How to Stop Making Excuses and Start Following Through

The Three Most Important Things Listeners Need to Know

1. Excuses often sound reasonable because they are built around something real, but they still keep you stuck when they become a pattern. Most excuses are not completely made up. You may genuinely be busy, tired, discouraged, uncertain, overwhelmed, or afraid. You may have experienced setbacks that were not your fault. You may have responsibilities that require your attention and circumstances you cannot immediately change. The problem begins when a legitimate challenge becomes a permanent reason to avoid the next step. When you repeatedly explain why you cannot move forward instead of asking what you can do with what you have, excuses slowly become a lifestyle. If you want your life to change, you have to become honest about the difference between a real obstacle that requires a thoughtful adjustment and an excuse that is protecting you from discomfort.
2. Taking ownership is not about blaming yourself for everything. It is about reclaiming your ability to respond. Life will not always be fair. People will disappoint you. Plans will fail. Unexpected problems will appear. Some circumstances will be outside your control. Ownership does not mean pretending otherwise. It means refusing to surrender your future to the things you cannot control. You may not be responsible for everything that happened, but you are responsible for what you do next. When you stop blaming, stop waiting, and stop handing your power away, you begin to see choices that were hidden beneath the excuses. Ownership gives you a place to stand, a direction to move, and a reason to act.
3. Following through requires a clear plan, simple habits, and the discipline to act before you feel completely ready. Many people are not failing because they lack potential. They are failing because they are relying on motivation instead of structure. They wait for the perfect time, the perfect mood, the perfect plan, or the perfect level of confidence before they begin. But following through does not require perfect conditions. It requires the next right step. It requires a realistic plan, a repeatable routine, and the willingness to do what matters even when the work feels inconvenient. The goal is not to become perfect overnight. The goal is to become someone who keeps their word, returns quickly after setbacks, and refuses to let temporary feelings determine the direction of their life.

The Relentless People Podcast is for men and women who are tired of drifting through life and ready to start building it with intention. Hosted by John Reyes, this podcast exists to help you get clear on what you want, take full ownership of your life, build a real plan, do the work, and refuse to quit until you get there. Each episode delivers practical life principles that build clarity, discipline, focus, resilience, and relentless action so you can stop living by accident and start living on purpose. If you are ready to raise your standard, stay focused on what matters, turn setbacks into training, build habits that last, and become the kind of person who does not settle for average, this podcast is for you. Know what you want. Build the plan. Do the work. Don’t quit.

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Transcript

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Your life will not change when your excuses become more convincing. Your life will change when your commitment becomes stronger than the reasons you have been giving yourself for staying where you are. Most people do not wake up one morning and consciously decide to settle for less than their potential. It happens slowly. It happens one postponed decision at a time. One promise pushed into the next week. One opportunity avoided because the timing did not feel perfect. One goal delayed until life becomes less complicated. One uncomfortable conversation left for another day. One habit abandoned because motivation disappeared. Excuses rarely sound like excuses when we first say them. They often sound reasonable. They sound like I am too busy right now. They sound like I will start when things calm down. I need to do more research first. I am waiting for the right opportunity. I just do not have enough energy. They sound like I have tried before and it did not work. Maybe I am not ready yet. Some of those statements may contain some truth. Life can be demanding, responsibilities can be heavy. Timing does matter, rest matters, preparation matters, wisdom matters. But sometimes a reasonable explanation becomes a hiding place. Sometimes what sounds like patience is really fear. Sometimes what looks like preparation is really procrastination. And sometimes, what feels like self-protection is the very thing keeping you from becoming who you were meant to be. Welcome to the Relentless People Podcast. I'm John Reyes, and today we are talking about how to stop making excuses and start following through. This episode is for the person who knows there is more inside of them, but keeps delaying the work that will bring it out. It is for the person who has made promises to themselves, started with good intentions, and then watched those promises fade when life became inconvenient. It is the person who is tired of explaining why they cannot move forward and ready to start asking, what can they do next? And it is for the person who wants to stop drifting through life, take full ownership, build discipline, regain focus, and become someone who consistently follows through. The truth is that excuses are expensive. They give you temporary relief, but they often create long-term regret. An excuse can help you avoid discomforts today while quietly making tomorrow harder. It can keep you from facing the fear, doing the work, building the habit, strengthening the relationship, improving your health, changing your financial situation, or pursuing the opportunity that could move your life forward. Over time, the cost adds up. You do not only