Taking the excuses it what I call not doing what you know you should. Notice I said, ‘taking the excuses’ not ‘making excuses.’ I find that one does not need to make excuses, they’re all around.

And they and other excuses like them are probably the single highest reason people stop trying to lose weight and get into shape.

Let me show you a few.

I’m not going to go running today, it’s too cold. And cold can be dangerous. Why I could contract hypothermia and die.

I’m not getting up and going to the gym today. I’m way too tired. Sleep is an important part of my health and I’m CLEARLY not getting enough. I’ll sleep in today.

My shoulder hurts. I should cancel my entire workout because of it. After all, I could hurt it worse. I really need to rest so I can get better.

Sound familiar? They should. They’re going through MY head every morning.

I get up at 3am to workout. It’s not because I’m super tough and want everybody to know it; it’s just what I have to do. And it sucks. One might imagine I hear these and many other like it every morning.

Taken separately, they are all valid points. It CAN be stupid to run in the extreme cold. You DO need adequate rest and recovery. That’s what makes them so easy to take and what makes them so detrimental to your growth.

And it’s not to say some of these may have a good point. You may need to listen to SOME of these.

But each of these excuses has a work around, even the ones I listed.

Too cold? Run on a treadmill.

Too tired? Work on getting in bed earlier the next night.

Shoulder hurting? God gave you two and many other body parts besides. Work on something else.

So what I do. I go anyway. I get my feet on the floor and start walking to the bathroom. I’ve done this for years. After so long, it has become a habit. I do it on autopilot.

So this morning or any morning drag your cold, tired, sore butt out of bed. Start building your habit. You’ll be happier you did. And eventually these excuses become background noise.