Coach T, is brutally incredible and brilliant ;-), emphasis on “brutally”, I’ll tell you more about her another time… She regularly shares items in our training WhatsApp group including training schedules, recommended races and shocked emoji’s at me arriving for a set… Most recently she shared the cloud excuse image in our training group which I found to be completely hilarious. A tad awkward because I laughed at it long after it was posted, yes I am that guy in the group that will respond to a day old post…Anyways
I could identify with this exaggerated excuse. You see, most of the sets required for our training typically start early. In Coach T’s words, “wheels start rolling at 5:30am”; “we’re in the water at 5am” or “takkies pounding at 5:30pm”. As you can guess, all these times are altogether inconvenient for me. I mean mornings are for easing yourself into the day, late afternoons are for easing yourself out. Not training! I repeat NOT Training (Coach T, hope you read this).
So I have mastered the art of excuses; when I need to swim “I can’t find my contact lenses”, when the alarm goes off “just 8 more minutes won’t do any harm”, when driving from work, “traffic is such a nightmare, guys” (said in the “Bru” accent) and the list goes on and on.
The land of excuses, how often we visit this place. It is convenient, it is easy, it is close. Its simplicity gives the grand illusion of the land of milk and honey.
It does not take much from us to get there so we think it takes nothing out of us, but nothing can be further from the truth.
Excuses are the trojan horses to our minds, detrimental thoughts clothed in legitimacy. They come as gifts to our present circumstances but are thieves of our ambitions, goals and dreams that lie in our graspable future. What makes excuses potent is the air of legitimacy we give them, their propitious timing and the abundance of use.
Image Courtesy of inc.com
So it’s probably a good idea to figure out practical ways to safeguard ourselves from this attractive foe. Let me share three things I’m learning as I’m training for my triathlon.
– Join a tribe – being with like minded people who want your objective as badly as you do, if not more, goes a long way in fighting your excuses. Shared accountability allows you to reflect on your actions as part of a sum of a whole. I’m part of an awesome group of strong minded, incredible athletes called Embark under the tutelage of Coach T. I’ve swum, cycled and run longer than I would have ever done on my own. There’s a saying, “If you want to go fast go alone, but if you want to go far go together”
– Preparation beats impulse – Your ability to fight your excuses is exponentially diminished in the absence of preparation. The days I’ve not packed my bag the night before, have a 99.9% probability of me snoozing past my training session. Part of preparation also includes the efficient use of your time outside the training session. That delayed work report will definitely lead to missing a track session. I recall a horizontal poster that was positioned right above the chalkboard in my grade 7 class. You could not miss it. On it was the simple phrase “if you fail to prepare you prepare to fail”
– Don’t make excuses for your excuses – a fable is told of a fox who struggled to reach a tree with grapes that he found visually appetizing. After numerous attempts and upon realizing that he would not reach the grapes he scornfully concluded that the grapes would be sour anyway. The temptation to find alternative narratives for your excuses gives them room to grow. Do not give your excuses legs by masking them. Recognize them, give them a name and discard them. I’ve often used the fact that I sleep late as an excuse for my lateness for my morning sessions – as if I would not have known that I have that session. We do this with many things in our lives, “I can’t do X because I’m Y” or the fable alternative “X can’t be done anyway because X is for Y type people”.
Excuses are the enemy, no two thoughts (or is it ways) about it. We owe it to ourselves to fight our excuses and not for them. We are still becoming…
Kandi Steiner
Uncomplicate it. Don’t make excuses. Some of life’s biggest heartaches come from missed opportunities and lame excuses. Don’t miss out on what could be the best chapter in your life because you’re too busy rereading the last one.
Reluctant Optimist 