Great teammates, great team leaders, great co-workers, great friends, and great parents do not make excuses. Unfortunately, not everyone is a great teammate, leader, co-worker etc.
An excuse is nothing more than an admission that we failed to prepare properly.
Every single excuse listed could have been overcome with preparation. All it takes is some organization and planning to schedule the important things in life.
This month’s mantra: The only thing you deserve is what you earn.
The most common excuse we hear is “I don’t have enough time”. There are 24 hours in a day. Although we cannot change the amount of time we have, we do choose our priorities and how we use those 24 hours to effectively address all of them. If we are saying that we don’t have time to do something, we are really saying that it is not a priority for us, and/or we didn’t properly prepare to accomplish it. Therefore, complaining that we don’t have time to do something is just an excuse. When we admit this to ourselves and to our teammates, we take ownership of it.
IF WE OWN AN ISSUE, WE HAVE INFLUENCE OVER IT. INFLUENCE GIVES US CONTROL AND CONTROL ALLOWS US TO ADDRESS AND FIX IT.
At EMA we appreciate how busy our members are. We also appreciate that we all have many different priorities based on a host of factors. However, if you were to go the gym at 4:30am., for example, you would be surprised by how many people are already there working out. They are Dads, single Moms, athletes, students, old folks and people just like you and me. They make the time to do so because it is a priority for them.
WEEKLY CHALLENGE
Make a plan. Set your alarm for just 10 minutes earlier this week. In those 10 minutes spend it journaling. Instead of writing thoughts and feelings (which is perfectly fine if you want to all do that), make your “to-do” list. Write down what you want to accomplish today. Once it’s all written out prioritize the list. There are the must do’s, the should do’s and the nice-todo’s. Your “must-do’s might be to exercise, eat three healthy meals, and study/read for 30 minutes. Your should-do’s might be to go for a walk and call your friend. Your nice-to- do’s might be to take a long bath or watch two episodes of your favourite show.
Great teammates & team leaders do not have the time to address all the countless priorities we have. We make the time to do so. Or we make excuses. WHICH ONE ARE YOU?