Thursday
Oct212010
My favorite excuses
Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 9:00AM
We are all resisting change, it is a part of our built-in strategy for survival. We will try to avoid change even when we know that the present situation is bad. To be a leader implies change. If there is no change you are not leading the organization anywhere, you just manage the status quo.
Photo by Bart van Damme Flickr CC
Behance att 99% has compiled a list of common excuses, these are my favorites, the ones I've heard the most:
It is an impressive list, and the excuses all sound reasonable, at first.
To deal with the anxiety of starting or completing an activity by delaying action is called procrastination. Knowing that it is a term in Psychology and a studied condition might help to see through your own defenses.
When you realize that time management is just a matter of priorities, starting by doing the most important tasks first - you will find that there is time for change. When you find that balance in your life has to do with the values you associate with work - you find that you create it at will. When you find that nobody is good at foreseeing the future - you find that only basic planning is needed. When you know that companies in average only survive eight years - you understand that security is in change. When you understand that resistance is a necessary part of change - you start to look for it instead of avoiding it.
Sales training is about making people change. We know that if a customer does not object or ask questions, he is simply not interested. Objections are a part of the sales process. The same is true for change. If you don't make excuses, there is no real opportunity for change.
Just think about the changes in the past 200 years: Cars, airplanes, telefones, cities and health. The extraordinary Hans Rosling tells the fascinating story at the gapminder site - 200 years ago your life expectancy was below 40 years! The comfortable life of the Western World was all created through change. Agriculture, arguably the biggest change of all, created civilizations.
Your personal development requires change, accept that resistance is a part of it. Do you have any stories about resistance to share?
Photo by Bart van Damme Flickr CCCommon excuses
Behance att 99% has compiled a list of common excuses, these are my favorites, the ones I've heard the most:
- I don't have enough time
- I need to find balance in my work and home life
- It's not original enough
- I got my expectation too high just thinking about it
- It's not the right moment to do it
- I have to plan everything first
- The idea is not polished enough yet
- I need to do market research
- I have young children
- I've got to pay the bills
It is an impressive list, and the excuses all sound reasonable, at first.
Procrastination
To deal with the anxiety of starting or completing an activity by delaying action is called procrastination. Knowing that it is a term in Psychology and a studied condition might help to see through your own defenses.
When you realize that time management is just a matter of priorities, starting by doing the most important tasks first - you will find that there is time for change. When you find that balance in your life has to do with the values you associate with work - you find that you create it at will. When you find that nobody is good at foreseeing the future - you find that only basic planning is needed. When you know that companies in average only survive eight years - you understand that security is in change. When you understand that resistance is a necessary part of change - you start to look for it instead of avoiding it.
Without resistance no change
Sales training is about making people change. We know that if a customer does not object or ask questions, he is simply not interested. Objections are a part of the sales process. The same is true for change. If you don't make excuses, there is no real opportunity for change.
Thrive through change
Just think about the changes in the past 200 years: Cars, airplanes, telefones, cities and health. The extraordinary Hans Rosling tells the fascinating story at the gapminder site - 200 years ago your life expectancy was below 40 years! The comfortable life of the Western World was all created through change. Agriculture, arguably the biggest change of all, created civilizations.
Your personal development requires change, accept that resistance is a part of it. Do you have any stories about resistance to share?
Reader Comments (1)
So painfully true!