What Is A Legitimate Excuse?

When it’s colder than Antarctica, is that sufficient? When you’re injured, busy, sick? How do we define busy? How sick?

When I do nutrition coaching and life strategy with clients, there is a PRINCIPLE I insist upon. It’s called listening-to-yourself. The way this revolutionary tactic works is that you figure out BEFOREHAND what you will and won’t accept as legitimate excuses.  If you always determine how you will behave based on how you feel in the moment, there is no hope. ANYTHING can feel legitimate. There’s this thing in your skull that uses language and logic, called the prefrontal cortex. Try that instead.

Let me help you. Let’s say you’re aiming to change your eating patterns. This involves a lot of adherence to planning. But you have an upcoming party. Most people go into this totally clueless and ready to shoot themselves in the foot, saying some complete nonsense, like, “I’ll try to behave myself.” No. What PRECISELY are you GOING to do? Will it be one drink or two? Will it be none of the hors d’oeuvres or one?

You make the determinations before you face the circumstance, while you can utilize the rational brain, and then you execute. Over time, you find you develop this skill some people confuse with self-control. I call it honesty. Your words increasingly match your actions.