lose progress, you lose self-confidence. You start wondering whether your own promises mean anything. You begin doubting about the abilities that you have to change because you have seen yourself start and stop so many times. But that is not where this story ends. You can change the pattern. You can become more honest about the excuses you have been making. You can take ownership without beating yourself up. You can build clear, realistic plans, and you can take the next step before you feel completely ready. You can build trust with yourself one promise at a time. You can become someone who follows through. Today we're gonna talk about three important truths. First, excuses sound reasonable because they are built around something real, but they keep you stuck when they become patterns. Second, taking ownership is not about blaming yourself for everything, it is about reclaiming your ability to respond. And third, following through requires clear, simple plans and habits and discipline to act before you feel completely ready. Let's get started. Let's first talk about how excuses often sound reasonable. One of the reasons excuses are so powerful is that they rarely sound ridiculous. Most people are not telling themselves something they know is completely false. They are building excuses around real challenges. They are busy, they are tired, they do have responsibilities, they have experienced disappointments, they do not know exactly what to do, they are afraid of failing, they have limited time, energy, and in perfect circumstances. That is why this conversation requires honesty, not shame. The goal is not to dismiss every challenge and tell yourself that life should be easy. The goal is to recognize when real obstacles have become a permanent explanation for avoiding action. A challenge requires response. An excuse removes the responsibility to respond. A challenge says this is difficult, so I need to plan better. An excuse says, this is difficult, so there is nothing I can do. A challenge says, my schedule is full, so I need to identify what matters most. An excuse says, my schedule is full, so my goal will have to wait. A challenge says, I failed before, so I need to learn from what happened. An excuse says, I failed before, so there's no point in me trying again. The difference is subtle, but it matters. A challenge can make you wiser, an excuse keeps you stuck. Think about the excuses that show up often in your life. Maybe you tell yourself you do not have enough time. That may be true because your days are full, but the deeper question is whether your time reflects your priorities. Are there things receiving your attention that do not deserve it as much? Are you giving hours to social media, television, distractions, or low-value activities while telling yourself you cannot find 30 minutes for a goal that matters? Are you saying yes to too many commitments because you were afraid to disappoint people? Or are you allowing other priorities to fill your calendar while your goals remain untouched? Sometimes the problem is not that you do not have time, the problem is that you have not protected your time for what matters. Maybe your excuse is that you're tired. There are seasons when exhaustion is real and rest is necessary. You should not ignore your health and treat burnout like a badge of honor. But there is also a difference between needing recovery and allowing tiredness to become your automatic answer every time a meaningful work requires your effort. If you are constantly exhausted, the solution may not be to abandon your goals. The solution may be to examine your habits, your sleep, your schedule, your boundaries, your health, your activities that are draining your energy. Sometimes taking ownership means resting wisely. Sometimes it means removing what is unnecessary. It means doing the work while accepting that you may not feel fully energized. Maybe your excuses is that you do not know where to begin. That is understandable when the goal feels larger and unfamiliar. But uncertainty does not mean you are powerless. You can ask questions, you can read a book, you can seek guidance, you can make a phone call, you can identify the smallest possible step, you can begin learning. You may not know the entire road, but you can usually take one meaningful action that keeps you moving forward. Maybe your excuse is that you are waiting for the right time. The right time sounds responsible, but it can become dangerous when it never arrives. Life may not become less complicated. Your schedule may not suddenly open up, fear may not disappear, confidence may not appear before you act. You may never feel completely ready. At some point, you have to stop asking whether the conditions are perfect and start asking whether the next step is possible. Maybe your excuses connected to your past. You tried before and it didn't work. You made mistakes, you lost momentum, you failed publicly, some discouraged you. You started and stopped so many times that you no longer trust yourself. That pain is real. But your past does not have the authority to decide your next step unless you hand it the authority. A failed attempt is not proof that you cannot change, it is information. It may reveal that the pain was unrealistic, the habit was weak, the goal was unclear, or the support was missing. Learn from what happened. Do not turn a lesson into a life sentence. Excuses become especially dangerous when they begin shaping your identity. You stop saying, I have not been consistent, and you start telling yourself, I am not a consistent person. You stop telling yourself, I have procrastinated, and you start slowly saying, I am just a procrastinator. You stop saying, I need a better system, and you start telling yourself, I never finish anything. Once the excuses become a part of how you see yourself, changing the behavior feels almost impossible because you are no longer fighting a habit, you are fighting your identity. But identity can be rebuilt. You are not required to