Don’t Make Excuses, Make Adjustments.

Don’t Make Excuses, Make Adjustments
From my book: Unleash Your Greatness: Hot to Outperform Yourself
© 2005 Dawn Johnson

Close your eyes and seek what you believe. ~Goapele

Picture yourself in a field. There is a wide open target with a bull’s-eye in the middle of the target. Your goal is to hit the bull’s-eye. You pick up a bow and arrow and take aim and stop. You hear this small voice say "What if you miss?" You tell yourself to focus but now the focus of succeeding is replaced with not failing. If you continue to doubt yourself, you will never hit the bull’s-eye. Your aim will continue to be on what might go wrong and your sense of failure.

I spent many years underestimating myself because my focus stayed on what was wrong with me instead of what was right with me. I pictured the girl who as a teenager made more money than most women will make in their lifetime. I pictured a young girl who grew into a mature woman and became insecure and believed that if people knew of her past, they would shun her. The reality is I was way off target. I knew I had the potential to be great, but I continued to let people around me tell me how much of a failure I was in comparison to everyone else.

I remember working in a sales position for a company that made you write yourself up every week when you didn’t hit your numbers. You were made to sit in a room with your peers and humiliate yourself by saying you failed. I remember thinking every week when I knew I wasn’t going to hit my numbers how much of a failure I must be. I saw everyone else hitting their weekly numbers, and it made me wonder how come I was so horrible. Then it came to me a few days later. This job and these people could never define my success. My focus was on everyone else’s opinion of me instead of me focusing on myself. I wondered was I doing the best according to my potential. Was I taking ownership over my mistakes and improving from them? Based on my answers, the fact was no one was in control of my desire for greatness. From that point on, I always strived to break down the barriers that people put around my dreams.

Here are some tricks I have done and continue to do to make sure that I am always aiming for and reaching for peak performance as I unleash my greatness:

1. Transfer your goals into affirmations
Your goal is a mental picture of what you want. Take the mental picture and turn it into reality by writing it down in the present tense as if it were already accomplished. People used to (and still) laugh at me because I carry around a dream book. My dream book has my debt reduction plan, my dream cars and homes, my favorite quotes, and my yearly goals. I pull this book out at least 7 times a day and flip through it. It serves as a constant reminder to press on when I feel the need to give up or complain about where I am now in my career or personal life.

2. Read your affirmation aloud.
I constantly tell myself positive things to make my dreams a reality. This works in my personal and professional life. I tell myself, “I can be in healthy relationships” or “I can change the world one person at a time”. These are my own personal mantras.
Let’s face it – we live in a jaded society. We cannot always count on someone else to motivate us. Sometimes, you have to be the best motivator you know. I still wash my car instead of taking it to a car wash because I know that I can take my time and make sure that every part is washed. In my mind, I know that I can wash my car better than anyone else can because I know where it needs special attention.

Surround yourself with people who will support your goals and aspirations. More important, surround yourself with people who will support you, hold you accountable, and give you healthy constructive criticism when it’s needed.

3. Picture the results you want.
I mean this verbatim. Get physical pictures of cars you want. Go to open houses in your dream community. Take pictures. Go test drive your dream car. Have someone take your picture behind the wheel. Then, take these pictures and put them on your bathroom mirror, your refrigerator, your bathroom door, and your front door. Seeing these on a constant basis will remind you of your goals. I have never been much of a television watcher. I’ve never had cable, and I have a sign on my TV that says, “Do not feed the idiot box”. I have small pictures of my “dream things” all around the TV, so when I sit down to watch a show I can remind myself that I can’t accomplish my goals if I don’t work hard. This may be a bit much for some, but it can be done at a different extreme to suit each person.

4. Track and measure your progress.
Someone once told me, “Do not make excuses, make adjustments”. When you find a flaw in your current plan, you must be able to adapt to a new strategy. We often get so caught up in rebelling against change in our lives. When we put our energy into adapting and not into rebelling, change will come with ease. It’s still a struggle that I work through one day at a time. There are some days when I want to stay in my comfort zone and I fear being any bigger than I am now. Write down your goals and the solutions you know will help you accomplish each goal. I started with 1 week goals. Then, as I began to accomplish these small goals I moved up to 3 week and then 3 year goals. Once you see you can accomplish small goals, you can parlay them into long term goals. Always remember: you are being counterproductive when you say that you are busy but nothing is getting done. Having a goal system will help you to be more observant of your actions while helping you to physically see what needs to be done to accomplish your goals.

5. Visualize your success
I must admit something to you all – I used to be my own worst critic. I would be too hard on myself because I expected so much out of myself and when I don’t accomplish things in my projected time frame, I would feel frustrated. I have to remind myself that I am a work in progress, and I am growing day by day. I don’t let other’s rate my greatness, but I also do not allow myself to be my worst critic. If you let someone else rate your greatness, you will not ever know how great you are. Be hard on yourself and demand nothing but the best because that’s what you know you are worthy of. You must be able to define what happiness means to you. For some, happiness is having a nice car or a nice house. For others it’s not having debt or having a nice family. Perhaps happiness is having a good spiritual foundation. Create your own definition of happiness instead of buying into what society says happiness is.

Final Thought
In life, you are either an owner or a victim. You can live your life making excuses for why you aren’t where you need to be, or you can be accountable for your actions and make a conscience decision to create each day. To successfully unleash your greatness you must hold yourself accountable for your actions. Focus on what you want to do, not on what you don't want to do. Only one target remains until you reach your goal. Pull the arrow back and let it go!

Act as if it were impossible to fail. ~Dorothea Brande


© 2005-2007 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - A celebrated servant-leader, internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist, Dawn Johnson, the acclaimed “Self Esteem Queen”™, is one of today’s leading experts on transformational leadership, entrepreneur personal development, and self-esteem enhancement. To learn more about Dawn’s products and sign up to receive FREE tips on business, personal enhancement, visit her site at http://www.selfesteemqueen.com.

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