For people who want to make some changes in their lives, taking action is definitely the hardest part. Things are indeed easier said than done because even if you are sure you want to make a change, you just do not have enough motivation to walk the talk.
It is not because the tasks or goals you want accomplished are hard, but because you are easily hindered by your excuses. If you have told someone you want to lose weight, but you have not done anything about it, you will not accomplish your weight loss goals.
If you are asked why you have not gotten rid of those extra pounds, you can easily give a thousand reasons and excuses to justify everything. It is easy to choose justifications over actions, but facing and dealing with issues that deter you from accomplishing your goals is one step to take action.
Let’s look at three things that can stop us from taking the actions required to make positive changes in our life, and then we will consider three ways to deal with the situation.
1. Complacency
The truth is that complacency has many faces and all of them create barriers to the actions needed to make progress. Whether it’s laziness, lack of interest, lack of motivation, inability to stick with it, procrastination, indecision, or excuses, they all add up to the same thing. Nothing changes because in our mind, the changes we desire are not yet important enough to move us to take the necessary actions.
The other possibility is that we may be waiting for some kind of miracle. Perhaps thinking that our lives will change when we win the lottery, or when someone comes along and does all the work for us.
2. Fear
Fear also has many faces. It could be fear of failure, fear of change, fear of commitment, or even fear of success. Fear is the most powerful reason there is to move away from something. When we harbor fear, we will do almost anything to avoid the situation associated with that fear. It really doesn’t matter what kind of fear it is, if we have linked taking certain actions to fear, and inaction to security and comfort, we will not act.
The power of fear increases with proximity. For example, with fear of success, the closer we get to actually succeeding the more fear influences our decisions and actions. All limiting beliefs are based on fear in one form or another.
3. Confusion
In this age of information overload confusion is an ever increasing problem. Too much information is just as paralyzing as a lack of information. If you want to lose some weight for example, what do you need to do?
You will probably start by checking out all the various weight loss programs. And what will you find? You will find that there are too many experts, with too many ideas, and they all sound very convincing. The trouble is they have so many conflicting opinions that you can’t figure out who to listen to or who to trust. The more you check into it, the worse it gets. Information overload can put you in a holding pattern even when you are feeling motivated and ready to take the actions needed to get results.
It’s a modern day paradox. We have almost unlimited access to information on any topic, but sorting through it all can leave us more confused and frustrated than we were before we started.
Now the question is, what to do about it?
If we are stuck in the dilemma of wanting to make changes and feeling unable to do so, there are really only three alternatives. Let’s consider them one at a time.
1) No actions taken. The first way of dealing with this dilemma is to do nothing at all, and just live with the situation and the associated frustration. This is the choice most people make. Life seems overwhelming enough, and the thought of adding to it is just not acceptable. Many who find themselves in this category will simply make themselves a strong drink at the end of the day, turn on the TV, and attempt to take a nightly vacation from life. Even though many have chosen this approach, I think there are much better options.
Learn more at Are Your Actions Being Hindered by Your Excuses?
