Excuse Me? 5 Tips to Break Free from Excuses -

There are plenty of ways to say “excuse me.”
Maybe it’s with attitude. Maybe it’s genuine confusion. Maybe it’s a way to slip out of something you don’t want to do.

“Excuse me” can be as loaded as “bless your heart.”

But let’s be real.
Most of the time?
It’s a get-out-of-doing-the-thing card.

Excuses are sneaky like that. They masquerade as valid reasons, logical delays, or totally justifiable obstacles.

And more often than not, we convince ourselves that they are true . . . or maybe it’s more that we delude ourselves of the truth behind those excuses.

Have you ever used an excuse to put off doing what you knew you needed to do?

I know I did.

When Excuses Feel Like Valid Reasons

I had the ultimate excuse for not working on my BIG DREAM goals.

A literal tornado crushed my office.
That’s not just an excuse—that’s a natural disaster.

So, of course, I put my BIG DREAMS on hold.

It made perfect sense.
Until I got honest with myself and realized something uncomfortable.

I still worked when I wanted to.
I still figured things out when I was motivated.
I had already perfected my “traveling office”—I had worked through doctors’ appointments, kids’ events, and waiting rooms.

But now?

I had permission to not.

And I took it.

The tornado wasn’t stopping me. I was stopping me.

That’s when I realized the truth about excuses:

Excuses create limitations.
Excuses cause barriers.
Excuses take more—more time, more energy, more resources.
Even real excuses are purpose blocks.
Excuses are a choice.

Ouch.

1. Excuses Create Limitations

I got up late because my husband’s alarm didn’t wake me.
(Wait… how is that HIS fault?)

Then, because he was still in bed, I got off track.

By the time I sat down to work, I had wasted an entire hour circling around my excuses.

Reality check:

I woke up TWICE before my husband’s alarm ever went off.
I could have just gotten up when I first woke up.
I let an external factor become my excuse for inaction.

Excuses don’t just keep you stuck. They shrink your world.

Every excuse creates another limitation until you’ve backed yourself into a box you never intended to live in.

Flip the script.

🔹 Excuse: “I don’t have time.”
🔹 Truth: “I have time for one small step.”

🔹 Excuse: “I’ll do it later.”
🔹 Truth: “I can do something right now.”

The antidote to excuse-based limitations is action—no matter how small. If you want to dismiss the limitations, you have to refuse the excuses.

2. Excuses Cause Barriers

When I first started speaking, I watched someone struggle with a microphone.

It squealed. The sound guy scrambled. The audience cringed.
It was awkward. And more than a little bit terrifying for someone who worried about making others cringe.

Bad jokes don’t count.

And just like that, I decided:

I don’t do mics.

When I launched my speaking career, I avoided opportunities that required a microphone.

Not because I had ever struggled with one.
Not because I couldn’t handle it.
But because of a single moment that happened to someone else a long time ago.

Excuses don’t have to make sense to stop us.

I literally built barriers between myself and my opportunities.
I limited my speaking reach—not because I couldn’t but because I wouldn’t.

The longer you stand on an excuse, the more it becomes a barrier to your blessings.

When I started podcasting, it was impossible to avoid microphones. It turned out they were nearly as dangerous as I thought. Because I was forced to go, I went.

Sometimes, when you need to break through the excuse, you have to face the fear (and then you begin to recognize it’s not as bad as the excuse made it out to be).

#QuoteoftheDay

Excuses
are barriers
of our own making.
– Kathryn Lang

Excuses
are barriers
of our own making.
Kathryn Lang

3. Excuses Take More—Time, Energy, and Resources

Ever notice how coming up with an excuse takes more effort than just doing the thing?

I once spent an entire afternoon crafting an excuse to get out of an event.
I was committed. I was detailed.
I had covered all the angles.

When I boldly gave my excuse, I found out …

I had the wrong date.

My carefully built excuse was now useless.

So I had two choices:
– Make up a new excuse and get caught.
– Just go to the event.

Making excuses means I have to justify myself, and I have to defend myself, and I have to keep repeating myself or come up with new excuses.

Meanwhile, I could have just done it. And just doing it more often than not takes less time and energy than making the excuse in the first place.

99% of the time, the energy it takes to excuse your way out of something is way more than the energy it takes to just do it.

4. Even Real Excuses Are Purpose Blocks

Let’s go back to my tornado excuse.

In 2020, I had JUST decided to go all in on my goals.
And then… a tornado destroyed my office.

Valid reason to pause, right?

Except…

❌ I still had my laptop.
❌ I still had my travel office setup.
❌ I still had all the tools I needed to keep moving forward.

But instead of finding a way, I made an excuse.

There is always a way around, over, or through an excuse.

If you want to move forward, you will.

5. Excuses Are a Choice

This one stings.

Because even when an excuse feels legitimate…
Even when it’s backed by real circumstances…

It is still a choice.

I can choose to let an excuse stop me.
Or I can choose to move forward anyway.

And there’s only one choice that gets me to my BIG DREAM goals.

(Hint: It’s not the excuse.)

Choose the BIG DREAM intentional actions.

It is that simple.

And to make it even more simple – or stupid simple as my dear friend Laura Morlando the Stress Commando likes to say STUPID SIMPLE – there is only one choice that will get you to that BIG DREAM goal. There is only one choice that will get you across the finish line.

No More Excuses

Excuses create limitations.
Excuses build barriers.
Excuses drain time, energy, and focus.
Even real reasons can block your purpose.

But the biggest truth?

Excuses are a choice.

Excuses don’t just happen, even when they are legitimate reasons. Excuses are barriers of our own making. When we give in to the excuses, we give them permission to hold us back.

YOU get to choose:
❌ Stay stuck in excuses.
✅ Move forward in action.

It’s up to you.

Where has an excuse been keeping you stuck?

💬 Drop it in the comments. Let’s talk about it.

👇 And if you’re ready to break free, join me for the Hope & Courage Reset!
HERE IS THE LINK

#NoMoreExcuses #FaithOverFear #GrowingHOPE #HopeAndCourage

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Excuse Me? 5 Tips to Break Free from Excuses