How to Stop Making Excuses and Actually Work Out

Nikkiey: I am not really ever motivated to do anything, right? I, though, have the discipline to get shit done, whether I feel like it or not.

Yo, you guys, what's up? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. On this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikkiey Stott. Guys, welcome to episode number 49, where today, I don't know who needs to hear this.

It seems like I opened up the last two podcasts talking about "I don't know who needs to hear this," but I just got done with a really solid workout, right? Downstairs in my apartment gym, crushed it. But what I want to bring to you today, you guys, is I did not want to go and do that workout. I was literally telling myself every single type of excuse before I walked my ass down there and got it done.

I was on the couch, I was drinking an energy drink, and I was like, "I could just do this tomorrow." Another one that popped in my head was, "I don't feel like doing this at all, man. I'm not there mentally. I don't have the headspace to do a workout right now." All of the things. Maybe you guys have had a similar excuse. Let's say you feel like this: it's a Monday, and you don't feel like working out. Or you got done with work, and you're just so stressed out that you don't feel like going to do a workout.

Or you're too busy, or you have other things to do. You have to cook dinner, or you have to go get your kids from practice. All of those things that, prior to your workout, get in the way. And some of you guys, maybe like 70% of you, will allow that excuse to own your next moves. You get stuck in inaction, and you will not go and work out. You will allow "I'm too busy" to own your action.

You will allow the excuse of "Oh, I'm just too stressed out, I don't feel like going to work out" to win over you going to just go and work out. So that's prior to the workout, right? Those are all the things I was telling myself. 70% of you guys will allow that excuse, or allow something, to get in the way of you going to work out. And 30% of you guys, man, pat yourself on the back. I'm in the 30% today, and the majority of my days.

Hey, I just want to drop a huge appreciation to you guys listening to the show. It means a lot. I hope you guys are enjoying it, and there's so much more to come. If you are enjoying it, hit the subscribe button. I'd appreciate that tons, and it would also help this podcast reach others who need to hear these messages too. Thanks so much, guys. Let's get back to the show.

I am not really ever motivated to do anything, right? I, though, have the discipline to get shit done, whether I feel like it or not. Okay? So sitting there, I was feeling all of those feels. I was feeling all those excuses. And I was like, you know what? How am I going to feel at the end of the day, when I'm laying myself down on my pillow at the end of the night? One, I know I'm going to have a hard time sleeping because I didn't get my workout in. The workout is just my saving grace of the day. It makes me feel so damn good, and it calms my mind from thoughts. I know I won't be able to sleep. And two, I would be thoroughly pissed off at myself if, at the end of the day, when I could have gotten a workout in, I let excuses get in the way of it. I would have been thoroughly pissed at myself that I didn't get that workout done.

So in that moment, I was weighing my two options: I could allow this excuse to win, or I can muster up my discipline and go make shit happen, no matter how I feel in this moment right now. I am that. I would even argue that those percentages are even smaller, but I'm the one that's going to go make shit happen. So if you're feeling that in the moment right now, today, and you feel like you don't want to go and work out, let this be a reminder to you to go make it happen.

Get out of your own way. Get out of these excuses. Get out of this low-vibe energy and show up for yourself. Make it happen, regardless of how you feel. Okay? Because I guarantee you, now moving into the workout, right? I start doing my workout and I'm like, okay, we're here. I got myself to the gym. I got myself down there. That's a freaking win, guys. That's a win. Okay? And you want to stack your wins. So I got down there. I'm like, all right, here I am.

I'm starting my workout. I'm going. I'm stretching. I'm doing some warmups. Yada, yada, yada. I'm like, damn, I really don't feel like being here. I'm in Slack, answering messages in Slack for the company. I'm like, man, I really don't feel like being here. But again, I got there, right? So now it's even harder to say, "I don't feel like being here." I would have to physically walk out of that gym, and I'd be even more pissed off at myself. I think I've maybe done that a handful of times, where I just walked out of the gym like, "No, I'm just not feeling it. I'm just leaving."

But that's way harder for me to do if I'm there and already in the act of doing things. So I'm feeling the feels of not wanting to be there, and I'm kind of distracted, right? So I put my phone down, I put on do not disturb, I turn my music on even louder, and I just go into the first set, right? And I'm like, okay, damn, that felt so good, right?

So you guys, in that moment, choose the winning activity. Choose the winning action that's going to make you more committed to that workout, to you being there, right? You already got into the gym, right? Half of the battle is putting on your gym clothes, getting in your car or getting into your home gym, and being in that environment. Half of the battle is that, okay? Now you're there. You still don't feel like it. Okay, well, put all distractions away and do the first set. And as soon as I did that, I was like, okay, here we are, man. I'm here. I'm in it, man. This feels so good. It feels so good to move my body.

