“You’re too slow!” “You’re too small!” I heard that crap for years as an undersized wide receiver. Sometimes it was from other players and sometimes it came from coaches. It didn’t matter. I used it as motivation. Now more than 20 years later, I have a terminal disease that should have killed me seven years ago. I use that same mindset every day and you can do the same. Just stop making excuses!
I was fortunate to have some amazing coaches throughout my nine years of playing football. All different types of men with different motivation strategies. Some screamed and cussed. Others were strong and silent. I heard a lot of different tactics over my time on the field, but one phrase stands out as the most memorable.
Excuses are like assholes and elbows — everyone’s got them!
Poetry, right? While I do have a set of elbows and an asshole, I try not to make excuses. That starts early every morning. No, I don’t get up and run 10 miles. I said I have an asshole, not, I am an asshole.
I actively choose to get up and fight every day, despite some challenges that are fairly sizeable. I am completely paralyzed, require a ventilator to breathe and haven’t eaten a thing in almost five years. But six weeks after being diagnosed with ALS, I created A Life Story Foundation that raised almost two million dollars
The most common type of excuse for most people is centered on procrastination. This is a massive pet peeve of mine. Maybe it’s living with a disease that doesn’t always guarantee a tomorrow, or maybe it’s because I’m an impatient prick. Let’s, go with the latter.
We tend to procrastinate the stuff we don’t either like to do or are uncomfortable doing. It doesn’t take a social scientist to come to that conclusion. But think about this list of common activities and tell me that you just hop up and start attacking:
- Doing your taxes
- Firing one employee
- Making a dentist appointment
- Going to the gym
- Calling your mother-in-law
Not exactly the stuff that makes for a great day, right? Now look at this list and tell me that your reactions wouldn’t be just a tad different.
- Planning a vacation
- Promoting an employee
- Booking a couples massage
- Going to a boozy brunch
- Calling your best friend
The lists really aren’t that different from each other in time and energy. But because we don’t like the first list, out come the excuses. The power of procrastination is incredibly powerful. We know exactly when we’re doing it. My advice is to just making fucking excuses and do the tough stuff first.
It takes so long and so much energy for me to take a shower that I only get to shower twice a week. It takes two people, not counting me, to get me out of my wheelchair and on to the toilet. So, the next time you’re going through your day’s task in a hot shower, think of me. Or the next time you’re scrolling through your phone while you’re on the toilet, think of me.
But more importantly, stop making fucking excuse!
The next biggest factor in the art of excuse making is fear. We don’t like to fail. We don’t like to be put in uncomfortable situations. But more than anything else, we hate not knowing the outcome. Whether it’s the fear of failing or taking a risk, fear is one powerful son of a bitch. But it doesn’t have to be.
I’m not going to paste some cheesy quotes or definitions of fear. That’s not what motivates me to overcome fear. Fear has always been a waste of a valuable resource. The trick to overcoming fear based excuses is simple: you just have to take all those feelings and flip the script.
I used to love job interviews. Really, I swear. To this day, the only interview that didn’t lead to a job offer was to work at a Kenneth Cole outlet in college. I wouldn’t have lasted a week working retail. But before every interview, I would take all those feelings of fear and uncertainty, and put them into a different place in my mind. Sometimes it would take listening to my favorite hype song, other times it would just take a mental pep talk.
As if enjoying job interviews wasn’t enough to make you shake your head this next fact will. The number one fear of Americans, right ahead of dying, is public speaking. Me? I used to fucking love it. To this day, I still love it and I can’t even talk anymore. The only difference now is that now, I have to write my speeches ahead of time.
I realize that you’re probably not paralyzed or on a ventilator. And you probably eat normally instead of through a feeding tube. It’s okay, I’m not judging you. However, if after reading this article, you still procrastinate the tough stuff or you let fear cripple you, we’re going to have a problem. Be bold. Get uncomfortable. Don’t worry about what others might think. Flip the script. But more importantly, stop making fucking excuses!