It’s tee-shirt time. Again. I’ve got an eight year old sidekick who’d *love* to SHARPIE-up a tee and a college BFF who’s nothing if not honest. Today’s my day. Is today YOUR day?
Ok, People.
I’m passionate enough about this exercise I’m willing to put my *misfit heart* on the line & admit I really hope you choose to join in.
You may choose to do it the way that I did.
You may choose to do a second option explained below.
I simply hope you choose to participate.
The No Excuses!! tee-shirt exercise is something Ive done number of times throughout life.
I’ve used it with all sorts of situations and each time it’s served to challenge and refocus me.
I harness its power when I intuitively know I need to refocus and in order to *spark that shift* I need to shed my excuses.
My last tee (pictured above) focused on excuses I made for not making time for one of my passions.
For the sake of this post our No Excuses! exercise focuses on:
What’s holding you back from achieving your healthy living goals?
What you’ll need:
- A plain white tee (if you’re like I am & have lottsa excuses I recommend largest you can find.)
- At least one Sharpie (again if you’re like I am and love you the colorful—you’ll snag many Sharpies)
- A close friend/family member.
- To be prepared to be brutally honest with yourself & ready to experience raw uncensored honesty, too.
Approach #1:
Call a close friend/family member & invite over. Choose someone who’s a healthy living cheerleader in your life. Someone who supports your goals.
Grab tee and hand your supportive-person a Sharpie. Ask her to print on your tee *all* the excuses/rationalizations she’s heard you make about why you ‘cant’ to stick to your healthy living habits. All of them.
Ask her to be loving but honest (Ive never had an excuse written I didn’t know—deep down— I made, yet seeing my excuses in print is never easy).
I firmly believe Option #1 is the most powerful, but am also aware there have been times when I either felt too fragile to hear what others thought or I didn’t have anyone I felt I could ask.
I’ve created a second option.
Approach #2:
If you’re feeling ready for change—yet “delicate” (as the child and I call it) I still encourage you to place Sharpie to cloth.
When I’ve created my No Excuses! tee solo it was still a powerful experience. My excuses felt simultaneously less daunting and more real.
Find time when you wont be disturbed, grab tee & pens, and print all the reasons as you can think of regarding why you’re not currently achieving all your healthy living goals.
Don’t stop. Don’t self-censor. Don’t over-think. JUST WRITE.
After you’re finished—which ever approach you’ve chosen—spend some time *solo* looking over your No Excuses! tee.
- If you chose approach #1 are you surprised by the excuses others hear you make?
- If you selected approach #2 how did it *feel* to get real with yourself and acknowledge your rationalizations in writing?
- Regardless which approach you picked are you feeling encouraged (Huh Ive got this! I really hadn’t realized how far I’ve come!!) or disheartened (Holy cr*p. Ive covered my entire tee. Seeing this in INK & CLOTH makes it feel even more insurmountable!!)?
Comments closed in hopes you snag friend, Sharpie, & tee instead.
We’ll revisit the exercise/refute excuses in an upcoming post.