Challenge 07 · 7 days
Track Every Excuse
Notice the story. Choose a new one.
“I don’t lie to myself.”
Why this challenge
Once you can notice what you are doing, the next thing to notice is the story you tell yourself about why you are doing it.
The goal is not to shame yourself for making excuses.
The goal is to make rationalization visible enough that you can finally understand and change it.
What you do
Every time you catch yourself making an excuse, immediately write it down.
No editing.
No justifying.
No making it sound better.
Just honesty.
What to notice
What excuse did I notice today? What was I avoiding or not doing? What was the real reason underneath the excuse? How did it make me feel?
Before you begin
A simple but powerful challenge to become aware of the excuses you tell yourself — so you can see the patterns and start choosing differently.
Keywords
- I don’t lie to myself.
- Notice. Name it. Move forward.
The point
- Every time you catch yourself making an excuse, immediately write it down.
- No editing.
- No justifying.
- No making it sound better.
- Keep a small notebook. Don’t judge, just record. Patterns will appear.
Your record
Where this stands
The tracker is the record. Writing on a day checks that day in. Mark the challenge completed when you finished it, or not continuing when you are done with it. Those marks are the review on your map. The lines under a day are here for whatever you want to say.
7 days
7 days. Open a day to write it. Writing checks that day in.
Day 1
In your own words
This space is here for the day the other lines do not fit. Write it the way you would say it. Add a picture if that is closer. It stays with this day, and it stays on your map.
Day 1
Notice. Name it. Move forward.
Select the feelings you went through.
When you finish
How difficult was it?
1 = Easy, 10 = Hard
How helpful was it?
1 = Not Helpful, 10 = Very Helpful