Right Things. Right Now. No Excuses.

THE QUESTION

Something is holding you back from doing something that you know is the right thing to do. What’s the worst that could happen if you moved forward with courage?

What are you facing right now that seems daunting? Where is some courage required to proceed?

Maybe this year didn’t start off the way you envisioned. Maybe life threw you a curveball. It happens. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it is devastating.

Often, there is tremendous growth and meaning and success on the other side of the challenges we face.

So the next question: What is keeping you from moving forward and doing the right things?

THE QUOTE

“Integrity is choosing courage over comfort; choosing what is right over what is fun, fast, or easy; and choosing to practice our values rather than simply professing them.” Brené Brown (researcher, author, TED Talk icon)

Here is a hard truth, one I grapple with when I get stuck somewhere. I am generally not moving forward for one of just a few reasons:

It’s a matter of fear
It’s a matter of energy
It’s a matter of prioritization
It’s a matter of laziness
It’s a matter of distraction

That’s right. It happens. And I will never get this perfect, but I will commit to identifying the why behind hesitation and taking action into it — and this might be the most important part:

Especially when no one is watching
Especially when I don’t feel like it

Why is this important? Because real preparation and competitive advantage happen before the game is played. It’s in the little things — the habits repeated over and over again each day. The hustle, the relationships we build, the investments of time and money, made consistently.

THE STORY: TOMORROW’S DREAM NEEDS HIM TO LEVEL UP ACTIONS TODAY

One of my clients wants to double his sales this year over last year, which is a big deal — moving him from about $125,000 to $250,000 in income. We started together in late February, and like many engagements, the euphoria of starting something new carried his excitement and action for the first month.

Now the need for consistency at this new level of action is starting to feel heavier. The low-hanging fruit has been tapped, and we are getting into more challenging types of business building. The feeling of resistance is typical, especially in industries with a longer sales cycle. The progress associated with the habits he is forming has not yet translated into pay increases — just one month into our engagement. When that happens, and it will, this journey tends to become a little more enjoyable.

In the meantime, we need to shift how we define a successful week. For this client, it is simple: increase the number of contacts, increase the number of sales consultations. That is what we are tracking.

Having done this many times, I know there are two things that might happen here. I help him visualize this. Think about it for whatever you are facing right now.

Option 1. Do what you’ve done.

This keeps you in your comfort zone, and for some — that’s exactly where they want to be. It’s kind of in our nature. But here’s the rest of that sentence: do what you’ve done, get what you’ve gotten.

Option 2. Persevere.

Get enough reps, then evaluate. Sometimes it is simply a matter of increasing the reps and managing time and energy better — often, this includes minimizing distractions and habits that don’t serve you. Sometimes it’s leverage through hiring support for the mundane tasks. Sometimes it’s a skill that needs to be developed to improve conversion rates. You just don’t know that answer until the reps happen.

In this case, we visualize what the additional $125,000 would accomplish. There is a giving component, a reduction of debt (and therefore stress) component, and a funding for retirement component. Real stuff that matters a lot.

Celebrate the weeks where the connections and the consultations are aligned with desired outcomes. The results will follow. It takes commitment.

Especially when no one is watching
Especially when you don’t feel like it

THE HUMOR (BECAUSE WE ALL NEED IT)

A college roommate and I had a big part of the problem many of us face dialed in years ago. Any time one of us said something a bit out of the realm of reality, the other would call it out with: “That’s just your ego talking.”

That ego often gets in the way of self-evaluation, which can hinder progress — which is why people hire me. And yes, that’s my ego talking.

THE RESEARCH: WE KNOW THERE’S A PROBLEM

The research varies widely on what percentage of people actually fulfill their New Year’s commitments. A 2023 Forbes Health poll found that only about 13% of people report their resolutions lasting four months. Another study by MSU Denver shows a 90% failure rate by mid-February. Even the most optimistic study shows only 40% still engaged by the end of six months.

Here’s something the data actually gets right: failing and quitting are not the same thing.

Research shows that people who ultimately keep their resolutions experience an average of 14 slip-ups over a two-year period. Read that again. Fourteen. The ones who succeed aren’t the ones who never fall down — they’re the ones who don’t let the fall become the finale. And yet, most people who abandon their resolutions don’t restart mid-year. They simply recycle the same goal on January 1st of the following year, which means the cycle repeats. Hard statistics on mid-year restarts are largely absent from the research, which tells you something: we don’t study the comeback enough.

