The Difference Between a Reason and a Result

Everyone has a reason.

Sales are down because of the economy.

Hiring is difficult because of the labor market.

Growth has slowed because of uncertainty.

Relationships are strained because everyone is busy.

And to be fair, many of those reasons are legitimate.

But there’s a difference between having a reason and producing a result.

One of the lessons from my book All Buts Stink is that every one of us eventually reaches a moment where we must decide what will have the final say in our lives.

Our circumstances.

Or our decisions.

Too many people spend their energy defending why progress hasn’t happened.

The market changed.

The competition increased.

The timing wasn’t right.

The resources weren’t available.

The challenge with living in our reasons is that reasons feel productive. They help us explain where we are.

But they rarely help us move forward.

The leaders who consistently make progress think differently.

They acknowledge reality, but they don’t surrender to it.

They ask a different question:

“Given the circumstances, what’s my next play?”

That’s where momentum begins.

Not when conditions improve.

Not when uncertainty disappears.

Not when everything becomes easier.

Momentum begins the moment we stop focusing on what we can’t control and start acting on what we can.

I’ve worked with organizations across every industry imaginable. Different markets. Different challenges. Different obstacles.

Yet the companies that continue to grow share one common trait:

They spend less time explaining and more time executing.

They don’t ignore problems.

They simply refuse to let problems become their identity.

That’s true in business.

It’s true in leadership.

And it’s true in life.

So here’s a question worth considering:

What reason have you been carrying that may be preventing your next result?

Because your future won’t be determined by the explanation.

It will be determined by the action.

Keep making progress.

— Walter Bond