I have been a personal trainer and endurance coach for a very long time so excuses are nothing new to me. As a matter of fact I enjoy how inventive some people get with their excuses but often wonder at the need we have to provide them. We all lead very busy lives, trying to be everything to everyone and often end up with a plate too full to complete all the tasks we have promised ourselves out to. So as not to disappoint anyone else we tend to drop the things we want to do for ourselves or conversely we just end up too tired and worn out to attempt them. The dictionary defines Excuse as "an apology or justification for; to remove the blame of". This implies that we believe others will judge us or worse we will judge ourselves for not getting our workouts in so our excuses provide the justification. These excuses are often in the form of getting stuck at work, sick child, busy day; something outside ourselves and are meant to relieve us of the guilt we feel over not completing everything we set out to do. Excuses also happen when we feel we should want to do something, for example run when in fact we don't. These excuses usually manifest themselves in physical ailments such as old football injury, bum knee, asthma. Issues an individual feels are beyond their control. Knowing that we make time and find a way for the things we want to do, next time an excuse is on the tip of your tongue try just saying, "I didn't want to."
- coachsandym