One of my favorite songs by Andy Mineo is “You can’t stop me”. There is a line in one verse that says “make moves or make excuses”. This line isn’t necessarily deep, witty, or profound. However, I come back to it every time I have a tough workout, long practice, or lack of drive to finish something I started. When I don’t want to run up the stairs one more time “make moves or make excuses”. When I don’t want to do push ups the day after Christmas, “make moves or make excuses”. Finally, when I am rummaging through the cupboards trying to find another salty carb to binge eat, “make moves or make excuses” is what helps to drive me to eat the greek yogurt instead. Where am I going with all of this? It’s a new year, a new resolution season, and another January to commit to something and then miserably accept defeat by February. I know, this took a dark turn, but stay with me. It’s all talk. The resolutions, the commitments, the plans; it’s all good and well but actions are few are far between. The problem with our new year's resolutions beginning with “talk” is that we can always “talk” ourselves out of it. “Skipping one day won’t hurt.” “What’s one brownie?” “Sleeping in is healthy too.” It doesn’t take much for us to sabotage our own plans for healthy living. This brings me back to “Make Moves or Make Excuses.” I have found that there are 3 key ingredients to making moves and not excuses in regard to fitness, health, and anything else for that matter. 1. Why are you doing this? Have you ever seen what moms are capable of when their children’s quality of life is on the line. Or maybe you have seen how stubborn a child can be when they really want that cookie. These situations, these moments of unwavering persistence, occur when someone decides that they “want” something and that nothing will stand in their way. Jillian Michaels used a strategy that I found pretty cool (yes I have her videos; they were $1 a piece at the dollar tree. They were essentially free; what was I supposed to do, not buy some?). During the warm-up portion of the workout, she casually asked those participating why they chose to do this workout in this season of life, today, right now. Given that the warm-up is everyone’s second favorite part of a workout (the first being the cool-down), I think most would participate in this line of thinking. Later, during the final and most difficult stretch of the workout, she asked everyone to remember why they were doing this; why they even turned on the video to begin with? Moral of the story, we all need a specific reason that not only inspires us to begin but also keeps us from quitting when things get difficult. 2. Don’t carry the weight of your commitment alone. As cliché as this may sound, get accountability. Not so that someone can force you out of bed at 6 am and make you do burpees until you puke. NO! Ask someone to hold you accountable so that you do not have to carry the weight of your commitment alone. I am blessed to have a whole soccer team of girls who care about me, support me, and would never ever let me slack off. Find yourself a team to not only push you to persist but to also take some of the pressure off when times get hard. At the end of the day, my team knows when I need tough love and when I need to rest and refocus. 3. Know your excuses.
As painful as it is, sit down, brew a cup of coffee, get some paper, bust out your favorite pen, and write down what your usual excuses are. If there is one thing I know about myself, it is that all of my “reasons” for not doing something are never new. Mine are the following: “I’m too tired”, “Now is not the best time”, and “Why try? You will never be good enough anyway.” When we evaluate our excuses, we can find ways to respond to them. “You are always tired, why not be tired and hot?” “There is never a “good” time to work out. Right now is as good as any other.” “You are a child of God! He fills the space between what you are capable of and what needs to be done.” Train yourself to not only recognize your excuses but to immediately counter them with the truth.
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