“Stop making excuses.  You’re the only one stopping you.” – Issa Rae

Life can be overwhelming.  There are literally thousands of pieces of information coming at us on a daily basis.  A study done not that long ago determined that we are hit with the equivalent of 150+ newspapers’ worth of information every day.  It’s a struggle to try to process what you need and not drown.

When we feel overwhelmed, we can have a tendency to shut down.  We don’t know exactly what to do, there are too many options and opportunities and barriers and facts and emotions and everything else to handle, so we just freeze.

Leaders are no different.  Over the past 25 years, I’ve seen more and more people in leadership roles who seem to just be frozen.  It isn’t that they aren’t working.  It’s that they’re working at the same things now that they were working at 5 years ago, and they’re trying to avoid having to do anything different because they just don’t know what to do.

If you ask those leaders why they just keep doing the same things, they almost always have a list of reasons why they aren’t changing.  This thing gets in the way, or there’s not enough of this resource, or the time’s just not right, or a hundred other things.  They are paralyzed by all of it.

The reality is that any and all of those reasons can be overcome.  Maybe not all at once, and maybe not all today, but in same way they can be dealt with.  But you have to start moving in order to deal with them.  And it’s safer to just put our heads down and keep doing what we’re doing, so too often, that’s what we do.

What excuses are you using for NOT tackling the issues you’re facing, good or bad?  When you look at things you know you should do or change, what is the story you tell yourself that keeps you from acting?  Recognizing the excuses we make doesn’t necessarily eliminate them, but it’s the first step forward.

Look at yourself and your business.  Think about the reasons you give for not changing, for not acting, for not moving forward.  Identify them, understand them, and then start to dismantle them.  Don’t make excuses for why you can.  Figure out how you can, and then do.