THE EXCUSE BUSTER

After being in the fitness and weight loss industries for over 15 years now, I’ve heard so many different excuses for not training consistently or eating properly, I could fill a veritable “excuse encyclopedia!” Do you know what an excuse really is? An excuse is when you rationalize (“ration lies”) to yourself in order to justify your failure to do the things you know you should do. If you’re a chronic excuse maker and you’re finally ready to change, then this, my friend, is your lucky day, because you are about to learn the “EXCUSE BUSTER.” It’s a simple method that I’ve used and you can use too to squash those rationalizations once and for all, leaving you with no choice other than to get your butt to the gym and tighten up your diet, or at least take responsibility and admit that your excuses have more holes in them than a spaghetti strainer! Here’s how to test your excuses to see if they really hold water: All you have to do is ask yourself the EXCUSE BUSTER question: “Has there ever been anyone, anywhere at any time who has experienced the same limitations, situations and challenges that I'm currently facing but has gone on to successfully achieve their goals anyway?” This question forces you to be honest with yourself and face the reality of your present situation – not erect some imaginary mental obstacle. Asking the EXCUSE BUSTER question makes you realize that… IF ANYBODY ELSE HAS ACHIEVED THE SAME GOAL YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE, DESPITE FACING THE SAME DIFFICULTIES YOU’RE FACING, THEN WHATEVER EXCUSE YOU HAVE FOR NOT ACHIEVING YOUR GOAL DOES NOT HOLD WATER! YOU ARE LYING TO YOURSELF! Way back in the late 80’s before I had even done my first competition, a friend of mine – his name is Steve - decided to take the competitive bodybuilding plunge. I'd already been training for five years and wanted to compete too, but I was making all kinds of excuses for why I couldn’t: I had two small businesses to focus on, I had a girlfriend and social life, I was in college taking five classes, etc, etc, etc. WELL… Steve went on to compete (I didn't because I was too busy making excuses), and at the age of 19, he won the Teenage Natural Mr. America title. You should have seen him - he looked AMAZING! I had never met anyone in my entire life up to that point who had developed a body like that at such a young age! And he did it drug free too. As you can probably guess, that really lit a motivational fire under my ass! But it wasn’t the fact that he competed and won that motivated me. It was the obstacles he overcame to compete and win that inspired me beyond belief. Steve was in college too; except he had 18 credits – SIX courses, compared to my five. On top of his full academic schedule, he also had a full time job as a foreman/manager at a textile factory! But wait, there’s even more! He had also recently gotten married. (No, he didn’t have kids yet, but he did have three dogs to look after!) He had all this going on in his life, and somehow he managed to not only to train and diet and prepare for competition, but he trained and dieted and prepared for competition - AND WON! All my lame excuses instantly evaporated into thin air. I saw that if he could do it, then I could do it too. It’s no exaggeration to say my own competition training started the very next day. The following season, I was onstage and my competitive bodybuilding career had begun at the age of 20. How did Steve do it? Very simply, he didn’t make excuses. He just got busy and did what it took. He didn’t search for reasons why it couldn’t be done. This CHAMPION was out of the gym, finished with his training, showered, dressed and on the way to work or class before most people were even out of bed! What excuses are you using to justify why you haven’t achieved your goals yet? Too busy? No time? Family commitments? No money – can’t afford the gym membership or food? Single mom? Long hours at work? Too old? Too much traveling? Injury? Fear of failure? Going to school? Think about them, and run them through the EXCUSE BUSTER… then see what’s left of them.n