Welcome to 2016. It’s time to quit it with the excuses and get your butt to the gym. 

This was my 2016-just-got-out-of-my-long-term-relationship-and-need-to-motivate-myself mantra. Whatever it takes, right?

So far, 2016 isn’t all that I imagined it to be. Actually, I’m not sure how I imagined it, but it wasn’t broken up with the guy I’d spent the last year with, it wasn’t freezing in small town Iowa, and it wasn’t working an awesome job but feeling unhappy.

But here’s the thing: I could live this pathetic lifestyle, feeling sorry for myself and hating life everyday, or I could do something about it. I chose the latter.

My 2016, then became The Year of No Excuses. Which basically means that whatever I’m letting keep me from my goals, keep me from being happy, I need to eliminate or work around.

Here’s exactly what I mean: I was cold (typical for January in Iowa) so I rocked my fuzzy socks and boots. I had plans to go to the gym…but when I got there I realized I forgot to pack normal, real-life-adult socks.

I wanted to go home. Believe me, I was dying to go home. But then I remembered my goals for this year: no excuses. 

I could go home and change (which would not only waste time, but probably lead to me getting distracted, making a snack, waiting for the car to warm up again, waiting to digest my snack…then before you know, I’m not coming back to the gym). Or I could rock the damn socks and just workout. Yeah, I chose to rock them.

And you know what? I forgot all about the freakin’ socks. Because the socks did not determine whether or not I would have a good workout, I did. 

See that’s the thing about excuses. They’re excuses. They’re dumb things that get in the way of your true goals, true success, and true happiness. This situation may have been small, just some dumb Christmas fuzzy socks, but you get the point. Whatever is standing in your way, whatever is keeping you from your goals or happiness or laughter or doing what you love: no excuses. Eliminate that negativity, fear, and insecurity and go after what you want. It’s 2016 and you deserve it.  #livefree #livehealthy