Excuses Will Always Be Waiting
I was looking forward to today.
Saturday: a day I’ve looked forward to for a long time.
Over the years, Saturdays have become a day to keep my same early morning routine while not having the pressure to get to work by a set hour.
As an endurance athlete who works hard to fit in training around a weekly work schedule, Saturdays are a day to put in a good amount of volume.
Today was no different.
The plan: coffee, a book, and some writing at 4:30am. Hop on the bike at 6am so that I could get to swim practice with time to stretch out before the group workout started at 6:30am. Swim until 8am and then bike home.
By 8:30am, I would have 2 hours of quality work in.
During my son’s afternoon nap, the plan was to jump on the bike trainer to get in an easy 90 minute spin to set up for tomorrow’s long run.
These are the things my wife — also an endurance athlete — and I plan our weekend around: be present as a family when we need to be; grind to move the needle toward our goals when our son sleeps.
Perhaps we’re crazy.
But, maybe meaningful and hard goals do that for us: force us to manage our time and take action.
At 6:10am, I was already running a little behind. I stepped outside to a windy and raining morning and thought:
“Maybe I should just drive in!?!”
“Nah, stick to your plan,” I told myself. “You’ll feel better about yourself at the end of the day!”
A rationalized reason — an excuse — for changing my plans averted.
As I punched in the gate code to get into the swim complex, the sky lit up with the most incredible lightning strike. And then, everything went black.
Everything.
Luckily, the gate was stuck open.
“Shoot! We’re not going to be able to swim!” I thought as I pushed forward on my bike to see what happened.
I biked up to the pool to see a crowd of Masters swimmers standing around in the same predicament.
We all stood around for a few minutes wondering what to do and then someone suggested breakfast. A few jumped on the idea.
Bob did not: “No, I’m gonna go to LA Fitness and get my swim in.”
Fully clad in bike gear, I was glad I didn’t have an out: “Well, I guess I gotta bike home.”
And bike home I did. And think I did: “I guess I could just bike around for 75 minutes and that way I get in my bike workout.”
Good idea.
Until I got a flat.
Feeling pretty defeated, I jumped off and stood in the wind and rain to fix the flat while using my bike light to help me see.
When I arrived home by 7am, I felt like I had already been through a lot. My plans for the day repeatedly foiled. I just wanted to be done.
But, everything that had happened so far were simply rationalizations — excuses—waiting to be scooped up as reasons for why I shouldn’t have to finish what I started.
Given the pool schedule and the weather, my Saturday swim plan was out of the question.
The bike was not.
With our son still sleeping and my wife done with her bike workout, rather than quit, I walked in the door, popped my back tire off, and jumped on the bike.
I’m now 45 minutes into my bike ride and I’ve been typing the whole time.
While the original plan can’t happen today, that’s not an excuse to not make any progress toward my goals. Maybe what’s important isn’t being perfect and achieving all our little plans that we craft out. Maybe what’s important is being anti-fragile by finding ways to adapt to the chaos that life throws at us and not look for rationalizations — excuses— for why we didn’t do something.
Life is gonna throw all sorts of chaos at you.
Despite your best intended plans, there is no way to plan for the unexpectedness of life. The unexpected, though, doesn’t need to be given as a rationalized reason—an excuse—to not do something.
Adapt.
Be anti-fragile.
Some is better than none.
Stop looking for rationalizations — excuses — for not doing something.
Find ways to get the things done that are important to you.
That’s the stuff that makes for better stories.
Why?
Because it’s fun to share stories that you’re proud of.
And, this morning, I’m proud to share this story. It’s a better story than the one I had planned.
And, heck, look what happens when we do things despite our plans being challenged: I’ve written another blog post while finishing my bike ride.
That’s a nice twist to today’s plan—today’s story.
The unexpected happens when we work with the unexpected.
Let the unexpected create unexpected stories for you rather than the same rationalized story that you’ve been telling for years.
Stop with the excuses. They’ll always be waiting for you.
Your life, though, will not.