CALLING into QUESTION THE PHRASE: “I DON’T HAVE TIME.”
Within the space of health and wellness, and life in general, have you ever found yourself saying:
“I just don’t have time.”
I can empathize with those who work several jobs, have children, are students, have extraneous time-consuming responsibilities — life is crazy. Even further, most of these responsibilities are outside of our own control. Sometimes, there truly just is not enough time.
However, I also firmly believe that “having no time” can be utilized as an excuse and simultaneously, can operate as a form of avoidance — and I am here to call you out for it.
When we look at our lists of priorities, more often than not, our health and wellness takes the sixth, seventh, eighth place, especially when life begins to throw us curve balls and forces us in a space of chaos. Exercise typically takes the backseat, meals become heavily focused on convenience or reliant upon takeout, or we don’t eat at all, and sleep? Not when I have deadlines to meet! I’ll sleep when I’m dead.
I’d like to point out that this is terribly backwards: Health and wellness, during these times in life and truly any time in life at that, should be one of the first items of priority. Always.
When you think about it, your role as a parent, as a partner, as an employee, as a human, will only ever be 50% if your health is not in tact. You can’t pour from an empty cup, after all.
The truth of the matter is that we all have time — we all have 24 hours in a day — it is simply how we choose to use it. Ask yourself: where do you invest your time?
It sometimes means sacrificing other things, like binge watching your favorite show, spending time scrolling Tiktok, staying out late with friends, or ordering takeout instead of investing in the time to prepare something more in support of your wellness goals.
Having this hard reflection with yourself can illuminate where you may be frivolously spending your time and offer you direction to reroute it.
Something else to consider: we oftentimes devote time to what we identify as most important, whether we consciously recognize it or not. So let me ask you this: why is your health less important? Have you ever considered this before? Do you find you let your wellness suffer for the sake of your job, your social life, your family?
I challenge you to get real with this — lean into this discomfort.
It may not be a matter of time, it could also be a matter of what it means to ‘live healthfully.’ The investment. The past let downs. The perceived difficulty. The unconscious belief system that maybe has shaped your relationship with food or exercise.
Sometimes, we use the excuse “I don’t have time” in order to avoid the discomfort we may face when getting back into a rhythm with exercise, or having to choose more healthful foods and invest in meal prep. To step out of the comfortable, to step out of the convenience, or even, just given the nature of processed foods and sugar, to step out of the cyclical nature of addiction that these foods oftentimes throw us into. This can appear hard, it can feel challenging — especially if it is foreign territory for us. Anything new feels uncomfortable at first. Taking one percent at a time, however, is how you will ease into it and build momentum. This is my philosophy as a coach, in guiding my clients daily.
It can go even deeper than that too — are there emotions underlying this resistance?
Shame, guilt, embarrassment — all very deeply rooted emotions that are exceptionally uncomfortable to face. However, they are SO commonly driving forces in our avoidance and yet, we find more surface level excuses to lean into instead. No one wants to have to confront these difficult feelings — so we don’t. I saw this as a therapist and I see this as a coach — and while it appear easy to avoid — it is only us, and our health and wellness, at the expense. A client I was working with exemplifies this perfectly. She was inadvertently sabotaging the development of her exercise routine due to an underlying shame and guilt that was present for her around the concept of movement. She would bring me several excuses from week to week — too busy with work, travel, holidays, and more were among the few. It became clear to me that there was something deeper going on as the goals we had set were small, realistic, and achievable given where she was in her wellness journey.
I challenge you to consider how this may be something that is inhibitory on your health and wellness journey — and how it can be overcome with a little bit more awareness and support. We all have the time — even if it isn’t much — and sometimes we use that as a mask to avoid what’s really underneath the surface. If you need support in any of the circumstances listed above, I am here.
