I recently had a conversation with the Founder of 8 Weeks to Wellness, Dr. Dane Donohue. I asked him for some guidance on how we can support a few clients in our wellness program, where they just have so much going on in their lives that it’s difficult for them to schedule all their appointments, get their workouts in and create results in the time frame they were initially hoping. I explained that everyone really had legitimate reasons they had to either cancel, reschedule, or miss a week here and there and we were supporting them through some difficult transitions in their lives. As I was sharing this, I realized, “Wait a minute, we just had a participant graduate from 8 weeks to wellness who was going through one of the most stressful times of his life!?”
And that led to a shift in perspective.
This gentlemen’s wife gave birth to their baby, he was in charge of a group of employees at an firm where a few left the company and his workload drastically increased, he was initially unsure at the onset if he would commit and follow through with 8 weeks to wellness, his parents were planning a move to town where he had to help them find a house (in this crazy, fast paced market), and he had a vacation planned in the middle of his program where he had to maintain healthy food choices. Long story short, he not only completed the program, he absolutely crushed it. He lost over 25 pounds and is feeling great – a new man!
He had times where he had to reschedule appointments, but he made up for it. He made it happen because he made it a priority, scheduled it, and followed through.
Dr. Dane, the Founder, shared with me a client who graduated from his 8 weeks to wellness program, had great results and decided to stop working out for the summer because she wanted to spend more time with her grandkids. When she came in to see him one day, he recommended a massage, but she replied, “Oh, you know I don’t feel comfortable with the therapist seeing my legs like this, I feel like they are flabby.” In a loving way, he told her to get back on track in the gym, and that her grandkids aren’t going to miss out on only 2-3 hours a week while she’s training in the gym, and she’ll be feeling much better about herself. He helped her realize that her excuse wasn’t really that valid.
Given the choice between comfort and growth, most everyone chooses comfort. But comfort is cruise control, it’s coasting, and after a while coasting without added effort leads to slowing down, and it becomes much harder to get started or re-motivated.
So that got me thinking, and reflecting on my own life…
What are Valid Excuses?
I had to really sit with this one. I realized for all of us, there really are legitimate excuses and “schtuff happens,” scenarios. Thankfully, most of the time, those situations are short lived. We all must determine where and when we’re dealing with a Real Hardship and accept that time frame as an interruption that has to be dealt with. On the flip side, if we self-reflect and realize that stuff keeps happening over and over and we’re surrounded by chaos, at some point we have to say, “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, I matter, and I need to do something to take care of MYSELF!”
Self-reflecting on my own life, I have a 15-month-old, and 2 teenagers at home and there is hardly any “down time” in our household. I used to get up early, but over the past 15 months, sleep has jokingly become my mantra of my most “valuable asset.” So, over this lengthy period of time I’ve engrained the habit of sleeping in when I can, because I think subconsciously, “I am catching up on sleep,” but then I feel the pressure of to-do’s, I don’t’ work out as often, and in all honesty, I feel worse because of it. I am diving much deeper into my excuse and realizing, what I think is benefiting me (sleeping in a bit) is causing me a detriment (lack of time/ exercise = feeling overwhelmed and stressed).
I realized I became comfortable sleeping in on days where I really didn’t need to sleep in, and I could totally take advantage of that time to get my butt to the gym or accomplish fulfilling tasks.
In my conversation with the Founder of 8 weeks to wellness, he shared some key points…
“Life is always going to throw things at you,” in other words, there is always an excuse if you’re not solid on making yourself a priority. If we wait for things to be “smooth sailing” to make positive changes in our life, we’ll never get started.
If you don’t schedule your priorities, everything else in your life becomes a priority other than YOU.
The time you invest in yourself is time never wasted. You are your greatest asset and caring for yourself will set you up to care greater for so many others, and you’ll set an example they can live by as well.
The irony of getting in the habit of getting up earlier and taking care of you, leads to more energy throughout the day.
With 8 weeks to wellness, we emphasize the importance of making positive lifestyle changes with diet and exercise and NOT adding more stress in your life to do so. Change isn’t easy for any of us and our team prides itself in helping support people grow into healthier choices without adding additional stress.
The key to success is You and your commitment level. We’re here for you. So, in wrapping up, “What are Valid Excuses?” You must answer that for yourself. Our 8 weeks to wellness program is not a “drill sergeant” experience, but it’s also not a “come whenever you can” experience. There are absolutely times in our lives where we truly need to take a step back and gather ourselves because so much is happening, however, I would say with absolute certainty that those times are rare in most of our lives, and those time frames are relatively short lived where chaos can overtake us. Most of the time, I think we either: haven’t identified what our self-care priorities are, and we’ve allowed other priorities to take over our own, or we have allowed our habits to slip into a deep rut of a comfort zone.
The reality is, we are the captain of our own ship, we can create boundaries, we can commit, and we can create some amazing positive change in our lives when we identify, schedule, and follow through with our Self care priorities. And that time is now.
Make your life matter by committing to a Healthier, more vibrant YOU and follow through!
Dr. Nick Sechrist
Grand Junction Chiropractor