All My Lame Excuses (and 5 ways to get rid of them)

“Excuse.” It sounds like a reasonable, acceptable, or even respectable word.

An excuse is a plea to be released from a promise or obligation. It is an appeal for forgiveness when we fail to meet an agreement. In simple terms, it is what we offer when we fail to do what we said we would do.

While excuses make perfect sense to our own rationalizing (making excuses for oneself) minds, they look weak and ugly under the light of truth.

How Often Do We Make Excuses?

Think about how many excuses you generate in a single day:

• At school, for why you didn’t finish an assignment or study for a test.
• To a coach or teacher, for why you didn’t give 100 percent.
• To your parents, for why you neglected your chores.
• To God, for why you did not study the Bible or spend time in prayer.
• To yourself, for why you abandoned your diet, exercise program, or goals.

We even make excuses to ourselves—and we actually believe them!

A better approach is to simply admit the truth. If you gave up, got distracted, or failed to give your best, just own it, apologize, and fulfill your commitment.

If we keep making excuses, people will stop trusting us. Worse, we will limit our own potential and start expecting less of ourselves.

As Benjamin Franklin once noted:

“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”

5 Ways to Eliminate Excuses

1. Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.

You have the right to say “no” to a request and still be a good person. While the other person might be disappointed, they would much rather hear an honest “no” upfront. That allows them to find someone else, rather than enduring the frustration of a broken promise.

As Jesus said, let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no” (Matthew 5:37).

2. Keep your commitments and promises.

Integrity is built on reliability. If you give your word, move quickly to fulfill your obligation.

Keeping your commitments makes your “no” stronger because people know they can depend on your “yes.”

As the writer Elbert Hubbard said:

“Don’t make excuses—make good.”

3. Eat the toad.

Excuses usually follow procrastination (putting things off). We agree to do something, tell ourselves we will get to it later, and then abandon the task altogether.

If you had to eat a live toad every single day, when would you do it? First thing in the morning, of course!

By getting the hardest task out of the way first, you avoid the dread, delay, and self-reproach. Don’t make an excuse—just eat the toad, get it over with, and move on.

4. Embrace a “no excuses” policy.

There is a famous motto often attributed to the British Foreign Office:

“Never excuse. Never explain. Never complain.”

If you are doing what you are supposed to do, you should not need to explain or excuse your actions. Commitment to not giving excuses will force you to keep your word. Remember: excuses weaken you, but execution strengthens you.

5. Practice at home.

Start by deciding that you will not make excuses to your parents or to God. Strive to obey your parents “in the Lord, for this is right” (Ephesians 6:1).

If you fail, offer a straightforward apology and ask how you can fix the situation. Do not offer God lame excuses for why you did not pray or study. Admit your failure, ask for forgiveness, and make a practical plan to do better next time.

This Nike commercial might inspire you to give up your excuses today.