Success is a tale of obstacles overcome, and for every obstacle overcome, an excuse not used. -Robert Brault
We’ve all heard, or even better, used every excuse from my dog ate my homework to I got abducted by aliens. Excuses seem to be the downfall of those who never go anywhere in life, making themselves victims. This is exactly the opposite of what we seek here at Young and Prosperous. We tend to draw closer to what each of us is capable of doing to lift us up to our full God given potential. While excuses tend to focus on a lack of resources, success tends to focus on your individual resourcefulness — or what you can do with what you’ve got.
Maybe you’re tired today. Maybe you feel you don’t have enough money. Maybe you can’t seem to form the relationships with who you think are the “right” people. Maybe you don’t like Monday’s.
Guess what? Not many people like Monday’s. Almost everybody who is considered young and prosperous (aka – successful) did not enjoy their Monday’s at one point. Everybody is tired. Nobody has “enough” money. The difference? You made excuses, they didn’t. They took action, while you remained indifferent.
Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts. -Edward R. Murrow
Life is hard. Really hard. Get over it. What are you going to do to get over it today? Right now. Don’t wait until tomorrow morning. You and I both know that you’re not going to do it unless you take immediate action. Here are a few ways to take immediate action:
Write down a list of your top 5 priorities in life. Any hard decisions that come up in the next few months or years can be referred to this list. Make it fit your top priorities first before moving on.- Say “no” to things that don’t fit in your priorities, no matter how tempting they are. There’s freedom in saying “no” to something that may seem good and fun, but does not fit in your priority list.
- Write one paragraph about where you want to be in 5 years. Repeat for 10 and 20 years (building off of your 5 year plan). This can be where you want to be financially, spiritually, or academically. What kinds of relationships do you want to have with your family? With your friends? With new friends?
- Post your priority list and paragraph in plain view. This is a deliberate reminder to you by you. Put it where you’ll read it every day. If you don’t, you forget.
Now you’re on your way to being young and prosperous. You have a clear direction with priorities and a paragraph mission statement for the next 5 years. Now on to the hard part – doing it.
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