“Excuses don’t make champions”
Mike Leigh once gave the following illustration. Four guys are standing on a street corner – an American, a Russian, a Chinese man, and an Israeli. A reporter comes up to the group and says to them: “Excuse me, what’s your opinion on the meat shortage?’’
The American says: What’s a shortage?
The Russian says: What’s meat?
The Chinese says: What’s an opinion?
The Israeli says: What’s ‘’Excuse me’’?
The four guys interpreted the meat shortage question from their individual perspectives. They demystified the meat shortage. Their perspectives belittled the excuse the reporter was trying to convey.
It’s a new beginning
Before we proceed, let me wish you a beautiful and productive 2022. May God make the year productive and blissful for you!
The reporter in the introduction encountered four men who were extraordinarily positive, they were averse to excuses; their perspectives were outstandingly positive.
It’s the beginning of the year, and many would have begun with the usual New Year resolutions – saying what will be and what will not. The question is: How have we achieved these resolutions in the past? What are the excuses; what are your perspectives?
Your perception, your reality
Your perception is your reality, this is true almost all the time. How do you approach tasks? Are you among the folks who give excuses, even before they commence a task? Some individuals see the impossibility in every project. Their first response to a seemingly challenging situation is: “It’s not possible; “it’s tough”; “it’s difficult”; “I can’t do it”; “I lack the capacity”, “I have no one to help me” – excuses and more excuses!
You must note that excuses don’t make champions. Stop seeing your weakness and start celebrating your strength.
Change your perception, change your world
What do you see? What’s your excuse at the moment? What excuse is keeping you from getting things done? Are you experiencing any form of meat shortage, or are you seeing an overflow? Let your perspectives challenge any form of excuse or limitation that will affect top-notch result.
I recently held sales training in Enugu on 2 November, 2021, for a group of sales professionals, and I told them that the easiest product ever manufactured in life is excuse. No one needs a raw material to manufacture an excuse. The raw materials are always available in abundance because they are embedded within the excuse giver.
Quit excuses! Let your perspective and approach seek alternative solutions that will get things done. Be a solution-provider.
Do things differently to get a different result
People who show outstanding results do things differently. They look out for new ways of achieving results.
You must be ready to compete favourably. You must be prepared to win this new year. You must get your team ready in capacity and capability. The marketplace is tough and this status isn’t changing soon. The solution is to be prepared and get ready to win.
The winner in any battle must get inside the ring and fight the battle. There must be a battle before a champion. Every champion is crowned after a fight, not after an excuse. Begin the year from a strong position.
Stop celebrating excuses, stop procrastinating
What is worth doing is worth doing immediately. Don’t delay. Don’t procrastinate. Just think it and get it done.
Successful people invest the right time to think through what they want to achieve. Once they are done with the process of thinking and concluding on the choice of action, they go through the right process that will get them the right results. They think and act.
Average people do the opposite. They follow the wrong path. They dwell on excuses. They procrastinate. They give “beautiful” reasons why they can’t get things done.
An excuse is usually the easy way out. Folks manufacture stories that will excuse them from tough tasks. They just go for the convenient option of giving excuses.
But one thing I know is this: No one gets to the top because of the number of excuses he or she gave. Folks are celebrated because they showed up and did their best. If you are bold enough to show up and invest efforts in a given project, excuses will disappear and top performance will emerge.
As a sales professional, be intentional this new year. Go the extra mile to fix stuff. Meet or exceed your sales target. Don’t settle for average performance. Take a decision to happen to things. Be outstandingly productive.
I wish you a productive 2022. This is your YEAR!
George O.Emetuche, CES, is a Brian Tracy endorsed bestselling author, accredited training consultant, sales and marketing expert.
Reach us for training of your Sales Team and other Professionals.
The Selling Champion Consulting Ltd is a Nigerian Council for Management Development Accredited Training and Consulting Company. We have top-notch international and local endorsements. We prepare productive professionals. Let’s do business with you.
We give Value!
Buy Books by George O. Emetuche, please call, 07060559429, 08186083133, or visit,www.thesellingchampionconsulting.com.
