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I’ve known some real rogues throughout my life. Many of them were some of the hardest-working people I have ever seen. But they worked hard on the wrong things. They worked hard trying to find an angle or a con. They worked hard at avoiding working hard. Would they have invested that same energy in some entrepreneurial or legitimate pursuit, they’d have been wealthy beyond anything they imagined. They would have known success.

Some very good people share some of these reprobate’s bad practices without knowing how detrimental they are to their lives and their results.

The time you spend making excuses, avoiding accountability, and avoiding difficult conversations, would be better spent doing the work you need to be doing now. Excuses never produced a single result. Avoiding accountability never built a legacy. And avoiding difficult conversations leads to even more difficult conversations—or something worse.

The time and energy you spend feeling sorry for yourself and whining to other people about how difficult something is would be better invested in doing whatever task it is you are avoiding. There is no prize for feeling sorry for yourself. And the only people who will listen to you whine are negative, cynical, slacker types.

The time and psychic RAM you spend trying to find ways to avoid what you need to do, searching for shortcuts, or looking at information that confirms your beliefs should be directed to the most important work you need to do now. Wasting time only moves you further from your goals. You don’t need to work smarter; you need to work harder. And there is no amount of information confirming your beliefs that will relieve you of your obligation to produce results.

You can either invest in your excuses or invest in the results you want. One choice will make you comfortable, one will make you happy.

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Sales 2015
Post by Anthony Iannarino on September 15, 2015

Written and edited by human brains and human hands.

Anthony Iannarino
Anthony Iannarino is a writer, an international speaker, and an entrepreneur. He is the author of four books on the modern sales approach, one book on sales leadership, and his latest book called The Negativity Fast releases on 10.31.23. Anthony posts daily content here at TheSalesBlog.com.
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