This is one of my favorite comedy sketches of all time.  It’s amazing in its own right, but I also think it carries a relevant message for No Excuses November.

In the sketch, a woman goes to a therapist to address her fear of being buried alive in a box. The therapist listens to her for three minutes and then prescribes her a two-word mantra: STOP IT!

The woman goes on to tell him about all of her other issues, to which he offers the same solution: STOP IT!

While it is slightly naive to believe that all of our problems can be fixed that way, I think there is some value to the misguided therapist’s mantra.

A few years ago, I was complaining to a friend about the state of my life. I hated my job, I didn’t have much of a social life and I was feeling generally directionless and lost. Instead of telling me something like, “It’s okay, Allison. It will all happen when it happens,” she told me that the only person getting in the way of my own happiness was ME.

It was hard to hear but also made me wonder why no one had put it that way before. It wasn’t the economy. It wasn’t my job. It wasn’t my social or relationship status– it was ME.

It’s easy to shake your fist at the world and make yet another excuse for why you aren’t getting your work done on time. Or why you have an obscene amount of unread emails (guilty as charged). Or why you haven’t been able to lose the weight. The hard part is being honest with yourself about why you’re really stalling. And then doing something about it.

Granted, not everything in our lives is within our control, but think about how often we get in our own way. Sometimes WE are the obstacle.

You’re unhappy?

STOP IT.

You’re insecure about your body?

STOP IT.

You’re in a bad relationship?

STOP IT.

You’re making excuses for X, Y & Z?

STOP IT.

Are you letting yourself and your excuses get in the way of living a satisfied life?

Well, STOP IT (OR I’LL BURY YOU ALIVE IN A BOX)!