Make hay while the sun shines. Because for you to become successful in life, you don't only have to do the right things, but you have to learn to do the right things at the right time. Most of us have no problem coming up with excuses, for not doing something important, that we are supposed to do. Although our excuses may give us temporarily relief and excitement, they are unproductive and a hindrance to our success.

The purpose of this article is not to put down people who make excuses, let's face it, we've all do sometimes. But to explore why we make excuses, and how to stop making the type of excuses that, steals success and hinder destiny from manifesting, so that you can soar like an eagle and reach for your highest potentials. Habitual excuse making is self sabotaging. The truth is we would never know whether we could've been good at something, unless we give it a go.

Excuses won't pay the bills; they just allow us to escape feeling guilty from inaction and procrastination. So let's look at three repercussions of making excuses, in order to discourage excuses stealing our destiny. And these are should have, could have and would have.

So the first impact of excuse making, in our lives that, I'm going to talk about Shoulda:

Consequently, should haves, can result from a wrongly perceived mental, emotional or physical barrier. It could also be the result of making an excuse before getting the whole picture. Or sometimes, should haves happen as a result of fear.

But undoubtedly, should haves usually result in missed opportunities. With hindsight should haves are always something we should have done. Usually, people's see things clearer with hind sight, than with foresight.

However, our foresight is usually more productive than our hindsight. Foresight can help us to envision our goals, whereas, hind sights usually result in regrets. Should haves, are the kinds of excuses that make us yo-yo from avoidance, to denial and to regrets. And all these are potential robbing emotions.

Excuses are nothing but thieves of our time, our triumph and our future treasures. So before we pass up any opportunity, we should research it and think it through, because some opportunities are diamond in the rough. With a little buffing, the rest will be history......

So the second impact of excuse making, in our lives that, I'm going to talk about Coulda:

Without a doubt, could haves happen as a result of possibilities that, we once passed up that we now regret, due to new insights we received about the situation. Maybe someone went on to do it, and was successful at it. We are not necessarily jealous of them, maybe a little. But more importantly, we wished were getting the same benefits, they are now getting, had we not made excuses for not doing it. A lot of ways we could have gone about it, are running in our heads.

But I've got some new for you; it's never too late until you win. Be like a child learning to walk, when you fall short of something due to any past excuses, rise again and go for it, no matter how long it's being. If you're that determined, no past mistakes can stand in your way.

Actually the Bible says in Micah 7:8 "Don't laugh at me my enemies; if I fall I will rise again. That is a winning mentality that will, makes someone push through obstacles. A winning mentality makes us focus priorities, and empower us to let everything else go down in mental dustbin. The way out of could haves is to replace our excuses with can do attitude, any time we see an opportunity. You owe it to your successful tomorrow, to invest your time in your priorities today. Otherwise that successful tomorrow will never come. A lot us are living our poor choices today, and not our maximum potential.

So the third impact of excuse making, in our lives that, I'm going to talk about Woulda:

Would haves suggest that, there was a probability passed on in the past through excuses, due to a weak passion, weak motivation or procrastination. Would haves result from merely professing to do something, without backing it with concrete actions. So instead, we made an excuse, in order to free ourselves from feeling accountable for our inactions. Words are cheap, and actions speak louder than words. The truth is, we only get rewarded in life for our actions, but never our inactions. And at the root of every inaction, are excuses. But the truth is, without the putting in the effort, we don't get rewarded with happiness, success and peace of mind.

Excuses are toxic, they are dream killers, so to stop should haves manifesting in your life, start feeding your mind with powerful reasons, why you need to make dreams a reality. You need to get rid of payoffs your excuses are giving you, which are stopping from going after your dreams. Payoffs are the benefits you get from making an excuse, for instance a student gets an unhealthy thrill of going clubbing, instead of revising for his pending exam, receives his payoff but fails exam, hence stalls his dream from manifesting.

So how else can we get away from shoulda, coulda, woulda? The answer is living mindfully. I mean are you living everyday of your life on purpose? If the answer is no, then life will just toss you to and fro, the wind off life, at will. The truth is, you were made to choose for yourself, so don't let life walk all over you. Start today by changing all your "I can't" to "How can I do this". Because if you never give something a go, how do you know you can't. You might just surprise yourself.

So how do we do this? Identify any habitual excuse making pattern, and write them down in a notebook that you're going to name; Kicking excuses to the kerb journal, and deal with one habit at a time, so that we don't become overwhelmed. Jot down the excuse that you want to eliminate. And name this list the kicking excuses to the kerb action plan. Now, for each item on your list, ask yourself, "how can I make this happen"? The answer is within you. Where there is strong will, there is a way deep within.

Closing Statement: So lastly, as Stephen Covey famously said, "The main thing is to keep the main, thing the main thing in your life."

Henrietta Elegunde is an Author, Life Coach, ordained minister and Motivational Speaker. She specializes in teaching how to cultivate spiritual, mental, physical and emotional growth, in order to achieve total wellbeing (being made whole) in your life. She is the author of the book "Hallowed Be Thy Name". For more information on how to book her for your next event, how her book can transform your life, or how to obtain free reading of part of the book; contact her by sending an email to helegundeAThotmail.co.uk