I feel like it's not accessible to real people with real hurdles, time constraints and limitations.
It ignores the struggle and consequently downplays the victory.
Ladies and gentleman, meet my 3 perfectly legitimate, all-consuming excuses.
They are as cute as excuses come.
These are 3 of mine and I know that you have your own excuses too.
Just because I have 100% legitimate excuses for NOT doing the work of caring for my mind and body, that doesn't change the fact that there aren't consequences to neglect.
So that's why I'm all about persistence for me and for all there other women out there that also have perfectly good excuses for not making their health and wellness a priority.
Let's try something different.
Let's not pretend like there are no excuses for not exercising or eating mindfully. Instead, let's acknowledge the imperfections of our lives! Be honest with ourselves about why it's hard for us to workout, move our bodies, choose good nutrition, practice self care... And then let's freakin' do it anyways. Find a way that works for you.
Do it #inspiteoftheexcuses Do it as best you can, as often as you can and don't waste energy looking around comparing yourself to what you think everyone else is doing and experiencing. Do it because you know that it's not easy, but it is necessary and the results will be worth it.
If you do the work, you will get the results.
If you work with the limitations of your life, then you'll learn something about who you are. You'll learn to persist and persevere.
You'll learn that doing the work IN SPITE of all of your excuses makes your victory that much sweeter.
This is not me saying that it's easy. I'm not saying that things will always (or ever) go according to plan. In fact I am saying that it will cost you something.
Your pace will be different. Your need for breaks will be different. You'll have to learn to embrace rest and loads of imperfection and push through not feeling like doing anything but sitting down and taking the break that you deserve (you can do that too, just not all of the time!).
BUT I AM SAYING that you have no other choice but to make do.
You will have to blaze your own trail, because no one else is dealing with your exact set of legit excuses.
This is what exercise looks like for much of the time, in fact working out alone and continuously for 30 minutes or so is a treat!
But I can work with this. It's better than nothing.
I'm consistent and persist through all the non ideal factors and I'm stronger for doing so!
You can do the same thing in your life and in your own way! Trust, me it's totally true.
This past weekend I traveled to Atlanta to certify with Dragon Door for a Russian Kettlebell Certification.
I'll tell you what, I was SOOOOOOOO nervous that I wasn't going to measure up. I thought that there was no way that my version of training which involved tons of interruptions and non-traditional forms of movement was going to be enough to prepare me for something like this.
Even with a home gym (which I have), it's hard to get in consistent training at a high level when you're constantly attending to the needs of 3 little boys (6, 4, and barely 2), especially when one still nurses.
I workout. I train other women to workout-especially within the confines of their current circumstances, but I wondered, "Is it enough?"
To add to that, I have pelvic floor dysfunction, which means that I have to be super aware of my movement, alignment, breath, how hard I'm training l, where I am in my cycle, whether my workouts are causing an increase in symptoms...
I had so many moments where I thought that this goal might just be out of reach for me. Yes there are plenty of other RKC's who are moms and have made it happen, but I just thought that my particular set of circumstances were too....non-ideal for me to ever go for such a thing.
But I wanted it soon bad and I really and truly believed that if I was persistent enough that I could achieve it.
I finally convinced myself (with the helpful coaxing of a coaching friends and my husband) to put myself on the hook.
I signed up and just decided that I would take the same approach that I described to you above, the one that I'm ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT with my clients and my community.
I would persist.
I would just do the next thing and not worry about whether it was what everyone else was doing, perfect, or ideal. I'd make the most what I had and do the work.
I'd train when I could in the way that I could.
I would show up at my goals every free moment that I could and make the most of what I had available to me.
And you know what?
Not being preoccupied with the limitations of my circumstances and instead funneling that energy into my training meant that I got it done. I got results and I succeeded!
I'm sharing this story with you all because I want you to know that you can make things happen too!
You probably have TONS of perfectly good excuses for not getting things accomplished, and that's ok. But if you want to work with and around them and find victory with them in tow, you too can do it.
I know you can.
In fact, I know from experience (and not just last weekend, although that was my MOST recent experience of this nature) that working out SMART and efficiently can get you some pretty amazing results.
It's not about doing more, it about doing better and doing it consistently.
If you want help learning to work towards your goals IN SPITE of your 100% legitimate excuses, come join my FREE 10 day Persistence Over Perfection Coaching Club!!
We will spend two weeks (Mondays through Fridays) learning to strength train at home 20 minutes a day four times a week, to build some major confidence, increase our fitness and get good results in less time.
I will also provide you content and mindset support to help you to learn to carve out fitness and self-care practices that work with your specific life.
You'll learn to ditch any pre-conceived notions about what exercise has to look like and will just get down to work to make things happen in your lives and bodies.
To sign up, head over to sarahsmith.me/pop-challenge RIGHT NOW TO LEARN MORE AND GRAB YOUR SPOT! We start on May 7th. Enrollment is only open for 4 MORE DAYS!