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There are only two reactions I get when I tell people that my first book is about learning the habit of rising early. Not being a morning person is an excuse, not an explanation.
1. I need to do that.
2. I could never that. I’m not a morning person.
The subtitle of the book is “Learning to rise early in 30 days”. It’s not “Because you’re a morning person anyway so wake up early for the next 30 days.”
It’s not a fact
“I’m not…” is an excuse we claim as fact. Below I compiled a list of lies we tell ourselves, men and women, single and married, young and old. Excuses are reasons we tell others and ourselves that allow us to stay the same. Tweet That
Excuses never go away
My five year old son woke me up at 3:30am when he climbed in bed with me. He was my excuse for not getting up when my alarm went off at 5:30am. I got up anyway because excuses will never go away. You always have the option of making excuses but you also always have the option of not accepting your excuses and living as if they’re lies. Some of your excuses are lies that you’ve said so long that you believe them to be true.
I want us to stop lying to ourselves. There are several excuses on this list that I continue to believe and that I need to stop saying and most of all stop believing. What are your excuses on the list? Do you have even more? You can choose to embrace them or reject them.
My heroes don’t use excuses
People I want to become like don’t use excuses. Tweet That They don’t have reasons for not doing things that are good and difficult. Successful and happy people find a way to get past their own excuses and the ones the world offers them. Today, list your excuses and then start rejecting them. If that sounds simplistic then good. It’s not that complicated so you can do it and so can I.
- I’m not good with numbers.
- I’m not a morning person.
- I’m not an athlete.
- I’m not smart.
- I’m not coordinated.
- I can’t spell.
- I can’t cook.
- I can’t understand computers.
- I can’t make that much money.
- I can’t help you.
- I’m not able to give that much.
- I’m not as good a mom as her.
- I can’t meet new people.
- I don’t like dating.
- I’m not attractive.
- I don’t like organized religion.
- I’m not a reader.
- I can’t stop working.
- I’m not good with money.
- I’m not good with details.
- I’m not the parenting type.
- I’m not interested in that.
- I can’t stand for it to be that quiet.
- I don’t like change.
- I’m not that interesting.
- I can’t start a new career.
- I’m not creative.
Replace “I can’t” with “I’ll figure out how to”
Replace “I don’t” with “I’m going to try to”
Replace “I don’t like” with “I’m trying out”
Replace your assumptions and excuses with possibilities and attempts. Or just stay the same. What excuse do you need to reject today?
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My name is Andy Traub and I help people tell their stories in a way that maximizes their impact. If you'd like to create your own custom channel to reach the world then I can help. Just 
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I feel incredibly fortunate. The only reason I am where I am today is not because I broke free of these excuses, but because life actually handed things to me on a silver platter and I ran out of excuses at the same time.
Maybe this story will provide inspiration to those whose excuses are holding them back, but I just wanted to be clear I didn’t magically break free from the spell.
I wanted to start my own site for the longest time because I loved helping people. Others kept telling me I was some magical Dr. Phil with my words and so a blog would be the greatest thing.
Well, I kept making excuses and so I stayed the same like you said, Andy. Too much time and work. Too much money. Too much risk.
Well, I knew the first two and the last one were just lies so the biggest factor left was money. Do I really want to shell out $100+ a year for something that may flop?
Then one day, I read an article that advertised Dreamhost for $20 for an entire year. Shit, I had ran out of excuses. I took the leap of faith and I still can’t believe what happened today. It’s only been a month and a half but my life has been EXPLODING as a result. Getting several jobs, clients, my name is out there. It’s unbelievable.
So if any of you doubt Andy’s warnings against excuses, it is very true. Who knows what may happen once you liberate yourself and adopt the “I can” attitude? Give it a shot, because your life may explode as well.
A great example of when the comment is better than the actual post. Thanks Vincent. Keep shipping.
I appreciate the compliment, but in no way does my comment outshine your article. It is what inspired my comment in the first place.
Ok, I must admit, this ‘reply’ made me smile.
I’d say, yeah let’s avoid excuses, and let’s not forget to forgive ourselves too… Don’t be afraid to restart, and do things differently.
Hi, Lisa. Forgiving ourselves is one of the harder parts. It’s too easy to look back with regret and beat ourselves up, but often times it doesn’t help to do so. Forgiving is the only way.
Great comment Vincent, congrats on taking the unknown step and finding success.
Thanks, Ben. I’m grateful every morning for what I now have.
Thanks for this, Andy.
Every day that I don’t wake up early is because of an excuse. “Today is too long of a work day for me to get up this early.” And then I hop back in bed. “I didn’t go to bed early enough last night.” “Our baby woke up in the middle of the night.”
It seems as though I’m a master of making excuses! I think they make me feel like I’m still moving my life in a positive direction even though my actions are no different.
Thanks for cutting through the self-deception of excuses. I need to realize that I will always have an excuse for not getting out of bed. But I also need to remember that I’ve never regretted it when I’ve gotten up early.
I loved when you said this “I got up anyway because excuses will never go away.” Isn’t that the truth. We tend to let the fear of failure or the unknown to rule our lives. The quick excuse will never fade away unless you take the initiative to not allow it to win. Change is hard, but it’s when we fight to overcome the excuses we look to that we truly win.