##1 The Excuse You Tell Yourself Every Day
It’s 11:47 PM. You’re scrolling again.
Another day gone.
Another day where you didn’t start.
Not because you didn’t have time.
Not because you didn’t care.
But because of that excuse, that sounds like a plan:
“I’ll start once I upgrade my setup.”
I know it because I lived it.
##2 The Account That Didn’t Exist
I wanted to launch content for my Notion Instagram — @olsnotion.
I made a plan.
Then I shot a test video.
It sucked.
Shaky footage. Bad lighting. My voice was stiff. So I stopped.
And I said the classic lie:
“I’ll start again after I upgrade everything.”
Then something funny happened.
While waiting, I started posting on another account.
Same camera. Same setup. Nothing upgraded.
That account? Blew up.
Millions of views. Thousands of followers.
The gear wasn’t the problem.
The excuse was.
Why Your Brain Is Sabotaging You
Here's what no one tells you about excuses:
They don't sound like excuses.
They sound like wisdom. Strategy. Responsible planning.
Your brain is terrifyingly good at this. It crafts excuses so intelligent, so reasonable, that you actually feel smart for making them.
"I should research this more first."
"I need to wait for the right opportunity."
"I should learn X before I start Y."
Each one sounds perfectly logical. And that's the trap.
Because while you're busy being "strategic," someone else is out there being messy, imperfect, and actually doing the thing.
And winning.
The uncomfortable truth? Your brain isn't trying to help you succeed.
It's trying to keep you safe.
Safe from failure. Safe from judgment. Safe from the vulnerable act of showing up as a beginner.
But safety is the enemy of growth.
##3 The 5-Step System That Actually Works
I've tested this system on myself and helped hundreds of others break their excuse patterns.
It works because it doesn't rely on willpower or motivation — it redesigns your environment to make action inevitable.
1. Make It Impossible to Lie to Yourself
Goals that live only in your head are fantasies.
Write yours down. Not just the big vision — break it into specific, measurable tasks.
Instead of: "Start a YouTube channel,"
Write: "Record and upload one 5-minute video by Friday 3 PM"
When it's written down with specifics, your brain can't trick you into thinking you're making progress by just "thinking about it."
2. Create Artificial Pressure
Open deadlines are death sentences for dreams.
Every task gets a deadline. Every project gets a countdown.
I don't care if no one else knows about your timeline. You do. And your brain will treat it seriously once there's a date attached.
The magic happens when you see "7 days left" staring at you every morning. Suddenly, your excuses feel expensive.
3. Engineer Effortless Starts
If it takes you 20 minutes to set up every time you want to work on your goal, you've designed failure.
This is where most people get it backwards. They think the work should be hard. But starting should be frictionless.
Set up once. Then starting becomes a single click, not a project.
I keep my recording setup permanently arranged. My writing apps stay open. My workout clothes are laid out.
When the barrier to entry is low, excuses lose their power.
4. Weekly Reality Checks
You forget your commitments faster than you forget your grocery list.
Every Sunday, I review what I said I'd do. Not to punish myself — to realign.
What got done? What didn't? Why?
This isn't about guilt. It's about awareness. Because you can't fix patterns you don't acknowledge.
5. Master the 2-Minute Rule
Never aim to "launch the project" or "finish the thing."
Aim to start. For two minutes.
Just open the document. Just pick up the camera. Just put on your running shoes.
The hardest part is always the transition from not-doing to doing. Once you're in motion, momentum takes over.
Two minutes turns into twenty. Twenty turns into done.
##4 What Happens When You Actually Do This
Inside my system I set deadlines for every project — not just big goals, but small tasks too.
The purple countdown timers don't just track time — they create urgency.
When I see "27 days left" on my dashboard every morning, I can't pretend I have forever.
It's like having a personal accountability partner.
That pressure forced me to start.
And once I started, I finished more tasks. More projects.
And slowly, I started finishing my actual goals.
Get My Second Brain 6.0 System ->
P.S. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now. Your excuses will still be there tomorrow. Your opportunities might not be.
Thank you for reading
Osama aka Ols
