Steve Clark: Excuses Are Like Armpits …

Some are large and some are small but they all stink.

Warning! This is a strong message meant for mature adults. If you are easily offended quit reading now.

Recently we have had several people quit our Inner Circle Coaching program and cancel their subscription to our newsletter. Here are some of the lame excuses they gave for quitting:

• “I‘ve got lots going on and I need to suspend my membership for awhile.”
• “I would like to cancel my subscription at least until I can better fit it into my schedule.”
• “I need to cancel my sales training membership and implement what I have already learned.”
• “I need to cancel because I can’t keep up with all the information I am receiving but I hope to re-enlist at some point in the near future.”

All I can say is horse feathers!

A quitter is a quitter. Quitting, like losing, is a habit. Once you quit ANYTHING, it becomes easier to quit the next thing and the next thing. Before you know it, you have unconsciously developed a habit of quitting. There are many reasons that only 5% of Americans make over $250,000 a year. Quitting and making excuses is not one of them.

I have only quit one thing in my life. During my junior year in high school, I quit the baseball team because I got pissed at the coach for not starting me in the opening game. It was one of the worst mistakes I ever made, and it may have cost me a college baseball scholarship. I have never quit anything since.

In the summer of 1972, I started U.S. Marine Corps Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia. It was THE most mentally and physically grueling thing I have ever done and I wanted to quit many times.

We started with 55 men in my platoon. At the end of 5 weeks, those of us who were still there, were given the opportunity to quit and go home and enjoy the rest of our summer. Even though I had already decided that I would not accept my commission at the end of the ten weeks, I sucked it up and stuck it out for 5 more weeks because I am not a quitter. Best decision I ever made. Bottom line – at the end of ten weeks only 23 of us graduated. I have never felt better about myself – before or since.

Those who make excuses aren’t successful and they wonder why. They say things like – “once I get my business up to a certain level THEN I’ll invest in sales training resources or attend sales training classes”. That’s backwards! You can’t say “As soon as this fireplace produces some heat… then I’ll add in some wood.” It doesn’t work that way. Never has, never will. Those sales professionals that commit and invest in sales training for themselves and their business are the ones that rise to the top.

What type of person are you?

EVERY successful person I EVER MET did not make excuses about anything. Period!

Do you have an excuse for not doing the things you should be doing to grow your business? Do you have an excuse for canceling that membership or that subscription? I’m guessing you aren’t one of the ones making excuses because if you read this far – you are NOT a quitter.