Stop Letting Excuses Run the Show

Nov 15

I want to start this by saying something clearly. If you make excuses, you are not lazy. You are not broken. You are human.

This episode was inspired by a close friend of mine. I have watched her sit on the edge of starting a practice that could genuinely change lives. She has the skills. She has the heart. She has the training. And still, every time we get close to momentum, something pops up. Laundry. Scheduling. Not enough time. Not quite ready.

As I was supporting her, I realized how familiar this pattern felt. Because I do the same thing. All the time.

I am excellent at excuses. I make them daily. I’m too tired. I have too much to do. I’ll do it next week. I need to get a few more things in place first. And if we’re being honest, you probably made a few already today too.

This isn’t about the real, legitimate reasons that life sometimes asks us to pause. Being sick. Caring for someone you love. A car breaking down. Those things are real. That’s not what this is about.

This is about the excuses that quietly keep you playing small.

The sneaky ways excuses show up

Most of the excuses that hold us back don’t sound dramatic. They sound reasonable. Responsible, even.

Some are protective.
“I don’t know enough yet.”
“I need another certification.”
“It’s too complicated.”

Those are often your brain trying to keep you from risk. From discomfort. From doing something that might stretch you.

Others are even sneakier. They disguise themselves as priorities.

“I can’t start my practice yet because I don’t have a logo.”
“I can’t tell people I’m taking clients because I don’t have business cards.”

These feel productive, but they quietly pull your attention away from the things that actually move your life forward. You can see clients without a logo. You can start without everything being perfect.

When we stay busy with the wrong things, it feels safer than taking the step that actually matters.

Why your brain loves excuses

Excuses don’t come from nowhere. They come from your subconscious.

Your subconscious mind is the operating system running in the background. It’s the part of your brain that drives you to work without remembering every turn you took or every light you stopped at. It runs on patterns. On repetition. On what it learned early in life.

A lot of that programming was written when you were very young. Long before you had any say in it.

That part of your brain is constantly scanning for risk. Anything new. Anything uncertain. Anything that might threaten what it understands as safety.

So when you think about posting online, starting a practice, launching something new, or being seen in a different way, your subconscious steps in. Not to sabotage you, but to protect you.

It offers excuses.

The deeper layer most people miss

Underneath a lot of excuses is self-worth.

When we tie our worth to productivity, approval, success, or being perceived as capable, anything that threatens those things feels dangerous. Being seen. Making a mistake. Failing. Disappointing someone.

That’s why I can come up with a dozen reasons not to make a reel. No tripod. Don’t know what to say. Don’t know how to edit. What’s really underneath that is fear of being seen.

Excuses are rarely about the task itself. They are about what the task represents.

How excuses actually hold you back

Every excuse delays action. And delayed action costs more than time.

When nothing changes, your confidence slowly shrinks. Each excuse reinforces the story that you can’t. That you’re safer staying where you are.

The longer this pattern runs, the harder it feels to break. Not because you aren’t capable, but because your brain has collected so much evidence that staying small is safer.

Growth requires leaving the comfort zone. And excuses are the guardrails that keep you inside it.

A different way to work with excuses

The goal isn’t to eliminate excuses. The goal is awareness.

Instead of treating excuses as failures, start treating them as signals.

Every excuse is your subconscious waving a flag saying something here feels uncertain.

When you remove the shame and get curious, everything shifts.

I teach this through four simple steps.

First, catch it.
Notice the excuse in real time. “I don’t have time.” “I’ll do it later.” That pause alone is powerful.

Second, challenge it.
Ask yourself if it’s actually true or if it’s a story meant to keep you comfortable.

Third, change it.
You don’t need to overhaul your life. Replace the excuse with one small action. Five minutes. Ten minutes. One list. One email. One step forward.

Fourth, condition it.
Your brain learns through repetition. Every small action builds new evidence that you can do hard things. Over time, that becomes the new default.

This works the same way building muscle does. You don’t see results after one workout. You see them after showing up consistently.

Start small and stay honest

Even with all of this awareness, I still make excuses. This morning my alarm went off early so I could work on my book. I hit snooze. The excuse was being tired. The truth was fear of being seen.

Awareness doesn’t mean perfection. It means choice.

The next time an excuse shows up, don’t judge it. Notice it. Question it. Replace it with something small and doable. Then repeat.

Excuses are normal. But they don’t get to run the show unless you let them.

The question to sit with is simple.
What is one excuse you’ve been making lately, and what is it really protecting you from?

That question alone can change everything.