We struggle with a lot of things in life, two of the biggest is excuses and blame. People chase dreams or goals and if they don’t accomplish them the usual response is an excuse or blame. Handling failure or adversity is a challenge many can’t overcome. If we can’t obtain the results we set out for many will point fingers instead of shouldering the burden.
With the roles and hats I wear I see a lot of the two points. If a player doesn’t get a hit, its the bat’s fault. Or the coach didn’t bat me in the right spot in the lineup. I’ve even heard blame placed on batting gloves, either because they were wearing them or forgot them. Players have to learn to tip your cap, the pitcher and the defense behind him had a job to do and in that situation got it done. We all face battles in our life. Some are small, some are large but the one constant with everyone is we have that internal battle with ourselves.
In my professional life I have been surrounded by the excuse and blame model for when people make a mistake. It’s in our DNA. Failure is bad, I will be judged for what I didn’t accomplish. If I have an excuse for what I didn’t get done or can blame someone else it will make me look better. That model is broken. We need to start realizing that others care more about what we got done, what we accomplished then what we didn’t. The focus should be on winning the little battles. I did better at this task than the last time I tried it. I improved on my ability. I grew. Continued growth is the path we all should want to go down.
Know that we face success and we all face failure its how we handle both that allows us to either take a step forward or take a step back. The ones that make an excuse or blame others for their step back will continue to be passed by the ones who learn from their misstep and make an adjustment to begin to take a leap forward. Put the excuses and blame away! Accept the results. Learn from them. Never settle on the outcome, you can always do something a little better.
Enjoy your day!
TCB