There are always excuses when it comes to hard work. It’s inevitable…much like death and taxes. There is always a reason why so-and-so can’t do such-and-such….and often times those excuses are completely ridiculous. As a leader and trainer of Soldiers, I’ve heard all sorts of excuses as to why Private Schmuckatelli can’t (doesn’t want to) do this run or hard PT session. Of course more often than not the good Private is informed it would be in his/her best interest to shut up, get back in formation, and just do it…but what about the folks whose motivation has to come from within themselves, and not from some angry, fire-breathing Drill Sergeant who looks like he could swallow you whole?Often the best intentions of people to get in shape are derailed by their own inner monologue. That lazy, pessimistic, doubting voice inside their own head that tells them there are plenty of reasons why they should skip the workout today…maybe go back to bed, or hell…go ahead, stay out late and have another beer. “Why not…we can always make that run up later…” Yeah, roger. Later is a relative term. If they don’t do their workout in the morning…and continue to put it off for another month before they finally get back on the track, then technically, he DID do it later, right? You get what I mean…there is always something. Well…what do you do when that little voice of self-doubt takes the gag out of it’s mouth and chimes in with it’s two cents? How do you deal with the early mornings, lack of motivation, occasional aches and pains…whatever? How do you put all that out of your mind and just do what you need to do to improve? Here are five excuses I’ve heard constantly along with some suggestions for dealing with them.

The bottom line with all these, is that you should do an HONEST self assessment of your goals and prioritize those goals with everything else in your life. There will always be things that come up…and I get that. However, your training should not be something you approach half-ass…you should commit to doing it…THEN DO IT! Here is where a training partner comes in…a good training partner will keep you honest, and will provide that external motivation when, AND IF, you need it.  Enjoy your training!!