I used to think my excuses were truth. “I don’t have time.” “I’m too tired.” “It’s not the right season.” I’d say them like they were facts instead of decisions I was making.
And though they sound true, and I deeply believed they were true, they weren’t concrete facts. They were the answer to a question I hadn’t asked out loud: do I actually want this bad enough to make some changes?
Here’s the thing nobody wants to hear — the excuse isn’t the main obstacle. The excuse is the verdict. The main obstacle is the mindset. If you find yourself reaching for an excuse, some part of you already decided. The excuse just shows up to make the decision feel okay, to make you feel justified and validated. It’s a nice little ‘poor thing’ in your ear instead of a ‘suck it up, you can do this’.
I know this because I’ve done it. I do it. I’ve launched things loud and let them go quiet the second friction showed up or if I don’t get immediate success or applause or validation. Not because the idea died — because I let “I’ll get to it” stand in for a choice I wasn’t ready to make. I let fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of success, fear of life become the truth – “I’m not good enough. See, I launched that 15 seconds ago and I’m not a success.” If I shrink, if I decide to stay small, stay buried under the ‘excuses’ then I don’t have to face the biggest, scariest thing out there – myself.
Wanting something and wanting it enough are two different things. You can want the business, the book, the body, the peace — and still not want it enough to move when it’s inconvenient, uncomfortable or scary. That gap is where excuses live. That gap is what keeps you from crossing over from wishing to deciding.
So today, before you reach for the reason it can’t happen, ask the real question: do I want this, or do I want the comfort of not trying?
Both are honest answers. Only one moves you forward.
Today’s move: Pick the one thing you’ve been “finding an excuse” for. Don’t finish it. Just start it — five minutes, one sentence, one step. Find the way, not the way out.
Finding Motivation in the Mess — Month of Voice, Day 3