Persistence Part II

Getting past your own excuses
You are the most formidable enemy to your own persistence. At any given time you'll usually have plenty of skills, energy, and resources to persist, and yet you come up with all sorts of excuses that shoot you down.

Realize that those excuses are your own creation. They are not imposed upon you by some outside force. They are simply your misdirected opinions. You have the power to ignore them or, better yet, to turn them completely around.

When you hear yourself making excuses, stop. Challenge yourself to come up with at least three "permissions" for every excuse. What is a permission? It's the opposite of an excuse. For example, a very common excuse is: "I'm too busy."

Here are three "permissions" which can effectively counter that excuse.

1. "This is important enough to me that I will find the time."
2. "If I'm so busy then this will fit right in."
3. "I will stop being merely busy and start being truly effective."

What chance does "I'm too busy" have against those? The point is, we're used to giving ourselves reasons not to do something -- most of us are quite skilled at it -- yet we can just as easily give ourselves reasons to persist.

Turn your excuses into permissions. When you talk to yourself, be positive and supportive. Give yourself plenty of good reasons to keep on going, and you'll bask in the glow of your own positive, powerful persistence.

original by Ralph Marston