If you’ve already written the excuse before the attempt, you’ve decided how it ends.

Preparing the explanation in advance does something quiet to the attempt itself. Once a failure has an approved reason waiting for it, the pressure to avoid it drops, and effort tracks pressure more closely than anyone likes to admit. It also tells whoever is listening to expect little, which lowers what you will be held to.

Catch the sentence before you say it this week. I am probably going to be bad at this, I did not really prepare. Skip it and go in without the cushion, and let the result be an honest measure of where you are.