8. No One Will Help Me
This excuse really saddens me because there’s no truth in it whatsoever. The fact is that the world is filled with people who would jump at the chance to help you with whatever you’d like to create. But if you hold on to a false notion that no one will be there to help you, your experiences will match that belief.

If you’ve spent way too much of your life overweight, seriously addicted, lost in poverty, or what have you, then you need to realize that the ball is in your court – no more excuses! Once that belief begins changing, you’ll see help arriving, but the initial movement is completely in your thoughts.

4. There Will Be Family Drama
After spending many years as a family therapist, I’ve seen how people often become stuck in their habituated modes of thinking because they fear the criticism that could result if they change.

And I receive so many phone calls on my weekly radio show (on HayHouseRadio.com®) from individuals who insist on remaining stuck because of this excuse. When I encourage a shift in thinking, I regularly hear things like, “I’d love to try what you suggest, but it would kill my parents,” or “My family would disown me if I did that! It’s too big a price to pay.” I’ve heard more than a few admit that if their spouse died, it would be an easier solution than making changes!

In my role as a counselor, teacher, and parent, I’ve heard many reasons that people use to explain an unhappy existence . . . and almost all of them inevitably fall into one huge category, which I call “excuses.”

The rest of the chapter will introduce you to 18 of the most commonly used ones, along with a brief commentary about each of them. This will give you a primer before you go on to learn the Excuses Begone! method that’s detailed in the rest of the book.

Here they are, in no particular order:

How is authentic happiness different from synthetic happiness?

Ten years of scientific findings from some of the world’s most prestigious institutions have shown that lasting fulfillment and sustainable happiness cannot be synthesized from the material or the physical world. That is, success in any respect – whether it is financial, professional, romantic, social, physical, or otherwise – does not lead to a happy life.

Successful life circumstances, by and large, will not guarantee that you live happily ever after. In other words, there are no purely “happy circumstances” in this life – no circumstances that serve as a one-stop-shop for creating a happy life.