Peace & Prosperity Podcast
In the Peace & Prosperity Podcast, Jason Phillips, licensed therapist and life coach, shares personal experiences that force you to think deeply about your values, beliefs, and behaviors to ensure you achieve peace, happiness, and success in your life.
Peace & Prosperity Podcast
How to Overcome Excuses - Episode #64
The Peace & Prosperity Podcast is a bi-weekly conversation with Jason Phillips, LCSW, licensed therapist and confidence expert in Raleigh, NC, discussing all things related to self-love and self-confidence, and how we can improve ourselves personally and professionally.
Ever found yourself making excuses that hold you back from achieving your dreams? On this episode of the Peace and Prosperity Podcast, I share a personal journey of how my own excuses almost derailed my education and how my grandmother's incredible resilience inspired me to push through. Her unwavering belief in my potential, despite facing her own significant challenges, taught me the invaluable lesson of accountability and perseverance. We discuss the critical need for someone in your corner who believes in you and how balancing self-care with productivity can prevent stagnation.
We also confront the often undiscussed issue of high-functioning anxiety, a reality for many that can hinder success if left unmanaged. I'll share practical tips for coping with anxiety and stress, and stress the importance of seeking professional help when necessary. Tune in to learn strategies that can transform your anxieties into actionable steps towards your goals. Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe, and send in your topic suggestions for future episodes. This heartfelt conversation aims to motivate you to overcome excuses and anxiety, so you can lead a more successful and fulfilling life. Plus, remember to join our podcast community—like, share, subscribe, and let us know what topics you want us to cover next. Engage with us, send a DM, or leave a review. Let's continue this journey towards peace and prosperity together.
To stay connected with Jason and learn about coaching, connect with Jason on social media:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jphillipsmsw/
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Visit Jason's website for a consultation:
Website -https://www.jasonlphillips.com
To book Jason to speak to your team or organization:
https://peaceprosperitycoaching.hbportal.co/public/660d8068c9d2d600253b215b/1-Inquiry
What's up y'all? We are back for another episode of the Peace and Prosperity Podcast and we're going to get into a conversation around excuses and everybody's got one right? Isn't that what they say? Excuses are like a butthole. Everybody's got one and I get it right. Things happen and we have to make accommodations. Right. Things come up, life happens to us, but the excuses are probably hurting you a lot more than what you've realized.
Speaker 1:And I'm going to talk about myself and how I had to overcome excuses. And if I didn't overcome these excuses, I would have been stuck. I would have been stuck on multiple levels, because I truly believe that at the time that the excuses were valid the one that stands out as far as me, going back to school, it was. You know, I started at Wayne State, then I did community that took a semester off, I think I took a semester off, then did community college for a bit and then went to Eastern and graduated. But during that time I don't even know exactly what my excuse was. I think I think it was money. I think it was money Right. Financial aid messed up some stuff or didn't have the full ride. Whatever that excuse was, did I have the money to pay for college like cash out? No, no, I didn't right. Were there other options? Yes, and I think about that. That's one example because I think a lot of people can relate to, of course, like student loans and how they kick our butts and how the system is. It's all complicated, convoluted, but in essence, if I would have let that excuse hinder me from going back to school, from getting my degree, I wouldn't be having this conversation with you now for sure It'd be a different conversation, wouldn't have pursued my master's degree, wouldn't be working on my doctorate degree now.
Speaker 1:And a lot of times we let the excuses win, thankfully, and I had people in my life. My grandmother always kept asking me like when are you going back? What's the situation? And because she had overcome that excuse you know, she, my grandmother she went to school. She started college at around, I think, 15 or 16, probably in the forties, late forties, something like that. I think that's right and then didn't finish until I might be off with the dates. I definitely might be off, but I think that's accurate. Anyway, she didn't. She couldn't finish because of financial reasons. She started working at 18, but then she went back into her 50s and got her her bachelor's degree.
Speaker 1:So when somebody has already overcome more obstacles than than what you have, my excuses didn't really matter, right? Like I was a Cassette graduate, I had grandparents who both had graduated from college. So my excuse of not having money, that wasn't a valid excuse, right, because there was still loans out there, there was still financial aid options, me saying I'm working on this or I'm trying to go to work, that excuse wasn't working. It wasn't working for her. And once I figured out that it wasn't going to be a viable excuse, I'm like crap. I really do need to get myself together. And this is the power of having somebody else believe in you and keep pushing you, because I needed that. I needed to hear that I didn't need to be let off the hook and just continue working or slow roll, take one class and one class. Now, I'm not saying that you can't take one class and I'm not saying that that's a bad thing, but what I am saying is having someone hold me accountable for my excuses helped me get over them. Help me get over them. So now when I tell myself, oh, I'm overwhelmed with this or I got too much going on, I can honestly evaluate do I have too much going on? Or am I saying that I have too much going on because it sounds so good? Right, like that is to give myself a pass.
