I hear a lot of excuses.

And I say that with absolutely no judgement. We all do this. I have some excellent excuses. I have excuses for why I haven’t finished my book yet, for why I haven’t completely given up eating animal products, for why my house still has way too much clutter, and for why I watch too much TV.

Excuses are the tools your brain uses to keep you from changing, growing and moving outside of your comfort zone. Your brain is crafty. It’s not going to say to you, “don’t go to the gym today because it will be uncomfortable and that feels scary because I don’t know who I am if I let go of the security blanket of the couch, TV and snacks.”

No, you’d see right through that.

Instead, it uses far more rational-sounding excuses like, “I think I might be coming down with a cold so I should probably skip the gym,” or “I might as well have that bacon and egg McMuffin this morning because we have that birthday party tonight and I know I’m going to over-eat. I’ll start eating healthier tomorrow,” or “I don’t have time to meditate every day right now. Things will quite down next month so I’ll start then.”

For a long time, I approached these excuses in a way that was incredibly ineffective – I tried to reason with them. Have you tried this? It looks like this:

Feel like you don’t have enough time? Let’s look at your calendar and see where we might find some extra time.

Think that cooking healthy food is hard and complicated? Let’s pick just one or two new recipes each week for you to try.

Worry that you’re doing it wrong? Let’s try and simplify the steps for you.

What I’ve since come to realize is that there’s no point in trying to argue with your excuses. There’s no point in trying to come up with viable solutions for them. They’re not interested in solutions and they’re always going to be more conniving than you and hit right back with another variation. You found some extra time for meal prep? Okay, but you probably don’t have the right ingredients in the house so maybe not this week. Sound familiar?

It’s a game you’re never going to win.

So, instead, I’ve started using a new approach.

No matter what the excuse, I simply ask: Can you do it anyway?

When your body tells you it’s too hard, too uncomfortable and you’ve had enough?

Can you do it anyway?

When your mind tells you you’re not doing it right and you don’t have the time or the right tools or the natural ability?

Can you do it anyway?

When the mean voice inside your head says you’ll almost certainly fail at this and make a fool of yourself?

Can you do it anyway?

I understand that you think you’re too busy or too lazy. I know that you think don’t have time or don’t know how or it’s too hard. I get that you’re afraid that you’re not doing it right or well enough or that you’ll fail if you try.

I understand it all. But my question for you is, can you do it anyway?

Because it’s the only question that matters.

xo

 

Want to receive these Daily Offerings in your inbox every morning, click here.