“Are we going to run this morning?” I texted Peter, my friend and coworker. 

“Not today, I am very tired,” Peter responded. I went for a run; it was four in the morning. 

Peter and I signed up for a 21-kilometre marathon that our company sponsored. 

“Are we going to run this morning?” I asked Peter the next day. “Not today, brother, I left my running shoes at the office; you cannot run in boots, can you?” Peter responded. I went for a run; it was four o’clock in the morning.

“Are we going to run this morning?” I asked Peter, the fourth week. 

“Not today, brother, it is raining; can’t you see it? I went for a run. As usual, it was four o’clock in the morning.”

Two months later, Peter showed up for the marathon. He got injured two kilometres into the twenty-one-kilometre race. I managed to complete the race, get my medal, and represent the office well. 

This entire experience taught me the best lesson in life: to avoid making excuses.

Peter felt tired.  Peter had no running shoes. Peter saw the rain. All these were strong reasons not to run; well, it was four in the morning anyway, what would you expect? You might support that because you do the same most of the time.

You arrive late to work because there was a traffic jam (well, can’t the boss see that). 

We fail to start our business because we do not have the capital (even the government knows it). 

Your friends do not support your business (they’re jealous). 

Your job doesn’t pay you well enough to be able to save, anyway.

One thing that you and Peter have in common is excuses. Excuses are explanations that free one from fault or blame. I felt tired as well; I had no running shoes, I hated running in the rain, and I particularly disliked waking up at four in the morning. 

But I gathered my strength when tired. I went to buy running shoes. I ignored the rain and I hated every moment of being up at four in the morning, but I never stayed in bed. I knew one thing growing up: true success in life is being rich. 

Rich in health, relationships, love and wealth. To be rich in anything, you need to put in some effort. And you can’t put in effort if you entertain excuses. 

You need to eat well, exercise, and rest to achieve good health. To build strong relationships and love, you must put in effort. Focus on communication, understanding, compassion, and time. To be wealthy, you must work hard to build something valuable at your job or business.

And you can’t do all those things if you are already rich in excuses. The more excuses you make, the fewer results you’ll see. This means less effort goes into what truly matters.

Excuses and the justifications stop you from making progress in your life. They are not helping you to take responsibility for your actions and decisions.

In Economy, you get what you deserve, not what you wish. In business, you get rewarded based on the risk you take. You don’t deserve anything when you bring excuses. You don’t receive any reward when you run away from the risk.  Life can’t offer you any richness because you are rich in excuses.

You won’t enjoy rich friendships if you keep making excuses about time, energy, or resources. You won’t have friends; you will have excuses for not having friends.

Your lateness, lack of growth, early departures, and insufficient skills and value prevent your promotion at work. You won’t have a richness of growth at work because you have a richness of excuses for everything at work.

You can’t build a big business with excuses. You can’t grow, innovate and achieve your dream because you can’t act. And since you are rich with excuses, we know why you can’t act. The government isn’t supporting us well. Taxes are high, and there isn’t enough capital. Also, there’s a lot of competition. Plus, it’s raining.

Peter is my friend, but don’t be like him. If you commit to a goal, project, relationship, or anything, do your best to avoid excuses. The positive results in your life can only come when you get rid of excuses.

To add richness to your life—whether in relationships, career, finances, or happiness—you must drop your excuses and take on responsibility. You cannot have both.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be free from suffering.

May you find peace and joy.

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Rogers Katuma

Financial Artist, Senior Adventurer, Occasional Storyteller, and Amateur Golfer