Excuses Begone!
Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
With Kristina Tracy
NO EXCUSESI
HOW WHAT YOU SAY
CAN GET IN YOUR WAY
Illustrated by
Stacy Heller Budnick
HAY HOUSE, INC.
Carlsbad, California • New York City
London • Sydney • Johannesburg
Vancouver • Hong Kong • New Delhi
Contents
Chapter
Dear Parents and Teachers,
Recently I wrote a book for adults called Excuses Begone! It teaches how people can achieve what they desire in life by letting go of the excuses they make once and for all. Wouldn’t it be great if children could learn at an early age how to eliminate excuses from their lives?
Once your children see how often they use excuses and how excuses stop them from reaching their goals, they can start to change these habits and be free from self-limiting thoughts.
In this book, your child will learn:
• Where excuses come from
• Why people make excuses
• How to stop making excuses
It is my hope that both you and your child will gain insights from these pages, enjoy learning together, and live a life of NO EXCUSES!
Sincerely,
Ever since I was born, I have loved SEA TURTLES.
I drop my family crazy!
“Who not cows?”
“Who not pigs?”
“Who not chickens?”
Everyone wondered why I loved sea turtles so much when I lived on a farm. They asked,
All these animals are great, but it was sea turtles that I loved, and I was determined to see a real live one.
Here I am on my first trip to the aquarium!
Boy, did I learn a lot that day! Not only did I see my first live sea turtle, but I found out that they are an ENDANGERED SPECIES!
They need our help if they are going to survive!
I decided right then and there to devote my life to sea turtles. And I met the perfect person to help me: Dr. Tortuga.
Dr. Tortuga is a scientist, a marine biologist. She is an expert on sea turtles, and her job is to study and protect them.
I wanted to be just like her. I started visiting her whenever I could.
I was very excited. I told everyone that I was going to be a marine biologist and save the sea turtles!
My teacher said, “Wow, you have to be pretty SMART to do that! Science doesn’t really seem like your best subject. . . .”
The lady at the shoe store said, “That will take a LONG TIME! Are you sure you want to study that much?”
ON YOUROWN.”
Mom told me, “You know, we might not have the money to send you to college. If this is something you want, you may need to do it on your own.”
DISAPPOINTED.”
Grandpa said, “We are a family of farmers and that is what we have always been. Your dad sure would be
I set down and made a list.
Soon, I started thinking that becoming a marine biologist wasn’t such a good idea.
I went to visit Dr. Tortuga at the aquarium. I told her that I wouldn’t be coming by anymore. I showed her my list.
“Well,” she said, “this is nothing but a list of excuses! Excuses are just words that stop you from doing what you want, being what you want, and having what you want.”
“For example, you want to be a marine biologist. You’ve heard lots of opinions from people, and now you feel like there are things standing in the way of your goal. When you find yourself with a list of excuses like this, it’s time to ask yourself some important questions.”
WHY AM I MAKING AN EXCUSE?
“People make excuses for all kinds of things. Excuses give us a reason not to do things that seem hard or scary. Making excuses can cause you to miss out on a lot in life!”
WHERE DID THE EXCUSE
COME FROM?
“You might want to blame excuses on your parents, teachers, and friends. But no matter what anyone else says, there is only one person an excuse comes from, and that is you. Why? Because only you can choose to use the excuse or not.”
IS THE EXCUSE TRUE?
“When you say something like, ‘It is too hard . . .’ to become a marine biologist, or ‘My family will be disappointed,’ do you know these things are true? Are you 100 percent sure that it will be hard? . . . That people will be disappointed? Of course you don’t! The only way you will know is to do it and find out for yourself.”
HOW CAN I GET RID OF EXCUSES?
“Now you know where excuses come from, why you How Can make them, and how to find out if they are true. This way you can spot an excuse the minute it comes up and use what you’ve learned to stop the excuse in its tracks!”
“To make or not make excuses is a choice you have every day. Now here is another choice: you can throw away this list and make a promise to yourself that you will not let excuses get in your way. Without excuses, you are free to be anything you want to be!”
It was the best feeling ever!
When I went to bed that night, I thought of everything Dr. Tortuga had said. As I slept, I dreamed I was swimming with a giant sea turtle. A whole school of baby turtles swam behind me, and I was surrounded by all the beautiful creatures of the sea.
I got up and made a new list.
When I woke up, I knew that being a marine biologist was the one thing I wanted to do more than anything in the world and that I would not let excuses get in the way!
I kept this list and read it every day.
When I was doing homework and taking tests, I told myself, “I AM SMART ,” and I believed it.
When I was working in the snack bar, cleaning windows, and caring for dolphins to earn money for college, I reminded myself that I was doing this to make my DREAM COME TRUE.
Here is a picture of me on the day I left for college.
I was so proud of myself when I got on that train!
Now I am grown up, and I work with sea turtles in Hawaii. I’m sure glad I did not let a bunch of excuses stand in my way!
Quiz! Quiz! Quiz! Quiz! Quiz!
You have learned that the best way to stop making excuses is to notice when you are making one. Then you can choose to change the excuse to something positive. On these two pages, some of the sentences are excuses and some are not. Have a grownup read them out loud, and then you can decide if it sounds like an excuse. (If you want, practice turning the excuses into positive words!)
Wayne W. Dyer, Excuses Begone!
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