Get Busy Living
No excuses
Last week, I met a man named Richard in a hostel in Mexico City. He handed me his business card that read “Richard Beck. International Traveler.” And on it, a quote:
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
Richard was an English teacher in the UK and decided one day that he wanted to see more of the world. That turned into 20 years of traveling solo. He laid out his next few months for me - he was first going to Madagascar, then to Edinburgh, Poland, and Croatia. Plus a few other countries I’m forgetting.
As we got to chatting, I started to list off all of the reasons why I couldn’t do what he was doing- my job, not enough money, a lease - and one by one, he started to dispel those reasons. He too had a job, not enough money, and a full ass house when he decided to start traveling.
And then it clicked for me. I wasn’t stating real, matter-of-fact, legitimate reasons stopping me from living out my goals - I was giving excuses. I’ve been leaning on my excuses as a means to not travel or pick up a new hobby or even consistently write this fucking newsletter. And it’s because at the root of every excuse is the fear of failure.
I’m reading a book right now called “The Courage to be Disliked” and one of the biggest takeaways I’ve gained from the book is that it’s actually more comfortable to live in the uncertainty of the what if, than to actually pursue a goal and fail at it. You don’t commit to anything because you want to leave the possibility open of "I can do it if I can try."
For example, I always say that if I had more time to learn how to DJ, I’d be really fucking good at it. It’s easier for me to live in the unknown of not knowing how to DJ because I “don’t have time” than actually trying to DJ and ending up being shit at it.
The point of this newsletter is not to inspire you to quit your job and backpack all over the world. It’s to hopefully get you to think of the excuses you’ve been creating for yourself that are allowing you to sit in your comfort zone and stay in the what if. Sorry for the cliche, but life is short and tomorrow is never promised. The stars will never fully align to give us the time or money or whatever it is that we’re waiting on. There will always be an excuse to make.
In the spirit of wanting us to collectively achieve our goals, here’s some actionable advice. List out the excuses you’ve been telling yourself for why you can’t do that thing. Embrace that there’s probably fear at the core of it. And then write a game plan for how to create solutions instead of making excuses. If you don’t have time to learn something, can you wake up earlier? If you don’t have money to travel, can you look into freelancing? If you hate working out, can you try a new workout class? I will be purchasing a DJ board and signing up to learn reiki. That’s me putting it in writing so that one of you can hold me accountable.
We all have the courage to face the unknown and accept failure.
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Henry if you’re reading this - I really hope you’re mentally preparing yourself for a Toucan tattoo on your ass. No excuses.
this is awesome, thank you for this much needed reminder. keep doing the damn thing, your newsletters are greatly appreciated!