Coffee Talk #209: Your Excuses Can Help You Achieve Your Goals

It’s Tuesday! Grab your cup and let’s start chattin’.

Picture this – it’s a new month! A new week! A new year! You have GOALS. This is the year you’re going to open that business, or take control of your health, or even the year that you’re going to get outside every day.

You get started – day one, day two, it’s going GREAT. Then, a distraction happens. Come to happy Hour! Just sleep in, skip that workout. At first, the distractions are minimal, you can get back to it tomorrow. But then – it becomes days, weeks, months, and your goal is long behind you.

What now? Maybe you move on, maybe you start to fill with regret like OH DANG this was supposed to be THE YEAR that thing happened, but all I did was make excuses.

Or maybe you move yourself closer to your REAL goal. Your excuses might help you achieve your goals.

Stay with me for a minute. I’ve been a fitness professional for more than a decade, and I’ve been prey to “be bigger than your excuses” and “you can have results or excuses, not both” things of this nature. I think there IS a tipping point with excuses—I’ve been around the fitness industry long enough to understand which clients are ready vs. which clients keep using my time and brain power to make plans for them that they will NEVER show up to do (oh yes, we know these things).

I think our excuses can help us tell a bigger story, about what we really want, what we value, and what we prioritize.

I’m going to make a guess that the GOAL you’re trying to achieve, but have not been successful with, is wrong for you. It’s just not that into you. And it’s time to break-up with that goal. Are you ready to see if your excuses are leading you down a different path?

Here’s how to use your EXCUSES to achieve your goals.

Examine the Excuse. What’s the TOP excuse you make for not achieving your goals? Here are some of the top excuses: not enough time, I’m too young/old, I don’t have the right connections, no one is interested, I don’t have the resources, I’m not educated enough, I’m worried about what people will think.

Compare your goal and your top excuse. Let’s take “I want to get into shape” as the goal and “I don’t have enough time” as the excuse.

Time is finite, right? We have 24 hours in the day, and there are lots of things and people that demand our time, distracting us from reaching our goals. Not having enough time simply means that the thing you want isn’t really a priority. If that feels ok, move on to the next thing. If that stings a little, it’s time to re-prioritize.

Do you actually enjoy the process? Think about the excuses you’re making. What do they tell you about the process of achieving your goal? I meet people every day who think they have to do 100 crunches or 60 minutes of cardio every day to lose weight (spoiler: nope!). And the worst part? Both of those things sound like TORTURE to that individual and there’s 100% chance of them not attempting anything at all.

Your excuse highlights your fears. Your excuse will show you what you’re not willing to do to reach your goal. This is a big one. You have to be willing. And if you’re constantly finding excuses and never reaching your goal? Maybe the goal isn’t right for you, or not right for you right now.

Your excuse = your fear. Are you willing to face your fears to reach your goal? Or, does this highlight a major pain point for you and it’s time to LET GO of that goal and find a new one, one that you can actually achieve?

So think about all of this – take a moment and reflect, pause, when you find yourself sharing excuses about why you can’t reach your goals. Your excuses can help you find the right goals for you to chase.