live as the person you have been. You are allowed to become someone more disciplined, more focused, more intentioned, and more reliable. You are allowed to stop agreeing with a story that says, you always quit. You are allowed to build evidence that there is a different future possible for you. That evidence does not come from saying the right words, it comes from taking action. This is where honest self-reflection matters. You have to be willing to ask yourself the difficult questions without becoming defensive. What excuses do I repeat most often? What goals have I delayed for months and years? What uncomfortable actions do I keep avoiding? What am I afraid might happen if I truly commit? What temporary comfort am I protecting? What would life look like a year from now if I stopped making these excuses and start taking consistent action? Those questions are not meant to condemn you. They are meant to wake you up. Excuses thrive in vagueness. They lose power when you name them clearly. Once you can see the patterns, you can interrupt it. Once you recognize the excuses, you can replace it with better questions instead of asking, What can't I do this week? Ask, what can I do with my energy and time that I have right now and the resources that are in front of me? Instead of asking, why is this so hard? Ask, what would make this next step easier to complete? Instead of asking, what if I fail? Ask, what will happen if I never begin? Relentless people are not people who never face challenges. They are people who refuse to use challenges as permission to drift. They do not deny reality, they respond to reality, they adjust their plan, they simplify the steps, they seek help, they rebuild habits, they learn from their mistakes, and they keep moving. That is the first step in stopping the excuse cycle. Stop asking your excuses for permission to build the life you want. Listen to the challenge, learn from what it's telling you, then decide what action is still possible. Now let's talk about why taking ownership is not about blaming yourself. One of the strongest principles in the relentless people life is simple. Take full ownership. Your life is your responsibility. No excuses, no blaming, no waiting. If it is yours, own it. That principle is powerful, but it can also be misunderstood. Taking ownership does not mean pretending that everything that happens is your fault. Life does not work that way. People make decisions that affect you. Circumstances change, opportunities disappear, relationships become difficult, unexpected problems show up. You may have experienced things you never chose and could not control. Ownership is not about fault, it is about your response. You may not be responsible for what happened, but you are responsible for what you do with it. The distinction changes everything. When you focus only on fault, you may spend years waiting for someone else to change, apologize, understand, or make things right. You may keep replaying the past, building your case, explaining why the situation is unfamiliar, and hoping the world eventually gives you the conditions you believe you need before you can move forward. Some of those feelings may be understandable. But if your future depends entirely on circumstances outside of your control, you have handed your power away. Ownership brings your power back. Ownership says this situation may not be what I wanted, but I am still responsible for the next decision. Ownership says I cannot change everything, but I can identify what is within my control. Ownership says I may need help, but I am not helpless. Ownership says I may need a new plan, but I am not going to drift. I am not going to spend another year waiting for someone else to rescue me from my life. I am responsible for building the life that I want. That is not harsh, it is freeing. Blame may give you temporary relief because it allows you to avoid responsibility, but blame keeps you stuck. If the problem is always someone else, then the solution is always outside your control. If you're waiting for the economy, your boss, your spouse, your family, your friends, your schedule, your motivation, or your circumstances to become perfect, you may be waiting for a really long time. Ownership does not mean you ignore the real issues. It means you stop allowing them to become the only issue you see. You may not control your entire schedule, but you can protect a small block of your time. You may not control how someone treats you, but you can choose your boundaries. You may not control the economy, but you can learn new skills, reduce unnecessary expenses, explore opportunities, and make different plans. You may not control the mistakes you made yesterday, but you can learn from them today. You may not control how long the process takes, but you can take the next step. This is where excuses begin losing their grip. Excuses focus your attention on everything you cannot control. Ownership directs your attention towards what you can control and do next. That shift is not always dramatic. Sometimes ownership looks like writing down your priorities instead of carrying them around in your head. Sometimes it looks like apologizing for something you handled poorly. Sometimes it looks like saying no to a commitment that is draining your energy. Sometimes it looks like asking for help. Sometimes it looks like making an appointment, building a budget, setting an alarm, going for a walk, making a call, or returning to the work you have been avoiding. The action may be small, but the mindset behind it is so powerful. You are reminding yourself that you are still in control. You still have a choice. You still have the ability to move in the direction in which you choose. A relentless person does not spend all their energy wishing life is easier. They use their energy to become clearer, stronger, wiser, and more disciplined. They ask better questions instead of asking, why is this happening to me? As their only question, they ask, what does this moment require of