"It's different for me."

The excuse that makes you special.

Everyone else can do it, but your situation is unique. Your obstacles are different. Your circumstances are harder.

You're the exception.

Let me be blunt:

You're not that special.

I don't mean that as an insult. I mean it as liberation.

Whatever you're facing—someone else has faced it and overcome it. Whatever your obstacle—someone with that same obstacle has succeeded anyway.

The excuse that your situation is uniquely difficult is just that: an excuse.

It lets you off the hook. It lets you stay stuck without feeling bad about it.

"I would, but my situation is different."

No. Your situation is your situation. And other people with similar situations have figured it out.

Here's how this lie works:

You look at someone who's done what you want to do.

Then you find the differences.

"They had more money."
"They had more time."
"They didn't have kids."
"They had connections."
"They got lucky."

You focus on what they had that you don't.

And you use that gap to justify your inaction.

But here's what you're not doing:

You're not looking at the obstacles they had that you don't.

You're not looking at the disadvantages they overcame.

You're not looking at the people who started with less than you and built more.

Because that would destroy the story. That would expose the lie.

So you cherry-pick. You find evidence for your excuse and ignore everything else.

The truth is this:

There are people with more obstacles than you who are winning.

There are people with less resources than you who are building.

There are people with harder circumstances than you who have stopped making excuses.

Your situation is not the problem.

Your story about your situation is the problem.

I had my own version of this.

"I can't build a business because I have a family."
"I can't take risks because I have responsibilities."
"It's different for me because [insert excuse here]."

Then I met people with bigger families, more responsibilities, and harder circumstances who were doing exactly what I said I couldn't do.

My excuse died that day.

Turns out I wasn't special. I was just hiding.

You're not the exception.

You're not uniquely burdened.

You're not facing something nobody else has faced.

You're human. With human obstacles. That other humans have overcome.

Stop using your circumstances as a shield.

Start using them as fuel.

Done negotiating.

-Joel