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Sunday, November 3, 2013

What's Holding You Back?

The Great White shark or 'life-long phobia' I overcame when
we met in South Africa.


Every time we choose safety, we reinforce fear - Cheri Huber

In Napoleon Hill's book Think and Grow Rich, Mr. Hill lists '57 alibis by Old Man What If'. 
These are common excuses most of use as to why we aren't pursuing that life long dream we've permanently placed on the back burner to simmer away occasionally burping out excuses - or alibis as Mr. Hill calls them. 

Mr. Hill says that all people who do not succeed have one thing in common: they know all the reasons for failure, and have air-tight alibis to explain away their own lack of achievement. I'll list his 57 common alibis below.

We're all guilty of using alibis but as Mr. Hill points out if we can honestly admit that then maybe, just maybe it will provoke us to stop making excuses and pull that dream to the front burner where we can taste it.

The biggest reason holding us back, by the way, is fear of failure followed by fear of what others may think of us.

            “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” - David Deida  

One way to overcome that fear is to ask yourself what your 80-year-old self would say to your current self. Hopefully she would smack our behind with her cane and say 'what are you waiting for!' Or, imagine you had only 24 hours to live, would you wish you had at least tried before it was too late?

So without further adieu, here are Napoleon Hill's 57 alibis by Old Man What If - Can you see any of your own here? I do - ouch! But hey, that's the first step :-)

IF I didn’t have a wife/husband and family . . .
IF I had enough “pull” . . .
IF I had money . . .
IF I had a good education . . .
IF I could get a job . . .
IF I had good health . . .
IF I only had time . . .
IF times were better . . .
IF other people understood me . . .
IF conditions around me were only different . . .
IF I could live my life over again . . .
IF I did not fear what “THEY” would say . . .
IF I had been given a chance . . .
IF I now had a chance . . .
IF other people didn’t “have it in for me” . . .
IF nothing happens to stop me . . .
IF I were only younger . . .
IF I could only do what I want . . .
IF I had been born rich . . .
IF I could meet “the right people” . . .
IF I had the talent that some people have . . .
IF I dared assert myself . . .
IF I only had embraced past opportunities . . .
IF people didn’t get on my nerves . . .
IF I didn’t have to keep house and look after the children . . .
IF I could save some money . . .
IF the boss only appreciated me . . .
IF I only had somebody to help me . . .
IF my family understood me . . .
IF I lived in a big city . . .
IF I could just get started . . .
IF I were only free . . .
IF I had the personality of some people . . .
IF I were not so fat . . .
IF my talents were known . . .
IF I could just get a “break” . . .
IF I could only get out of debt . . .
IF I hadn’t failed . . .
IF I only knew how . . .
IF everybody didn’t oppose me . . .
IF I didn’t have so many worries . . .
IF I could marry the right person . . .
IF people weren’t so dumb . . .
IF my family were not so extravagant . . . I
F I were sure of myself . . .
IF luck were not against me . . .
IF I had not been born under the wrong star . . .
IF it were not true that “what is to be will be” . . .
IF I did not have to work so hard . . .
IF I hadn’t lost my money . . .
IF I lived in a different neighborhood . . .
IF I didn’t have a “past” . . .
IF I only had a business of my own . . .
IF other people would only listen to me . . .

IF - and this is the greatest of them all - I had the courage to see myself as I really am, I would find out what is wrong with me, and correct it, then I might have a chance to profit by my mistakes and learn something from the experience of others, for I know that there is something WRONG with me, or I would now be where I WOULD HAVE BEEN IF I had spent more time analyzing my weaknesses, and less time building alibis to cover them.

Again, from Mr. Hill's book: Building alibis with which to explain away failure is a national pastime. The habit is as old as the human race, and is fatal to success! Why do people cling to their pet alibis? The answer is obvious. They defend their alibis because THEY CRE- ATE them! A man’s alibi is the child of his own imagination. It is human nature to defend one’s own brain-child.

If you can see any of your own alibis above, don't beat yourself up - we all see some of our own there. The good news is that knowing our enemy helps us snuff him out. If you want to learn more, I highly recommend reading Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill - it's powerful stuff.

Go forth and be fearless!

2 comments:

  1. If i had not been born under the wrong star......Huh, then we all would be.

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    Replies
    1. Exactly! Just shows how ridiculous all excuses are :-)

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