Overnight Success 3 – No Excuses

EXCELLENT 2 minutes. Agree and loved it. Thanks!

Oddly enough, “overnight success” is btter defined as “burning the midnight oil” than it is by “instant results.”

The first step to removing a barrier is recognizing it in your process. If you can't be honest enough to see when you're looking at reasons and when the reasons are excuses, that's your first and biggest barrier to success.

Thinking forward is important as well. There's not an overnight success living who made it by planning for yesterday.

That is great news about the podcast. What do you think they're doing for your project? Are they helping with engagement?

It's Saturday morning. Still. No wind. I'd like to be in the ocean, surfing. Conditions in the fall are best, we wait all year for these conditions.

Instead, I'm cleaning another Whitepaper for my first series of 6. I'd like to start selling product, sooner than later, and that means no surfing. Sucks.

But what's the alternative? Getting a job? I don't think so…

The more successful you become, the more other people's excuses really stand out to you. After your big “Internet Marketing for Smart People” panel at BlogWorld '09, I had a chance to catch up with Sonia Simone, who I hadn't seen in person since SOBCon '08. I complimented her on her wonderful pink hair, and she told me how another kid's mother at her kid's school told her: “I wish I could have hair like that.”

And we both thought the same thing: NOTHING is really stopping you.

No person holds a gun to your head. No law prevents you. It's like people have their emergency brake on all the time. You can't drive anywhere that way.

You're right, sir. I think Daniel Decker has the right mindset: that it's also about fear.

Hey Chris, I recently wrote about your incredible sacrifices on my blog and I feel like this video addressed a lot of the concerns I had about how much time you spent away from your family. I didn't write it with the intention of pointing the finger at you and saying, “This guy sucks at being a husband and father,” and I hope that if you came across it you didn't think that. My intention was to say that I'm not willing to make the same sacrifices. This may mean that I won't achieve the same level of success as you have, and I'm okay with that. I'll take one of those other ways to the finish line.

When you said that your family has a goal and that that you're pushing and stretching to accomplish those goals, and not without deep consideration, I understood. You're obviously an excellent communicator and it would make sense that you and your wife discussed the potential sacrifice at length before you jumped into this. We may not totally see eye to eye on the sacrifice of family, but I understand your perspective and I have tremendous respect for your honesty, passion, and giving nature. As long as your family loves and respects you the most, and you don't feel like you're risking or neglecting your family, then you're a rock star. I applaud your success.

I”m not going to post my original comment because it sounds like a bunch of excuses.

In all seriousness, very inspirational. It's easier to make an excuses than to find the reasons behind the excuse.

Rock on.

You want me to drive 100 miles to see you? Who ARE you?

Another great addition to your series, Chris. Great point about being willing to push past what's comfortable, convenient, and easy…for temporary satisfaction. True achievement comes from what you said so well, getting rid of the excuses, roadblocks we put in our way, and holding back in fear of taking risks. In other words, moving past the “getting something for nothing” myth so many live by.

Best,
Coach Kathy B.

Chris, thanks for the three videos. I have turned to social media to help advance a military charity I work with. I saw people around me who could make things for the charity. Or donate gobs of money. Or schmooze with high rollers to get them to donate gobs of money. But I couldn't do any of those things. So, instead of focusing on what I couldn't do….I am focusing on what I can do and that's using social media. I have found Twitter to be an underutilized tool in the somewhat insular world of the milblogs. I think it's going to be really great and I am excited about having the rubber meet the road as we kick off Project Valour-IT this Monday.

I appreciate what I find here at your place. Thanks.

Just last night I was speaking to my husband about how tired I was, really really tired because of the work I'm doing with my blog. I've set goals I want to accomplish with my blog my June next year and it's taking a whole lot of work. I thank God for mentors like Darren Rowse, yourself and others who have said over and over that it takes hard work. Having that drilled into my conscious and subconscious is helping me to press on. Keep on sharing. Myself and others are listening, learning and doing.

