Eschewing Excuses

Benjamin Franklin said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” Now, we all make excuses from time to time, but Ol’ Ben seems to be referring to those who make a habit of it. And I do believe excuses can be habitual because they set a precedent for one’s view of life.

If a student gets a bad exam score and blames it on the material or the professor, she has already given up ground for the next test. After all, if the material is poorly presented or the professor doesn’t like her, surely she is a victim and the next result will likely be as the last. Never mind the fact she sleeps through a third of her classes and “studying” looks more like watching TV with a book open.

When an employee is in a rut at work, rarely getting a promotion or raise and maybe even being “mistreated” with undesirable tasks and assignments, he may blame the boss or his coworkers. “They never liked me anyway.” Or, “My boss just has it out for me.” Surely, he has now set himself up for failure again in the future because if the boss and coworkers don’t change, he is trapped! However, he forgets to consider that he is often 10-15 minutes late to work and spends a couple hours each days zoned out on the computer, adding to the workload of his coworkers because of his lack of initiative.

In both of these examples, not only have the subjects excused themselves, they have also shackled their influence in those situations. In shirking ownership, they have also given up control. Excuses don’t just live in the moment, they erode your effectiveness in the future.

What people don’t seem to realize is when we make excuses and pass blame, we also render ourselves powerless to improve and affect what is going on around us. The impact of this is less about the excuse in the moment and more significant in how our perspective shifts going forward. The giving up of control, or even the feeling of doing so, can trigger a cascade of negative viewpoints. Psychologists have connected perceived loss of control with not just a lack of ambition, but also with depression and hopelessness.

If you are one prone to making excuses, you are habitually giving away your power and influence. You are creating a prison in which you must helplessly wait for others to change your circumstances because, as you have reminded yourself and those around you, your scenario is out of control. Make the decision to take back ownership and stop making excuses.

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