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Self-sabotaging is a slippery slope. Most people don’t realize when they’re getting in their own way or creating excuses that are decreasing their business and its influence.
It’s easy to get caught up in reasoning and end up in a situation where your reasons have turned into excuses. You may not even realize this, but when you create an excuse, you’re actually sabotaging your own prosperity.
Which is why, in this article, I will be outlining the three most common excuses agents make that sabotage their success. Do any of these sound familiar?
1. Timing
In my experience, with over 20,000 personal one-on-one coaching hours under my belt, the most common excuse I hear in some form or another is that the timing is not right.
In reality, bad timing is overused and easy to pick out as an excuse because it clearly doesn’t really relate to running out of time. It’s actually due to poor time management, procrastination and lack of enthusiasm when it comes to your career.
I first met Sarah at a leadership event, and she was ready to quit her business. She and her husband Ben worked so hard to build a strong business. They had a young son, so they took steps to leverage some administrative tasks and found someone to help. This took months of training and time from Sarah, but she finally had a taste of the freedom and confidence that a support position provides.
They used this newfound free time in a few different ways. They reinvested by launching new lead generation and client experiences. They also refined their current marketing strategies to increase the volume of leads coming into the business, and they spent more time at home with their son.
To improve yourself and your business, it’s crucial that you ask yourself how important these missed opportunities are to you and you evaluate the things that are getting in the way of your success.
2. Finances
When I first started my coaching company, I heard the excuse, “There’s not enough money,” on an hourly basis. This excuse suggests that you could be lacking strategies or ideas that could help you reach your financial goals.
When I first met Jerry, he told me he didn’t have enough money to sustain his business or invest in something that could save it. I gave him his only options — failure or success. He had to choose. He couldn’t continue running his business the way he was. He would continue to lose money and then run out of choices completely.
Jerry decided to take the chance, and invested on business-building activities like systems, processes and more. He invested in his business, and his return on investment was incredible — he quadrupled his business in two years.
If it’s ideas and strategies that you’re lacking, go out and get a mentor or financial adviser who will help you gain the necessary knowledge and understanding of succeeding financially.
3. Not knowing
“I don’t know how” is most often used when people get pushed out of their comfort zone and have no desire to push themselves further. This often means you lack belief and confidence in your own abilities.
This excuse is very easy to combat. Take the time to learn what you need to do by reading up on it, searching for YouTube videos, gaining practical experience or asking for help.
Angela was an admin, and she very clearly had a fixed mindset. She refused to try anything new and was only comfortable with working on things she had familiarity with. The fear and discomfort of trying something new and not thriving were overwhelming for her.
Angela had to transform her fixed mindset into a growth mindset. We started by giving her tasks she was unfamiliar with. Did she make mistakes? Yes. However, what came from this transformation was confidence and belief. She went from not believing in herself to believing and being OK with making mistakes.
Angela came out from her shell and started loving learning and taking on challenges. It’s only through making those mistakes that we’re able to learn from them and change those excuses.
Kathleen Black is the CEO of Kathleen Black Coaching and Consulting in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Connect with her on Instagram at @kathleenblackcoaching or through her website ItTakesa.Team.
