What's Your Excuse? I think I Know It!

Here are some excuses you may have heard, or perhaps you will soon.

•          I was stepping out of my trailer and I missed the step and landed on the ground injuring my back.
•         My waterbed busted and my room is flooded.
•         I spent my paycheck on lottery tickets, and I’m out of gas until payday.
•         My wife said she is going to conceive today, and I want to be there when it happens.
•         When I got up this morning I accidentally took two Ex-Lax in addition to my Prozac. I can’t get off the john, but I feel good about it.
•         My car ran out of gas on the way to work so I pushed it to a gas station, but I got a stomach hernia and I have to go to the doctor’s.

Thought you would like to see some of the excuses people use to get out of work. I think I know yours! For most all of us, that excuse is tomorrow. We use it all the time. I'll update the menu price book tomorrow. I'll get that quote out tomorrow. I'll talk with "Joe" about his poor performance tomorrow. I'll look at the company financials tomorrow. I'll return that extra material tomorrow. I'll check tech invoices tomorrow. I’ll do a budget tomorrow. I'll set company goals tomorrow. I'll get back to that unhappy customer tomorrow. I'll call that customer that owes us money tomorrow. Guess what.....tomorrow never comes. It is just our number one excuse to avoid doing the hard stuff.

We all have a mental list of the hard stuff we must do at some time or another. Start off slow and easy. Select one of those tough tasks and do it today. In fact do it as soon as you finish reading this blog! After you complete it, you'll be so glad that one of those tough things is now accomplished. Then while the joy of the moment is still there, ask your secretary, wife, girlfriend, or key employee to keep on you to accomplish at least one difficult task every day. You'll be surprised how quickly you get though the list. Yes, more things come up but our issue is often the mountain looks so very big. What you are doing is breaking it down to small hills or just bumps in the road. They are a lot easier to overcome than a big mountain of tough tasks.

Some people like to use a calendar and put those bumps on a certain day each week or month to accomplish. Example would be to check receivables every Tuesday morning and call customers in the afternoon that are behind. Often these tasks are best accomplished when you have fewer distractions so close you door and only be disturbed if the building is on fire.

Remember, a bump or even a hill is a lot easier to get over than a mountain!

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Often owners and managers need assistance in using their time wisely to grow the business or improve the business. We can help. Contact us.

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years. He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to grow and prosper. Contact him at Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

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