The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!”- Proverbs 26:13
If you are a parent, then you are accustomed to hearing excuses. There always seems to be a reason why something can’t get done that we tell our kids to do. Sometimes, the creativity of the excuse is simply astounding. Don’t we all wish they could apply that creativity towards something productive?
But the reason for this word of wisdom is not to complain about the excuse making of children (although that may make for a very profitable blog site🤔), but to talk about the excuse making we do every day. Each and every day, we all have a list of things we need to get done. A lot of the things on that list are not necessarily things we want to do, but they need to get done, nonetheless. What oftentimes keeps us from accomplishing our daily tasks are the excuses we give. We are all guilty of finding plausible reasons why we “need” to delay doing something.
The difference between success and failure often lies in whether we choose to give excuses or not. If there is work to be done, do we get it done or do we find a reason why we can’t? Do we claim, “There’s a lion in the streets!” and then lay in our bed? Maybe our excuses aren’t as obvious as a “lion” being in the streets. Maybe our excuses sound very plausible. Maybe you are working from home and there are a lot of chores that need to get done first. Maybe you are in your office and there is a slew of emails that need to be read before you get work done. Maybe you need to respond to a few text messages first before getting work done. Those examples don’t sound as bad as claiming that a lion is in the street, but they are still excuses keeping you from doing what needs to be done.
Successful people learn how to structure themselves so that they are super focused on the task at hand. Those other tasks that distract from the main objective are set aside until the objective is complete. Successful people also learn how to overcome that innate desire to find a reason why work should be delayed. It’s not that successful people don’t ever feel the desire to not work, it’s that they don’t let that desire keep them from not working. They push through and do their job.
So, as you go through your day, ask yourself this question: are you finding “lions” in the street so that you don’t have to work? Or are you fighting that desire to find an excuse and are getting work accomplished? Don’t look for “lions”; get your work done.