No money, no worry, no hurry, no time

 It's not easy making the decision to change something, especially when the change is going to have a significant impact on you, your team, and even your loved ones. What IS easy is to jump into one or more of the big four explanations (excuses?) for why not: no money, no worry, no hurry, no time.  You might not express them in exactly this way, but we're pretty certain that you've been there. 

We're going to break each of them down in a moment, but first - why is the change worth making? What is your anticipated return on the investment of time, brainpower, or money?  As in any purchase, the value of pursuing a goal or implementing a change is always a matter of "compared to what?". Exactly in what way do you expect business or health or your life to be better when you achieve it?  Is it measurable, quantifiable in some way?

No money

No offense intended, but our guess is that you find the money for the things that are really important to you. You shift your budget, moving money from one bucket to the next. If it's a big enough deal you might even be willing to take a hit to the short term bottom line so you can achieve a higher return later.

When it gets down to cold, hard cash, is the issue truly the cost?  Or is the issue cash flow and the amount of it that you have to hand over right now?  The answers to these two questions can lead you to widely varying potential solutions - and you'll solve them IF you are serious about making the change.

No worry

This objection says that you don't perceive the consequences to be great enough to change anything. Is that true, or have you not given thought to the downside? If nothing changes, will the situation remain the same, or will it deteriorate? How big could this thing get if left unaddressed?  Consider the consequences of inaction along four lines: the impact on finances, the impact on customers or your customer base, the impact on your ability to manage (this includes your team), and the impact on your company's ability to grow and innovate. Implications in one of these balanced scorecard areas might not move you, but put them together and you might see a compelling case for action.

No hurry

Is your current status a slow-moving car, or a hurtling freight train? What might not seem like an emergent situation now might become a crisis later. Symptoms left untreated can morph into a bigger problem. When you are under time pressure to make a decision, it becomes more likely that your decision is going to receive less than effective analysis. You might have to make an instant call. Do you trust your gut enough to expect that you will consider all of the ramifications when you are under the gun? Or might you make a snap decision that results in unintended consequences?

No time

Time is a finite resource - unlike money, you can't make more. But when you say you don't have time, is it because you physically have no room in your schedule, or are you really saying that it's not important enough for you to set aside the requisite time to get it done? People and businesses typically make time for the things that are truly important to them. So when you look at your time budget, look at the activities that hold regular slots in your calendar. Should one of them be moved aside so you can attend to a new priority?

Timing can be a valid issue - or not. If you are a tax accounting firm you likely won't want to take on a new project just prior to the IRS filing deadline. Or if you are a retailer, you reserve all of your November and December time resources for dealing with pre-Christmas shoppers and your biggest revenue-producing season of the year.  But sometimes, the timing objection is only a relative of "no worry." It might not be convenient to act, to do something differently. It might be downright disruptive. But it doesn't mean that the change isn't worth making.