Stop being a victim of your excuses
Are you a victim of your excuses?
I’ve gone heavy into the mindset thing lately. My coach is all about mindset. So I’ve become all about mindset. Why? Because of the amazing results I’m seeing. At the end of the day, it’s what I talk about all the time with my clients anyway, I just haven’t used that word until now.
The word “mindset” is a bit of a buzzword, don’t you think?
It’s all over Instagram and there are hashtags up the wazoo. It seems like it might be one of the latest trends in the health field. But I’m not convinced it’s a trend. It’s something we do every day, it’s just now putting a word to something we instinctively do.
And that means we can put intention behind it.
Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about one aspect of mindset work lately. I’m seeing it in myself and many of the people I talk to. I even see it all over social media.
Excuses.
We all make them. We want to think that we don’t, but most of us do.
It’s too cold to go outside.
It’s too late to cook dinner.
I’m too tired to take the dog for a walk or play with the kids.
It’s too dark out to get any work done.
Maybe you’ve said some of these things. I know I have. So it’s not a matter of if we make excuses, it’s why. Here’s the big question:
Are you a victim of your excuses?
Do you live in your excuses? Have they become your reality? Are your excuses preventing you from moving toward your goal? Are they protecting you from facing some tough realities?
This idea came to me last week when I committed to my coach to take at least 10,000 steps every day. I even went as far as to say, “10,000 steps every day - find a way and do it.” What I meant by that was to cut the crap and cut the excuses.
Great! That’s a great goal, right? One that most people are very familiar with and may have even set for themselves. The problem? How was I actually going to do that?
If you’re living in the Midwest, something may be coming to mind about this week.
We’ve been having an unseasonably mild winter so far, but this week, temps are plummeting to single digits and lower at night.
Last year at this time, when I also set this step goal, we were facing one of the coldest weeks of the season. I’m talking about high temperatures of 2 degrees with wind chills of negative 30. Yikes, right!
Great week to commit to a step goal! (please read that with a sarcastic tone and a massive eye roll!) All I wanted to do was curl up in front of the fire and hibernate!
Two other things I had working against me are that one, working from home at my computer all day is not helpful and, two, cycling, which is my main form of cardio, doesn't count as steps. (remind me to write to Apple about that….)
Guess what? All of those things are excuses!
I could live in those excuses and let them become my reality. I could have changed my goal. I could have told my coach that it wasn’t going to happen and just dealt with it.
But I didn’t.
What did I do instead?
I changed my mindset. I decided that I wasn’t going to let those external factors determine my success.
I chose to not be a victim of my excuses.
So on Wednesday, when I got home late, I ate dinner and started walking around my couch.
It was 8:15 pm. I had 4,500 steps in for the day. It would have been easier to sit on the couch and watch TV until I fell asleep.
What inspired me to get up and walk was the thought of what I would say to my clients.
One thing that’s important for you to know about me as a health coach is that I wouldn’t ask you to do anything that I wouldn’t be willing to do myself. I couldn’t break that promise I had to myself. I couldn’t give in to the excuses.
So I walked.
It freaked out one of our dogs. She was so confused! But she walked with me for a good portion of it. She was still confused but at least she got some exercise too! Ha.
It probably annoyed my husband, too, as I walked in front of him 6 billion times as he was trying to watch football or something. I have no idea. I was in my own little world…
My point? Take a look at your life and compare it to your goals. Are you playing victim to your excuses?
Are you putting off making changes until things slow down at work? Or when the weather warms up? Or the kids are older? Or….[insert your excuses here].
The best time to start making changes was yesterday. The second best time is today. If you keep pushing off the starting point, you will never reach your goals.
Of course, walking outside in subzero temps is not for everyone and you need to use caution. But what’s stopping you from walking around your couch or the interior of your house 700 times?
What’s stopping you from taking the first step?
My guess? It’s your mindset that’s holding you back.
Here’s another big, bold statement, if you don’t change your mindset, you will never reach your goals.
My challenge for you today is to take a look at your life and compare it to your goals. Does the way you’re living your life right now set you up for reaching your goals? Or does it give you a bunch of excuses to use for not reaching your goals?
No one can change this for you. You need to do the work. But I can give you the tools and the space to make these shifts in your mindset. You don’t need to do it alone.
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