Saying Goodbye to Excuses (Week 13 Accountability Report)
Recently, I have become more aware of how many times a day and how many times a week I say things like, I can’t do it and I don’t have the time.
Fourteen weeks ago, I said the same thing about exercise. I made excuses for myself. I said things like, I’m a father with two young children, I don’t have the time to exercise now. I can’t exercise because my children will get in the way. If I exercise, I will be taking quality English time (We live in Japan.) away from my kids.
Then, one day, I started exercising. And as it turns out, I do have the time to exercise. And once my children got used to me exercising in front of them, they stopped getting in the way (for the most part).
Essentially, the only thing that was stopping me from exercising on a daily basis was myself.
Now that I have started exercising daily, and have maintained this habit for thirteen weeks, I am beginning to see how the behavior that once kept me sedentary is controlling other areas of my life too, and I want to change that.
He turned his CAN’TS into CANS and his DREAMS into PLANS.
The lives that we lead are made by the small decisions we make from minute to minute, hour to hour, and day to day. In order for me to change my life, I am realizing that the only thing I really need to do is change the decisions that I make on a daily basis.
I can become more aware of my financial situation, if I choose to look at it for a few minutes a day.
I can read the books that I want, if I choose to read at least a page a day.
I CAN learn more about blockchain technology, taxes in Japan, cheap travel opportunities, etc. I HAVE the time to do so. But only if I choose to listen to appropriate podcasts, read relevant materials, and look at websites that will teach me about my interests.
These things don’t have to happen all at once. They only have to happen little by little, every day and every week. And most importantly, they have to begin replacing the little habits and actions that I have which lead me away from the things that I want to do and want to learn.
Open Facebook? No, not today. Scroll through Discord? No, not any more. Check CoinMarketCap? That’s okay. I already did it once today and that’s probably enough. Scroll through a NewsFeed? Why bother? I know the writers that I’m interested in, so why don’t I just go straight to their pages and start reading the materials that will help me to become the person that I want to be?
This Week’s Accountability Report
Exercise:
Six out of seven days: This week I managed to exercise for at least five minutes every day but one. On one day, I ran for forty minutes. On another day, I ran for twenty minutes. On three other days, I did the exercise routine that is becoming regular for me, and I did it for as long as I could before my children interrupted me.
The reason why I didn’t exercise for one day this week was that I felt ill and was having bad hay fever reactions, so I decided not to push myself.
Weight:
80.4 kg: I have been sticking with my plan to stop eating rice during lunch and have noticed an interesting trend in my weight over the past four days. It could just be a coincidence, but I have lost 100 grams each day for the last four days. Maybe cutting small amounts of calories out of my daily meals is the key to achieving my weight-loss goals. I will continue to track my daily weight and see if this trend continues.
Looking Forward/Looking Back
Two weeks ago, I began trying to become more aware of how much water I drink. My goal was to start drinking two to three liters of water each day, and I wanted to track my progress by recording how much water I drank on a daily basis. During my first week, I kept up on this fairly well. This past week, however, I forgot to bring my thermos to work with me on a number of days, which made it difficult to know how much water I drank.
For the coming week, I want to work on tracking my water intake better. I also want to begin tidying up a few areas in my life. Last night, I cleaned and organized a drawer of mine that has been a mess for years. It felt great! Next, I want to reorganize all of my work materials and create some folders specifically for keeping my past pay stubs neatly organized and also for holding my work related receipts.
As for exercising, I’m happy with the routine that I have established and want to continue it without much change. If I do anything new, I would like to possibly extend my daily workout times by a few minutes or more.
You are absolutely right. You are a good writer also. Any one can get motivation from your post. Thanks for sharing.
I’m glad to hear that. Thank you.
try some local bee pollen for those allergies.
I used to do that in the States and stopped when I came to Japan. Maybe it’s time to start again. Thanks!
I started a couple of years ago and it has been life changing
It’s funny. When I first came to Japan, I didn’t know where to get local honey. That’s why I stopped. Now I know where to get it, but I haven’t eaten it in so long that I stopped thinking about buying it. I’ll take your word that it makes a big difference and pick some up.
I had heard about it but never tried or seen it until I went to an agricultural fair where a woman was selling it, now I get it from a hardware store.
Depending on the ages of the children, they might be able to join in. At least they will grow up seeing the example of daily exercise and it is more likely to become a part of their lives more easily than it's become a part of yours. Maybe your good example is another hidden benefit...
