FIND SOLUTIONS, NOT EXCUSES

For many years, I didn’t feel excited about training every day.

Sometimes I trained twice a day. Sometimes I skipped sessions.

Yes—skipped.

I would tell myself, “I’ll do it later today.”

Later would come. The session wouldn’t.

Postponing never helped me get it done.

What I slowly realized was this:

my intention to train was there—but my action wasn’t.

So I had to stop asking, “Why am I not motivated?”

and start asking, “What actually gets me moving?”

Looking Back for Clues

When I looked back at my college years as a student-athlete, something became very clear.

There were many days I didn’t want to train.

Yet—I still trained.

Why?

Because I didn’t rely on wanting to do it.

I relied on habits that made starting unavoidable.

I wasn’t deciding whether to train.

I was deciding whether to start.

The Habit That Changed Everything

During winter, I often had no desire to go outside—to run or ride in the cold.

But instead of making the habit “go for a run,” I changed the habit to something much smaller:

Get changed for the session.

That was it.

Once my running clothes were on, going outside felt natural.

Not easy—but inevitable.

Being prepared created momentum.

The hardest part wasn’t running.

It was everything before running.

Commitment Beats Motivation

Another thing that helped me massively was committing to train with friends.

When there was a time and a place to show up, I showed up.

It felt like a dentist appointment.

Most people don’t skip those—not because they’re excited, but because they’ve committed.

The session stopped being optional.

It became an appointment.

And once again, action followed.

What Was Really Stopping Me

What used to stop me wasn’t the training itself.

It was the habit before the training.

Once I experimented with a new habit—putting my clothes on—everything else became easier.

Here’s the real trick:

Some things will feel hard.

But in those moments, we either look for excuses—or we look for solutions.

My solution wasn’t more motivation.

It was a better entry point into action.

A Question for You

So here’s my question for you:

What is one small thing you could experiment with—

a new habit, a new approach, a new solution—to what stops you every time?

It’s worth trying something different.

Because staying stuck, feeling defeated, and repeating the same cycle costs far more than experimenting ever will.

Action doesn’t need to start big.

It just needs to start.

And sometimes, that start looks as simple as putting your shoes on.