Tag: ramblings

“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.” Jim Rohn

That quote up there is so very short, but it says it all doesn’t it? I’m as guilty as the next person when it comes to finding excuses to get out of doing things that I don’t want to do. That right there is the key though, I make the excuses for the things that I DON’T really want to do. This is going to be tough, but I am asking you to be extremely honest with yourself throughout this post. If you do that and you still decide not to pursue a particular goal, then it is really more a matter of prioritization than anything else.

Let’s explore the two areas that seem to come up time and time again in regards to people telling me they can’t achieve certain goals because of: ENTER EXCUSE HERE. Those two areas are weight/fitness and personal finances.

Weight/Fitness

The list of excuses here goes on and on, my genetics/metabolism are terrible, I don’t have the time, it’s so difficult to eat healthy, I have a bad knee, I can’t afford it… Heard any of these? USED any of these? Yeah, me too. But they are bullshit and you and I know it. Everyone likes to point out the exception and say they “know a guy who has this issue and that applies to me.” It doesn’t. 99.5% of us are just fine and can maintain a healthy weight and body through a healthy lifestyle. In fact, I like to focus on the .5% of the people who really do have issues and say “I don’t care; I’m not going to let that be an excuse.” You see that guy in the picture up there? His name is Earl Granville and he just ran the Boston marathon and he carried his guide over the finish line… with one prosthetic leg! He lost his leg in 2008 in Afghanistan. Do you think his knee hurt?

I’m going to blow up a couple of more excuses. You don’t have time? How much TV do you watch? Are you a golfer? How much sleep do you get each day? How much time do you spend on Facebook, Instagram, or the internet in general? It takes about 30 minutes a day of exercise at an elevated heart rate to make a difference, let’s shoot for 5 times a week. That is 150 minutes in a week! You are telling me that you are so busy that you cannot find that time? I’m throwing the bullshit flag! If you woke up 30 minutes earlier and did the exercise, you’ll feel better then if you slept the 30 minutes! EVERYONE can find 150 minutes in a week. Unless of course you don’t want to. That’s not an “I am not capable” issue, that’s an “I have other priorities issue.”

By the way, those 30 minutes of exercise can be absolutely free. Running is free. Sure you need a decent pair of running shoes, but you need shoes anyway, so buy a nice looking pair and give them double duty. Walking at a brisk pace is free. Push-ups are free. (Click here if you want to see how to do 1500 push-ups a week in only 5 minute a day.) Planking is free… your picking up what I’m laying down now, right? So you have the time, don’t need the money, and are capable of doing this, NOW what’s your excuse?

Personal Finance

This is way too big of a topic to cover in a short half of a post, but I’d like to tackle the first basic principal in wealth building, and that is living within your means to create a little additional cash to save/invest each month. Here the biggest excuse I hear is simply “After we pay all of the bills, we have absolutely no money left to save/invest.” Bullshit. I’ll remind you to be brutally honest with yourself here as we ask some questions. Do you have an iPhone? What is your monthly cell phone bill? What is your car payment? How many times a month do you go to a movie? How often do you eat out? What kind of brands of clothing are you wearing? Do you have cable or satellite TV service? How often do you go out for drinks/happy hour? Do you smoke?

For 99.5% of us, after we answer those questions honestly, it should be clear that we spend a lot of money on things that we really don’t need. You need a car, but do you NEED a $35,000 car? You need a phone, but do you NEED an iPhone with unlimited calling and data? I know that you don’t NEED to smoke! Point made. There are tons of ways to save money that you can use so that you can increase or start contributing to a 401k plan or an IRA. In fact, I urge you with all of my heart to just automatically deduct 3% of your paycheck and put it in your 401k or an IRA and DO NOT TOUCH it for any reason. You won’t even notice a decrease in your take home pay after a couple of weeks and you’ll be on your way to saving money for your future! Then, with each pay raise, increase it 1%. This is a double increase because you will get the increase in savings from the raise and then the additional 1%! It adds up quick and you won’t feel it at all. STOP making excuses!

There you go. We destroyed the bullshit excuses people come up with and if you are being honest with yourself, if you do not make any changes after reading this, this is what you are really saying. “I prioritize surfing the web more than my health.” Or “I prioritize checking my Facebook page at the grocery store over saving money for my retirement.” I’m not saying that those are bad things, I am saying be honest with yourself so you make educated and honest decisions.

