Monday Inspiration

Excuses.  They can make or break us.

"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.