Take this morning for example. I could have stayed in bed, it's Sunday but I got up at my normal time of 4am to pray and do some more blogging activities because this early the children are still asleep and I can focus. It's 730am and I'm getting off the computer now to go cook lunch and prepare for church service but just had to post this to thank you for speaking the truth.

Have a wonderful day and thank you so much.

You speak truth, and if it feels uncomfortable, there is probably some self-assessment to be done. Author M. Scott Peck, in The Road Less Traveled, talked about our tendency to be surprised when we're faced with challenges. If we anticipated them, we could do like we do in the surf when a big wave comes: dive in, swim through, and rise to the top without getting tumbled around.

If anyone is taking you too literally, they are missing the point. You're not trying to say we should come see you or that we have to be like you. You're simply reminding us that the road to WHATEVER goals we have is not always smooth or flat and we should expect to have to exert effort–not whine when the road changes.

Very inspiring Chris!

Success only comes to those who take it – not to those hoping it finds them… very few willing to go through physiological & emotional growing pains, challenges and sacrifices required to take the hill…

Everyone can easily fall into the excuse mode. Life IS hard. We are all busy. But your point is on the money — if you want the success… you have to “do”. I know a person who makes excuses about everything and the wonders why she is not reaching her goals. She spends too much time counting pennies while stepping over $100 bills.

Your whole series about “over-night success” is valuable because I have never met an overnight success…. these people have always paid their dues. Shortcuts do not work (ask the Balloon Boy's family). That story of the Tortoise and the Hare is real.

Liz Strauss keeps repeating this one:

“Argue for your limitations, and they are yours.”

When you listen for it, you will hear people not just accepting limits, but actually arguing for them, making limits into excuses. I've slipped into it in some ways, more than I like to admit. But I'm changing my thinking. I'm re-focusing on the possibility, the plan, the action.

And the 100 miles made me laugh.

Great post. You are so right. It is very easy for us to make excuses on why we can't do something or can't get something done. Excuses hold us back from our full potential and are holding people back from being successful. WOW..this post hit home! Thanks!

I'd fly from Australia just to buy Chris a beer and have a chat about nothing in particular. Some people are worth meeting, my dear Fiona.

In my experience inaction is rooted in fear of failure. Go out there do your best fail and figure out how to do it better next time. I have had some big failures but the benefit of those failures is that I see they aren't going to kill me and after I have learned all that I did from those failures I sure as hell am not going to let failure stop me.

People don't pity you when you get knocked down they pity you when you stay down. You may fail, you may come up short, but you can't lose if you don't quit. Funny the guys @ gravitational marketing did a video on failure http://ow.ly/wush this is a topic all of us have to deal with.

“Success is always measured by what you achieved, but rather how far you had to go to get it. ” scoring a run from 3rd base is cool but the person who started outside of the park and made it to 3rd base or to home plate came a lot further (not to demean those who started on 3rd base and think they hit a triple) than someone else.

And why does that person even try, given where they started. Simple, “because the thought of not trying is an abomination; is death itself, is a strangulation slowly and painfully.”

That's what motivates me

fred kaplowitz
63 yrs old
successful businessman, consultant and speaker

I Liked this post. I found it really interesting but unfortunately I missed first two parts. So how can I get that??
helpdesk software

Will you lift me up and help me? I am a 53 year old mom. I need advice for educating myself and finding employment in social media. I need to get an overnight job so I can start working on becoming and overnight success! Thanks for your encouraging words.

Chris, thanks for the three videos. I have turned to social media to help advance a military charity I work with. I saw people around me who could make things for the charity. Or donate gobs of money. Or schmooze with high rollers to get them to donate gobs of money.

http://www.johnvcaruana.com

Thank you Chris. I had my children listen to this video clip as well, because we do not stand for excuses.

Thank-you, for taking this view!

so many people assume to know what is best for us
apply judgement as fact
it's so frustrating for me

chris is so diplomatic
i'm not
don't assume to know *anything* about or family
or what is best for us

i personally don't want anyone's “concern”
apply it to your own family? sure! have at
we remain private for a reason :)
they have the best of intentions i'm sure
but really folks
back off!
:)