Overcome Excuses that allow you to stay inside your comfort zone.

By Rich Schefren

What if I told you that whatever is holding you back... whatever barriers are preventing you from increasing your income... whatever obstacles are keeping you from achieving financial success... can be overcome simply by thinking differently?

Now I know that this might not be what you are accustomed to hearing. But the fact is, you don't need rah-rah rhetoric, secret strategies, quick-fix solutions, or incredibly complicated tactics you'll never apply to get ahead.

What you need to see is that both the causes of and cures for your problems are found inside your mind. 

Over the years, I've shared the following techniques with my private clients. And I've received mind-blowing reports of the business success they have stimulated. You, too, can use them to bust through the obstacles that are preventing you from achieving the success you want.

They are incredibly easy to incorporate into your daily routine. But their simplicity has nothing to do with their power. In fact, you may be surprised at how drastically these simple tools will impact your success.

Get ready to see the world and yourself differently. Pay close attention. And be prepared for the payoff.

Barrier Buster #1: Grade Your Performance

When you think about the big, important areas of your life - your business, your family, your health, etc. - you may find that you aren't as successful as you want to be.

Perhaps there is an area of your life where you have gone off track. An area that is currently on the failure curve. An area where you just can't seem to make progress.

You can turn this area of your life around completely and achieve incredible results... by simply remaining conscious of your behaviors.

This technique has been proven to work in many different ways. For example, tons of research shows that simply writing down everything you eat (as you're eating) can help you eat less and eat healthier.

And one of the easiest ways to remain on the success curve is toissue yourself a performance grade, every day, for an important area of your life where you've headed in the wrong direction.

The best way to do this is to take a moment each night, right before you hit the sack, to give yourself a score from 1 to 10 on your performance that day in that area. If your grade is lower than you'd like, write out what you'll do the next day to make certain you'll give yourself a better score.

It really is as simple as that.

Barrier Buster #2: Identify Your Most Expensive Words

The costliest words you'll ever utter are the excuses you use to rationalize not doing the things that must be done.

You might not be aware of them right now, because they may seem to be accurate and rational in the moment. But upon reflection, you'll see them for what they really are: Excuses that allow you to stay inside your comfort zone.

Overcoming this success obstacle is easy. Simply keep a log of the excuses you use for not doing the things you know you ought to.
Over time, you'll probably notice that there are a few excuses that you repeatedly use.

You will also realize that these words are keeping you from turning your dreams into reality. And once you see them for what they truly are, they'll lose their power to impede your success.

Common excuses include things like these...

• I'm too tired to work on this right now. I'll do it tomorrow when I feel better...
• Before I can start I need...
• It's too important to get this right. I need to talk to ___ before I go further...
• I've done enough already today...

And so on...

Once you've identified your excuses, be skeptical of their truthfulness when they surface. Instead of letting them stop you, turn them into reasons to take immediate action to achieve the success you desire.

Barrier Buster #3: Use Micro-Goals to Create Instant Accountability

How many times have you planned out your day... and by day's end hadn't been anywhere near what you should have or could have gotten done? 

This used to happen to me all the time. I'd write out some ambitious goal for the day in my journal. And then in the evening, I'd write how disappointed I was with myself for not staying on track - not doing what I'd promised myself.

It was usually because, at some point during the day, I'd develop goal amnesia. I'd get swept up in something else... and totally neglect what was truly my most important task.

This never happens to me anymore. And the method I used to get over it is so easy I know it'll help you if you're struggling with this problem.

I realized that the time between writing out my ambitious goal in the morning and beating myself up in the evening was too long.

If I simply compressed that time - and therefore the goal - I figured I wouldn't run the risk of allowing myself to get off track.

So what I did was start writing one-paragraph entries into my journal every hour or two. I'd quickly recap what I'd accomplished since the last entry and what I was planning on completing before the next entry.

Let's say you have to write a big report. To force yourself to stay on track, you might log journal entries at 6:00 a.m., 6:45 a.m., 8:55 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:05 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:45 p.m., 3:40 p.m., 5:45 p.m., 7:40 p.m., and 9:45 p.m. In each entry, you would write about the section of the report you have just completed, including the number of words you've written. Then you would write about the section you'll work on next, including the number of words you will complete.

By simply working these three techniques into your daily routine, you will find that fewer obstacles stand in your path. I use all of them regularly, and I can almost guarantee that they will contribute significantly to your success.

By the way, practicing these techniques has an interesting side effect... Once you get into the habit, you'll invent your own barrier-busting methods that will serve you even better than mine.

Trust me, you'll see