Reasons or Excuses?

Before beginning my fitness journey in 2013, I had every excuse you could imagine. I was too tired. I was busy watching my daughter. I had too many other things to do. I even convinced myself that I was too out of shape to work out. Whatever reason you're thinking about right now, I can promise you that at one point, I had it too. So what changed?

Well, almost daily someone will say to me, "I wish I had your motivation..." or "If I had your motivation I could..." fill in the blank. Let me tell you this, I didn't wake up one morning covered in some magical motivating fairy dust. That just plain didn't happen. 

So what did happen? I got rid of every excuse I had. I had to completely change my mindset. It finally clicked that all of the "reasons" that I had to not workout each day, were nothing more than excuses. Was I really too tired or was I staying up too late at night? Was I really too busy watching my daughter or were there things I could do with her? Did I really have too much to do or was I just not managing my time well? Was I really "too out of shape" to work out or was I just lazy? 

Ouch, that one hurt to even write, but let's be honest sometimes the truth hurts. In reality though, once those excuses went out the window, everything in my life changed. It finally clicked that no one else could make me do this, no one else could motivate me enough to get started. And that's the hard part. Once you get started, you don't want to stop. Once you see that first change, however small, on the scale, you can't wait to keep going. Now don't get me wrong there will be days when it's hard. There will be days when you struggle to get out of the bed for that early morning workout, but you can do it. Once you push through the excuses that are holding you back, it will be so much easier to tell yourself to get out of the bed.

So, what excuse are you struggling with today? I can promise you that there is no truth in that excuse that is strong enough to keep you from achieving your dream. Throw that excuse out the window and get to work. And if you don't know how, let me know. You can be stronger than your excuses and once you see that, they will no longer have any power over you.