I sat down to write a new article earlier today and it didn’t quite work out that way. It’s now hours later and I have to get this one shipped. It seems like I used up every excuse in the book to delay writing but the good news is that it also started me thinking of other common excuses I’ve either used or I’ve heard other people use.
Do you recognize these common excuses?
Blogging Excuses
- I don’t feel like writing an article right now
- I just wrote a great article yesterday, can’t I take a day off?
- No one reads my stuff anyways, why bother?
- I have nothing original to say
- Everything has already been said by people who are better writers than me
- I’m not creative enough
- I’ll do it after this next tweet
- I have to read my RSS feeds to see what everyone else is talking about first
- I don’t have a good design and can’t afford to pay anyone
- I’m too old to learn all the new technologies needed for blogging
- I don’t know the first step in creating a blog
- Who would want to buy anything from me?
- I’m not smart enough to be successful
- It’s too late to have a #1 blog right now, I should have done this years ago
- Everyone is a scammer on the internet
- Everyone already knows all this, why would they listen to me?
- I have too much to do!
- I’m overwhelmed
- They’ll just tell me no if I send in a guest-post
- I don’t belong to the right network/forum/clique
- I’ll do it tomorrow
- I’m too old/young/pretty/ugly/dumb to blog
- I can’t type/write/speak English
- I don’t know SEO so can’t get a better ranking
- It costs too much money/time/commitment/energy
Career Excuses
- I’m doing okay and I don’t want to rock the boat
- It’s too risky to leave my job now
- It’s not the right time to start my own business, maybe I’ll do it next year
- No one would hire me for that!
- I don’t have the right education/credentials/degree/training for that job
- I don’t have any current or markable skills
- I don’t have time or the money to upgrade my skills and learn something new
- It’s not that bad, really
- Friday is only 5 days a week
- I get four weeks of vacation per year – I can’t give that up!
- The money is too good for me to pass up
- I need the health insurance too much to risk my job for a better one
- The people aren’t that bad to work with
- I’m too old to go back to school and it costs too much
- My wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend/dog doesn’t want me to find a new job/start my own business
- They promised me a raise/promotion/new cubicle/better project/more training in six months
- There are no good jobs out there
- I won’t get a better job than I have now
- I get paid okay, why be greedy?
- Work is supposed to be hard, that’s why it’s called Work
Change Excuses
- It’s too hard
- I’m too old to change now
- What’s the use? I always fail anyways
- I’ve smoked all my life so why would I quit now?
- I know I should, but I just don’t want to right now
- It’s too risky right now, I’ll try again later
- It takes too long to see any effect, so why bother?
- It’s too scary to change
- I don’t have the time, I’m too busy
- I don’t need to change, I’m fine the way I am
- I have too much to change so why bother?
- I’ll change next Monday/next week/next month/next year, I promise!
Health And Exercise Excuses
- I’m too tired to exercise
- I’m too fat to go to the gym and everyone will stare at me
- It’s too late to exercise now
- I don’t like to sweat
- I have no one to exercise with
- I want to finish watching this TV show and then I’ll put in an exercise DVD
- It’s too hot/cold/rainy/snowy/windy/dark/sunny outside to exercise
- It costs too much to go to the dentist/doctor/optometrist/
- Gyms costs too much money
- I have too much to lose
- Exercising is boring
- I don’t have the right equipment and it costs too much
- I can’t find a doctor in this city!
- I’m in perfect health
Family and Friends Excuses
- I’ll call her back later, she’ll understand
- It’s her turn to email me back
- We’ll go out this weekend if the weather is nice
- We’ll do that someday when I’m less tired
- We’ll take that family road trip next summer
- I have enough friends. What’s wrong with the ones I have?
- I don’t feel like going out tonight
- I don’t have any money to go out
- I’m too shy to make new friends
- He/She knows that I love them, why do I have to say it?
- I’m too old to get married and have kids now
- We can’t get divorced, what would the neighbours say?
- I can’t afford to go home for the family wedding/funeral/christening/birthday party
- They’ll understand that I’m busy making a living for them
What excuses do you recognize that you use the most? What excuse is your favourite?
