Feedback Form
Home Features Mastermind Forums About Advertise Blog Network Contact Be An Author

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

Do you have an excuse jar? If you don’t, maybe you should. An excuse jar is a way to mentally condition yourself to change your mindset and your behavior. You remember learning about Pavlov’s dogs, right?

Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who is remembered for his landmark experiments on conditioning in the late nineteenth century. In his work, Pavlov studied the physiological response of different stimuli on dogs prior to eating. By using classical conditioning, Pavlov was able to trigger an instinctive response to a bell that caused the dogs to salivate.

The lesson for us is that, like dogs, our responses can be conditioned. Conditioning is a form of learning. We can learn to remove and eliminate excuses from our daily lives. This is how it works. Find a jar. One that holds about a quart or more is perfect. Now, make a sign or label that reads “No More Excuses” and tape it to the outside of the jar.

Once you have the jar, you fill it with money every time you make an excuse. The amount of money you choose to drop each time should be enough to make you not want to abstain from making excuses but within your means to actually do it. A dollar or five dollars is a good starting point.

Now, every time you catch yourself rationalizing your behavior, or lack thereof, with an excuse, you have to deposit money into your excuse jar. Only after you have not made excuses for 30 days are you able to retrieve your money.

Please understand that you are to make a deposit to the excuse jar every time you fail to reach a goal and you rationalize your behavior with statements like, “I didn’t have time,” “The economy is bad so I couldn’t reach my goals,” “Betty in shipping didn’t get me the information,” “I’m too tired,” or any number of other finger-pointing rationalizations. An excuse simply means that you didn’t live up to your expectations, even if they were self-imposed.

So, do you get the picture? To improve performance, you have to perform. To perform, you have to overcome the obstacles that hold you back, whether they be internal or external obstacles. Anything less is just accepting excuses which is a real performance-killer.





Excuses Excuses Excuses - To learn more about this author, visit Will Turner's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

Article Feedback
 Article Feedback No article feedback found.
  Leave Your Feedback
article feedback

Article Feedback

To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us.

About The Author


Will Turner
(Visit Will's Website) As President of Dancing Elephants Achievement Group, Will feels he has the best job in the galaxy. He loves working with salespeople and entrepreneurs to "unblock" themselves and "unlock" their potential. Will is the first to admit that he was a reluctant salesperson for many years. He thought most salespeople had to be pushy, and he just wasn't comfortable in that role. He later discovered that you don't have to act like a typical salesperson to be a great salesperson so he created a company to teach others what he had learned. Will transitioned a twenty year career in sales and sales management into his current position as President of Dancing Elephants. In addition to facilitating and presenting, Will is the author of Impact!, the company's monthly e-newsletter on sales performance. He is also the co-creator of the Sales Magnetism program and the co-author of Six Secrets of Sales Magnets.

Will Turner is a Platinum author on EvanCarmichael.com
About The Author

View Author Blog
View Author Blog

View Author Video
View Author Video

Free Downloads


Will Turner's

Complete
List Of
Sales
Articles

Name
Email
If you enjoyed this article, get Will Turner's Complete List of Sales Articles For FREE!

More Will Turner
What Are You Waiting For
Whats Your Loyalty Quotient
Ordinary To Extraordinary Is Easier Than You Think
The Three Deadliest Mistakes Sales Managers Make
Shut Up And Sell More
Seven Simple Ways To Prioritize
If I CouldWould You
So What Do You Do
Interview With A 1 Salesperson
Are You Confident Or Cocky
Free Downloads


 
 
 


Evan Elite Authors
Staging Diva  
John Power  
David Barr  
Evan Elite Authors

Become An Author
Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details.
Become An Author

Evan's Latest Video
Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media
Evan's Latest Video

Business Opportunities
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"

How to Start An Online Business

Click Here To Learn More
Business Opportunities



Evan's Newsletter
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Evan`s Newsletter

Free Downloads
Mirror Marketing Icon Mirror Marketing
Sample Credit Application Icon Sample Credit Application
Webinar Plan Icon Webinar Plan
CAN-Spam Checklist Icon CAN-Spam Checklist
Boomers & Zoomers Icon Boomers & Zoomers
Free Downloads - Complete List

Entrepreneur Tools and Guides
Top 50 SEO Posts of the Year
Top 50 SEO Posts - 2008
Top SEO Posts of the Year
 
Top 50 SEO Posts of the Year
Top 50 SEO Posts - 2007
Top SEO Posts of the Year
 
Entrepreneur Tools and Guides

SEO For Africa
SEO For Africa
Johnson Sophia Cape Coast, Ghana,
Johnson Sophia
Cape Coast, Ghana
SEO For Africa

If I Were A Startup...
Jeff Roick, $1.4 to $6.5 Mil in 2 years
Jeff Roick
$1.4 to $6.5 Mil in 2 years
Stephen Pollack, $1.2 to $16.2 Mil in 3 Years
Stephen Pollack
$1.2 to $16.2 Mil in 3 Years
If I Were A Startup... - Complete List

Famous Entrepreneurs
Simon Cowell, American Idol
Simon Cowell
American Idol
Henry Ford, Ford Motor
Henry Ford
Ford Motor
Famous Entrepreneurs - Complete List

Entrepreneur Advice
Paul Kedrosky, Venture Capitalist
Paul Kedrosky
Venture Capitalist
Jack Canfield, Chicken Soup
Jack Canfield
Chicken Soup
Entrepreneur Advice - Complete List

Popular Articles
(Premium Authors)

     Tell PSR Stories
By Michael Shays
     Achieving a Customer-focused Culture
By Michael Shays
     Share the Pain and Share the Gain
By Michael Shays

Have A Suggestion?
Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
Have A Suggestion?

More Evan Carmichael
More Information