I’ve been home from the hospital for about 10 days. I have only worked out TWICE! I am so terrible.

I have been teaching six classes a day, taking care of the kids, trying to help Todd get over a nasty sinus infection, schedule a million appointments for Kadlin, catch up on everything I missed while gone. I don’t have a minute to breathe let alone work out. Man, my life is rough! I can’t get everything I need done. There aren’t enough hours in a day to get all this crap done. There is just too much to do. I’m too tired. I wish people would stop dumping their shit on me!!
WOW! That was semi therapeutic, but mostly I feel weird for ranting about all the “wrong” in my life. I know the role I play in my life, I need to take responsibility. Maybe I’ll take a moment and rephrase all of that.

I’m working on my time management skills and I think I need a bit more practice to get it dialed in. Since I got back with Kadlin from the hospital I haven’t managed my priority list very well. I’m doing ok taking care of the kids and I’m doing my best to remove some stress from Todd as he isn’t feeling well right now, which means I’m teaching all the classes. Maybe if I mapped out my day ahead of time I could find a good time to get a quick workout in at least a few days a week. At the least I could probably stay off Facebook and not open a book until I get a few things done on my list.

Do you see the difference in the way I put things? The first one I just did my best to pass responsibility to anyone OTHER than myself. The second, I recognized my part in all of the things going on. The first are EXCUSES, the second are REASONS. And I have a solution to fix what needs to be done.

Both paragraphs tell you the same things. I have a lot going on in my life. The difference is how I see myself as a player in my life. Am I the one in charge or is someone else calling the shots? Am I active or reactive? I am in control of my life. I am the one who decides what is going on. I cannot control all the situations I encounter, and let’s be honest, if there is another human involved at all I have no control! I can control how I respond. If things don’t go my way I can respond with an excuse or a reason and solution.

have to admit, I was using all the coaching as an excuse not to get things done and I felt lousy when I talked to members about it. It made me realize I needed to reevaluate my current situation and figure out what I needed to change. Even if the only change is my thought process. Is it difficult to get my workout in daily right now? Yes. Do I need to whine about it though? **Meh, probably not. I truly love my life. It was nice to have a tiny clarifying moment to improve it even more.

Reasons and explanations give the gift of clarifying the situation. It offers a chance to understand what is happening in a logical way. Excuses are generally given when we feel defensive about something.

It has never been an “attack” when people ask me about my personal workouts, but when I know I could be doing better it certainly feels like it! I practically live at a gym, I work with people to improve their life through the gym and I can’t bother to get a quick workout myself? Man, what a hypocrite. Except, I talk about reasons and excuses to those who are struggling to get here themselves. When you are sick you shouldn’t really be going into public, which includes the gym. That isn’t an excuse to stop, something actually happened and that is ok! When you are getting sick because you aren’t taking care of yourself…. Different story.

I legitimately have time constraints that I need to work around. For the time being, I cannot be consistent in my workout. BUT I can schedule things better to manage my time and as I get back to a normal coaching load, I can get back to my time! There is a reason for not working out, and it doesn’t need to make me feel poorly about myself. When I’m asked about my workout I don’t need to feel defensive. I have clarified the reason, at least in my mind, and I can teach comfortably knowing I am doing my best with the time I have.

**Talking about your problems isn’t a problem. Failing to take ownership is.