Episode Summary:
This month, we’ve been talking all about LOVE—loving our businesses, our boundaries, our homes, and most importantly, the lives we’re creating. But let’s be real... living a life you love isn’t just about dream jobs, bubble baths, and champagne. Sometimes, it’s about loving your dreams more than your excuses.
Last week, I got hit with Influenza A (yep, the full fever, body aches, miserable experience). And let me tell you—everyone around me had solid reasons why I should hit pause and take it easy. And while I did take care of myself, I also knew something important: I love what I’m building more than the excuses trying to sneak in and keep me stuck.
That’s exactly what we’re talking about in this episode—the three biggest excuses that sneak in and hold us back—Time, Money, and Fear.
These excuses? They feel real, and maybe they are. But it is up to us to make the choice of just what gets our attention... our dreams or excuses.
So grab your coffee, hit play, and let’s talk about how to love your dreams more than your excuses.
What I hope you take away from today's episode...
- Living a life that we love requires self-love and commitment.
- Excuses often disguise themselves as valid reasons.
- Mastering your time is about making intentional choices.
- Fear often masquerades as logic, preventing action.
- You are not meant to serve everyone; focus on your audience.
Links to connect with me...
Book a Consult HERE! (https://caffeinecreative.io/consult/)
Email me HERE! theperfectblendcaffeinecreative.io
Find me on Substack!
Detailed Show Notes
(automatically transcribed using AI Technology)
This month, we’ve been talking about LOVE—not just in the romantic sense, but in how we show up for ourselves, our businesses, and the lives we’re building.
- In the first episode of the month, Lesley Myrick joined me to talk about creating healthy boundaries and managing time in a way that aligns with our personalities.
- Next, we tackled the very real struggles that can lead to falling out of love with our businesses and how to flip the script to reignite our passion.
- Last week, in a special birthday episode with Crystal Loveless Nerpel, we focused on the mindset shifts that help us truly love what we have.
All of this leads us to one big truth: Living a life you love isn’t just about dream jobs, bubble baths, and champagne. Sometimes...
It’s about choosing to love yourself, your home, and your business more than the excuses that try to get in your way.
Real Talk: My Own Excuse Moment
Last week, I started off in Texas—Monday I took my pops out for a birthday breakfast, then drove a few hours to hang out with my son for a while, before starting the first leg of a 17-hour drive back to South Dakota.
On Tuesday, I was on the road all day. That left me with only three workdays to catch up.
Wednesday? I was productive, energized, and on fire. I put in a long day, felt accomplished, and went to bed ready to keep the momentum going.
Then Thursday hit.
I woke up with a pounding headache, body aches, and a 102-degree fever. Influenza A had officially entered the scene.
Cue the well-meaning advice:
“You need your rest. You've been pushing yourself.”
“This kind of illness lasts for weeks. Just take it easy.”
“You don't want to relapse. Better take the week off.”
None of this is bad advice and everyone had my best interest at heart, but I love what I am doing more than those excuses. I love what I’m building more than those excuses. I love this podcast. I love the message I’m sharing. I love connecting with you.
This and the other things I am going to do today are all part of the life I am creating and I love it all too much to let those excuses get in the way.
Now, I’m not talking about pushing through or burning myself out—I’ve been there, done that, and learned my lesson the hard way. Instead, I found a middle ground between listening to my body and staying committed to what I love.
I rested, took care of myself, and trusted my body to recover. And because I did, today I’m sitting here recording this episode on time, exactly as I promised.
How to Love Your Dreams More Than Your Excuses
So, how do we choose our dreams over the easy excuses? How do we find that middle ground between taking care of ourselves and still showing up?
That’s what we’re diving into today.
I’m breaking down the three biggest excuses that stop us from creating a life we love—Time, Money, and Fear—and the sneaky ways they show up in our lives. And of course, I’ll share my own strategies for flipping the script and pushing forward.
1. “I Don’t Have Enough Time.”
I’m starting with this one because for me it’s the easiest excuse to move past. Time is what we make it. You can spend your days frantically busy, only to come to the end of the day accomplishing little to nothing, or you can become the master of your time, and use it wisely.
The biggest shift for me came from a quote I heard during a Stephen Covey training...
“When you say you don’t have time, what you’re really saying is that you value something else more.”
I am paraphrasing this quote and it doesn’t show up as one of his official quotes, but it was a life changer for me. The second I heard this, something shifted for me.
