can help them hone their talents and skills, as well as make them feel more connected and involved in the organization.
When employees get personalize...
Find a unique connection
Build and maintain a unique connection with the employee, using your listening skills and attention to detail. Avoid the one-size-fits-all approach.
Assign Peer Mentors
Make other people who are good at a particular task mentor the newcomers for on-boarding, reducing your load and helping the new joiners. This also builds trust among the mentors, making it a win-win situation.