"Oh, I'll start my diet tomorrow."
"I had a long day and I'm tired, I'll go to the gym next time."
"I am always so tired, I should probably skip that early morning class and get a few extra ZzZ's."
"Well, I had a lot going on that week and just couldn't study as much as I wanted..."
Do any of those sound familiar? I'm sure there are plenty of other statements that you can come up with.
Though, it's true you need a good amount of sleep and taking a day off from hitting the gym is considered healthier than going 7 days a week, we need to be conscious of just how many times we are allowing excuses to dictate our lives. An excuse every once in awhile is like taking a mental health day; almost needed. But excuses made too often actually can bring us down more.
Have long days at work more often than you want? Find a way to work out at home and do the gym on the weekend.
You're certainly allowed to "forget" your diet for a night because it's not going to kill your dieting, but don't be someone that will use the "I'll start my diet tomorrow" excuse for having a cheesecake at dinner with the girls and then use that cheesecake as an excuse to overdo yourself the next five days in a row.
Another consideration: are there certain events in your life that seem to cause you to make excuses more often than you like? This might be a time to kind of take a step back and learn to find some more balance in your life.
I love the word balance, it really is such a key for life... but I'll talk about that more another day.
Challenge: next time you find yourself making an excuse, make a deal with yourself. If you make an excuse that it's okay to not go to the gym, make a deal that you will go to the gym that night but that you'll take the next night off instead. Would rather get some extra sleep? Make a deal to get up early, go to the class, be productive, then take a nice little afternoon nap.
Thanks for posting this! I make excuses all too often. No longer!
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