me? Instead of asking, who is responsible for making this better? They ask, what is my responsibility in this now? Instead of asking, why am I behind? They ask, what is the one step I can take today to get me ahead? Those questions move you from frustration to action. They also require humility. Taking ownership means becoming honest about the ways you own habits and maybe contributing to the problem. Maybe you keep saying you want a better life, but your schedule does not reflect your priorities. Maybe you keep saying you want to improve your health, but your daily choices keep moving you in the opposite direction. Maybe you keep saying you want to grow, but you avoid every situation that requires discomfort. Maybe you keep saying you want to follow through, but you start too many things and finish very few of them. Honesty can be uncomfortable, but it also is where change begins. You cannot change what you refuse to acknowledge. The good news is that ownership gives you something to work with. If your habit is part of the problem, you can rebuild the habit. If your schedule is part of the problem, you can adjust your schedule. If your environment is full of distractions, you can change that environment. If your goal is too vague, you can clarify your goal. If your plan is unrealistic, you can simplify it. If your fear is holding you back, you can take smaller, courageous steps. Ownership is not a punishment, it is an opportunity. There is also a difference between ownership and self-condemnation. Some people hear a message about excuses and immediately begin attacking themselves. They replay every mistake, every weakness, and speak to themselves in a way that they would never speak to another person. That is not productive. Be honest, but do not be cruel. Take responsibility, but do not shame your strategy. Shame says you are a failure. Ownership says you have made mistakes, but you can learn. Shame says you never follow through. Ownership says, your current patterns are not working, but you can build better ones. Shame says, you're too far behind. Shame keeps you looking backward, but ownership turns towards the next step. The goal is not to spend the rest of your life feeling guilty about the excuses you have made. The goal is to stop making the same excuses and begin building a different future. This is where the relentless people core truth begins and comes alive. Know what you want. Get clear about your life and what you're trying to build. Decide what matters. Be honest about the gaps between where you are and where you want to go. Then take ownership of your parts in closing that gap. You may not be able to change everything, but you can change something. And you can start right here. The last thing I want to talk with you about is how to follow through a clear plan. Once you recognize the excuses. And take ownership. The next step is action. This is where people get stuck. They become inspired by the idea of change, but inspiration does not automatically create follow-through. They decide they want a different life, but they do not build a plan that can survive ordinary days. Follow through requires structure. A goal without a plan is easy to abandon because it remains vague. You may tell yourself you want to become healthier, improve your finances, write that book, strengthen your relationship, build a business, or complete an important project. Those goals may matter deeply, but if you do not turn them into clear actions, they will remain intentions. Intentions feel good because they allow you to imagine a better future. Habits change your life because they force you to live differently today. Start by defining what you want clearly. What does success actually look like to you? What would it mean to follow through? What needs to be completed? What are the deadlines? What is the next measurable step? If your goal is vague, your actions will be vague. When your actions are vague, excuses have room to grow. Once the goal is clear, break it down. Larger goals can feel overwhelming, and overwhelm quickly becomes another excuse. You look at the size of the task and convince yourself that you need more time, more energy, more better moments to begin. But you do not need to complete the entire goal today. You need to identify the next step. If you want to improve your health, the next step may be scheduling three walks this week. If you want to improve your finances, the next step may be reviewing your accounts and creating basic budgets. If you want to complete a project, the next step may be working on it for 30 minutes of focus time every morning. If you want to strengthen a relationship, the next step may be initiating one honest conversation. Small steps are not weak steps, they are how momentum begins. The next thing you want is a routine. If your goal only receives attention when you feel motivated, it will always be vulnerable. You need to decide when the work is going to happen. Put it on your calendar, protect the time, reduce the friction, remove the distractions, make the good habits easier to begin, and the excuses harder to use. If you want to work out in the morning, prepare your clothes the night before. If you want to write, create a specific time in a place where you sit down and write. If you want to reduce restractions, place your phone in another room during your work hours. If you want to manage your day better, identify your top priorities before you start reacting to emails and messages and social media. Your environment matters because discipline is not only willpower, it is about design. If you want your daily life to support the person you are trying to become, then you have to make these hard decisions. This connects directly to another relentless principle. Build habits, not hype. Motivation fades, habits remain. Bursts of inspiration may help you begin, but routines help you continue. The most impressive plan is not always the most effective one. The best plan is the one you can repeat. Start smaller than your ego