When the entrepreneur must choose between finding excuses or finding reasons
Excuses Vs. Reasons
Who to blame when the goals are not achieve?
On our entrepreneurial journey, we constantly face obstacles. Each obstacle that we do not overcome, or that we are afraid to face, has the potential to become an excuse. Today, we will discuss the dilemma that entrepreneurs face when they must choose between finding excuses or finding reasons when they do not achieve their business goals.
A Personal Joke at Home
I have a personal joke at home. Every time I can't find something, like my water bottle, I say, "Teacher, someone stole my water." My husband and I laugh and search for the bottle, which is usually in some unusual place where I left it carelessly.
I often make this joke because the typical reaction of school-aged children when they lose something is to assume that it is someone else's responsibility and, therefore, "it was stolen." It is easier to say, "Teacher, someone stole my pencil" than to say, "Teacher, I lost my pencil." When we say, "someone stole my pencil" instead of "I lost my pencil," we stop taking responsibility for the pencil's fate and shift the responsibility to someone else, in this case, a classmate. This way, we avoid the possible negative consequences of losing the pencil.
Seen as a school case, it might bring a smile to our faces and make us remember the times when we were more immature and reflect on how far we have come.
The Pattern in Professional Life
However, we often continue this pattern throughout our professional lives. Of course, we don't say "someone stole it," but the tendency to find external reasons for what happens to us sometimes remains for many years. We replace "someone stole it" with a bunch of excuses like "I didn't have time," "I was called to an emergency meeting," "the supplier made a mistake with the order," "the accountant made an error," among thousands of similar excuses that we could list for hours.
And if, as entrepreneurs, we approach our businesses with this bad habit, we stagnate and obstruct our path to success.
Why Do We Make Excuses?
There are many reasons why people make excuses to avoid taking responsibility. They are numerous and varied. However, here are the most common ones among entrepreneurs:
Avoiding something we don't want to do: when faced with tasks that are unpleasant, difficult, or push us out of our comfort zone.
Hiding the truth: when we might be exposed to unfavorable conditions.
Avoiding confrontations: when we know that taking a different stance might upset others.
Hiding mistakes: when we don't want it known that we made an error.
Avoiding unpleasant consequences: when we are afraid of what might happen if we don't give an excuse.
Avoiding change: when it involves effort, learning, or discomfort, even if it's temporary.
Seeking security: when we want to take refuge in the familiar.
On our entrepreneurial journey, we constantly face obstacles. Each obstacle that we do not overcome, or that we are afraid to face, has the potential to become an excuse.
Excuses are a brake on development and evolution because they allow obstacles to take center stage, without trying to understand them, without attempting to eliminate them, without seeking to change them.
When we accept obstacles and stop trying to overcome them, we slow down processes.
Finding Reasons
The opposite of finding excuses in the world of entrepreneurship is trying to find reasons. Understanding obstacles and the reasons they appear, and developing strategies to overcome them.
Finding reasons involves a process of investigation and analysis. The very word "reasons" speaks to a process guided by reason, objective, and not by emotion, subjective.
Finding reasons involves seeking data and establishing connections that allow us to understand the obstacle and generate strategies to overcome it or move forward despite it. It is not about ignoring or avoiding the obstacle. It is about accepting that it exists, but not surrendering to its presence, and instead developing a strategy to overcome it.
Reasons open up paths and possibilities. They allow us to visualize and take advantage of opportunities.
Excuses exempt us from taking responsibility. When we make excuses, we operate with an external locus of control, according to which we have no control over the things that happen to us.
Reasons, on the other hand, force us to take responsibility. When we find reasons, we operate with an internal locus of control, according to which we are responsible for the consequences of what happens to us and, therefore, have the power to change things.
Excuses vs. Reasons
Excuses immobilize us and prevent us from acting. Reasons, on the other hand, move us to make decisions and generate changes.
Excuses make us feel more comfortable, because they take the weight of responsibility off our shoulders. Reasons, on the other hand, force us to step out of our comfort zone and face the challenges that change entails.
Excuses keep us away from failure... but at the same time, they keep us further from success. We do not fail simply because we do not try and do not advance, not because we are successful in what we set out to do.
Reasons involve more work and effort than excuses. That is why it is so easy to fall into excuses.
Most Common Excuses
There are many possible excuses we find daily to justify the lack of decisions and the lack of fulfillment of our objectives. The list would be endless. However, here are the most frequently used excuses by entrepreneurs:
Lack of time: (I didn't have enough time, I had too many things to do, time wasn't sufficient, I'm very busy)
I can't: (I'm not capable, I don't know, I'm not prepared)
Resignation: (it is what it is, we have to weather the storm, it's what's to be done, it's what came down the river)
Habit and resistance to change: (That's just how I am, I've always done it that way, we're used to that way).
Unfavorable conditions: (economic situation of the country, political conditions, norms and regulations)
Lack of solidarity: (I do what I can, but others don't help, whether they are partners, collaborators, clients).
Lack of financial resources: (I don't have money, I'm not billing enough, I can't invest in that now, I don't have the necessary equipment)
Disinterest: (I'm not interested now, I don't like it, not everything is about work).
Personal limitations: (I'm too old, I'm too young, I don't have experience, it's not the right time for my family, it doesn't align with my personality)
Do you identify with any of these excuses? I'm sure that more than once you have used one or several of these excuses to justify the failure to meet your business goals and objectives.
How to Change the Pattern of Making Excuses and Start Finding Reasons?
There are various strategies you can try to limit the times you hide behind excuses and increase the times you look for reasons that allow you to act and make decisions.
Recognize the excuse for what it is. Admit that you are avoiding taking responsibility. If you do not realize that you are using an excuse, you will hardly overcome or change it. The first step is a personal reflection on the justifications you are using and whether they are valid reasons or excuses.
Always try to explain situations based on things that are under your control. For example, do not say "I didn't have time," change the argument to "I had other priorities." That gives you back the power since at the end of the day you are capable of changing your priorities if you need to include a task in your time.
Try to increase your self-confidence. As you feel more secure in yourself and your abilities, it will be easier to start leveraging the things you can change, instead of resigning yourself to tolerating the things you cannot change.
Rely on realistic optimism as a resource to achieve the necessary motivation to not leave room for excuses and take on the effort and consequences of finding reasons.
Of course, there are many external conditions that are beyond your control and affect your business: illnesses, government policies, weather conditions, among others. I am not inviting you to ignore them or think that you can change everything in the world. However, although you cannot change these circumstances, you can always change your way of thinking and behaving and look for alternative actions that allow you to move forward despite the circumstances you are living in and developing your business. For example, instead of using a government policy as an excuse to not do something or for things to go wrong, think about what you can change in your business so that the policy affects you less or not at all. The same goes for any obstacle you encounter.
That is what it is about when you change from searching for excuses to finding reasons: analyzing why you are stuck, what is preventing you from moving forward, and how you could change it to overcome it. Sometimes you need to change procedures, sometimes resources, other times response times, and sometimes you need to change or adjust objectives.
Do not hide behind an excuse to avoid facing the obstacle. Adjust your strategy.