10 Fresh Mindset Habits to Stop Making Excuses and Start Changing

Do you blame circumstances more than you take responsibility?

Most people want change, but few are willing to be the change.

Why is that?

Even when we know change will bring great opportunities, new exciting beginnings or impactful improvements, people are still reluctant to take the first brave step towards a better life.

Because change is terrifying. It’s unpredictable. It’s like swapping your comfy couch for a cactus. Even if your current situation is frustrating or unfulfilling, at least it’s familiar. People are drawn to the familiar like moths to a flame, even if they know it brings harm.

But unless you change, nothing changes. Your life will repeat itself like a bad soap opera rerun—same script, different day. Day after day, until you either make a change or die. Yes, this may sound dramatic, but it really is that simple.

This blog isn’t about massive life overhauls. It’s about fresh mindset habits. Practical. Honest. Impactful. These are the small but mighty mental shifts that move you from fear and avoidance to clarity and action. Because the comfort zone isn’t really that comfortable when you’re stuck in it too long.

It really is time to get up and take action in a different direction. And that doesn’t mean tomorrow, next week, month or year. It means today. It means right now!

Here are 10 fresh mindset habits to help you get off the hamster wheel and start steering your life in a new direction—one bold, fresh choice at a time.

1. Stop blaming and start owning

It is easy to blame others for why you haven’t or can’t make the necessary changes. Blaming your job, your partner, your childhood, the weather or even the dog might feel good temporarily. It takes the heat off you.

The truth of this narrative is that you are actually admitting that someone else dictates your life. If we cut through the bullshit, I want you to tell me who really is in charge of your life. Who gets to make the ultimate decisions?

It is you!

Blame is a dead-end street. It changes nothing. Owning your situation and your responsibility, on the other hand, puts you back in the driver’s seat. When you own your choices, your patterns, and your mindset, you reclaim your power to shift them.

Yes, some things aren’t your fault, but they are your responsibility. The moment you stop waiting for someone else to fix your life, you become the person who can. This doesn’t mean self-blame—it means self-leadership. Growth begins when excuses end.

So stop searching for excuses and start searching for ways to move forward.

It comes down to you taking action.

2. Challenge the comfort of your excuses

I have always liked the expression ‘Excuses are like assholes, everyone has one!’. Everyone can come up with an excuse to avoid doing something. ChatGPT can even prepare you a pretty convincing list of excuses for each and every eventuality. But where do excuses really get you?

Excuses are comforting. They’re the bubble wrap around your fear of failure. Yes, some excuses are valid, but like with any challenge, there is always a solution or action you can take if you are really motivated to explore and find it.

The problem with excuses and the comfort we gain from them is all they really are the enemy of growth. You say, “I don’t have time,” but scroll your phone for hours. You convince yourself can't get out of going for a run because your favorite top is in the wash, but can’t you run in any old top? You can say, “I’m not ready,” but you’ve been ‘not ready’ for years.

Instead of just accepting these often lame and unwarranted excuses, it is time to confront and challenge them. Question them. Expose them. Ask, “What if this isn’t actually true?”

You’ll discover that most of your limitations aren’t brick walls that are impenetrable; they’re merely fog. And once you see through them, you’ll realize you’ve been the one standing in your own way all along.

3. Stop romanticising the struggle

Struggle is often seen as noble, like you’re somehow more worthy because you’re suffering. You are falling on the sword, and you believe the warped sense of reality that you are the victim and deserve sympathy.

When you see the people on this earth who are really struggling and facing tragic circumstances with poverty and war as an hourly reality, do you see them playing the victim? In fact, most of the time, they just get on with it and search for solutions to make them safer and their situation a little bit better.

Now compare that with your situation? It puts things into perspective, doesn't it?

Finding excuses instead of action simply means you stay stuck, and there is nothing glamorous about that.

Just because you’ve always done things the hard way doesn’t mean it’s the right way. Change happens faster when you stop glorifying endurance and start embracing ease, efficiency, and smarter choices. Life doesn’t reward you for how much you can tolerate. It rewards you for how willing you are to shift. Let go of the badge of suffering and reach for the tools of transformation instead.

4. Lean into what scares you, as that’s where change is

Sure, change can be scary, but it can also be exhilarating. You get to choose which way you see it.

If it doesn’t scare you a little, it’s probably not growth. Fear is a signpost that says, “Something new is here.” And yes, new is scary. But it’s also full of potential. Most people avoid fear like the plague, but fear can be a powerful guide.

When you lean into discomfort, you expand your limits. You stretch your sense of who you are and what you’re capable of. Do the thing that makes your stomach flip. That’s where the change happens. That’s where your next level is waiting. You are willing to grow, improve and become a better version of yourself.

5. Stop waiting for the perfect moment

I’ve said this repeatedly in many of my blogs, especially regarding perfectionism: There is no perfect time to change. Today is better than any other day, so just have the courage to start making a change.