wants. Make the habit simple, make it realistic, make it clear, then repeat it consistently. A lot of people quit because they try to transform everything at once. They create an ambitious plan, follow it for a few days, and then become distracted when life interrupts them. They interrupt one perfect day as proof that the plan has failed, then drift back into their old patterns. But you do not need a perfect plan. You need a sustainable one. You also need to expect resistance. The work will not always feel good. There will be days when you are tired, distracted, busy, frustrated, or unmotivated. There will be days when the results are hard to see. There will be days when the old excuses return and sound convincing again. Do not be surprised. Prepare for it. When resistance shows up, you do not need to argue with yourself for an hour. You need to return to the plan. You need to remember what you decided when you were thinking was clear. You need to take the next step, even if the step feels small. This is where discipline becomes more important than your mood. Discipline is not absence of emotion. It is the decision that your emotions do not get the vote on every commitment you made. You can feel tired and still take that walk. You can feel uncertain and still make that call. You can feel unmotivated and still complete 30 minutes of focused work. You can feel discouraged and still return to the habit. The action may not always feel impressive, but it is building something powerful. Every time you follow through, you are strengthening your identity. You remind yourself that you are becoming a person who does what he says they are going to do. That matters because excuses weaken your self-trust. Every time you make a promise to yourself and abandon it without a good reason, you teach yourself that your own words do not carry weight. Every time you follow through, even in the smallest way, you rebuild trust, you create evidence, you begin believing yourself again. The goal is not perfection, the goal is to return to the plan. You will miss days, you will lose focus, you will make mistakes, you will experience unexpected challenges. You will have weeks when your progress is slower than you wanted. That does not mean you have failed. It means you need to return quickly. Do not let one day missed become a month. Do not let one bad decision become an excuse to abandon the whole plan. Do not let one setback convince you that nothing has changed. A relentless person is not someone who never gets knocked down. A relentless person is someone who knows how to get back up. That is the final part of the relentless people core truth. Build a plan, do the work, and don't quit. Build a plan you can actually follow. Do the work even when the feeling is missing and return quickly when you fall short. Keep your word to yourself. Let consistency build confidence. Let the small wins create momentum. Let momentum change your life. As we bring this episode to a close, I want you to remember this. Excuses may explain why the journey is difficult, but they cannot build the life you want. At some point, you have to decide that your future is worth more than the temporary comfort of staying where you are. Today we talked about how excuses often sound reasonable because they are built around something that is real. You may genuinely be busy, tired, uncertain, overwhelmed, or discouraged. You may have faced setbacks that were not your fault. But the real challenge does not have to become a permanent reason to stop moving forward. You can acknowledge the difficulty and still ask what action is possible. You can respect the obstacle without building your future around it. We talked about how taking ownership is not about blaming yourself for everything, it is about reclaiming your ability to respond. You cannot control every circumstance, but you can take responsibility for your next decision. You can stop waiting for someone else to rescue you. You can stop handing your power away. You can ask what is within your control and begin there. We also talked about how follow-through requires clear plans, simple habits, and the discipline to act before you feel completely ready. You do not need to change your entire life in one dramatic moment. You need to define what matters, break it into smaller steps, build repeatable routines, protect your focus, and keep returning to the work. Take an honest look at your life. What excuses have you been repeating? What meaningful goals have you been delaying? What uncomfortable actions have you been avoiding? What habits need to change? What is one thing you can do today that would keep you moving forward? Do not wait till next month. Do not wait until Monday. Do not wait until everything feels easier. Do not wait until your confidence becomes perfect. Start with the next step right now. This is what relentless people is about. It is about refusing to drift through life controlled by excuses, fear, comforts, distractions, and delays. It is about taking ownership of your time, your habits, your focus, your commitment, and your future. It is about becoming the kind of person who does not need perfect conditions before doing what matters. Know what you want, build a plan, do the work, and don't quit. I'm John Reyes, and this is the Relentless People Podcast. If this episode helped you, take a moment to subscribe to the podcast so that you don't miss future episodes. If you know someone who has been stuck in a cycle of excuses, procrastination, frustration, or unfinished goals, pass this episode on to them. Sometimes one message shared at the right time can help someone stop drifting, regain focus, and take the next right step. If you need additional resources, encouragement, or practical tools to help you build clear discipline, focus, consistency, and relentless action. Visit relentlesspeople.com. And remember this the moment you stop defending the excuses that keep you stuck is the moment you become free to build the life you have been waiting for.