Constraints are not excuses. They are creative challenges.

Recently, a friend shared a picture on Facebook that was supposed to be inspirational to exercisers. It had a quote from one Jordan Belfort. “The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.”

What was standing between Belfort and his goals was the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. That’s not exactly a bullshit story.

Constraints get a bad rap. When people give a reason why they can’t do something, they aren’t always making excuses. They often have real constraints in their lives. Several years ago, I hired a business coach to help me figure out what to do given how much publishing is changing. One problem is that I don’t have a lot of extra time, and I thought that working with him would be more efficient. It wasn’t. One of his suggestions was that I pull my kid out of sports to free up more time.

Uh, no. A reasonable amount of sports activity is good for a kid. Furthermore, that’s what people in families do: they make time for each other. Family obligations are not an excuse, they are a constraint. Lack of time and money are not excuses, they are constraints. The fact that there are only 24 hours in a day and we need to sleep is not an excuse, it is a constraint.

And I stopped working with that business coach.

A constraint is a very set of limitations on a project – like the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or having to drive a kid to a swim meet in a distant suburb. They often arise out of competing goals, and that’s what many of us have. I want to lose weight and get in shape and work on a book proposal and change the syllabus for next semester and travel and spend time with friends and spend time with family and save for retirement and and and and and.

Your list is probably similar.

But here’s the thing about constraints that the Jordan Belforts of the world don’t get: they force you to be more creative. I want to get in better physical shape, but I don’t have time to just go running. And I barely get enough sleep as it is most of the year, so getting up early would make me so mean that I would not have any friends. I am hooked on my Fitbit, though – it reminds me to fit in some exercise throughout the day. If I have time to go running or make a Pilates class, then I get more steps. Walking in place in front of the TV won’t get me in shape for a marathon, but it will get me in better shape than if I do nothing.

Sure, we can clear up time and energy by delegating chores, but it takes time and energy to find people to whom you can delegate them! We can’t just turn things over to someone else. It has taken me a few years to figure out what and how I could delegate different work and personal tasks. Not all of it was obvious, either, but it has happened.

Because here’s the thing: if time is your constraint, it just means that it will take longer to meet your goals, and that the path may not be direct. It doesn’t mean that you can’t achieve things, nor does it mean that you have to break the law, abandon your friends, or be miserable.

And please, everyone, stop passing around Facebook memes featuring Jordan Belfort. He missed the whole point.