The Consider It Done Newsletter
“To help you finish what you start”

Volume Two
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Stanley E. Hibbs, Ph.D.
Psychologist
Personal & Executive Coach
Phone: 770-668-0350 x-224
E-mail: drhibbs@drhibbs.com
Web Site: www.drhibbs.com
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Contents: 
I. Welcome
II. Article: Overcoming excuses
III. Stan’s book of the month
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I. Welcome:

Hi everyone and welcome to Volume Two. Thanks for all 
the great comments about my first issue. This issue deals 
with one of the greatest barriers to success-excuses. 

II. Overcoming Excuses (Part One):

You are two weeks into your new weight-loss program. 
You are following a well-balanced dietary plan and you
are exercising more. Then one night, you feel a strong 
urge to polish off a bag of potato chips or a carton of ice 
cream. As you head for the kitchen, there is a debate
going on in your head. What excuses will you make
for cheating on your program? 

Here are a few examples: 
“I’ve been good; I deserve a little reward.”
“I don’t care if sets me back; I’ve got to have it.”
“I’ll make it up tomorrow.”
“I need food to comfort me.” 
“It’s the holidays.” 
“I can’t do it anyway so why try?” 
“I can’t resist this urge.”
“It’s not fair, other people can eat whatever they want!” 

The problem with excuses is that they always have a little 
truth to them. Maybe I have been good and deserve a reward.
Maybe I could make it up tomorrow. Maybe it is difficult
and I’m discouraged about my progress. Yes, it is the 
holidays and everyone around me is eating like pigs.

But for every ounce of truth, all excuses contain several
pounds of lies. It’s our job to root out and expose all
the lies that exist in our excuses. 

Do this exercise: Think of an area of your where you make
excuses. Do you cheat on your diet? Do you procrastinate
on important tasks? Do you put off working on your 
dissertation? Whatever it is, write down all of the excuses
you make. Be brutally honest with yourself. Let’s expose
your excuses to the light of day!

Now for each excuse write a gentle but firm rebuttal. 
Admit to any truth in the excuse, but be sure to expose 
the lie. Here’s an example:

Excuse: “I’ve been good and I deserve to eat that brownie.” 
Rebuttal: “Yes, I have done well and deserve a reward, but 
I’ll just feel guilty if I eat that brownie. There’s better 
ways to reward myself.” 

In my next issue, I will give you some more pointers about
how to develop creative rebuttals for some of your most 
common excuses. 

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II. Stan’s book of the month: The Ten Natural Laws of 
Successful Time and Life Management., by Hyrum W.
Smith. Originally published in 1994, this is an easy to
read primer of some basic motivational and time 
management principles. Mr. Smith was the founder of 
the Franklin Quest Company, developer of the wonderful 
Franklin Planners that many of us use. 

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Dr Hibbs is now accepting new clients for personal,
business, and executive coaching. As a subscriber
to this newsletter, you can receive a free 30-minute
consultation to see if coaching is right for you. 

Contact Dr. Hibbs at:
drhibbs@drhibbs.com
770-668-0350 x-224

The Consider It Done Newsletter is offered to you free. If 
you know of others who might like to receive it, please 
forward it on to them. Feel free to quote from this issue as
long as you give credit where credit is due. 

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