Have you ever given someone a wonderfully profound bit of advice or turned their attention to some common sense wisdom only to have them go, “Hmmm, yeah. That’s easier said than done”?

I have, and it’s pissed me off.

While I’ll admit that I’ve been the one to spout off the “easier said than done” excuse a time or 20 in my lifetime, what I was really doing wasn’t thanking that person for their advice, but rather giving up on actually accomplishing my goal before I even gave it a shot.

Rock with me for a minute.

Everything, I mean EVERY SINGLE THING in life is “easier said than done” until we do it.

(Go ahead, read that again.)

Our internal dialogue goes something like this:

Losing 20lbs.? Easier said than done! Writing a book? Yup, that too. Forgiving your ex? Sounds simple enough, but feels totally impossible. Controlling your thoughts to stop obsessing about things you cannot change? Yeah, no. This is way too hard!

But you know what? Each of those things is not only possible, thousands, if not millions, of other people have done them before.

So, why not you?

Why can’t you seem to get your health in order, finish the book, or move on from your last relationship? What is it about you that stops you dead in your tracks and rejects simple, sound, and useful advice as merely “easier said than done”?

Is it that you don’t want to be healthy, or accomplished, or emotionally whole? Or are you afraid to do the hard work it will take to get to that point?

While I may not know your exact situation, I’ve been there. I’ve been trapped by excuses, fear, and regret, brushing off my friends’ sage advice because it was just too much work to actually put into practice.

I’ve looked at the Facebook statuses and positive tweets from friends detailing how they got over only to think in my mind, yeah…but it won’t work for me.

I wasted years at a job that I disliked, desperately held onto to negative feelings about others and myself, and let fear be my guide before I finally snapped out of it and began doing the hard work of confronting the things that were holding me back. It took tears and trips to the therapist and commitment and recommitment (and even more still) before I began seeing real changes. But you know what? It’s happening.

Though I’m certainly not perfect or where I want to be in life, making progress toward the vision I have for myself is 1000 times better than still being stuck in my job, telling others that trying to pitch to magazines and blogging after work in order to make a name for myself is “easier said than done.” I’m glad I didn’t listen to myself.

You know, what? Committing yourself wholly to your goals and your vision IS in fact “easier said than done.” But the reverse–living life wondering what could have happened if you had just ditched the excuses and gotten down to work–is too high a price to pay for being scared.

So, what’s it going to be?

Are you going to look your fears and doubts and hang-ups in the face and get to work, or are you going to talk about how easy it all sounds, but never give it a try?

The choice is yours.

How do you feel about the phrase, “Easier said than done”? Have you used it as an excuse? Please leave a comment and share your experiences.

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