I began to realize how many times in a day I would make that statement, “I don’t have time,” and how often I said it in frustration because I believed it. I wanted to do more, but just didn't know how to find the time.
I started paying attention every time I said, “I don’t have time” and asked myself:
Do I really value something else more?
- Do I really value scrolling social media over finishing my blog post?
- Do I really value playing Toon Blast over meal prepping for tomorrow?
- Do I really value binge-watching NCIS over working on that marketing plan?
Sometimes, the answer is yes—I do need to zone out and recharge. But other times, it’s a wake-up call to rearrange my priorities.
Sometimes the answer is yes… yes I do value zoning out for a few minutes and giving myself a break.
Sometimes the answer is no... and then I get to work on what truly matters.
Sometimes it's a combination... so I zone out for 10 minutes, then do some stretching and dive into the task I am procrastinating.
Mastering your time isn’t about rigid schedules. It’s about being flexible, and making intentional choices. If this is a struggle for you, I highly recommend revisiting my episode with Lesley Myrick: Boundaries, Balance, and Breaks and checking out the new training she and Nancy (Ganzekaufer) Quinn are offering Design Your Time, which is all about mastering time management based on your personality type.
2. “I Don’t Have Enough Money.”
Money is a big one. We need it to start businesses, build homes, and create the life we want. But we often make money a bigger obstacle than it really is.
When I first started my business, I heard a lot of reasons why I should wait:
“You need an office—how will you afford one?”
“Marketing is expensive—how will you get clients?”
“You need all this software, hardware and tech—how will you pay for it?”
It would have been easy to say, “You’re right.” Instead, I asked: “How can I make this happen with what I already have?”
I looked at the resources I had and how I could use those resources alone to get started. I prioritized what I really needed to have such as design software over accounting software, and found a way to make it happen.
I didn’t have an office—I had a dining room table and a sofa.I didn’t have expensive equipment—I had a 13” MacBook.I didn’t lean into the idea of “can’t”. I believed I would. I prioritized what I actually needed and made it work.
For years, I ran my business with less than $100/month in expenses—and to this day I still prioritize design software over accounting software.
Again it is all about focusing on what truly matters, setting priorities and focusing on what you truly need vs. what you want or what other think you have to have.
3. Fear—The Sneakiest Excuse of Them All.
Fear is the most deceptive of all excuses because it disguises itself as logic, and shows up pretty much everywhere. Let's look at few ways fear hides...
I’m not ready yet.
If you're waiting for the perfect moment, it’s time to acknowledge that it doesn’t exist. The only way to do something is to take action. Otherwise you're just dreaming.
I don’t know how.
There are a lot of aspects about my business I didn’t know how to do when I started. But the answers are out there. So I found a tutorial, a video, a course, a person with knowledge, and I learned. I didn't always doi it well at first, but I did it and I learned what I had done wrong and did it better.
I continued doing, learning, improving, then doing again in all aspects of my business. And I’ve come a long way. The knowledge you need is out there—you just have to be willing to seek it out.
What if I fail?
Failure isn’t all bad and it isn’t the unsurmountable obstacle to success we believe it to be.
Failure is a stepping stone. The most successful people in the world are the ones who have failed a lot!
Don’t lean into the failure and shame that others latch onto. Instead, try the "Oh well..." psych trick.
Say, “Oh well that didn’t work the way I thought it would!” or something very much like that and then look at the situation for what it is… a valuable lesson learned.
These few words have the power to quickly reduce the pressure you are feeling, diminish stress and help you put things into a more clear perspective.
I am too old / too young.
As my grandpa would say, age is just a number and it’s all about how you feel inside.
If you are struggling with the idea that you’re too old, Google: people who found success after 50 and you’ll see a pretty long list.
If you are struggling with the idea you’re too young, let me introduce you to my daughter. Tianna is just shy of her 25th birthday and has accomplished a lot. And while I am a proud mom and there is probably some bias here, there is no arguing with the fact that she has a thriving business of her own and a reputation in her industry of excellence that has nothing to do with me.
What if people don’t like what I have to offer?
Then simply put they are not your people. You aren’t here to serve everyone. You are simply here to make your corner of the world a better place in the best way you know how.
We all have reasons not to do things.
Some of these reason feel very real, and valid. But when it comes down to it, you get to decide... ...
Which do you love more? The excuses or your dreams?
