Are excuses really excuses? Are good reasons really good reasons? I believe it’s personal preference by how your brain is wired to perceive yourself. It CAN be re-wired. You just have to want to change. Some people see me as lazy. Some people see me as “always on go”. How other people see me does not affect me (with the exception of very few). I see myself as wannabe determined, wannabe motivated. I can always do more. I understand “everything in moderation”. But I’ve got to push myself more.

  I recently made and upheld an excuse for not studying or trading for the past couple weeks. My laptop is older and it is really slow. On top of that, it got hacked. It was entirely my fault.  That’s a legitimate (excuse). I spent that entire Friday, the weekend, and the following Monday changing all my bank info and platform(s) info. This may all seem simple as I’m re-reading this to myself. But I saw this as an excuse to “relax” for a few days. Those few days have now set me back by almost 2 weeks. Was it fear that I didn’t completely comb through everything, expel all traces of the hacker, and make sure all i’s were dotted and all t’s were crossed? Was it the hatred of a slow laptop that couldn’t do everything I needed it to do? Was even rationalized in my feelings? In the moment of it all - It was all true and rationalized.

  Hindsight is a beautiful thing. I now see that I was just making excuses. Put myself back by 2 more weeks of having to deal with my job. I want out of my job. Apparently not bad enough. I fell back into the old routine I always do and telling myself “I’ll start back tomorrow” I’ve been this way for many years : Be extremely determined in the start. Extremely motivated. Finding ways to make the time. Finding ways to make it work. Then a few hiccups later and I end up lacking determination and motivation. Find excuses to not have the time. Finding excuses to why it won’t work.

  This leads me to believe that my long term goals are not strong enough. I have to be more precise. My motivation is lacking. My discipline is lacking.

  Any insight or advice on helping with staying disciplined, motivated, or help with a better way to redefine my long term goals as well as with setting my shorter term milestones would be greatly appreciated.