"You can either have excuses or results” while I appreciate the sentiment I actually disagree with the premise. The premise of this implies that excuses are bad, in fact, it’s saying that they're down right wrong. Believing that, ignores one giant fact, and that is that you make a LOT of excuses to do the right thing.
You make an excuse to go to work, to pay your bills, eat healthy, and yes even to go work out. Now understand what you're doing is creating scenarios in your head about why it is important, or unimportant, every time you make a decision.
While the term "excuses" is often associated with made up (or even real) reasons to not do something, psychologically it is the same principle that convinces you to actually follow through on the things that you are doing. So while many advocate against excuses I'm here to make a case for them, a case for better excuses.
The key to a good excuse is urgency.
In order to take advantage of this we have to consider things, as individuals, that we identify as urgent. So for some getting in shape for that vacation, wedding, or even just for summer will be enough urgency to show up consistently. For others it's a visit to the doctor, new aches and pains in the body, or simply the recent awareness that we don't seem to be getting any younger. Regardless we should recognize that the action is more impactful than a motivation. Your lungs don't care whether you are running because you're trying to lose a few pounds for summer for because your doctor gave you a reality check after looking at your blood work. Your lungs care whether or not you do aerobic, cardiovascular-ly demanding exercise or not. period.
It seems in Western society we can get so caught up in whether or not we're doing the right thing for the right reason. So much so that some of us stop doing the right thing because we don’t believe our motives are justifiable enough. And while it may seem strange to do doing the right thing for the wrong reasons it still elicits the right response. In this case a healthier body.
I digress, while I do get excited talking about things such as reward substitution (i.e. doing the right thing for the “wrong” motivation,) a well-documented psychological phenomenon, I'm going to leave the science for another day.
(Interested in learning more about reward substitution? Check out Dan Ariely's TED talk)
The second key to a good excuse is having dynamic goals and static excuses.
What do I mean by the Dynamic Goals, these are the more traditional goals. They should be measurable goals, preferably goals that progresses as you do. Such as achieving a strength goal (deadlift my body weight,) body composition goal (such as 20% body fat) and work often these are worked in phases, hence the dynamic nature over time. Having these goals help us to appreciate the progress of having excuses that help us show up.
Static excuses could be recognizing the urgency in every day life. You don't know how long you'll have your current health, you don't know how long you will have your current family, you don't know how long you yourself will be around. I don't say this to frighten, or be over the top, I say this to put in perspective every time you've ever said "I'll do it tomorrow,” was and is a gamble.
Acknowledging your own lack of control is one of the fastest ways I know to recognize urgency. There are plenty of things you do have control over that you're likely not taking advantage of in your life, today. This is the excuse you've been ignoring, you have control of your behavior.
You have every ability to prioritize your health, once you recognize that you are choosing between an excuse that hurts you or helps you. It can be painful to admit that the excuses we've chosen have not yielded the results we would have liked. Fortunately at any moment (and at every moment) you can make a different decision.
It’s working, your current excuses are working, they are producing a result. For some of us they simply aren’t producing the result we would like in the big picture.
The decision to recognize the urgency for you to take care of your health, not only because you are largely responsible for your overall health but that it affects those around you whether we choose to neglect or adhere to our own self-care rituals.
So embrace excuses. Embrace the right excuses, the right excuses for you. Find the motives that produce the result that matter, and make the excuse to carve out time for your health every day. Make the excuse to eat right. Make the excuse to physically challenge yourself. Make the excuse that leads you to the life you enjoy, not just for today but for the many tomorrows to come.