That thing that’s keeping you from delivering on your promise – to yourself or to someone else. Is that an excuse or a reason?
People – ourselves included – have little tolerance for excuses. If we keep repeating them over and over again, they do not become more acceptable. They simply make the relationship more difficult.
Understand the difference and take a stand.
Fun fact: we tend to hide excuses, burying them inside long monologues or beyond a volatile interpretation of data. Reasons, on the other end, emerge whenever we need to strengthen a connection.