The Most Common Excuses People Make (And How To Get Past a Them)
It helps if you know what to do.
It helps if you know when to do it.
It also helps if you have the skills, abilities, and resources to do it.
Of course, the reality is that you need none of these things to start.
Here is a list of common excuses that many of us constantly use to delay action:
“I don’t have a team.”
“I don’t have the time.”
“I don’t have the capital.”
“I don’t have the expertise.”
“I don’t have the motivation.”
“I don’t know if now is the best time.”
If you’ve ever said these to yourself, now is a good time to look hard and long at those statements.
Fight back.
Make each excuse prove itself why it’s true—because the real truth is that you can figure it out how to get past it.
You don’t have to be a genius and you don’t have to billionaire and you don’t have to be an expert with 20 years of field experience to start.
You just have to prioritize your work, be deliberate about how you spend your time, live within your means, and keep rebounding after you mess up.
That’s it.
Instead of designing your logo and buying the domain for your website, call potential clients.
Instead of browsing Banana Republic’s last sales email, set up a Gmail filter to hide emails like those and go talk to a customer.
Instead of raising money and giving away all your equity, put together a PowerPoint that looks like what the software will look like and get your first customer. (Customers pat you today and you never have to pay them back. Investors will own your business and decisions until you buy them out.)
2 Minute Action
Write a Facebook or LinkedIn post asking your network if they know any experts you’d like to talk to.
Look at your calendar and cut out a little time on one or two days of your week to work on this project. You may have to give up social or TV time.
Define the 3 features of your MVP “minimum viable product.” This is the bare minimum you need to make a sale or get a user. This is derived from Eric Ries’ “Lean Startup.”
Send an email asking your students, clients, patients or customers for feedback.
The Brain Hack From The 60s That Still Works Today
Your brain works on a reward circuit.
- Stimulus.
- Behavior.
- Reward.
That's the cycle.
Example:
- You see the living room is dirty and kinda smelly.
- You spray Febreeze.
- It smells fantastic.
That's the whole cycle and its part of everything we do as humans. No matter what you want to do, you will need to face this cycle.In fact, super successful products like Febreeze, Listerine, and Coca-Cola have built-in rewards that increase consumption behavior from customers.This isn't new--it's called reinforcement and it was coined by B.F. Skinner and the other Behaviorist Psychologists in the 60s.
It works in business and it works in life.
If you want to build a habit, break a habit, stop dating the same type of person, start exercising more, finish that novel, improve test scores, increase sales, decrease staff turnover, quit smoking, eat healthily, or WHATEVER . . .You're going to need to understand this basic, fundamental human circuit for behavior and how people respond to it.If your employees feel crummy every time they talk to you, they are going to stop talking to you and leave.If your students feel empowered and capable every time they leave your class, they're going to show up and try hard.If your customers feel like they didn't get what they expected, they are not going to tell you (they'll tell their friends) and they are not going to come back.
2 Minute Action
What's a habit or behavior you want to start, stop, or otherwise change?Don't stop there.What's the stimulus, behavior, and reward?It's up to you to identify, test, and solve for this reward circuit. If you're serious about getting your results, you're going to need to figure out how to hack your own behavior and do what you need to do.
"A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying."- B.F. Skinner
3 Characteristics Of Rock Star Teammates
Stop hiring for specific skills.Hiring this way almost always overlooks the three most important traits of a strong candidate.There are 3 things that good managers hire for.Of course, sometimes, you really do need a highly trained skill set. There's just no amount of positivity that will substitute for an expertly-trained brain surgeon--but unless you need a super specific, high-stakes skill like this, you're much, much better off starting at these 3 traits:
Aptitude
Do they have the ability to learn and execute the skills they need to be successful?
Attitude
Do they make others around them feel confident, capable, and like excellence is possible? No one can sustain this all the time under all circumstances, that's just faking it. We're just looking at most of the time. What's their common thought habit?
Cultural fit
Culture is not the ping-pong table, the nerf guns, nor the Keurig. Culture is how you treat others when it's hard, when you're tired, and when you're frustrated. Cultural fit on a high-performance team is "do you believe what we believe?" "Do you have similar values as shown by your actions?"Finding these three traits will lead to capturing the right people. Training, mentoring, and supporting them are the things that will keep them with you.
2 Minute Action
Quickly list a few traits of your high-performers.What are the characteristics that make them successful? Pick 3-5.Now rank your other teammates on a 10 point scale for each of these 3-5 characteristics.If anyone is below a 6, you should schedule time to identify/discuss and solve this.Reviews do NOT need to be annual. Make it happen, today.