Life Without Excuses
Lying on my stomach, my preferred position for sleeping, I woke up before the alarm sounded. Much to my disgust, my throat had an uncomfortable tickle. My left nostril was stuffed with nastiness. Outside of the covers was cold. The alarm sounded. I swiped the singing of Michael Jackson off and remained lying on my stomach with my eyes closed.
Five minutes later the alarm sounded again. This time I swiped the alarm off, said my prayers, pulled back the covers, placed my feet on the carpet of my bedroom, sat with my hands braced to the bed, then pushed myself out of bed to get ready for my workout.
Several months earlier waking to a sore throat, post nasal drip, and a room filled with cold air would have kept me in the bed until it was time to get ready for the work day.
Excuses Come with Risks
What had changed? Why no more excuses to stay in the bed?
Not to say I have fully recovered from making excuses in every aspect of my life, because surely I have not, but I am most certainly a lot more aware of when I am making excuses and what is at risk when we succumb to them: our growth and our progress. Such risks are not limited to my physical health either. Excuses touch every part of our lives.
Excuses get in our way. That is why we say, if you want new or better opportunities, if you want to make changes, or if you want to flourish in a particular area in your life, there is no room for excuses.
Who Controls Your Excuses?
We all have outside forces in our lives. That begs the question, “Who controls your excuses?” To help this hit home, do this for me:
Think about something or some things you have been wanting to do or change for a while now but you made excuses, saying things such as, “I do not have time. I do not know how. I am too tired. I have to take care of the kids, my parents, the cat, the dog, and anything and everything else but what I need to do.”
Now I ask you. Who orchestrates your excuses? Be honest.
I hope what you came to realize is that your excuses come from you. That means that it is you who is getting in your way.
Let Loose of Excuses
How then do you go about letting loose of your excuses?
I have pondered this very question for months. An idea on this subject hit me on a trip back from the restroom. Ideas seem to hit me going to, coming from, or while in the bathroom.
To test this idea, I took inventory of what has transpired in my life over the past 15 months.
What I came to realize is that what I have been able to do in the past few months would not have been possible had I given in to excuses. There would be no can.will.DONE blog. I would not have lost 75 pounds. I would not have had the opportunity to use the can.will.DONE platform and the relationship with my personal trainer to inspire the lives of others. I would not have up a website for my speaking. I would not be one of the co-leads of one of the affinity groups at my place of employment. None of that would have been possible had I given into the usual excuses.
As to how I let loose of my excuses, well, after feeling so broken for so long I decided I had two choices: stay in that state or do something about it. I think it is pretty evident that I did the latter. I encourage you to do the same. I did it, for no other reason than I got tired of feeling hopeless. That meant there was no room for excuses.
How Not to Give into Excuses
Excuses still pop into my head, but I do not allow them to hang around for too long. I assess what it is that I want to do, then I decide what I can do to at least get started. Sometimes that requires that I assess whether or not what I want to do is necessary. Other times it makes me reassess what I am already doing to see if it really matters. For example, is watching Scandal, Empire or Grey's Anatomy while it is airing as important as fitting in time to workout? Ok, truth be told, I was not using myself as an example there. Hint. Hint. Sometimes I look to see if there is something I can delegate or outsource to others. This is a great tip for you mothers playing super mom rather than taking some time for yourself. After starting with what truly matters, I then let what happens next happen naturally. That is how I let loose of excuses.
No Excuses Promise
I will not promise you that it will be easy, but I do promise you that if you choose to put yourself first, remain committed to putting yourself first, and are consistent with what you do, you will be able to transform your life, grow as a person, and still be able to fulfill your responsibilities as a parent, partner, spouse, or employee when you let loose of your excuses.
Start the Discussion: What will you start doing differently to let loose of your excuses to enhance your growth and your progress? Share in the post comments, on Facebook or Twitter.