We allow excuses to get in the way of important (but not urgent) work required to move things forward. Over time, this comes back to haunt us because without consistent high quality execution, the vision is no good. Execution and excuses don’t mix. You cannot be defined by your vision and your ability to give excuses at the same time. Sooner or later, you would realize that you have to choose: are you going to continue with the vision, or are you going to succumb to excuses?
A lot of times, it is easier to find an excuse to stop going, rather than the will to keep moving. This is why visionaries are usually known to possess a strong will and a healthy dose of stubbornness. The critical activities required to birth a vision rarely carry with it any urgency, deceiving the naïve into thinking execution can wait until a more favourable time. It cannot. There will always be a thousand and one reasons something cannot be done at the moment. To make matters more complicated, most of these things will not come with hard deadlines, only the brave can carry through with the plans.
After all is said and done, the success of the vision boils down to the quality of execution. A vision picks up momentum over time and can snowball into something really special. However, the early days can be slow, and the vision dies if one fails to generate enough activities around it. It takes focus and great discipline to understand that except one makes the time and commit to work on the vision daily, there will be no activity to demand your time daily as well. Excuses make it difficult to build up momentum around your vision and must be eradicated.
“Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” – George Washington Carver
