Is your “but” getting in the way of your ride? You can come up with a million excuses as to why you “shouldn’t” be taking the time to get on your bike for a few miles each day….work and family responsibilities are easy targets. You truly feel them as real things you can’t take time away from. I get it.
Here is the issue for me as your “Derailleur”…having your “buts” get in the way can lead to you saying things like, “But I’ll never become a professional so why try…” or my favorite “But if I can’t ride 25+ miles today, it just isn’t worth it”. Here is where I am pulling you up by your emergency brake and saying “ENOUGH”! YOUR “BUTS” are getting in the way of not only your ride, but your life. And it’s time to give up the ‘but’s’. Seriously.
I was once told that a “but” cancels out everything that precedes it. Hence why I’ve since adopted a “No Buts” policy. I now believe where there’s a will there’s a way. You see, a “but” is essentially an excuse as to why you can’t have something. To live a life of excuses isn’t very empowering. In fact, it’ll stop you from getting the results that you want.
So why do people fill their sentences, and thus lives, with buts? Because at a deeper level they’ve been programmed to believe that life isn’t a field of strawberries, that some people can’t have what they want, that life has to be difficult. If this is you, stop! Life is exactly as we believe it to be. Our beliefs are what create our reality. Believe in something enough, really truly believe something, and it will happen.
This week I encourage you to notice every time you say “but”. And then really question whether there is any truth to the but (which generally there won’t be – it’ll just be a figment of your imagination) and start to explore alternatives such as: What if I could do this? What if I gave that a go? Give up your buts and just notice how your life starts to transform into a world of opportunities and happy endings.
Now get out there and ride…
Amy Magyar is a Derailleur. She helps her clients across North America change their gears, their pace, and their direction. She is the essential piece of equipment to get you where you need to move forward at a different pace and with a different power. As an industry veteran and a Certified Performance Coach, Amy works with individuals who are athletes, were athletes, or wish to be athletes, on navigating change.
Pattie says
Thanks for the pep talk! My husband and I looked at the temp. today (59 F) and grabbed our bikes for a ride. His first in well over a month. We rode for a little over an hour and felt so good afterwards. We get a lot of rain where we live in the winter so on a nice day it’s so worth it to drop everything and blow those indoor cobwebs away!