“Cure Yourself of Excusitis, The Failure Disease!”
Chapter 2 from “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David Schwartz
One of the secrets that highly successful people understand is that they think big and dream big! They set high goals and start to plan how they can get themselves there. They know that they must hit smaller goals along the way to the big one. They don’t necessarily have all the plans and skills in place when they start taking action, but as they reach smaller goals, they can see clearer how to reach the next step goal. No one has a crystal ball that they follow in a straight line to achieve the big dream. It is a twisty, curvy line that sometimes goes backwards, which forces them to turn in a new direction. Successful people know that when they hit a brick wall and fail, they will be forced to turn around and turn around they will and start heading in a new direction. Plans change along the way but the dream does not change. So get a big, hairy dream that pumps you up and head in that direction!
It seems our society is full of victims. In fact, I even sometimes believe that the powers to be want to disempower us by focusing on victimhood. The newspapers are full of them. Read “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David Schwartz and pay particular attention to Chapter 2. David talks about the failure disease of excusitis. I am not very smart. I didn’t have a supportive family. My health is not the greatest. I don’t have enough energy. I don’t have a supportive spouse. I am too young. I am too old. I didn’t get good grades in school. My dog ate my homework. Stop the negative self talk. When you catch yourself thinking a negative, whining, or complaining thought, (and we all do it), for goodness sakes, don’t verbalize it and empower it further. Instead, tell yourself, “Cancel, Cancel” and replace that thought with a positive one like I can do this!
Read biographies of successful people. Every one of them had multiple handicaps and roadblocks. When they hit walls, they turned around. They kept their eyes on the prize. Wayne Gretzky, the famous hockey player, always said that he missed the most shots because he took the most shots at the goal. But he also got a bunch of them in the goal.
“Define your dream and get a burning desire for its achievement!” says Napoleon Hill, author of “Think and Grow Rich”. Think often about what you want. Cut out pictures of what you want and put them onto a dream board. Put the dream board on your wall at home or in your office. When the going gets tough, spend more time dreaming and looking at your dream board.
You are 100% responsible for your life. We are all creators of our experiences. If you are responsible for the good stuff, you are also responsible for the bad stuff. The good news is that if you are 100% responsible for what happens to you in your life, then you can always change your story and your outcome. So stop making excuses and start dreaming big!