When looking in from the outside on people who are successful (or who you take to be more successful than you), there’s a real risk that you might believe that it’s “easy for him” (or her). You might accidentally think that “well, they have all kinds of willpower.” You might believe “Well, they started out like me, but now every day is smooth sailing.”

Just like anyone else, I have days where attaining my goals is a struggle and a challenge. One difference between me and some folks is that I’ve worked very hard to translate my larger goals into a daily process. Because of this, I stay very intimately attached to how each day relates to my goals. You should know this, as well, though. My goals don’t care.

My Goals Don’t Care

My goals don’t care if I really would like a slice of pizza.

My goals don’t care if calling people on the phone to ask them for a sale is uncomfortable.

My goals don’t care that I didn’t get enough sleep last night (that was my choice, or it couldn’t be avoided).

My goals don’t care that I woke up in a bad mood and I’m saying lots of bad things to myself on repeat, like a chorus of evil.

My goals don’t care that someone brought in cookies.

My goals don’t care that someone is on the treadmill I prefer to use.

My goals don’t care that I forgot my headphones at home.

My goals don’t care that Game of Thrones is on.

My goals don’t care that no one said “good job” to me today.

My goals don’t care that I almost met the income goal this month. (Almost isn’t all that useful.)

My goals don’t care that my kid puked so I had to pick him up from school, so there went my AM cardio and my day is super busy and…

Know who cares about that?

My excuses care about ALL of that!

My excuses love to tell me that it’s okay.

My excuses are thrilled when I miss the mark.

My excuses want me to know that I’m still a good person, and that I did good enough.

My excuses feel absolutely thrilled that I want to take a break.

My excuses know that I really did put good effort in.

My excuses say that six days in a row is really good.

My excuses know that there are only 24 hours in a day.

Excuses are awesome that way. Too bad I don’t allow for them any longer.

Which List Will Get You What You Say You Want?

I’ll tell you a weird truth: people often ask me what exactly I’m doing to get more healthy, or what I did to build my business. In almost 100% of the cases, when I answer, they lose interest. The answer, mostly, is in the work it requires to make the top list more prominent than the bottom list. And people just figure out quickly that they don’t want it that badly. Or so I’ve come to experience.

But that’s not everyone. Sometimes, people come along and really commit to this. They decide they’re ready to do what they say they will do, and they invest in the effort to do so.

Owners do that. Do you?