A man’s alibi is the child of his own imagination. It is human nature.
A lot of us do not achieve our goals as we have ready-made excuses and reasons why we are not able to achieve success. As the saying goes: In life, we either have reasons or results, excuses or experiences, stories or success. As Mark Twain, once quipped: “There are a thousand excuses for failure but never a good reason.” The reasons we give for not living up to our potential are never good enough because no matter how bad you think your situation is, someone has gone through it and they succeeded hence your excuses are really not valid.
In Napoleon Hill’s classic book, Think and Grow Rich he shares the Fifty-Seven Famous Alibis by Old Man If and it is a very excellent list of famous excuses we all use for not achieving our goals and aspiration:
People who do not succeed have one distinguishing trait in common. They know all the reasons for failure, and have what they believe to be air-tight alibis to explain away their own lack of achievement. Some of these alibis are clever, and a few of them are justifiable by the facts. But alibis cannot be used for money. The world wants to know only one thing–HAVE YOU ACHIEVED SUCCESS?
A character analyst compiled a list of the most commonly used alibis. As you read the list, examine yourself carefully, and determine how many of these alibis, if any, are your own property.
IF I didn’t have a wife 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…
IF 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.
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 CREATE them! A man’s alibi is the child of his own imagination. It is human nature.
All the best in your quest to get better. Don’t Settle: Live with Passion.
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