Today tools was about Excuses. I came face to face and eye to eye with my excuses that I had seen as valid reasons before today for the most part. Now I see that was a case of mistaken identity.
I noticed a pattern of the majority of my excuses all originate from a recurring pattern of a few MAJOR ones. The major ones for me being:
PERFECTIONISM (in myself NOT AT ALL towards others. I am very patient, nonjudgmental and compassionate with others.)
PROCRASTINATION ( which I recognize even this one stems back to my perfectionism issue, it is ALL and BEST or nothing)
TIME which is unorganized, mismanaged and spread too thin which in turn leads to
ANXIETY and Feeling of being
OVERWHELMED.
First upon seeing them all written down I could easily not only see the pattern but had a sudden realization of how I ended up with these issues I have been struggling with all my life. I also had the revelation that they have been coping and survival skills in repeated situations of life and death or due to standards set FOR ME by others who meant WELL even from their own ill and confused minds at the time. However they do me no good whatsoever now and as a matter of fact, hold me back and down in life and keep me from reaching for my true potential.
It helped seeing these characteristics and excuses that have led to being an underachiever thus far.
First I went to Coping dot org and read all about perfectionism and its traits and damages and steps to overcome it, taking notes especially on the areas that are most like me.
Then I looked up inspiring, wise and encouraging quotes to read and write and use to retrain my brain from the distorted view to a new clear view of the TRUTH so I can liberate myself.
PERFECTIONISM
1. "For all the sad words, of tongue or pen, the saddest of these; it might have been." BY John Greenleaf Whittier
2. "Failure is not falling down. It is not getting up again." BY Mary Pickford
3. "You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are Doomed if you don't try!" BY unknown
4. "Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will everr be good enough - that we should try again." BY Julia Cameron
5. "You can make excuses or you can make money, but you can't do both." BY unknown
6. "A setback is a setup for a comeback." BY unknown
7. "Strive for perfection. Settle for Excellence." BY Don Shula
PROCRASTINATION
1. "Procrastination is opportunity's assassin." BY Victor Kiam
2. "Procrastination is one of the most common and deadlliest diseases and it's toll on success and happiness is heavy." BY Wayne Gretzky
3. "Procrastination is like a credit card: it is a lot of fun until you get the bill". BY Christopher Parker
4. "Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are afraid of success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live on the "Someday I'll" philosophy of life. BY Denis Waitley
5. "Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone." BY Pablo Picasso
PROCRASTINATION and TIME MANAGEMENT
1. "It's not the hours you put into your work that counts, it's the work you put in the hours. " BY Sam Ewing
2. "The butterfly counts not months but moments and has time enough." BY Sam Ewing
3. Yesterday is already a dream and tomorrow is only a vision; but today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope." FROM the Sanskrit
4. "Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have and only YOU can determine how it will be spent. Be careful, lest you let others spend it for you." BY Carl Sandburg
5. "Life is just a minute. Only sixy seconds in it. Forces upon you, can't refuse it. Didn't seek it, didn't choose it. But it's up to you to use it. You will suffer if you lose it. Give an account if you abuse it. Just a tiny little minute. But Eternity is in it." BY Unknown
WORRY, ANXIETY
1. "Worry is the misuse of your imagination - thinking about what you don't want to happen. Happiness is thinkning about the desired end result. "BY Ed Foreman
2. "Worry is a darkroom where NEGATIVES are developed." BY Unknown
I wrote these in my ALL ABOUT ME notebook as visual and mental reminders to help me retrain my brain in the opposite direction of my excuses.
No one can do better than their own personal best at any given time. Personal best... is good ENOUGH.
I believe the more I win the stare down with my excuses... the easier and more enjoyable it will be to LOOK MYSELF in the EYES.
PS. Note my eyes in the pic are also LOOKING UP... because I KNOW the more I conquer these excuses the more looking up I will be doing right along with my life.
