Each one of us has a go-to excuse or two when it comes to thinking of reasons why today isn’t the day we start to pursue our biggest, hardest-to-achieve goals. I’m guilty of it; we all are. I know that everything (well, not everything, I’m probably not going to be an astronaut) is achievable with hard work and dedication, but ugh. So much hard work. Sometimes I’d rather just sit on the couch and watch Bravo reruns while Naomi naps. There are days when I’m just too tired/too overwhelmed/too unsure… insert your own “too ____” statement. Even now, before I launch a new product, I give myself a lot of reasons why I shouldn’t. If you’ve ever considered doing something hard, but stop short of starting, here are some of the reasons for that:

1. I might fail. That’s true, you might. But do you know how many people failed before they succeeded at something even greater? Pretty much everyone who’s ever done anything great.

2. I have no idea where to start. If you’ve always wanted to do something, but you’re not sure where to start, try taking control of the situation. Start researching. Make a list of the steps you’d need to achieve to accomplish that goal. Even if the goal is “graduate from business school” or “start a Fortune 500 company,” every dream begins with an idea, and those that achieve those dreams have excellent execution skills. People who have excellent execution skills are usually highly organized and not afraid to take the proper steps and do the hard work.

3. What are people going to think of me? You know what? Who cares what other people think of you? There are always going to be people who don’t want you to succeed, just as there will be friends and supporters who are in your corner, cheering you on as you achieve your goals step by step. The sooner you learn to ignore the naysayers and the non-supporters, the better.

4. I’m not ready. I don’t know if you know this, but your first version of whatever you do is SUPPOSED to suck. That’s kind of part of the deal. You’re always going to feel fear before releasing something new, no matter how many versions in you are, no matter how many products you’ve already launched. If you get that sinking feeling that you’re going to fail and you launch anyway, you’ve already succeeded.

5. I don’t have enough time. So you’ve got kids, a job, a life that you can barely maintain as it is. How are you going to do this other thing that you’ve always wanted to do and will be disappointed with yourself if you don’t? I’m not sure, but that’s the point: you have to figure it out. And you will, because you want it that badly. And this is a topic for another post, but make sure in your heart of hearts, you want it that badly, because on cuteheads‘ tough days, that’s all that gets me through.

And there are many more. But the trick is this: just start. We only succeed when we stop believing the many reasons we tell ourselves that we can’t. How have you overcome the excuses you tell yourself?