How To Stop Making Excuses

Imagine this: It’s a Tuesday morning and you have a gym appointment, but you don’t go. It’s 5pm on a Thursday, and you’ve had a long day at work and really need to get groceries, but you order in instead. You get asked to work on a new project at your job, but you pass because you don’t believe in yourself. I have been in every single one of these situations, and guess what it all boiled down to? Excuses.

So why do we make excuses in life? I’m not talking about those excuses we make because we’re tired an don’t want to put on makeup and go out (me). Or saying you have a doctor’s appointment in order to reschedule that meeting. I’m talking about excuses in life.

One of the most common reasons for making excuses all the time is fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure or making a mistake, fear of being exposed and vulnerable. Fear is something that you have to stop making an excuse for. If you want to level-up, you have to get comfortable not being comfortable. If you live in your comfort zone, you won’t make it to the end zone — that’s my motto. Take baby steps to get out of your comfort zone. Go do things alone, go on that date, make that phone call, tell someone when they are acting up, stand up for yourself and take action! Fear will never ever be your friend, ever.

We can get extra creative with excuses, but can we use that same creativity productively in life? Yes, you can! Here are some things that I did in order to change my excuse train into the “get-it-moving” train.

1. Embrace Fear and Failure
That’s something that is bound to happen sooner or later. So, instead of constantly being fearful or on guard about it, make sure that when it happens you’re ready to get up and try again. I have failed many times, in a lot of aspects of my life. It’s A-OK not to be perfect. Just get up and show up.

2. Don’t Overthink
It’s often the first mistake that we make when confronted with a decision. Therefore, we tend to overthink things, until we give up and make an excuse instead. Take a risk and trust your gut feeling. Intuition is key for me, my gut is never wrong. Sometimes you just have to make a yes or no decision and stick with it. Get cutthroat with your actions.

3. Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
You are your own person and you should embrace that. People can say whatever they want, but as long as you are content with yourself, you won’t be needing any excuses. I cant preach this enough!!!!!! BE YOU!!!!

4. Change Your Habits
Your habits dictate the course of your life. The better they are, the less you’ll be using excuses in your life. Once you start changing your life, you will see a massive difference and you will feel much better. Hit the gym, take a hike, get moving. Little changes make a big difference.

5. Stay Realistic
To get rid of the excuses, you need to have goals. Journal, Manifest and think big. Road map what your plan is and stay on course. The key is to keep trying and to not give up.

6. Stop Blaming Others and Take Responsibility for Your Actions
It’s no one’s fault that things are not working the way you want them to. It’s your fault and the result of your own behavior. You need to accept this and take responsibility instead of dwelling on your own mistakes. No one asked you to drink that bottle of wine or eat that extra plate of food, you did it to yourself. We make thousands of choices a day and each one should be the right one for you in that moment.

XOXO,
Heather