All my distractions are away. Everything is off. I am here in the moment, right? So I start going through it a little bit more. I think I'm on the third set, and this is where I won today, you guys. And I challenge you guys to do this too, whether it's in one of your workouts or multiple of your workouts: do one more set. Do one more rep, right? This is from Ed Mylett. He talks about the power of one more. One more rep at the end of a set. One more set entirely. I just wanted to challenge myself. I was mad at myself that I had all these thoughts and I was still allowing them to creep in. They weren't entirely gone. So I was like, you know what, Nikkiey, this is how you're going to shut your brain up. Do one more set. So I did one more set, and it felt so good. I was like, okay, here you go. Now you're really showing up for yourself.

So I challenge you, if you feel that and you're still in the beginning, and you're like, damn, man, you're still distracted, or you can't quite turn everything off, or the kids are running around upstairs or something like that: put your music on louder and do one more rep. Do one more set, right? In that moment, I was sold. I'm here.

So I challenge you. If there's a way to challenge yourself more, whether it be that one more or whether it be challenging yourself with a little bit more weight on the bar. If you're getting through the set just going through the motions, right? The last three reps you're just like, here, one, two, three, and you don't feel a challenge. I challenge you to put more weight on that bar, or to pick up a heavier dumbbell, or in some way create more resistance that is challenging to you.

Okay, so here we are. Prior to the workout, we crushed that. We're showing up. We're still feeling a little distracted. We limited the distractions. We tuned in even harder. Then you challenge yourself a little bit more, because you are in control. You are in control. That's the whole premise of this entire thing, you guys, as I go on this rant. You are the one in control of whether you do or do not show up for yourself today, of whether you do or do not get your workout done, of whether you do or do not put your gym clothes on, of whether you do or do not show up in your home gym or at the gym, whether you do or do not limit your distractions. You are the one in control. So all of those things that do not support you are things you need to get out of your own way with. Ain't nobody else in your way. You're the one that controls this situation. So control it, and do something that is going to help you win. Right?

Okay, so there we are in the workout. Then I'm getting towards the end and I'm starting to feel tired. And I'm like, I'm crushing it. Right? And you will at this point too, if you follow these tactics that I'm giving you on this podcast today. This is my "I don't know who needs to hear this," but I hope to God I challenge you today and that you show the F up for yourself. Right? So at the end of the workout, I was like, damn, I'm starting to feel winded. Right? I'm starting to feel tired. I was doing a MetCon today and I was rowing.

I looked down at my arms and I'm like, you can go harder. You're not anywhere near your potential right now. You can go harder, Nikkiey. And you know what, guys? Just saying that, my mind was like, yeah, yeah, totally can. And when your mind clicks into gear, knowing that you have so much more potential in you, that you have so much left in your gas tank to push yourself through a challenging workout, when your mind accepts that, your body is going to follow.

The first thing that's going to fail is your mind. If you don't allow your mind to know that you're here to crush it, you're here to win, you're here to get a good workout in, then your body is just going to go through the motions. But if you control the mind, and you are the one that's like, "I'm going to push myself. I'm going to challenge myself. I'm going to do one more. I'm going to go get it done. I'm going to show up for myself," if you have that type of frame, you will win, right? So I'm towards the end. I'm like, dude, you have so much more in you. What are you doing?

Yes, I felt tired. My body felt tired, but my mind was like, there's so much more. And it was just this click, you guys. It was just this click, and I just housed it. And I'm like, damn, there was so much more left in my tank. And I know that there's so much more left in your tank. You guys, if at any moment you feel tired, shut your mind up and tell it that you have so much more left in you. And dude, guys, I can't even explain how I feel right now after the workout.

I'm literally fresh out of it. Here's my protein shake, if you're on video. I haven't even taken a sip of it yet, because I was like, you know what? I need to get on this podcast right now and rip this, because I need you guys to know how I feel right now and how I know you guys can feel too, if you stay in control from the beginning of your workout. Prior to even starting, the 10, 15 minutes or an hour before you're about to go work out, all the way through your entire workout, and you give it your all.

You guys, how you show up one way is how you show up in everything. If you show up giving it your full potential in a workout today, imagine how you can show up for your family, your kids, your work, your everything else. If you can show up for yourself, then you can show up in all of those other areas 10 times more, 10 times better, you guys. Okay. But guess what? Like I said, you are in control. You are the one that controls the whole thought process of whether you can or cannot complete this workout, or whether you can or cannot make the accomplishment towards your goals. Right.

