Excusitis is a mental virus—vaccinate against health, IQ, age, and luck alibis

You’ve probably heard yourself say one of the classics: “I don’t have the health for that,” “I’m not smart enough,” “I’m too old,” or “They were just lucky.” These lines feel true in the moment, like a heavy coat you can’t take off. But look closer and you’ll see they’re built from vague, global language that can’t be tested. One client used to say, while stirring her coffee, that she lacked the math brain for analytics. We changed one word, from “I can’t” to “I’m learning,” then put 20 minutes of practice on her calendar. Three months later she was coaching others.

Excuses often protect us from short‑term discomfort. They also steal long‑term progress. Health excuses shrink effort, IQ excuses shrink curiosity, age excuses shrink the future, luck excuses shrink agency. The fix isn’t self‑shaming, it’s specificity. Replace general limits with local actions you control. A friend with a chronic condition stopped saying, “I’m too tired to work out,” and started saying, “I walk ten minutes after lunch, even if it’s slow.” The first week was clumsy. By week four, his energy was steadier by midafternoon.

I might be wrong, but most of us don’t need a new personality, we need a better switch. The switch toggles from excuse to experiment. You can build it by collecting role‑model proofs, reframing in concrete language, and designing one compensating behavior you’ll do on your worst day. That way, you perform even when conditions aren’t perfect.

Behavior science backs this up. Identity‑based habits help you act like the person you’re becoming, not the label you fear. Learned optimism teaches you to argue with permanent, pervasive, and personal explanations, turning them into specific, temporary, and non‑personal ones. The vaccine isn’t loud. It’s quiet and repeatable.

Start by naming your dominant excuse, then write one sentence you actually say when it shows up. Swap it with a simple reframe that points to action, like “I’m learning” plus next step. Find three real people who did what you want despite the same constraint, and keep those names in your notes app. Then choose one compensating behavior you’ll do even on bad days and schedule it this week, no pep talk required. Give it a test for seven days and see which part makes the biggest difference.