Related Posts:
1. Top 5 Reasons To Leave Your Job
2. My Top 5 Secret Success Factors
3. Invest In Your Most Important Asset – Yourself
4. 10 Things You Can Do Right Now To Improve Your Life
5. Warning: These Emotions May Be Affecting Your More Than You Think
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to my feed to have all the future articles delivered to your feed reader. Thanks!
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
The number one excuse that I always have is that I have an excuse. When we want something done or when we want certain goals to achieve, there must be no excuse. Sure there are times when certain events call for our immediate action, but such is only momentary. The problem with some is that excuses tend to evolve into procrastination.
Hi Walter,
I can relate to that! That’s why I listed so many of the excuses that I personally use above, plus added other common ones.
You’re absolutely right – when we want something badly enough, no excuse is warranted. We won’t accept any excuse for not doing what needs to be done in those cases. I hear you about procrastination – there’s definitely a fine line between that and having a life full of excuses.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts,
Karen
Karen
I find it quite frightening and comical when I read your post. I can see so many of my own excuses.
It reminds me of losing weight and sitting with a cup of tea saying “I’ll just have one biscuit – one biscuit doesn’t really count” It is only at the end of the week when you stand on the scales you realize that one excuse biscuit has led to many more than you imagined and you have not moved towards your goal weight.
I am going to print this post out and pin it above my desk to remind me that one excuse leads to another and I want to have a life not an excuse for one.
Thanks for a great post
Marion Anderson´s last blog ..Self confident people don’t worry about what you think of them
Hi Marion,
The printout is a great idea. I should look into seeing if there’s a plugin for that.
“I want to have a life not an excuse for one”. I love that! Very true!
Thanks,
Karen
Hi Karen, you pretty much hit a brainstorm with all the excuses in the book huh?
Funny but one of my excuse is my blog is too ugly! Yeah, I change the background on it so many times that sometimes, if it gets old like clothes, I change it.
Sometimes, the environmental feel keeps me going. Keeps me flying through and on with the flow. Weird I know but I feel if I’m going to blog might as well go with flying colors!
Thu Nguyen´s last blog ..100th Post and Giveaway! So How Do You Overcome Blogger’s Shyness
Welcome Thu,
Design is so subjective. What can be ‘ugly’ to you, may be pretty darn cool to someone else. I know what you mean about making minor tweaks as an excuse though. It keeps us from doing something that we’ve been meaning to do because it’s very easy to play around with design (or whatever) instead.
Thanks,
Karen
Lol Karen, I thought you’d wrote those blogging excuses for me. Certainly I felt that way about a lot of those points – now nearly 200 posts in, I’m growing in confidence and I know from my rankings a lot of people are reading my stuff!
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..The Life you Should be Most Excited About
You’ve got 200 posts already? Wow, that’s fantastic, Matthew. I know what you mean about confidence. Some posts that I didn’t seem would be a big deal, have garnered the most feedback from people. You can never predict these things (or at least I can’t).
Certainly a lot of people are reading your stuff – it’s very useful and relevant for many people.
Wow Karen – there’s a load there that I use and didn’t realise.
Thanks for the proverbial kick up the ass!
Ben´s last blog ..Friday’s Personal Development Homework
Anytime, Ben, anytime.
Great post. Your “Family and Friends Excuses” relates to what I just wrote about today. It is time people stop making excuses for the things they put off in life.
Thanks, Rose. I coudn’t agree more that people should stop making excuses for what they want to do in life. None of us are guaranteed anything, especially time or good health.
Oh dear! I recognize too many of those little buggers up there. Luckily, most have been kicked to the curb but a few haunt and linger like…I will do it tomorrow and I am too tired. I won’t be able to use them now though and NOT think of this post. *lol* Thanks for that, Karen.
Clearly Composed´s last blog .. The ProBlogger 7 Link Challenge
You’re welcome, CC
You are definitely not alone with the ‘tired’ and ‘do it tomorrow’ excuse. Those are two of my favourites!
Hi Karen brilliant post! I am embarrassed to say that they all, virtually without exception, resonated for me
.
I am going to keep this post somewhere that I can refer back to it to see which excuse field I’m accessing today.
Stephen´s last blog ..Twelve Essential Life Lessons
Welcome Stephen,
Thanks so much for the kind words and for adding your thoughts. It’s funny what kind of excuses we tell ourselves. They seem so sane when we try to convince ourselves not to do something!
Karen