Have you ever taken a moment to analyze the validity of the excuses that stop you from accomplishing something you are capable of? Most of the excuses we create to explain to ourselves and others why our performance is below our potential or why we haven’t achieved the goals we set are ludicrous at best.

At the end of summer in 2007, I started going again to the YMCA after three months of self- excused absence. A lady who apparently had noticed my absence but happened to be present when I reappeared inquired about the cause of my disappearance from the Y.

“My mother has been visiting my family and I took time off to be with her,” was my response.

The lady’s response to my “excuse” triggered a thorough and honest analysis of not only what I had convinced myself stopped me from my regular exercise but also of other absurd excuses I had developed for other areas of my professional, personal and spiritual journeys.

“Dr. Kituku, were you really visiting with your mother from 6:00 a.m. to the time you went to bed, everyday for three months?” she asked. I sheepishly smiled as I accepted that my excuse was illogical. That was a wake up call.

Take a pen and a paper and write down the goals (to lose weight, go back to school, visit a family member, write a book and/or climb Mt. Kilimanjaro), that you set in January. How many of those goals have you achieved or are you still working on with the same enthusiasm as when you started in January?

Here are top excuse buster strategies to take your productivity to higher heights.

• Understand sustainable success is more than achieving goals. It is turning yesterday’s goals into today’s routine and the platform for more challenging goals.
• Enthusiasm for peak performance is generated and sustained by high expectations. Never set goals that you can achieve without sweating.
• As long as a goal is not shared with someone else, it is likely to be abandoned. Telling other people what you want to achieve takes your commitment to it to a higher level.
• To keep absurd excuses from taking hold of your life, prioritize whatever you need to accomplish. Lack of a simple plan on what to do and what not to is the surest way of doing whatever comes up, whether important or not.
• Regular evaluations (I don’t like my weight scale) of your progress reminds you of your original commitment and fuels your passion to keep on it. Ask yourself constantly, “Have I updated my resume monthly?” A month is long enough to accomplish something worth telling the world about it.
• Celebrations of small achievements are vital for the overall performance in the long run.

By Dr. Vincent Muli Wa Kituku, motivational speaker, Boise State adjunct professor and author of Overcoming Buffaloes at Work & in Life is an expert who works with organizations to increase productivity through leadership and employee development programs. Contact him at www.overcomingbuffaloes.com or (208) 376-8724.