There’s an old saying that excuses are like assholes and everyone has one. I am not here to beat anyone up for having them. I am here to be honest about what it cost me when excuses stopped being occasional and started becoming my default setting.

For a long time, I did not just make excuses. I collected them. I polished them. I built whole stories around them. They were armor when I felt insecure, and a shield when I was afraid to try. The problem was not that I owed the world an explanation. The problem was that I had a built-in excuse for every failure before I even started.

I used excuses in the big arenas that shape an actual life. Alcohol. Health. Career. Any time change felt hard or vulnerable, I reached for lines that sounded reasonable, but kept me circling the same drain for years.

Then I walk through the shift that finally started changing things. Quitting smoking was a turning point because I stopped treating change like a vague wish and started treating it like a project. A real quit date. Triggers. Environment. The unglamorous structure that makes follow-through possible when motivation dies.

We also zoom out into the psychology of excuses. Self-handicapping. Perfectionism. Procrastination. The way the brain tries to drag you back into what is familiar because “safe” matters more to it than “fulfilled.” And the truth that real change is usually boring up close. Small actions. Reps. Consistency. Not a dramatic overnight reinvention.

By the end, this is the bottom line. Excuses will always be an option, always within reach, ready to soften discomfort and give you a fast exit. The choice is who gets the final say.

Content note: addiction and habit change themes.

No One Is Normal Book and Podcast Links:

🎧 Podcast Episodes: ⁠⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast⁠⁠

📘 Get the Book (Amazon): ⁠⁠https://a.co/d/ibq85NR⁠