The alarm clock buzzed at 5:30 this morning. It was still dark and I could just feel that it was going to be freezing cold outside. To stop the ringing of the alarm I didn’t just push snooze, I turned it off fully expecting to stay under the warm covers.
I lay there thinking about all the reasons to stay in bed: I am sore and need to recover. I have a little cough, maybe I am getting sick. I’ve worked hard this week, I deserve a day off. No one will notice if I am there or not. I’m not hurting anyone by not going. It’s still dark out!
As you can see, there was no lack of excuses to stay in bed. Then it hit me. In the same amount of time it took for me to think up all of those excuses I could have stood up and got moving. Rather than getting up right then, I started thinking of rebutals to all the excuses I had just made for myself.
I am sore…. So what, if I don’t work through this I will continue to be sore everytime I do these workouts and the fact is that I am going to continue to be sore for a while since I am pushing myself again in wrestling.
I have a cough, maybe I am getting sick…. Maybe I just have a cough. If I get up I will know whether or not I am sick or not. If I don’t get up I will lay here and convince myself that I am sick and waste a whole day.
I deserve a day to rest…… I will get a day to rest on Sunday. I deserve to get up and push myself to improve a little more today!
No one will notice if I there or not….. Actually, my team mates will notice, they will be there putting the work in to become champions and it isn’t fair to them that I “need” a little more sleep. If I am not there the guy I would have worked out with won’t have a partner. Someone WILL notice!
I’m not hurting anyone by not going…. I am hurting someone, myself. I am also hurting my family who allowed me to come here to chase my dream. I am cheating them and myself by not doing what I came here to do!
Next time you are laying in bed making up reasons not to or don’t feel like going to work out, ask yourself if those reasons are really that good or if you should call them what they are. Bad EXCUSES!
#1 by Tanja - December 17th, 2009 at 11:47
Matt, you mention in your post you refer to your family allowing you to go somewhere to chase your dream… where are you? and what dream are you chasing?
Stay strong.