For this podcast, we're here on this workout, but it can literally amount to anything else that you are doing for yourself in terms of going after building more muscle, decreasing weight, decreasing body fat, changing your body composition, feeling more confident within your skin. It all starts here. It all starts here. And what I just said is just a finite example of all of the other areas where you are in control.

Okay. A finite example is your workout: how you feel prior, how you feel at the beginning, how you feel during, and then most importantly, how you feel at the end, knowing that you gave it your all. That's just an example. And you can pull that out to when you want to go and track macros, or when you want to make a choice of eating better. Okay. You're the one in control. All right. If you're out to dinner, and this is just another example, you're the one that can make the decision to ask the server, "Hey, can you cook this in light oil?" Or, "Hey, can I just have two chicken breasts?" This is literally what I just did last week. I was like, nothing on this menu looks appealing to me. "Hey, can I have two chicken breasts? Can I have potatoes? And can I have your house vegetables?" You are in control. Okay.

At the end of the night or the beginning of the day, you're in control of how you go about your food choices for the rest of the day. And this finite example of working out is just one piece of the whole pie of your entire fitness journey. From point A to point Z, you control all of the things.

And along the way, you will feel the consequences of your actions. Okay. So had I not gone to work out, like I said, I would have gone to bed really pissed off at myself. Had I gone to the gym and been like, "Oh, today is just not the day, I'm not feeling it," knowing that it truly is just an excuse as to why I'm not feeling it, I would have been pissed off at myself at the end of the day. I would have laid myself down at night in my bed and been like, damn, Nikkiey, you could have shown up way better than you did today. Okay. So I don't want to feel that way, and I'm sure you don't either.

So what I challenge you to do is show up. Show up for yourself. Eliminate all of the excuses that are getting in the way of you showing up at the fullest potential that you possibly can. That's the way you're going to build confidence within yourself even more. That's how you're going to execute on the goals you want to accomplish even more. All of the things. If you put in A-type effort, you will get A-type results. If you put in C-type effort, you will get C-type results.

Okay. And this is the last thing, because it's popping in my mind over and over again, and I'm like, how am I going to filter this into the podcast? I hear a lot of women blame programs, right? "The program doesn't work for me. These workouts don't work for me. This diet doesn't work for me, or this way of eating doesn't work for me." Yet how can it work for hundreds and thousands of other women? Okay. It's you. It's got to be you. Think about it. If you're not showing up for yourself with A-type effort, then you're not going to get A-type results. If you're being inconsistent, you will get inconsistent results.

Okay. So the moral of this entire rant and this podcast is you are in control. If you want to show up at your fullest potential, then you have to get the fuck out of your own way sometimes. And you have to eliminate these excuses that just do not serve you. "I'm too tired. I am too busy. Oh, I have all of these other things that I need to get done."

One hour of your day to go and work out, in this example that I'm sharing with you today, is 4% of your day. You deserve 4% of your day to make yourself a healthier, stronger, more confident version of yourself. Let's lean on the health side of things. Just working out, man, is so important for the longevity of your health. I don't care what it is. If it's going for a walk, if it's doing Pilates, if it's doing yoga, if it's doing strength training, if it's going for a run, I don't care what it is. Just do it.

Because that is the longevity of your health, you guys. Show up. When you're 67 years old and you're reminiscing on your earlier years and you didn't work out, you're going to wish you worked out. I guarantee you. I've said this before and I'll say it again: what you choose to do now matters for who you are and where your health is in 20 to 30 years. Okay, so I'm just continuing on this rant.

This is a little bit of tough love, mixed in with what I just experienced for myself. And I know that I'm not the only one that experiences that. Time and time again, I experience those feelings over and over. But I have the discipline within myself to make shit happen, regardless of how I'm feeling, and I want to give that to you guys. There's a podcast on the strategies for self-discipline that I've developed for myself over the years. Definitely go find that podcast. I don't know what number it is. But the moral of it is: eliminate the excuses.

You are in control at the beginning of your workout. You are in control during your workout. You are in control when you feel like you're tired, and you've got it, you have the gas left in the tank. Trust me, you do. Do not let your mind tell you otherwise. Control the mind and that mind will control the body. And then when you're done, for the rest of your day, trust me, you are going to feel so damn good, because it's exactly how I feel right now. And I know for the rest of the day I'm going to be able to go and deal with whatever I have to deal with and do all the things I have to do. It's going to be so freaking easy. And I'm going to lay myself down at night and be like, you go girl, you showed up for yourself today.

Okay, so it's you versus you. At the end of the day, you are in control of a lot more things than you probably even recognize or know. So get out of your own way and show the freak up for yourself today. I love you guys. I hope you enjoyed this podcast. I'll see you guys in the next one.

Real quick. The only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. The only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask you to do is leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else.