I’m hoping for that. I’d like them to take the example to heart. Sometimes they do join in. And as time goes on they have become less intrusive. My son mimics me pretty well. When my daughter joins in, though, the three of us just end up crashing into each other and laughing at how ridiculous we’re being, which is fun.
It turns into good family time either way. For the effectiveness, I would like to put in at least ten minutes a day, but for the sake of practicality, I’m happy getting at least five minutes of exercise at home. I don’t add in the laps that I walk around the schools I work at or the number of times I climb to the fourth floor and down again. But I use small bits of exercise like those to counterbalance the shorter routines I sometimes find myself limited to at home. Basically, I’ve found myself being pretty aware of how active I’ve been and when I have a chance to slip in a little more physical activity, I do. It’s a small, but big change.
I know that exercise makes our body and mind energetic and practical, but I don't do it regularly.. But it is sure that when ever I had come through your post ,I get inspiration for doing it. Thanks my dear friend for your help, yes, it is true that without knowing you have done much favour for me.
I’m glad to hear that. I used to think, Ahhh, I don’t want to exercise, but I’ve come to really like it. And only doing it for short periods of time makes it very easy to accomplish.
Fantastic post. I'm glad to hear you are making such progress, esp in your attitude. This line rang very true to me:
Recently I scroll thru Discord too much. While I have networked with a lot of fine folks there, making it a useful tool, I also mindlessly scroll thru it too often. Same for my RSS feeds. I need to unsubscribe from most of them anyway.
You are making great progress and I am enjoying reading about it. Also you always remind me that I need to do the same. Right now my small goal is to get back into the writing habit and do it daily, at least a little. Next I want to reintroduce my Japanese study. After that? Hmm... well, as you say, little by little.
Again, great post. Thank you for sharing your progress with us.
I was thinking about you this morning. Two days ago the sakura here finally began to bloom. Yesterday they burst open, and now it’s supposed to rain for the next three days so I’m sure they will all fall off the trees before anybody can really enjoy them. Luckily, I was able to ride my bike to work today so I got see them for a little bit.
I’m glad to hear other people are finding these posts useful. This really is turning into an interesting journey for me. I’m excited to see how it evolves and where it leads.
I’d like to get back into studying Japanese too, someday. I had a lot of luck using the Anki flash card program. Then Steem came along and I turned to writing instead of studying. 😬
Daily excersises keeps you fit and healthy but you need to do it twice a day sir.
Why twice?
To be more fit.
Sir your title is excuses or excersises
It’s Saying Goodbye to Excuses.😊
Are you suggesting I should work out twice as much as I currently am?
How many times do you exercise a day?
Once. Generally for about 10 minutes. Actually, I’ve been thinking about trying to squeeze a walk in before breakfast. I’m
Not sure if my body could handle my current routine twice everyday. I’d have to build up to it.
Walk is a good idea.
Little steps at a time ... good approach!
It seems to be working for me. Moving in one direction, little by little, and measuring progress at the end of a year instead of a day.
That is so right... We are our own worst enemy when it comes to procrastination and excuses! I'm one of the biggest culprits too... 😛 There are so many things I should be doing but keep putting off, telling myself, "Not today...", "no time..", "I'll do it tomorrow", "I'm too tired now"... and the list goes on. But I do know once I set myself to do something long over-due, the sense of accomplishment is fantastic!
Here's wishing your exercises and other wish list items get done... and me for mine too! ✨😉 Cheers and have a great day!
Thanks, @ackhoo! Keeping that sense of accomplishment going from moment to moment and day to day might be what I’m
chading here. I’m not even sure.
One small step each time... one small step...
Yep. That’s the way to get a lot done and live a long life. Right?
I usually make a "TO DO" list for a day or for a week so I won't miss out any plan.
I make lists pretty regularly too. Then I do things like get on Steemit before I do the things on my list;) Those are the small decisions that I want to work on.
Congrats on taking steps towards what you want instead of finding excuses and justifying not having what you wish for @boxcarblue. It's easy to make excuses (that is why we do it) and it takes effort and strength to take responsibility. Small things we do often have a greater impact on our lives then big things we do only ones in a while. We are the writers of our own life stories. Keep up the good work!
I like that. Thank you. I’ve seen people use their kids as weights. It’s a good idea. I pick mine up a lot and have tried using them for bench pressing, etc, but it usually just gets really silly.