Got Excuses?

I used to be the queen of excuses.  I don’t have time. I don’t have money.  I don’t have the energy.  I have no motivation.

So today, we are going to talk about those most common excuses.  We are going to shine light on them and I am going to tell you why they are BS. Ready? Let’s go!

Let’s start with time.  Raise your hand if you have used not having time as an excuse to not pursue your goals! 🙋‍♀️ I actually use it all the time. I used it before starting out on my health journey and I used it just a few months again when I really wanted to learn how to make gluten free sourdough. Here is what I know to be true - we all have time for whatever we make time for.  And here is the other reality -  the amount of time that we, as a nation, are spending on screens - social media, TV, Netflix, whatever, is hours a day!!  HOURS!  A DAY!  So, you have plenty of freaking time to do the hard thing.  The reason why you are using time as an excuse is because you are afraid to embark on an unknown journey.  FEAR is often what will hold us back.  Fear, however, is not real.  What we make up in our head to tell ourselves that we aren't capable or we can't do it, never turns out to be true.  When I started out on my health journey, I just started with waking up 10 minutes earlier and I progressed from there.  Can you find 10 minutes in a day to dedicate to your goal? Answer: YES you freaking can!!  And, in case you were wondering, I finally stopped using time as an excuse to not make sourdough and I just started.  I don’t think I am going to regret it!

Money, money, money!  This is another popular excuse and it’s another line of BS!  Now, please hear me, there are things that are legitimately not affordable for some people, but using this as an excuse to not go after your dreams is crap.  “Where there is a will, there is a way!” (George Herbert).  I used this excuse as a reason to not pay money for help.  Yet, I was buying whatever else I wanted without a blink of an eye.  And most Americans do this regularly.  We get those concert tickets, go out to eat, hit up Dunkin’ daily, buy the clothes, shoes or purses, get our nails done, but we won’t invest in our health.  Again, this goes back to fear.  We are afraid if we spend money on the thing and it doesn’t work we will have wasted money.  I get it.  This one gets me all the time.  But the fact is, most things have some sort of money back guarantee or they are a small investment so if it really doesn’t work out you haven’t lost much.  In addition to that, I find that it is pretty rare to actually not get value out of something you paid for.  It might be that you found a new friend or that you took just one small tip away.  Even if the thing you invested in doesn’t directly get you to your goal, doesn’t mean that it was a waste of money.  I am not suggesting that you be willy nilly about your money and go out and buy all the things.  Do some research.  Feel what feels best to you in your gut.  Don’t overthink it.

I don’t have the energy.  This is probably accurate.  I know I didn’t have the energy when I was starting out. Here is the most miraculous thing though - when you start putting your health first and giving your body what it needs you will have more energy.  The overly processed, crappy foods you are eating are zapping your energy.  There are not enough nutrients in that food to give you what you need.  Instead, your body is trying to figure out WTF to do with these foreign chemicals.  Aside from food, moving your body also helps to create energy.  Seems odd, but when you move your body you will release happy hormones in the body which will give you more energy (and happiness!).  It is like that old science concept “a body in motion stays in motion.”  Might be the only thing I remember from science class. 😂 Anyway, this one is about trust.  Trust that if you just start, the energy will come. It was the very first thing I noticed when I started my health journey.  I wasn’t expecting that AT ALL.  But I was actually getting home from work and I wasn’t needing a nap which felt like some kind of miracle. Especially since I had been waking up earlier to workout.  Seems illogical, but I tell you when you give your body what it needs, it will give back to you tenfold. 

I lack motivation.  Okay - so what?  Spoiler alert: motivation is not necessary for you to be successful.  Motivation will come and go.  All that matters is your commitment to your goal.  As a person who loves to sleep, if you think I am “motivated” to wake up at 5am to exercise, you are sorely mistaken.  I do it because I committed to it.  I do it because it is a habit.  I do it because I know it is best for me.  I do it for my health.  But there isn’t a magic feeling that jolts me into this each day.  You have to be willing to CHOOSE YOU!  You have to be willing to do things that are hard, that you don’t feel like doing.  You might feel motivated from time to time (usually after you start seeing results) but I promise you, this feeling of motivation is not necessary.  

If you are really struggling with any (or all) of these excuses I created a mini course called Motivate to Elevate which gives you all the steps to creating a goal, staying accountable and all my motivation tricks as well.  It also comes with some pretty sweet bonuses - so check it out!  I kept it at an UBER affordable price so those of you with the money excuse cannot possibly use that!

Listen, you can let your excuses win and continue to beat yourself up for not taking care of yourself, or you can say 🎵FUCK YOU EXCUSES YOU CAN SUCK… okay well you know where I am going.  Only you have the power to override your excuses.  Do not let those excuses control you anymore.  You’ve got this, Sister! <3