Obstacles Or Excuses

So I have had many obstacles in my journey to reaching my goals: not having enough money to pay for good foods, the gym doesn't have the right hours for me to workout, I don't know what foods to make, I don't know what workouts to do, I don't know how to lift, etc. They seemed like pretty legitimate reasons for why I hadn't had success. That is until I started thinking of the other obstacles I have had: that is what my friends wanted to eat so I ate it, its a special occasion so its okay, they offered to give me something so how could I say no.

I began to realize that even if I label something as an obstacle doesn't actually make it one. What I viewed as obstacles were actually excuses, and not very good ones. For starters, buying fresh foods doesn't cost a whole lot more as long as you don't get the junk food. You might want it in the moment but at the end of the day, it doesn't help you meet your goals. Nobody needs soda, or candy or even that afternoon latte. Cutting out those extras saves you a lot of money.  

Now for making it to the gym. There is always time. Even if you have to get up at 5 am you can do it. Something to remember: if you do the same things over and over again, you will never accomplish anything beyond what you have. This means that you need to go beyond what you have done in order to reach your goals. You will need to make changes. Something that helped me was changing my frame of mind. I was always thinking in terms of what I can't have. Once I realized the foods I "couldn't have" were foods that I actually just didn't want to eat, saying no became a whole lot easier. Focus on what you will gain rather than what you will be losing. 

I am not going to go over every excuse I have had but you get the picture. The majority of the time, what you see as an obstacle is really an excuse. At least this is true for me. My brother-in-law posted the picture above awhile back and it really hit me just how many poor excuses I was actually making. The only thing holding me back is myself. I am learning to change my frame of mind and I am now starting to seeing solid results.