With the heap of information available at our fingertips, there's no shortage of “life coaches”. A lot of people make online businesses out of giving advice and being motivators.
With this type of culture, typically the sentiment becomes, “no matter what, get better, no excuses”. The tough guy mentality overshadows any ability to explain away a rut, rough patch, or unmotivated season that one might be going through.
But—
Nobody is perfect
We all need an excuse at some point
Nobody is perfect—What a cliché thing to throw out there. The issue is that everybody knows it, but it's never a good enough excuse for anything.
Tough guy culture would tell you that this is an excuse that you'll use as a crutch. But has anybody ever just been exhausted? Tired? Over it? Your moods, the flow of your day, your personal life, etc — all affect your ability to show up as the best version of you.
Is that an excuse more than just a recognition of being human? I don't think so. The reality is, we don't always have time for it, we're not always in the mood for it, and we have a ton of other factors pulling at us.
So it would seem like we all need excuses sometimes. We don't all want excuses, but the brain will work to protect the ego because it feels like it needs to.
If you never allow an excuse for anything, or never even allow an explanation for a behavior, you'll go crazy.
You can't constantly mutter, “no excuses” to yourself. You'll essentially be functioning at a level that allows zero room for error and an inability to give yourself any grace. All that does is leave room for criticism, doubt, and failure, without the recognition that you're not perfect. And when criticism is the only thing present, you're just going to feel like garbage. Which will ironically lead to a lack of motivation.
It'll feel like you're not doing enough. Ever. It's not good for anybody.
I don't want the takeaway from this to be a bunch of enabling word vomit (in fact I'd be surprised if my own wife is still reading this lol). I'm not sitting here telling you to be lazy. I'm telling you to try. And if you're having a tough day, and trying is exhausting you further, just throw yourself a bone. Give yourself a break.
Because when you're battered, tired, and sick of the shit, do you really want to be your harshest critic? Is that the moment you want to tell yourself to quit making excuses? When you feel like you can't handle any more crap?
That's when I'm telling you there's an excusable explanation for not being at your peak. That's when you need to lean into it a little bit. We all need an excuse at some point or another.