If there’s one thing humans are good at (besides regulating body temperature and manipulating objects with opposable thumbs), it’s rationalising. The next time you catch yourself making excuses to yourself, say them out loud.
Photo by Anais Gómez-C.
As advice site Impossible explains, your irrational excuses are likely to sound less reasonable once you say them out loud to yourself. Internally, you can feel like there’s a good reason to justify breaking your diet or giving up on that habit. Once you say it out loud, you’re more likely to face reality:
Here’s a simple trick: Say your excuses out loud. Make a list of all the reasons why you’re NOT doing something and then say them outloud — with your mouth.
Unless the reason why you can’t do something is “a cheetah is closing in on me at 70mph for a late brunch”, then most likely your excuses start to sound pretty stupid pretty quick when they’re verbalized.
This self-argument is a handy way to distinguish between the excuses you have that are legitimate, and the ones that your emotions are filling in. No one would blame you for staying home from work because you have the flu. However, someone might think it’s dumb to max out your credit card because you’ve had a hard day.
Say Your Excuses Out Loud [Impossible]
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