A Reason Or An Excuse?
This is a discussion that was started over at the 21st Century Academy blog, and yet again one that crosses over and merits discussion here as well.
The topic is reasons versus excuses, and how they relate to your success in creating wealth.
Reason Versus Excuse
There is one elemental difference between a reason and an excuse. If you look at the definitions of each, you 
see that an excuse is a feeling or perception of why something is the way it is. An excuse is a justification for something.
You could also say that a reason is a justification, but it is a justification that is based in fact. It would probably be more accurate to say that a reason is an explanation, and not a justification, which to most people really is just a fancy word for an excuse. While an excuse may just be someone’s personal version of events, a reason can be proved with hard facts. Of course, both of these are just paraphrasing the definitions, but that’s the gist of it.
Why Reasons Matter
So the big question is this: Who Cares? Why does it matter what a reason is versus an excuse?
It matters for one reason: correcting the mistakes of the past and improving upon them.
A lot of the discussions about setting goals and succeeding (in wealth creation or anything) hold that at some point you need to reflect on the current situation and figure out why your success has been limited. Through that reflection, you uncover the reasons for your current state of affairs, and then you begin to take steps to correct them. But here’s the thing: you can correct a reason, but you can’t correct an excuse. Why? Because an excuse is not really a reason. It’s just a justification—the easy way out of being to blame and making change. In order to make real change, and to find success—and wealth—you have to work to make true changes. And you can’t change something that never really existed to begin with, can you?
Sean Rasmussen
Wealth Creation Blog
UniversalWealthCreation.com © 2004 - 2009
Tags: 21st Century Academy, 21st Century Academy blog, Creating Wealth, excuses, Financial Freedom, reasons, Success, Wealth, Wealth Creation
May 17th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Hi Sean! Your site came up with a Google search. I appreciate your simple definition! I’m wondering what you consider to be examples of “reasons” as well as examples of “excuses.” Just a bit of clarification from your personal point of view would be interesting! Also would be interested in examples of strategies you employ to overcome “reasons” (which I would also substitute the word “obstacles” if I am understanding your definition correctly.)
Thank you in advance Sean! Have a great day!
Angela
August 19th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
[...] this discussion, let’s consider that one of the hallmark characteristics of an excuse versus a real reason is that an excuse does not have any staying power. Excuses come and go, and only serve their [...]