Brian Tracy, in his book Crunch Point, says "There is a way that you can test your excuses to see if they are valid. It is simply to ask yourself, 'Is there anyone else who has my same excuse but who is moving ahead and succeeding nonetheless?'"

For any given excuse you can produce, it's likely that someone else is hurdling over the same obstacle without hesitation. It's a brilliant question. For most obstacles, hundreds, thousands or even millions of others faced more daunting barriers and overcame them. When you start looking for evidence of why you can, versus making excuses for why you can't, opportunities and willpower present themselves. So much of life, I've found, is simply choosing to focus on the right things.