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Speaker 1:Of course, you know, as a licensed therapist, mental health professional, I'm about self-care. I definitely wholeheartedly believe in self-care, but I also will say that too much self-care will have you looking crazy and not living the life that you want. Actually, too much of overindulging in certain things could put you in a worse off state, because now, because you're feeling like you need a break, you don't do anything, and so the anxiety is piling up. You've given yourself. You went from a time out to just canceling the game. You went from, hey, I need a minute, I need a moment, to a minute. A week, a month, a year, and now you don't know when you about to start living again or doing what you said you were going to do. So that's why I say excuses, if you're not careful, they can wreak havoc on you.
Speaker 1:Excuses, if you're not careful, they can wreak havoc on you. Oh, I'm about to get back in the gym, but not right now. I got too much going on. I need to get my house in order. I got to get my finances right, okay, but you can still walk right. You can still do your calisthenics. There's a whole bunch of things that you can still do.
Speaker 1:Be careful of giving yourself excuse after excuse after excuse and then not being happy with the lack of results that you have Right Because you've given yourself too much time off. That's why we're having a conversation about excuses. It's critical not to let yourself off the hook for too long. All it's critical not to let yourself off the hook for too long. I'll never forget when I didn't work out for a month. It was like September of 2016, 17, one of those years and I was like I'm just going. I don't know why I took that long off, but I felt the worst I'd ever felt in my life. I think I was working more, maybe I had got a promotion or something, so I just felt like let me chill on the gym for a bit and just sleep a little bit more. That was, for me, that was the worst mistake, because I remember like dang, yeah, I'm a little bit more rested, but I actually physically feel terrible. I was ready to get back in the gym.
Speaker 1:So be mindful of whatever excuse that you're using and make sure that you're not. What do they call it? When you over, when you abuse something, right, like you, you don't want to wear out the welcome of that excuse. Like, yeah, maybe one day, hey, you, you take a day off from the gym, your knee is bothering you, but maybe the next day you need to just go and stretch, do some yoga. Like still can do something. Because if we bring it all the way back around to confidence, to self-esteem, to how you're managing your mental health and wellness, that excuse, if you're not careful, will turn into your routine, your mantra I'll start on Monday, I'm working on it. Well, are you really working on it, or is that just the excuse that you're telling yourself?
Speaker 1:I don't have like a whole lot of tips, strategies on this episode. It's more like it's not a rant. Maybe it is a rant, but it needs to be said. I'll say that because excuses, if you're not mindful, they will just take over and this will start to be how you show up. So let's do this. I'll give you something to walk away with.
Speaker 1:Look at where you are in your life financially, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, you know. Put them in categories. Ask yourself am I happy with where I'm at in this category? That's a yes or no. Let's leave the gray out. It's a yes or a no.
Speaker 1:All right, I know some people like well, what I'm in between for this exercise is yes or no, and then ask yourself what excuse am I giving myself where I'm not happy in this area, or what do I need to do? So is there an excuse or do you just need to get to work and this is the excuse valid or not? That's where the gray area comes in. Right, if you're not running because you recover from an ACL tear, that's super valid. Running because you recovering from an ACL tear, that's super valid. But if you're not running because you've been binge watching Netflix and you tired, that sounds like more of a choice. So, hey, we had to have this conversation. Let me know, give me some feedback in the comment section on what you think about this. Like, are you a person who has let one excuse turn into a thousand, or you let one excuse kind of really hinder you in more ways than you like? Just let me know, I'd like to hear about it. All right, y'all Other than that man. I appreciate you all, as always. Be blessed Peace.
Speaker 1:Thank you all for listening to another episode of the Peace and Prosperity Podcast. Again, if you are feeling like, hey, I'm experiencing high functioning anxiety, don't beat yourself up about it. It is OK. We all experience anxiety from time to time and I gave you a couple of things that you can do on your own, but don't hesitate to reach out to a professional to better manage what you're going through. Okay, and lastly, make sure if you have not like share, subscribe to the podcast and send this out to a friend, and if you want to hear certain episodes or have certain conversations. Let me know you can shoot me a DM or just leave a review and I will definitely follow up. All right, y'all Be blessed, peace.