Excuses are Expensive

Excuses are Expensive

From LOA Today - Your Daily Dose Of Happy by Walt Thiessen

April 7, 2026 · 1h 3m

About this episode

Walt and life coach Joel discuss the high cost of excuses and the deeper issues behind them.

When Walt sat down with life coach and LOA teacher Joel for an episode of Your Daily Dose of Happy , a simple phrase from one of Joel’s TikToks became the doorway to a powerful, uncomfortable truth: “Excuses are expensive.” At first glance, it sounds like a clever slogan. But as Walt admitted, the moment he read it, he realized how true it was - we pay a real price for excuses, while getting nothing of value in return. Joel explained that for him, excuses are usually a procrastination tool and often a symptom of something deeper: a victim mindset. He doesn’t want excuses from people who work with him. As he put it, he’s fine with someone saying, “I got 4 of the 5 things done; I’ll do the last one tomorrow.” What he doesn’t want is the story: “My dog did this, this happened, and that’s why I couldn’t do it.” Walt pushed the idea further, asking why people cling so hard to excuses. His take: we’re often pre‑emptively defending ourselves from anticipated blame. We’re bracing for the blame game, so we start playing it first. Joel agreed, connecting this to the broader culture of blame, where responsibility is dodged instead of owned. One of the most powerful moments came when Joel…

People in this episode

Host: Walt Thiessen

Guest: Joel

Topics covered

  • excuses
  • procrastination
  • victim mindset
  • responsibility
  • blame culture

Keywords

  • excuses
  • procrastination
  • victim mindset
  • responsibility
  • blame
  • life coach
  • self-improvement

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