Hold Yourself Accountable

Imagine this:

For the last four months, you’ve been training for your first marathon.

Daily rigorous workouts all made to get you in marathon shape.

Constant dieting to fuel your body and clear your mind.

Sacrificing relationships, hobbies, and staying out late all for this one day.

As you step up to the starting line, your heart is racing. 

The culmination of all your hard work leads to these 26.2 miles. 

Now, in this scenario, would you back down? Would you say, “Well, I worked so hard in training, so there's no need to do the actual race”?

I would hope not.

When painted in this picture, you may say “Obviously not, that’s what I’ve been training for.”

But what if I told you that this same thing happens in our minds every day? What if this happens to you tens, or even hundreds of times a day? What if it’s more?

Before you call me crazy, let me explain…

We all like to make excuses. We rationalize our decisions by giving ourselves BS reasons.

And much of the time, it’s subconscious. We don’t even realize this is happening because we reinforced this behavior. 

Why is this a problem?

Simply put, it’s stopping you from becoming the person you want to be.

If you want to be in great shape, you have to exercise, eat, and sleep properly. If you constantly say “Well I’m tired so I won’t work out today,” or “One cheat meal won’t hurt,” you won’t get in great shape.

If you want to consistently read, you have to consistently pick up a book and read it (mind-blowing stuff). If you constantly say “I’d rather watch Netflix,” or “I’ll just read tomorrow,” you won’t consistently read. 

The idea is very simple, but it’s harder to catch in real-time. 

Although in moderation these excuses don’t make a big difference, they can be devastating when compounded over time. 

So, moving forward, I challenge you to actively look for excuses that your mind makes up.

Look for the “I’m too tired,” the “I’ll do it tomorrow,” or the “I don’t need to do this.” 

In simpler words: 

Hold yourself accountable.

You won’t always have someone calling you out on your BS.

Sometimes it’s okay to be hard on yourself and say “No, making these excuses is not okay. They are holding me back from progressing in my life.”

Improving your life is hard, and the days that you really want to make excuses are the most important times to keep going.

At the end of the day, YOU are in charge of your life.

Not your family, not your friends, and not Sue from across the street. 

Stop making excuses, accept where you are, and take action to get to where you want to be. 

Hold yourself accountable.

I hope you enjoyed this week's post. If you did, consider sharing with friends and family.

If you didn’t, that is unfortunate. Please email me with any feedback.

As always…

Keep making progress. Change for the better. Live the Heming-way.

See you next Monday,

Trevor