adminArthur Marara Motivation
“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” (Benjamin Franklin). The words of Benjamin Franklin may sound harsh, but if thoughtfully viewed might inspire us to revise our approach to excuses in life. We delay our success by an ammunition of excuses we have for not doing something. You are never too young or too old for greatness.
It does not matter what you might go through in life, you can still be the person you were created to be. This is only possible when you are able to eliminate excuses in life. The easiest thing for a lot of people is to always justify why they did something or why they could not do it. The only thing standing between you and your goals is the explanation that you sometimes hold on to as to why you can’t achieve it.
Great businesses are trapped inside people who believe and think that they cannot do, the same with amazing songs, mind blowing concepts, medical solutions which are entrapped in the minds of people who are afraid to step out. Let go of the excuses that you are holding on to, and step into your greatness. It always seems impossible until you step out and do what you have always been afraid to do. This week I want to encourage you to do away with any excuses that you can have in life.
Excuses are always there in life
Ask people why they are where they are, they always have an explanation for it. Ask someone why they do not have “O” Level qualifications, they will tell you that someone who was supposed to send them to school passed away some time ago, or they just decided to discontinue paying schools fees. Why someone does not have a business, they will tell you that, they have no capital to start it, why someone is broke; they will tell you that there is an economic hardship and so on.
Interesting! Why take the labour of giving you some examples, I just want to demonstrate that you can always find excuses for doing or not doing something. In fact, a lot of people have programmed themselves in such a way that they can easily point someone and to something as an explanation for their failure. Ask even couples who are divorcing or contemplating divorce, fingers are pointed at someone.
They can even be good excuses
There are instances when you take time to listen to the explanations that other people have, you will thoroughly be impressed and agree with them that indeed they are justified to be where they are. Excuses never produce results. Nothing in life was ever changed by having good excuses.
Good excuses do not change anything. Excuses will never add a dollar to your bank balance, they do not change the state of your stomach, and they do not add value to the state of your organisation. You can choose to accept things as they are or you can choose to ignore and confront your future.
Consider some of the following people who have made and are making a difference in their lives and the lives of the other people. They could have held on to the excuses and lived as nonentities but they did not;
Divine Ndhlukula – at the commencement of her security business, her husband became indisposed and could not aid much in the business. The death of her husband could have been a basis upon which she could have thrown in the towel but she did not. She did not focus on the excuses that were available, she resolved to face the future and stepped into a field she did not have much experience. She resolved to pursue her dream and remember her husband in a special way.
Today, Securico is a company to be reckoned with in security services. It was a product of someone who refused to be bound by excuses. Today, she stands as an inspiration to many people in Zimbabwe and globally. She has many awards to her credit, and these include Empretec Entrepreneur of the Year 2001, and Empretec Entrepreneur of Decade (Services Sector) 2002; Manager of the year 2005 for Zimbabwe Institute of Management; Celebrate a Sister Business award 2006; Institute of Directors Zimbabwe Director of the Year (SMEs) 2008; Institute of Directors Overall Director of Year (Run Up 2009; Zimbabwe Women Filmmakers/UNifem Business Award 2010). Securico has many awards as well to its credits, including National Quality Awards Company of the Year 2011, Zimbabwe’s 7th Best Employers 2010 and 7th Best Employer again for 2011, to mention but a few.
Elizabeth Magaya – the thought of going to school and start secondary school at 50 years is one of the thoughts that most people are not prepared to entertain. What an approach! One woman defied it.
Elizabeth Magaya might not be known by many people, but her determination and persistence places her squarely in the books of history. She enrolled at the Women’s University at the age of 53. He parents divorced when she was 13, and was left with the responsibility of taking care of her siblings. She states that she even had to look for food from the bins so that her siblings could have a meal. “I was married at the age of twenty two, and my husband sent me to his rural areas.
This destroyed my dreams of developing myself mentally, financially and educationally. However despite this drawback, I never gave up. A person can take control of the physical but the mind will always be at liberty to dream and hope. For what’s in a person’s mind is a secret and that can determine one’s destiny”, she explains in one her articles.
She was invited to speak at several conferences and that is when she realized the dearth of her English language. She was approached by Professor Hope Sadza who inspired her to go back to school and she did just that in 2005. She wrote all her “O” Levels in one sitting and then proceeded to University on the strength of maturity entry and experience and today she is a graduate, business person, motivational speaker and I need not mention that she resides in a mansion in one of the leafy suburbs in Harare.
Why tell you all this? This is not to impress you, but to impress upon you that you do not have an excuse for not changing the fortunes of your life. You have no excuse for not improving the state of your company. There is no reason for you to hang on the death of someone and immobilise your life because they are not there. Do not use the passing on of someone as an excuse for not accomplishing your dreams and goals. This is your time! Champions see stars and in scars.
Take charge of your life
“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.” (Albert Ellis). Take control and responsibility of your life. Resolve to change regardless of the excuses that you have. When you accept your life and resolve to take it, you harness the strength to transform it.
Take your problems and face them. You will never face what you deny. You might be going through difficult times, your business might having challenges, I do not know which area you might be struggling, there is always a way out. This is only possible when you resolve in your heart to confront your challenges. It’s only possible when you take responsibility of your life.
There is no need to blame your failures on the economy, on your teachers, on your parents and family, you can choose to change the course of your life. No matter how difficult things are, other people will always thrive. This is the reason why some people have been buying some very expensive cars and building lavish mansions during the time of the credit crunch in Zimbabwe and globally. Take charge of your life!
Defy the norm
The sky is never the limit; it’s just a good starting point. The fact that no one has not done it does not mean it can’t be done. Transcend the common way of thinking and stretch your thinking. I do not know what is the norm in your family, in your field or industry, academia to mention but a few, but you challenge it and make a mark. Steve Jobs once echoed some profound sentiments in 1984, “The People Who Are Crazy Enough to Think They Can Change the World, Are the Ones Who Do.”
We all know the legacy that Steve Jobs left in personal computing and in technology generally. Think beyond your excuses and leave your foot prints on the sands of time. You can challenge the realities of your situation and do the extra ordinary or you can accept them and die ordinary.
Join me on Star FM on Wednesdays (09:30am-10:00am) for some moments of inspiration on the Breeze with Tariro and Iyati.
Arthur Marara is an attorney, author and speaker. He is also the author of the Personal Development Toolkit. Send your feedback to [email protected] or Like his page on Facebook, or Whatsapp: +263 772 467 255 or visit www.arthurmarara.com <http://www.arthurmarara.com>.
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