I used to be the queen of excuses. Why I wasn’t at my goal. Why I wasn’t skinny. Why I didn’t eat right. Why I was sick. Why I was late to work. Why my back hurt. Why I didn’t workout. Why I over slept. Why I didn’t have money to pay the bills. Why I didn’t like my job. Why my car broke down.

Let’s be clear on an excuse. What I mean by excuse is a rationalization of why you didn’t do something you know you should do. Or why you did do something you know you shouldn’t. Pay a bill vs. buy shoes. Eat something healthy vs. unhealthy. Drink water vs. soda. Work out vs. not. Eat an apple vs. a bag of chips. Allow one meal to get you off track for the rest of the day or the week or the month. Being late vs. being on time.

My excuses in no particular order:
Tired, worked 40 to 50 hours a week, didn’t like my job.
Had to get up at 4:30 to have enough time to make it to work.
Too hot and tired to do it after work.
Too busy and had plans after work.
Didn’t want to get sweaty and take a shower twice in one day.
Forgot my gym bag.
Couldn’t afford the gym.
Didn’t want to drive to the gym.
I don’t have anything to wear so I’m not going.
Too cold to get out of bed.
Too hot to get out of bed.
Wasn’t motivated to workout at home.
My back hurt.
My allergies were bothering me.
Overslept.
Didn’t want to workout in front of others at the gym.
My ipod died and I can’t workout without it.
Fresh fruits and veggies are too expensive to buy.
I deserve a piece of cake, glass of wine, fill in the blank because I worked hard all week.
I have to have diet coke. No reason necessary.
My spouse wont get up and workout with me then I don’t want to work out alone.
My spouse cooks me this fattening stuff and I have to eat it.
I don’t have time to cook breakfast, pack lunch, make dinner.
Easier to order out and get delivery so I have time to do other things.
I blew this meal so I might as well just eat a hamburger for dinner and skip the gym.
I missed my workout this morning so the entire day is shot. Might as well hit happy hour.
I drank too much last night and I’m hung over.

Any of them sound familiar to you? Did I cover most of them? Which one hit home the most?

Excuses be gone! You are the only person in your head. You are the only person that has to live with you and your thoughts. I know physically you may live with another person but mentally it is only you. You are in control of you and your mood. No one else. You are in control of your body. No one else. No one is forcing you to sit on the couch all day and mope around. No one is forcing you to eat hamburgers. No one is forcing you to go to that job you hate. No one is telling you to read that magazine or watch that show instead of working on yourself. You have the power to change your perception of it or the reality of it. Get your plan in order and start executing it. Stop blaming others for your mood.

Something clicked and I started working on my personal development. I started listening to Louise Hay audio. You Can Heal Your Life, You Can Do It and other affirmation type audio and DVDs. I watched The Secret. I read A New Earth and The Power of Now by Ekhart Tolle. I went to church. I meditated. I did yoga. I read Harmonic Wealth by James Arthur Ray. I became a fan of every positive thing on facebook you could imagine. Positively Positive, Life is Good, The Happy Place, Think and Grow Rich, etc. Every day I made a conscious effort to be happy. To focus on the positive no matter what my body looked or felt like.

I became an independent coach with Team Beachbody in November 2010 and would you know it, personal development was part of “The Game Plan” for coaches. Successful coaches worked on their personal development daily.

The more I learned about myself and how I can control my emotions the better I felt. It became easier and easier to set things free. I no longer dwell on things in my mind. Guilt is longer there. If I don’t workout it is because I chose not to workout and I don’t feel guilty about it. If I eat a hamburger instead of a salad I don’t eat it and then feel guilty about it. I acknowledge the hamburger and enjoy it. My ability to set things free can bother some people. It may come across as uncaring or arrogant. Not the case. I do care about people but I don’t care to win or be caught in the drama. I don’t have an interest in being a right fighter the way I used to be. I no longer have the need to have my point be heard. It takes two people to argue. If you don’t argue back then the fight basically ends. It is very freeing.

Yesterday one of the A/C units went out. It wasn’t too hot out but hot enough that sleep wasn’t comfortable. The dog woke me up a few times and when the alarm rang for the morning workout I was dreading it. I hit the snooze 3 times. On the 4th time I turned off the alarm. I said to myself, “If I wake up in the next 10 minutes I will workout. If I don’t then my body still needs the rest.” I woke up. I got dressed. Dreading the workout without my precious A/C running. 10 minutes in I felt so much better. I was so glad that I got my rear out of bed and worked out. My morning was happier. My mood was better. Did you hear an excuse in there? I heard several. But I didn’t use any of them. The old me would have checked out the minute the A/C crapped out. Too hot to sleep, too tired to get up, too hot to workout, don’t feel like it, yada yada yada. I did battle with the alarm. Still suffering from vacation re-entry but I’m working on it. Something to work on next time. Get out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off.

I choose my mood every day. I’m not perfect. Sometimes the shadow takes over and snaps. Sometimes I get in a funk. When that happens I remember my personal development. Read a good book Heather. Listen to Jim Rohn Heather. Get your mojo back. That TV show can wait. That music can wait. Today is today. You will never be able to do it over again. Make it as happy as possible. Laugh as much as possible. Feel as good as possible. Don’t waste your day complaining about other people or talking bad to yourself. Throw away the excuses and just do it already. You are the only one who can.