We all tell ourselves stories to keep ourselves 'safe, often however, the stories keep us in the same place, when we could be moving ahead.

What are the stories  you tell yourself? the ones that stop you from getting what you want?
Stories like 'I can't learn to speak in public because I am shy, or I can't lose weight because I don't have time to exercise, or I can't run my own business because I might fail? Another good one, I'm too tired, too old, too busy!

Telling yourself a story about why you can't achieve something is a way of getting off the hook, an excuse that will make you feel better and so take the pressure off. After a while  you start to feel better, so you lose the drive to take action.
You can go round and round in circles not doing anything to change your situation.
How can you get rid of the excuses and get motivated take action?

Once you realise you are telling yourself a story, making excuses, you need come up with compelling reasons as to why you want to change.

Once you have enough great reasons why, the 'how' part will become obvious.

For example, there was a time in my life that I knew I should get more exercise, I should make the effort to keep healthy! I had lots of stories that I  told myself...
The last straw for me was realising that I was not getting any younger (can you relate!) and that I often felt tired, stiff and sore in the mornings.
I knew I had to do something to change this. I had turned my shoulds into  musts!

I thought of  lots of reasons why I needed to change, ie to be more healthy, to get rid of the pain, to be fitter, slimmer....etc. but for me the main reason  was that I said 'enough is enough,' and gave myself no other option.

There is a story about the captain of a ship in the Spanish armada who, once the crew had landed in the new world, burnt the ship they had arrived in. Cut off any means of going back to their old life. Pretty dramatic, however I hope you get the meaning. There was no going back.

if you want to achieve more:

    * stop making excuses,
    * decide that you want to change
    * be clear on what you want, create a   compelling vision.
    * have lots of compelling reasons why
    * take consistent persistent action