Excuses in the Way of a Fresh Start

There really are only so many excuses we come up with when we are thinking of making a change in our lives.

I'm too old…I'm too young…someone will disapprove…it's too late…I don't have the energy…I don't have the money…someone is going to get hurt…I don't know how to start…it's going to take time…it's not my nature.

Any of these sound familiar? Funny thing is that women tend to hang onto their excuses longer than men do. I've interviewed thousands of people and typically say if a man needs to lose weight, he will just say, "I'm fat. I'm going to the gym." And, that's that. No big emotional reasons why.

Women wrap a lot of emotions into their excuses, which justify their position, allow them to stay stuck. But, remember. Doing nothing is a lot worse than doing something. How much longer do you want your excuse to have more power over you than you want?

I recently decided to make a fresh start in the area of my fitness. I used to do yoga a couple of times a week, but had really let my gym, exercise and weight training go. Excuses? I had plenty of them. Work stuff…TV…book coming out…speaking…traveling…family that came to visit from Europe…another book I'm writing…charity work…my friends I adore. There was always something that came up. Then I thought, well, the best way I can serve others is to take care of myself. And I made a commitment to exercise, no matter what, for—you guessed it—30 days straight!

I am on day 8—and I feel fabulous. I realized that if I cannot make an hour's time in my day for me, something is really wrong and I should re-examine what I'm doing with my time. I also decided to make this fresh start in the area of my health in honor of a new partnership we did here at the First30Days with CareFree. They are passionate about helping women make a new start in any area of their lives. So they reached out to us to provide some great new content AND, also some funding to catalyze anyone's dreams or desires for change. It's a great initiative that I highly recommend you all check out.

I also put together an exclusive guide on Tips to Make a Fresh Start which you can download for free: http://www.carefreefreshstart.com/sites/default/files/CAREFREE_Fresh_Start_Guide.pdf.

If you're a guy, send this to a woman in your life. Believe me, we all secretly want to make a change. Often we just want someone to believe in us, create a space for us to find our own courage to get going, tell us we can do it and give us permission.

So, find someone in your life who you know wants to make a change and be that person for them.

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