Stop using excuses as your shield
It comes that time in the day when there are a few hours to spare, precious hours. Nothing but you alone with no distractions what so ever.
You begin to think about the possibilities, how much could get done in that time from the moment you start until it’s time to get back into the real world. And yet, you found yourself without the desire, no spark, no clue of what to do. Before you know it, the browser is open or you just remembered that game you have installed on your laptop, just a few minutes before you start working. If only it was so simple.
For a number of reasons my productivity has dropped to dangerous levels of low and getting it back up has not been an easy task. A mix of bad situations with so much procrastination and a shit ton of excuses that could only set me up for failure.
To me, excuses are those little lies we tell ourselves to avoid a situation or avoid doing things all together with a lame-ass idea of doing it later. Very much guilty of that lately as I began reflecting on how much time I’ve wasted while not getting anything in return.
Looking back, the past few months have been pretty much a waste. Having published only a handful of new stories, written just a handful of concepts and even fewer drafts. Takes some self-awareness and zero bullshit to accept the fact that you haven’t been delaying work for hours or days but for weeks and even months for that matter. I can actually recall at least one “good” reason why I haven’t done much but it isn’t really good enough to sustain months of neglect.
At the end of the day, does it really matter?
“The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.” — Jordan Belfort
Facing the hard true facts in life is hard, especially since you have to acknowledge the fault is your own but it is.
Maybe that thing I was chasing wasn’t appealing enough, maybe I was more in love with the end result than the process which at the end of the day can only set me up for failure.
You have to start asking the tough questions and get to the bottom of it.
Do you really want it?
If not, what do you want?
Once you figure out what you’re really after you’ll stop using your excuses and will get ready to work.
I went back to getting up early, which in turn allowed for time to do some work while everyone is still sleeping. If not work, at least I get a few hours to finish reading some books.
So, do you still hold on to your excuses?
If you’re interested in poker and want to follow my journey through the microstakes you can follow me here.
