Are These Excuses Ruining Your Twenties?

Every couple of months we read about millennials being the best generation – the ones born with the start-up bug, the outspoken ones, the independent thinkers and most educated.

We’re capable of doing great things and a lot of fellow Gen Y-ers are changing the world in ways no other generation was able to.

However, as we realize our potential on one hand, we struggle a lot on the other – making excuses that hold us back from doing what we want to.  We put off important decisions, waste time with the TV and avoid hanging out with people we know will have a great impact on us because we’re just plain lazy.

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty good at making plans… and then putting them on hold until tomorrow for reasons I convince myself are legitimate. Deep down, I know they’re not – they’re just excuses.

In spite of knowing this, do I still make them?

Hell yes! But I’ve begun to catch myself midway and say, “look… you’re making a lame-ass excuse. Can you live with yourself knowing that?” More often than not, I can’t; so I do something about it.

The fact is, until you do something, everything you want will remain out of reach. No one will simply hand what you want to you.

I hear friends making them ALL the time – “It would be easier if I was better looking, if I had more money, if I had more will-power…”

It’s a pity – because your twenties (and mine) is the best time to go all out.

So! Have you ever caught yourself saying any of these?

“I’ll do it someday!” – This reminds me of those times I really, REALLY wanted something as a child and the parents would say, “we’ll see.” Everyone knows all too well that “we’ll see” isn’t a “yes.” Just like ‘someday’ isn’t a day of the week. Still, it makes us feel better because we aren’t saying ‘NEVER.’

Did Steve Jobs wait for “someday” to change the world with his iPhone and iPad? Did Mark Zukerberg say “someday” to start Facebook? If it’s important enough to do someday, then it’s important enough to be done TODAY.

Who can guarantee tomorrow? Start small, but start today!

“I don’t have the time” – Why? Why do we romanticize being busy like it’s a good thing? If we don’t have time now, do we think we will have tons of time in the future? We don’t have the time to apply for a new job, so we’re stuck in dead-end jobs. We don’t have the time to cook healthy, so we accept unhealthy take-outs. Everyone has 24 hours in a day, but not everyone knows how to use them. It’s all about priorities. I recently read an article that said to replace “I don’t have time” with “it’s not a priority.” For example, “I didn’t go to the doctor because my health is not a priority.” If that doesn’t sound right, it’s a reminder to choose differently.

“That would work for XYZ, but not for me” – Many of us think this way. We look at what others have and think “good for them, but I can’t do it because *insert random attribute that you think you don’t have here* It’s a crippling way to think and not at all productive. Everyone starts with nothing. Every start-up grew from scratch. Every famous Youtuber has had to overcome some trial. It doesn’t mean that because you think you aren’t as pretty/don’t have financial backing/aren’t lucky etc, that you can’t do the same.

The main problem is that you’re probably looking at a giant mountain of a task instead of breaking it up into pieces, so you discard it as unachievable. Or you compare yourself to people who have already done the work. Yes, they’re 5 steps ahead of you now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take the same five steps.

“No one cares about what I think” – If you haven’t given anyone a reason to care about what you think, no one will. You have to prove that what you think is valuable. You have two choices here – either stop caring about what everyone thinks or change what you think will be valuable. In both cases, you have the control.

“It’s not the right time” –Ok, so you’ve actually admitted that you want something or may want it, but you haven’t made the commitment to act on it. Rather than working towards it, you blame the bad economy, your lack of education or guidance, your new job and whatever else you have going on. No doubt, you have to take care of certain things before it can be the “right time,” but blaming something you can’t control as an excuse for not achieving what you’re after is lame-ass. There will never be the perfect opportunity, and it’s good to remember that when you delay yourself.

Have you found yourself procrastinating? Comments are always appreciated and I’d love to hear your thoughts!

P.S. I hope you’ve been following my adventures in Bhopal! Can’t wait to tell you all about it in my next post. Till then, I’m sharing little snippets on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. See ya there!

Bye! <3