An Effective Response To A Common Excuse

I don’t like when I scream at my kids. I hate it when my mind is too tired to think of creative solutions for my challenges at work. And I always regret when I lay into my husband from stress.

I have found there is one activity that helps reduce all of these cringe-worthy behaviors of mine. It’s something you and I already know we need to do. It’s probably on your to-do list right now. It’s exercise.

The reason we don’t exercise, even though we know it’s essential for our mental, emotional, and physical health, is that we choose to make excuses instead. My question for you is: Are you going to let excuses run your life, or will you take control and be responsible for your own results? If you choose the latter, and I hope you do, you can accomplish this by reaching for what I call a “Resourceful Response” every time you find yourself in excuse-making mode.

🔴 Excuse: I don’t have time.
🟢 Resourceful response: We all have the same 24 hours in the day. How you choose to spend it is what matters. Sure, if you have kids or work long hours, you may not be able to fit in an entire hour-long yoga class every day, but twenty minutes is doable. You may find your runs now mean pushing a stroller, or your social outings may consist of a group fitness class with friends rather than happy hour with wine.

🔴 Excuse: I can’t afford a gym membership or trainer.
🟢 Resourceful response: Most exercise is free. You can go for a walk, watch a YouTube video, dance to your favorite songs, or run up and down your stairs.

🔴 Excuse: I don’t like to exercise.
🟢 Resourceful response: Most exercise is free. You can go for a walk, watch a YouTube video, dance to your favorite songs, or run up and down your stairs.

🔴 Excuse: I don’t have childcare.
🟢 Resourceful response: Make an agreement with a parent friend to swap watching each other’s kids for 30 minutes a few days a week, or include your children with family yoga videos or a walk around the park. I’ve been seen doing squat jumps, mountain climbers, and plank poses while my boys are playing on the playground. Also, more and more gyms are opening up with childcare options.

Exercise is an essential part of high performance and emotional intelligence (EQ) pillar #2 Self-Management. You can either make excuses or you can make things happen. Turn around your common excuses and put the power back in your own hands with resourceful responses.

Get moving!

🚶‍♂️🏃‍♀️🤸

Love and success,
💜 Your coach,
Sara