This week’s quote is “Most people know what to do, they just don’t do what they know.” I was unable to find the source of this quote, but American actor Sylvester Stallone and self-help guru Tony Robbins have both been given credit for similar thoughts.
If you talk to enough people, you’ll realize fairly quickly how true this statement is. Most people, and you may be one of them, know what they need to be doing, they’re just not doing it.
You know you need to eat better, but you don’t. And it’s not because you don’t know the difference between healthy foods and junk. You don’t need to be a nutritionist to know that an apple is better for you than a bag of potato chips. You also probably know that a bottle of water is better for you than a 32 oz soda.
You know you probably could stand to lose some weight, but you aren’t. And it’s not because you think exercise doesn’t work. You know it does.
You probably know that you need to change some things in your life to make it better, but you’re not.
Why aren’t you? Because it’s a lot easier to make excuses than to make changes. Believe me, I’m a living example. For most of my adult life, I’ve believed that I was put on this earth to do something great. I’ve had lots of ideas, some were even pretty good, but I acted on zero of them. Every idea I had, I thought about it and thought about it until I came up with enough good reasons why it couldn’t be done. Or at least why I couldn’t do it. I don’t have the money to get started; I don’t have the time; I don’t know enough about that industry. Excuse after excuse until I talked myself out it. Doing nothing became my comfort zone. Sound familiar?
So how do we turn it around and start doing what we know we should be doing? Well, I think the first step is to stop making excuses. Excuses are nothing more than roadblocks on the highway to success. Excuses allow you to get away with not doing anything.
So stop finding reasons why you can’t do something and start finding ways you can. The next time you find yourself making an excuse why you can’t do something, catch yourself and turn it around. Ask yourself: why am I not doing what I know I should be? Is it fear, lack of information, or something else? Where is the “friction” coming from?
Remind yourself often of the Why. That alone will help you overcome procrastination better than any strategy I’ve found. If you make that commitment today, things will start getting better for you immediately.
So what is it that you know you should be doing that you’re going to start doing this week?
Let us know in the comments section below.
You know what to do, and now is the time to start doing it so you can make an impact and lead a full life.
Thanks for reading, have a great week.