Excuses are like... elbows. Everybody's got a couple.
Obviously, I reworded that quote for my younger audience but you get the gist.
Before I really dive into this, let me introduce you to my #bestfriend, Randi.
Randi and I have been friends for over ten years and it's safe to say, she's stuck with me. She was there for me when I called off the six-year relationship. I was there to help her pick her #weddingdress. We did #trusttattoos in place of a bachelorette party. I was her #maidofhonor. As the youngens today say, she's my #rideordie. (I have #literallynoidea what that means. Watch for a future social media post about that.)
When I first met Randi, she was like any other high school girl: just floating through. The first time I really saw her super #confident and, like, #yasssqueen was when she chopped probably five or six inches of her hair off.
She totally embraced this look for a while and got the "itch" to change it up... Enter the pixie cut!
Like, #stahp. She #literally just decides to do these things... and then does them.
Exhibit A.
Well, we live together and one day, after she came home from work, called me into the living room and said, "Give me a good reason not to shave my head tonight." ...Excuse me, what? She told me she's wanted to shave her head for years but was waiting for a reason, a cause, a sign if you will. She demanded I give her a good reason not to; if I couldn't, she was taking matters into her own hands.
"... What if it looks weird?"
"It'll grow back. It's just hair."
"Yeah, but it'll take a while."
"I'll wear hats."
So I said, "... I'm out."
"Great. Let's do this."
I'm so proud of her. She loves it. I love it. She seems SO much more confident. Then she sent me the following text: "I have #literallynoidea why we make excuses." That got me thinking: what excuses have I made lately?
I couldn't study abroad because I couldn't leave my boyfriend (that I eventually broke up with).
I couldn't leave that boyfriend because I couldn't be alone (being single was probably the greatest thing that has happened to me even though it's been hard).
I can't lose weight because I don't know how (there are plenty of resources out there to help me achieve this goal).
You get the idea. So I did a little research. I found an article published by riskology.co about the science behind excuses; in a study conducted among college students, 72% of students admitted to making up fake excuses. "My grandma was in the hospital." "My dog ate my homework." "My Wi-Fi was down so I couldn't take the test." Raise your hand if you're included in that 72%. #guilty
According to Tyler Tervooren at Riskology, there was a strong correlation between fraudulent excuses and a lower grade point average." You can read more about Tyler's theory why this is here: https://www.riskology.co/making-excuses/.
The way I see it is the whole excuse thing breaks down like this:
So, what are you going to do? #feedfailure or #nurturesuccess? #stopexcuses and take hold of your future and happiness. #belikeRandi
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