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“To be successful, you must decide exactly what you want to accomplish, then resolve to pay the price to get it.” Bunker Hunt

I believe that anyone can become anything that they want. Sure there are some limitations, someone who is 5’ 6” tall will not be the most dominant center to ever play the sport of basketball, but this isn’t what I am referring to. What I am talking about is that most able bodied people can become as successful as they want within the aspects of their life that they deem important. And here is the rub; everyone has a different definition of what success is, although most people would agree that they have not fully attained it.

Ok then, what’s the one key to success? Unfortunately, I’m not sure that you are going to like it, but this is a dose of reality that most people need to hear. You have to be willing to pay the price. You’re probably thinking “That’s it! What a rip off!” Well, before you stop reading, just take the time to answer a few of these questions:

Are you at the weight that you would like to be at?

Are you as financially independent as you would like to be?

Are you working in a career that makes you happy?

Are you spending the amount of time that you want with the people you love?

The list can go on and on. Now if you answered yes to all of these questions and you are completely satisfied with where you are in your journey, then congratulations and hopefully you’ll be back for the next post. As for the rest of us, let’s dig in to this a little and see what pops up!

What does “willing to pay the price” really mean? Let’s start with something like that person that you know who seems very fit, always has energy, looks good in everything that they wear. You know the guy; you might even hate the guy! But you shouldn’t. With the exception of genetic freaks, when you see a person like this, they are paying the price to achieve that level of fitness and maintain their body weight despite the battle of growing older. What might that price look like? Watch what they eat; smaller portions, fruits and vegetables, lean meats and fish, and do they drink water instead of soda? What aren’t they eating? Do they skip desserts? When they have a beer, is it A beer or multiple beers?

Listen to what they do with there free time. Are they hitting the gym four or five times a week? Are they getting up early to run three or four times a week? On Monday do they talk about the 50 mile bike ride they went on with their buddies or that long run to get ready for the half marathon they are running in a couple of months?

THAT is the price they pay. Now I’m not saying that hanging out and drinking beers is no fun, it is! But what I am saying is that is a choice we all need to make. And whatever choice you make, don’t regret it, but be aware of it. Own it. This way if you ever want to change your goals, you’ll know what behaviors you need to change and what the price is to achieve them.

I love doing this exercise myself whenever I start something new. Let’s say that you want to change careers, so you need to go back to school. If you are willing to pay the price, you can do it. If you went to a local school, you might be looking at $5000 per year in tuition and books. That’s the financial cost. You will definitely need to attend classes, do homework, and study. That’s the time cost. Assuming you have kids, you’ll need to find child care or help from a family member. Possibly you can take some or all classes on-line to help as well. Regardless, it’s not going to be easy, but you can do it. There are student loans available, you can eat out less, not buy that Starbucks, or skip going to the movies. These are all ways to help fund school. You can do homework and study after the kids are asleep or before the family wakes up in the morning. Weekends may have to be used for school work as well. This is how you can create the time needed. You will have to lose sleep. This is the price that will be required, and like any purchase you make in life, once you know the price, you can decide if you want to make that purchase.

I’ve heard people say “I cannot spare a single cent.” when asked why they are not pursuing a goal, and I show them with this example how that is just an excuse. Do you remember when gasoline went up over 100% in the course of a few short months? What did you do? I’ll tell you what you did; you paid it and went to work. Yeah, we all complained, but we didn’t quit our jobs, we paid it. Thank the lord, the price of gasoline has come way down creating “found money” for us all! What have you done with that money? Are you saving it? Most people are simply just spending it. It kind of gets absorbed in to life doesn’t it? That’s just human nature.

My point is that when this type of cost is imposed on us, we pay it because we have no choice. But you will only achieve the goals that you set for yourself if you are willing to pay the self imposed price of those goals. There is no magic to it. The great news is that this means your goals are within your control and within your reach. Sit down and write down the goals that you want to achieve and then go through the cost of those goals, like we did in the example above. When you’re done, you can decide if you’re willing to pay the price and get there. If the price is more than you’re willing to pay, then the goal is not worth it to you. But at least you’ll know. Or maybe, after you see that while the price may be high, success is within your reach, you’ll go for it. You’ll pay the price and start living a better life! But that is how we grow, by putting in the work. You are capable of more than you think, do not sell yourself short.

For behind the scenes photos and comments of training and personal life “stuff” follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner

Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments section below and we can have a discussion!