This morning it was 6 degrees C and pouring rain. I was on the couch under a warm blanket. The plan was to run 5K and as I looked out the window the excuses seemed almost too easy, but guess what? I did it!

It’s really easy to make excuses, it’s so easy that sometimes we don’t consciously realize that we’re doing it. I could have justified not running, instead staying in the house this morning, what sane person would go running in the pouring rain? But I’ve got goals and sitting on the couch under a warm blanket isn’t going to help me achieve them.

The trick I’ve been using when those excuses appear… and they ALWAYS appear… is to remember what the end goal is. I am running another Ragnar Relay in May and my goal is to run all 3 legs at a certain pace. The first 2 legs aren’t the problem. The third leg is the challenge! Running approximately 8kms after spending the past 20 hours in a van, with no sleep, weird eating patterns and having already run 16kms IS the challenge. At the relay in September I struggled with the third leg, really struggled and I am not suffering through that again. So this time I WILL be fully trained.

Better training includes running even when it’s cold and pouring rain. So this morning while I was trying to talk myself out of the run I thought of my goal, I thought of that terrible third leg in September and I put my shoes on and did it.

If you’re struggling to fight the excuses and the thought of your goal doesn’t help you push through, maybe that goal isn’t the right one. Ask yourself why you set the goal. I had this issue last year. I set a swimming goal but I set it for the sake of setting it and not for any other reason. The result was, I fell behind and started hating swimming. So I gave up that goal and focused on something else. Something that I truly wanted to do. The giving up part was difficult for me but that was just my ego getting in the way.

A good goal should be something that you truly want to achieve, something that you are passionate about. If these things are true, the excuses become less of an issue and easier to push through.

I’m certainly not saying that I never make excuses, procrastinate or skip workouts but I am far more conscious of it now and fight a little hard to just get it done!

Many things aren’t equal but everyone gets the same 24 hours in a day.  We make time for what we truly want.