Dreaming is one thing. Having a dream is another thing altogether. It’s that burning desire that will only be quenched when you have achieved your dream. Unfortunately, most people never realize their dreams. Excuses often get in the way and slam the door on your dreams before you even get started.

Throwing Off Excuses

In the world of adventuring, no one can claim more excuses for giving up on their dreams than Warren MacDonald. An avid adventurer, MacDonald loved climbing, hiking, and anything else that involved getting into the outdoors. But, one particular climbing adventure would change his life forever.

MacDonald was scaling a rock wall in Queensland, Australia one day when an entire slab of the rock gave way and fell on him trapping him, literally for days. The rock crushed his pelvis and both his legs.

Eventually, MacDonald was rescued, but both his legs had to be amputated. Worse yet, his dreams of enjoying the outdoors seemed to have been severed as well.

At one point, MacDonald stood at a crossroads that would define his character. In his own words, “I could either going down into a pretty deep, dark , black hole... or could rise to the occasion.”

MacDonald did rise to the occasion, using a variety of prosthetics he continues to pursue his adventuring dream despite some of the biggest obstacles a climber might need to overcome.

Your dream may not be scaling a sheet of ice or standing on top of the highest peaks in the world, but I guarantee there are excuses standing between you and your dream life. As long as the excuses are there, your dream will not become a reality. Take a lesson from MacDonald, refuse to wallow in your excuses and rise to the occasion.

I once heard someone say that an excuse is the skin of the truth, stuffed with a lie. That’s not a bad definition, and it brings up an interesting point about throwing off excuses. The fact is, excuses do have the skin of the truth.

MacDonald couldn’t just simply throw off his excuses and move on. He had some obvious obstacles to overcome. If you want to make you dreams a reality, you have to get creative about dealing with the facts about your situation.

On my climb of Carstensz, we had to cross the U.S. owned Freeport Mine. I realized quickly that there is apparently no truly legal way of crossing the mine. Fortunately for me and my dream of climbing the highest peaks in the world, local officials have gotten very creative about getting climbers across the mine. You can read more about it here, but I can tell you the adventure of crossing the mine was almost as exciting as reaching the peak of Carstensz.

One of the differences between the dreamers and those who are achieving their dreams is the questions they ask. When facing adversity dreamers ask, “Why is everything against me?” 

Dream achievers ask, “How can I overcome this?”

Ask the right question and then get creative about how you can make your dreams a reality.

The old Nike slogan of “Just Do It” was such a powerful slogan because of the truth behind the statement. Throwing off excuses and getting creative about overcoming adversity are only part of your task. Planning is great, but at some point you just have to do it.

My advice... make a solid plan, then don’t tiptoe around your dream. Jump in with both feet and just do it. In the end, you’ll wonder why you took so long.