Don’t wait for a sunny day to start running, a quiet day to learn a new skill or the perfect platform you need to launch into a new venture. All this does is keep you waiting, postponing things and simply wasting time.

The perfect moment to start making changes is a unicorn. It doesn’t exist. You’ll always have reasons to wait. This may be until the kids are older, until you’ve saved more money, until you feel more confident.

But change isn’t a perfectly timed invitation. It’s a decision made in the middle of the mess. Growth doesn’t wait for ideal conditions. It thrives in movement. Please just take the next step, even if you’re not fully ready. Action creates clarity. And momentum is stronger than motivation. You don’t need the perfect moment when all the stars align. You just need to start.

6. Choose growth over familiarity

We all like familiarity. We know it and we feel comfortable in it. We feel we have more control over what we know. Familiarity feels safe. Even when it’s not. People stay in toxic relationships, dead-end jobs, and self-sabotaging habits because they know them.

But just because something is familiar doesn’t mean it’s good for you. If you had to undertake a serious and factual analysis of why you stay comfortable in less-than-ideal situations and often harmful environments, it would be quite jarring and alarming. If you were an outsider doing this review, you would question the sanity of why someone would not be willing to change.

But why do people want to remain going down when the wrong path when growth is providing you a wonderful new road?

Growth asks you to choose the unknown, to trade comfort for curiosity. When you prioritize growth, you stop clinging to the old version of yourself and start discovering the person you’re becoming. Growth might be uncomfortable, but so is being stuck. Choose your discomfort wisely.

7. Stop fearing failure and start fearing regret

Failure is temporary, but regret can last a lifetime. Most people don’t regret what they tried and failed at. They regret the chances they didn’t take. The risks they avoided. The dreams they put on the shelf “for later.”

When you make a change, you expose yourself to new thoughts, patterns, skills, and approaches. You will fail, and it’s part of the deal. But failure teaches, refines, and brings growth in a way that playing it safe never will.

When you shift your mindset from “what if I fail?” to “what if I don’t even try?” you start to see fear differently. Fear of failure keeps you frozen, while fear of regret moves you forward. Choose wisely because comfort fades, but regret lingers.

8. Upgrade your habits, not just your goals

Big goals are exciting, but they’re meaningless without supportive habits. You can dream all you want about changing your life, but if your daily actions still reflect your old self, nothing shifts.

To truly change, you must be willing to change your habits. This may sound so stupidly obvious, but why do people become frustrated that change hasn’t taken place when they haven’t changed a single habit? To lose weight, you need to change habits such as diet and exercise. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the correlation.

But the sooner we understand that change involves altering our thoughts and habits, the easier it will be for us to accept the alterations we need to make.

Real change happens in the small, boring, consistent things you do every day. Want to be healthier? Start by changing how you eat today. Want to write a book? Block ten minutes today. Your habits create your outcomes. Upgrade them, and the results follow. Don’t just set higher goals. Instead, build the systems that help you live them.

9. Stop confusing comfort with happiness

Many people mistake comfort for happiness. They think feeling safe means feeling fulfilled. I love a good burger and fries like the next person, and as much as they do bring temporary happiness and comfort, I know they are not sending me down the right path to health.

Comfort can be a cage, and while being in this safe space is good to do occasionally, it can’t be our permanent solution. True happiness often requires discomfort first. It requires doing new things, letting go of old habits, and challenging one's own thinking. The path to a meaningful life doesn’t feel cosy 24/7. It feels raw, real, and sometimes really hard.

One powerful message I tell myself is that instead of thinking about change as being a sacrifice, I instead focus on the opportunity it presents. Yes, eating healthier is not as fun as enjoying a nice cake, but the reward is that I feel better in my clothes, I have more energy, I like the way I look, and I can do more. It makes me realize that I am not actually sacrificing but instead improving.

The reward of change is often self-satisfaction, new experiences, joy, growth and greater self-confidence.

So don’t settle for shallow comfort when you’re capable of real, soul-deep happiness. You deserve more than just being ‘fine.’

10. Act like the person you want to become

You don’t become confident, disciplined, or empowered overnight. But you can start acting like the person who is. Fake it until you make it!

In reality, we do this every day. We often put on a façade of happiness when we are sad and confidence when we are uncomfortable or shy, so why should this be any different?

While we wait for the effects of change to take place, be it physical or financial in nature, we can start by changing our perceptions and thoughts. So, let’s start with that.

Ask yourself: What would future-you do today? How would they think? What choices would they make? Start showing up like them now.

Change doesn’t happen through hoping or wishing. It happens through behaving differently, repeatedly. Each time you choose a new action, you wire your brain for a new identity. You don’t wait to become that version of yourself—you build it, one decision at a time.

So don’t wait another day. Make the first steps of change today!