No Excuses. No Explanations
How to take back control of your life and gain respect
7 am. I awoke to a fresh summer day. Going through the motions of the morning, I showered and ate, prayed, and set out for the day. It was my first day of training to become a bus driver. I got into my truck, turned the key, nothing. Immediately, my mind began running through the list of alternative means to travel the 1.6 miles to the training site.
Looking up, I spotted my housemates bike — a cheap, old Walmart bike that hadn’t been ridden all year. Quickly dragging it down the porch stairs, I set off. Without much time to spare, I pumped my knees up the many hills of Charlottesville, struggling as the aged bike jumped erroneously between gears. Suddenly, my feet flew up in the air, knees nearly crashing into the handlebars. The chain had popped. I slid it back on and was off once again, only to be met with the same disaster moments later. What to do?
Already about halfway there, I decided to abandon the bike and run the remaining distance. Within a couple hundred yards of the training site, I slowed down and casually walked up with time to spare, although covered in sweat.
I’d like to think that is how I face life— choosing not to be the victim of circumstance, choosing not to make excuses, choosing to find a way — but I know I often fall into the temptation of making excuses or explanations to deflect responsibility. Had I been late to training that day, I probably would have done just that.
Do you find yourself making excuses when you make mistakes? Do you find that you often feel the need to explain yourself?
No excuses. No explanations.
This is a mantra I read from the great football coach, Tony Dungy. He was known for being a quiet, gentle guy — a real players coach. He never yelled. He never cussed. He led with a quiet strength, yet he demanded every ounce out of his players. As a great coach, that’s what he got.
Players make mistakes, but as a coach, the last thing Coach Dungy wanted to hear was an excuse or an explanation for why the player blew the coverage. He just wanted to hear that it won’t happen again.
Sometimes we are accused of mistakes of others; we feel the need to exonerate ourselves of guilt, so we point fingers. We explain it away. Why? What’s so wrong about taking responsibility for something you didn’t do? Isn’t that what leaders do? It doesn’t matter if you’re the CEO or the janitor. Shouldn’t we all strive to be better leaders? That means we must absorb the guilt of others. We protect them. We honor them, sometimes at our own expense.
At the end of the day, who are you going to respect more: the man who always points the finger at others or the man who bears full responsibility?
Sometimes we face obstacles that are beyond our control. Tony Dungy was an African-American quarterback before there ever was one. Certainly, he had plenty of legitimate excuses for why he wasn’t getting a fair shot at the starting QB job, but he chose to live by the mantra: no excuses, no explanations. It doesn’t matter how legitimate the excuse might be; you will never advance yourself by focusing on the obstacles. What will you do to overcome it?
Tell me if you’ve ever heard this one before: “I’m sorry I’m late. My alarm never went off.” So your alarm, this little brainless box, controls your life?
When we make excuses and explanations, we give up control of our lives. We don’t think twice about it either. It may be difficult, but next time you make a mistake or are accused of one, simply respond, “Sorry. It won’t happen again,” and then make sure it doesn’t. Resist the urge to excuse and explain.
Nobody ever succeeded by deflecting responsibility or by focusing on uncontrollable obstacles. Take control of your life. Bear responsibility.
