Do you keep making excuses? 

If like me you have had your hands full over the summer and your attention hasn't been on the things you know you want to get done, September is such a perfect time to start getting back into the flow. Use this month to be productive and get all the things done that you wanted to get done at the beginning of the year but you still haven't done yet. I did a post on my coaching group on Facebook, and a little live video you might want to check out it may help you to get back into the swing of things again!

However, if you find you just keep making excuses and putting off doing things, then it might be worth examing whether or not you are being held back by limiting beliefs!

Often our excuses mask what I call shadow belief's; these are beliefs that we are either not aware of or beliefs that sit simmering in the background that we have always had about ourselves and our lives, and we just believe them to be true to who we are. When you make an excuse what's happening is that you have a belief about yourself that's stopping you move forward, beliefs are not facts, they are not real and are picked up unconsciously at a very young age.

Especially the shadow beliefs! The truth about excuses is that they are self-imposed limitations and have nothing to do with facts.
 
For example, your excuse might be that "I can't go on holiday abroad because I don't earn enough to afford a holiday  like that" 
 
One of my client's wanted to take her family on a trip but never got round to booking that trip because she couldn't afford it. When I asked her what was stopping her from looking for a job that paid more so she could afford that holiday, she made another excuse that she didn't have the qualifications to apply for the type of roles that would earn her enough money to afford a family holiday.
 
Initially, this might look like a limiting belief about money, but when we dug deeper, it was a self-imposed belief about her ability to learn and progress in a career. Because she didn't believe she was intelligent enough to go for that degree, that would enable her to go for a job that paid more, so she stayed at the same pay grade and kept making excuses that she couldn't afford things she had always wanted to do because she didn't have enough money. 
 
This was an excuse based on a belief about learning. She believed that she was too old, in her own words she said "I am too old to learn new skills! " 
 
The truth is though that anyone, providing they put their mind to it can learn new skills and get a better job, that will enable them to be able to afford the things they want to do.
 
Once we uncovered that limiting belief, my client was able to drop her excuses and start making changes in her life that would give her the skills to be able to apply for higher paying jobs.
 
An excuse is usually about the future, while a fact is about the present. 
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"Right now I don't have the qualifications to do this job." That's a fact! 
 
A simple way to begin to shine the light on those hidden beliefs and begin to transform them is to learn to shine a light on them when you become aware of the excuses you make for not moving forward in the areas of your life that you want to go forward in.

When you shine the light on that excuse, what you might find is something quite different lurking underneath the excuse you have been making all along!
Here is an easy way to start to see whether this is an excuse or a limiting belief:

Every time you make an excuse, stop and reframe the way you say the excuse.
 
For example:
 
Excuse:
"I can't afford a new car because I don't have the money."
 
Reframed excuse:
 "Right now I am resistant to buying a new car because I believe I can't afford it."
 
You have uncovered the first layer of the belief, and begun to shine a light on the limiting belief, now that this is in your awareness you will start to realise that this is just an excuse and not a belief and that there is something deeper that's holding you back. 
 
Allow that to come into your awareness, and then you can start taking the action that needs to be made for you to move beyond both the excuses and the limiting beliefs!
 
Excuses and beliefs are a catch 22, but once you know what's going on, like anything that's circular you can break the cycle.  

So if you are fed up with the excuses, you keep making it's time to break that cycle and shine the light and transform the area's of your life that you sincerely desire to change.
 
Love
Avril x