Excuses

One of my mentors says, "excuses are self abuses." 

When I find myself repeating behaviors that I want to change, I have to look at my self talk and ask myself, am I making excuses for this behavior? For example, if I'm consistently late to a class that I attend regularly, and I feel frustrated and embarrassed about walking in late time and time again - what am I telling myself? My dog took too long on his walk, the traffic was snarky as the kids were getting out of school, I tried to fit one more task in before I left. The reality is, I just didn't leave early enough! Period. I didn't give myself enough time to arrive early ensuring that I would be on time for class. Making excuses won't help me shift my behavior and won't help me shift the narrative about myself. Instead, I can say "I give myself plenty of time to arrive for class, I prefer to arrive early and give myself time to settle in before class begins." And I can get up 5 or 10 minutes earlier to give me the additional space I need to arrive on time. This way I can arrive unhurried and relaxed, ready to enjoy my class.

Don't make excuses for your behavior. You are worth more than that.