Excuses are one of the biggest enemies of success. They are the ‘reasons’ we tell ourselves why we ‘can’t’ do something. If your brain finds an excuse, it will excuse you from showing up. It will excuse you from taking action.

I have my own share of weaknesses and failures, and even a learning disability, but I’ve found a way to overcome them. I wasn’t even accepted into business school, yet I’m currently experiencing success in multiple businesses!

In university, I wasn’t smart enough to get into the business faculty because my GPA wasn’t acceptable. It seemed like I was ‘too stupid’ to do business, so I wondered what else I could do. I looked at economics, but it was so boring, I couldn’t stand it. I just took a bunch of electives instead, and after four years, I didn’t even manage to graduate!

One of my issues is that I have a type of reading disability – I can’t read very well. I can’t read past 10 pages, or sometimes even 5. My brain just can’t focus on words after a while, so I struggled all throughout university because I couldn’t sit my butt down long enough to read very large chunks. Huge textbooks and chapters are impossible for me.

I have that weakness, but I found that I have a different strength which helps make up for it. I have the special gift of being able to retain over 80% of anything I listen to. Where most people can’t retain more than 20-30% of what they listen to audibly, I can retain 80% and sustain that for about 3-5 hours. I can absorb a lot of information and still retain it even if it’s sped up to 2x like you can do on your iPhone.

Instead of being frustrated with my inability to read, I used my ‘superpower’ and listened to many audio books while driving, or doing other tasks where I could listen. I couldn’t excel in academia and get the grades I needed because of my learning disability with reading, but focusing on my strengths instead of my weaknesses eventually helped me get ahead.

I may not be the smartest person, but I have trained myself to take action on what I learn. I’ve trained myself to tell the inner excuses to “Shut Up!”, and find some way to do something, even if it isn’t perfect!

Maybe you aren’t where you want to be, and think you don’t have the resources to get ahead in life. If you don’t have a university education, or didn’t graduate high school, that doesn’t have to limit you. If there’s something you suck at that’s getting in the way of what you want to go for, then find a way around it. Focus on what you can do, and then do what you can.

Don’t make excuses, because excuses will make you play small. Stop waiting for the circumstances to be perfect because they never will be. The perfect time to take action is now in the middle of your imperfection and lack of clear direction! If you take a step, you’ll soon see clearer what the next step needs to be.

The only way to get something done is to get doing something!