What went wrong? Excuses 101

Man, I was doing so good. Full of motivation, energy, excitement and determination. Two weeks in the bag, 4 pounds down. Then life happened. Unexpected travel, insanely busy work, demanding children, summer camp.... you name it! I was exhausted. I had no time or energy. My motivation was solely used for other people. My office aka. recliner became my permanent go to place for the last two weeks. And I was sat, stiff there, with a book full of "Why I can't" excuses to halt my progress.

So this morning as I was working out I was thinking: "Man this feels good, I love this. Why didn't I do this for two weeks? I'm gonna feel this later." So why? Why do I make all of these excuses when I know deep down that all of those reasons I have for NOT doing it will go away, and the things I'm doing in place of NOT doing it will be much easier. 

That is when I decided to make a list of excuses, and why working out is better than the excuse. So allow me to indulge myself for a minute.

EXCUSE                             TRUTH

                                  I'm too tired                          Working out will give you energy

                                                I'm too busy                          Exercise will help you be more productive

                              I'm too stressed                     Working out will help with that

                                          I'm traveling                           You're taking you legs with you, right?

                                            I have no energy                    You'll find it after a good thirty minutes.

                                                I didn't sleep              The more active you are, the better you will sleep

Before you answer that, I want you to do what I did. That is a short list, I have many, many more, I assure you. While you think about your excuse, think about what would happen if you replaced that excuse with a few minutes of walking or lifting a weight or doing some crunches or a jumping jack....anything! Truth is, fitness, exercise, activity, moving is a solution more often than not. So suck it up and do it! That is my new mantra. Honestly, making excuses is so much more exhausting than the activity at hand. And squeezing in that extra few minutes before or after whatever you're using as an excuse will feel so much better. It takes more energy to think of all of the reasons why you can't than it does to just DO! 

I'll leave you with a little story. I have an author friend; he works full time plus some. He writes horror novels, and this year alone he has self-published at least three. He is also a father of a gazillion kids, cooks dinner, cleans the house and entertains over a thousand hungry friends on facebook, everyday! The other day, he decided it was time to start getting fit, and added a mile run and some strength training to his already busy schedule. Now he doesn't have any weight to lose, mind you, but he just wanted to feel better. So now, he is going to finish writing his newest novel, promote the rest of his collection, go  to work everyday, entertain friends on facebook, care for his home and family, and exercise. When he told me he could help me achieve my goals, I laughed. Right! How on earth can you do that from across the world? On top all of the other things you do. He responded telling me how he manages to write novels while working full time. He FINDS the time. He writes on his breaks at work, constantly thinking about his stories. He writes before work, and often falls asleep writing. The FINDS the time to make it happen because it is what matters; what he lives for, what gives him joy and makes him happy. So, the moral of this story is, YOU CAN DO IT! YOU CAN FIND THE TIME. Just don't make excuses. Give a little shout out to my good friend Ian Woodhead,  

if you wouldn't mind. Show him support if his story gave you a little motivation today. 

I'm not going to make excuses anymore. Ian won't let me, and I won't let you. Find a way to get it done. You won't be sorry, you will be BETTER and those excuses will be the REASON for getting it done, rather than the reason you didn't.

Happy Monday! 

~Mommylah~