So, Entrepreneur, What is your Excuse?

Most successful people shun or pay very little attention to obstacles and excuses that can hinder their progress or goals. They turn obstacles into opportunities and then move on. Here are three common excuses most entrepreneurs encounter:

"I Don’t Have Any Time!”

“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time’ is like saying ‘I don’t want to.” — Lao Tzu

Entrepreneurs today want the newest tips and tricks to give them more time. In reality, though, it’s the fundamental elements that matter. The word focus is usually the number aspect that entrepreneurs master. We all have the same amount of time. Imagine if you removed everything from of your schedule tomorrow. No work, no driving, no eating, no Facebook, no TV.

How long would tomorrow feel? In business, we dilute our efforts by adding so much to our plate. Entrepreneurs are not rewarded by effort or hours. We’re rewarded when the outcome, the product or service we’re producing, actually does something that people care about.. It is much more about what constructively you are doing every day and less about how long you are doing it for.

“I Don’t Have Enough Money!”

“You can make excuses or you can make money but you can’t do both.” — Pat Mesiti

Money is always an issue for a newer entrepreneur, whether you have some or you don’t. This is one of the most common excuses I hear from real estate investors and entrepreneurs. Money is not your issue. Your creativity and pushing through boundaries is the issue. Don’t get me wrong–it might be true that you have very little money to spend. But many of the millionaires have had the same issues. MJ Demarco, author of the Millionaire Fastlane, said:

“For someone to say ‘Oh, I don’t have any money. How am I going to start a business?’ That’s an excuse. It really is. I started my business with $900. All the capital that came into my business was human capital. Hard work, sweat, and the other thing I want to mention is that it was all self taught. I took the time to learn. Everything I learned insofar as my company, I had to teach myself. I was on the Internet, learning and buying books; I was at the library all the time.”

“I Don’t Know How!”

You may not know, but other people have been there before and succeeded. Just because you don’t know how right now, does not mean you can’t learn. Sometimes you even paralyze yourself because you don’t want to make a wrong move, or you think we need to learn the “right” way (of course there isn’t a “right” way). This excuse is usually based in fear: fear of the unknown and fear of failure. Fear is normal. If we already knew how to do every step it probably wouldn’t even be that interesting to us. The only thing you need to know is the next step. Figure out what that next step is. If you don’t know, ask someone who does.