What we do know is that the psychology points to resilience as the real differentiator. The ones who quit for good tend to fall into all-or-nothing thinking — one missed day feels like the whole thing is ruined. Sound familiar? It should. That’s the ego talking. We negotiate with ourselves. We make excuses for the misses. June 1st has even been dubbed “New Year’s Resolution Recommitment Day,” a cultural nudge that it’s never too late to get back on track. Whether people actually use it is another question. But here’s the truth: getting back on the horse at any point beats staying off it.

Especially when no one is watching
Especially when you don’t feel like it

So, since the studies vary, let’s call it somewhere in the middle — about 20% will reach their goals.

THE SOLUTION: TO BECOME THE 20%, FOCUS ON THE 20%

Here’s how you do it:

Break annual goals and actions down into quarterly segments.

Daily, weekly, and monthly actions matter — but each quarter, evaluate where you are to see if the tactics need to change. Treat it like a new year: you get four chances per year instead of one. If you are a leader, run this exercise with your team. Resources are available — reach out if you need help. And even if you’re reading this mid-quarter, you can start right now.

Identify the one thing that will make all the difference.

If you’ve fallen off the path, evaluate the gaps and build a plan right now. There is no time like the present. Remember the Pareto Principle: 20% of your actions drive 80% of your results. The most successful people focus heavily on their 20%. If you don’t yet know your 20%, I can ask a few questions to help you get there. By the way, you know this is coming – leverage is big here. What will you stop doing or delegate or systematize to make room for more of the 20%?

Track inputs, not just outcomes.

Most people track outcomes. The 20% track inputs. Outcomes are lagging indicators — they show up late, after the work is already done or not done. Inputs are leading indicators: the calls made, the connections attempted, the consultations booked. When you measure only results, a slow week feels like failure. When you measure effort and activity, a slow week can still be a winning week. That’s the mental shift that makes all the difference in a long sales cycle, a long job search, or any goal with a delayed payoff.

Frame goals around identity, not outcomes.

Research shows that people who frame resolutions around identity — “I am someone who exercises” — outperform those who frame them around outcomes — “I want to lose 20 pounds.” The distinction matters because identity-based goals survive slip-ups. Outcome-based goals often don’t. One bad week doesn’t make you a different person. It may feel like it puts distance between you and the number on the scale — but it doesn’t have to define the story.

Build structured accountability.

Research on goal completion consistently shows one variable that outperforms motivation, planning, and even skill: accountability. Not the soft kind — telling a friend and hoping they ask. Structured accountability. Someone who tracks what you said you’d do, asks hard questions when you didn’t, and doesn’t let you off the hook with a good excuse. That’s not a luxury for high performers. It’s how high performance gets built.

THE POINT

It’s always the right time to do right things.

Resilience is a muscle you build that drives down excuses.

“Even when I don’t feel like it, the work that matters most will get done.”

So we show up and do the work.

And we will avoid the compounding weight of guilt on top of whatever challenge is already there.

The highest-performing leaders and salespeople don’t wait for motivation. They’ve built the discipline to move without it — and that’s exactly what creates sustainable elite performance.

“You are more likely to act yourself into feeling than feel yourself into action. So act! Whatever it is you know you should do, do it.” — John C. Maxwell

Resilience is not about never struggling. It’s about what you do when you are.

This wasn’t always the case for me — just speak with any of my managers early in my career. You would be astonished at my absenteeism, and my list of excuses ran long. I set records for personal days used relative to the number I was actually allocated.

Now I help others squash those same excuses. I did the hard work internally, and so can they.

This resilience muscle was developed over time and is still growing.

DM me if you’d like some resilience-building tips — happy to share.

Final Thought

What’s the one thing you keep recycling every year without results? Let’s figure out why — and fix it. Reach out.

Want to go deeper? I work with leaders, entrepreneurs, salespeople, and marketing professionals who are ready to improve performance. If you’re serious about implementing systems that actually stick, let’s talk.

Email me: [email protected]

Or schedule time using Calendar function here: Contact Us – Momentors Business and Life Coaching

Let’s go!