That is the primary distinction between reasons and excuses. We normally focus on everything and everyone else but ourselves when we manufacture excuses. We are making excuses and failing to grow in character if we are hesitant to accept responsibility for our actions and decisions that led to the failure. Excuses are easy to make and hard to break down into action; reasons are difficult to make and easy to live by. An excuse is used to justify something that was not done or said. For example, if I say my boss's criticism of my work is an excuse for not doing better work, then I am using the excuse mechanism to avoid taking responsibility for my behavior. Reasons are explanations that help us understand why something happened or was said. My reasons for not doing better work may be that I did not receive adequate training or that my supervisor is very critical. The advantage of reasons is that they can guide us toward possible solutions to problems; for example, if I know that my training has been inadequate, this reason may lead me to seek out more training opportunities or possibly find a different job role that will help me develop my skills further. People use both reasons and excuses to explain their behaviors. However, people who make only reasons or only excuses lack the ability to change negative patterns in their lives. It is important to be able to look at the underlying cause of any behavior pattern so that you can take appropriate action.