The most unprofitable item ever manufactured is an excuse.

When it comes to excuses, the world is full of great inventors. Some spend half their lives telling what they are going to do, and the other half explaining why they didn't do it.

An alibi is the proof that you did do what you didn't do, so that others will think you didn't do what you did.

You can fail many times but not be a failure until you begin to blame someone else. Our own mistakes fail in their mission of helping us when we blame them on other people. When you use excuses you give up your power to change.

You treat others right when you don't blame them for anything that is really wrong with you. "Never mind whom you praise, but be careful whom you blame" (Edmond Gosse). You can fall down many times, but you won't be a failure until you say that someone else pushed you.

If you can find an excuse, don't use it. Most failures are experts at making excuses. There are always enough excuses available if you are weak enough to use them. The world simply does not have enough crutches for all the lame excuses. It's always easier to find excuses instead of time for the things we don't want to do.

So, find a way, not an excuse. There is no excuse for a human being full of excuses. One who makes a mistake, and then makes an excuse for it, is making two mistakes.

Note this truth: "The fox condemns the trap, not himself" (Blake). Don't find yourself talking like that old fox!

Never complain and never explain. "Admitting errors clears the score and proves you wiser than before" (Arthur Guiterman). Doing a job right is always easier than fabricating an alibi for why you didn't.

The devil eagerly waits to provide you with an excuse for every sin. Time wasted thinking up excuses and alibis would always be better spent praying, planning, preparing and working toward your goals in life.

Source: Conquering An Enemy Called Average
by John Mason.
Excerpt permission granted by Insight Publishing