Using Self-Help as an Excuse to Quit

The more I started reading personal growth books (that's right I had no life!) the more I started to believe that I had to listen to my emotions. This led me to quit every time I started to feel bad instead of hanging in there and persevering.

I would tell myself that if I could read one more book or get one more audio or go to one more seminar that my life would change and I would never have challenges with my emotions. The interesting thing is the only thing that I have found that changes your life is action. Insight without action is useless. John Locke said “A man's beliefs are reflected by his actions” Damn, I'm a slow learner. He's smart!

Please don't be like me in this regard. I'm a slow learner.

There is no excuse to ever quit, regardless of how you feel. I remember being at West Point and having the “no excuse” policy. You either got the result or you had “no excuse.” That is the policy that I'm taking these days. Either I get the result or I have no good excuse. That's it!

The policy with regards to my emotions is that I persevere until I can have the time to listen to my emotions. And guess what I am finding? Sometimes when I persevere my emotional challenges go away! Silly silly me.

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