How to Stop Making Excuses (And Start Telling the Truth)

The Hard Things First Newsletter

I used to be excellent at excuses.

Not the obvious ones. Not "I forgot" or "I didn't feel like it." Mine were sophisticated. Reasonable. They sounded like wisdom.

"Now isn't the right time." "I need to do more research first." "I'll start when things settle down."

I believed every single one. That was the problem.

---

The Difference Between an Excuse and a Reason

This is the line most people never draw — and it costs them everything.

A reason is true. An excuse sounds true.

A reason explains why something genuinely couldn't happen. An excuse explains why you chose not to make it happen — dressed up as something else.

"I couldn't work out today — I was in the hospital." That's a reason.

"I couldn't work out today — I was tired and the gym felt far away." That's an excuse wearing a reason's clothes.

The dangerous thing about excuses is they're never completely false. There's always a grain of truth in them. You were tired. The timing wasn't perfect. It was hard. But the truth underneath is simpler: you chose something else. And you didn't want to say that out loud.

What Excuses Are Actually Protecting You From

Excuses aren't laziness. They're armor.

Every excuse protects you from something uncomfortable — failure, judgment, vulnerability, the gap between who you are and who you say you want to be.

"I don't have time" protects you from admitting this isn't actually a priority.

"I'm not ready yet" protects you from the risk of trying and failing publicly.

"Nobody in my situation could do this" protects you from the responsibility of being the one who could.

The excuse is doing a job. It's keeping you comfortable. And it works — right up until you realize that comfortable and stuck are the same place.

Use the promo code proc50 to begin your training at 50% off the price

The Excuse I Used for Years

For a long time, I told myself I was being strategic.

I had ideas I wanted to pursue. Work I wanted to create. Things I kept saying I'd do when the moment was right. And I was patient about it — genuinely patient, or so I thought.

What I was actually doing was waiting for a guarantee that didn't exist. I wanted certainty that it would work before I started. And since certainty never came, neither did the start.

The excuse was strategy. The truth was fear.

The day I told myself the truth about that — not to anyone else, just to myself — everything changed. Not because the fear went away. Because I stopped pretending it wasn't there.

The Truth Test

When I catch myself making an excuse, I run it through one question:

"If I knew I couldn't fail, would this excuse still exist?"

If the answer is no — the excuse disappears the moment the risk disappears — it was never a real reason. It was fear. Repackaged.

Try it on your current excuses:

"I don't have time." If success were guaranteed, would you find the time? Almost certainly. So it's not about time — it's about whether you believe it's worth the risk.

"I'm not qualified enough." If the outcome were certain, would your qualifications matter? No. So it's not about credentials — it's about fear of being found out.

"The timing isn't right." If you knew it would work, would you wait for better timing? No. You'd start today.

The excuse collapses under the question. What's left is the truth.

How to Start Telling the Truth

Telling yourself the truth doesn't require a confession or a breakthrough moment. It requires one honest sentence.

Instead of: "I don't have time to work on my goals." Say: "I'm choosing not to prioritize this right now."

Instead of: "I'm not ready yet." Say: "I'm afraid of failing and I'm using readiness as cover."

Instead of: "Things need to settle down first." Say: "I'm waiting for certainty that isn't coming."

The honest version is harder to say. That's exactly why it works. You can maintain an excuse indefinitely. It's much harder to keep choosing something you've admitted is a choice.

Once you call it a choice, you have to own it. And once you own it, you can change it.

One Excuse. One Truth. This Week.

You don't need to dismantle every excuse at once. That's overwhelming and it doesn't work.

Pick one thing you've been postponing. One goal, one task, one conversation.

Write down the excuse you've been using.

Then write the honest version underneath it.

Read both sentences. Sit with the gap between them.

Then ask: knowing the truth, what's one action I can take in the next 48 hours?

Excuses keep you comfortable. The truth sets you moving.

Go Deeper [and How I Can Help You]

If fear is the thing standing between you and the life you want, Do the Hard Things First is the system for moving through it — understanding why we avoid, what it costs us, and how to act anyway.

→ Find everything in one place: linktr.ee/ScottAllan​

If you've been telling yourself stories that keep you stuck, Do the Hard Things First is the system for seeing through them — understanding the psychology of avoidance and building the habit of honest action.

→ Order Do the Hard Things First on Amazon​

→ Or order directly from scottallanbooks.com​

Not sure where to start? Download the free 24-Hour Discipline Reset — a simple one-day reset to break the avoidance cycle and build momentum fast.

Ready to go all in? The 30-Day Hard Things Challenge is thirty days of facing what you've been avoiding, one hard thing at a time.

→ Start the Challenge — Use promo code PROC50 for 50% off