Stay Motivated 8: Stop making excuses.

8. Stop making excuses.  The main gist of all these suggestions I’ve offered is to remove any kind of excuse you can make to yourself that will keep you from persevering.  Excuses are the real enemy, and they come up all the time.  Excuses got me to be a big fatty most of my life that was unhappy with how he looked but did nothing about it anyway.  Each of the suggestions on staying motivated I’ve offered have been linked to excuses that I’ve had to deal with.  You probably have your own set.  If you’re going to get healthy, eat right, and exercise – you have to stop making whatever excuses you make.

If you allow yourself to make excuses then you’re going to fail, and it will be your fault.  If you’ve decided you want to make a change, then make it.  If you’re not ready and you’re going to listen to your own excuses, then don’t make it.  But don’t blame anyone or anything other than yourself.  Your health is your own responsibility.  We all have different obstacles to overcome when it comes to our health.  Some have medical conditions that make some stuff harder than others.  Healthy looks different for all of us (remember number 7).  But you’re not helpless.  You have the strength and power to make the change you want – if you will let yourself succeed, and if you will stop making excuses. 

You are not too busy to eat right and exercise.  I’ll compare my schedule with yours over the past year any day of the week and I can just about guarantee I’ve got as much going on in my life as you do.  You have the time.  The question is whether or not you will make the time.  Saying you “don’t have time” is the lamest thing ever.

Do you want to spend the rest of your life whining and feeling bad about your health or how you look?  Then by all means give in to the excuses that keep you in bed in the morning, or the rationalizations that allow you to eat those extra five cookies at the end of the day.  But if you really want to change and if you really want to succeed – you have to stop making excuses.  Stop selling yourself short.  You really can do it.  Trust me.  If I can do it, you absolutely can do it.