WARNING:  Long Post!

I have spent the last serveral weeks, reading and reviewing “Don’t Bullsh*t Yourself,” Crush the Excuses that are Holding You Back, by John Taffer.  Why may you ask am I reading this and writing a review for all of you? Because his book can apply to everyday life and any profession if you think hard about it.  This book is not just something for the fans of Bar Rescue; it is an insightful book of how to overcome obstacles in your life and stop making excuses.  In addition, the irony for me is, I have been making excuses about putting off this review, not because of anything than things have come up, but now I am refocused since I finished reading. 

When you read this, you may find that many chapters already hit close to home and you do not realize it until you see it on paper (or hear it via audio).  However, let us look at the Chapters and see how we can apply them to any health/fitness related stuff.

Chapter 1 Fear- This one is obvious, fear puts us into a comfort zone, if we are afraid of something whether it be the task or failure, we will make an excuse and not do it because it is safer for us not too.  Is it a fear of running a certain race and being swept?  I know this, as I have come across many times, running the Detroit International Half and the RunDisney races, the fear of being swept in a race is real.  However, I did not let that stop me, I ran Detroit International Half twice and made it across the borders with plenty of time to spare, and I ran the Disney Full Marathon once and the Disneyland Half (before they stopped it, when it was 100 degrees out). We have to face our fears head on in order to overcome them. Taffer’s insight on this subject is not just for restaurants and bars, and just because I apply it to fitness and health, does not mean it cannot be applied to everyday life.  Fear is a part of us, fear of changing new jobs, fear of starting a family, fear of health problems and so on.  So let’s face our fears and not be afraid of failure, things not working out the way we planned, and everything else.

Chapter 2- Knowledge– This one is another one where I think can be applied to everyday life and to the health/fitness industry. As a society we use our lack of knowledge as an excuse to not to do something,  John uses the examples of owners and managers in the bars that he rescues as an example since if you watch the show,  a lot of them do not have the knowledge to use the POS system.  John stresses that in life we need to overcome this and keep on learning,  it’s the only way to grow, using lack of knowledge is a bullsh*t excuse.   For instance, I look at myself as a jack of all trades, I have had positions in a lot of industries, but always willing to learn and do more.  I have two bachelors, a few certifications, and a master’s degree, I may be done with my formal education, but it does not mean I still cannot go out and get more certifications, or take more classes to become a better person and coach. I see myself as a lifetime learner.  I have gone to several gyms and took classes in areas that I was familiar with (and I still learned more) and took new styles of classes, that I have always feared, but now I know I can do them and if I put my mind to it teach them.  Do not be afraid to go out and learn more, get a fitness certification, take some free nutrition seminars, keep reading my blog.  Keep yourself immersed in knowledge.

Chapter 3- Time- Time actually applies to me now, I have always been one who is pulled in 20 million directions and honestly, I love it!  I do not have time a lot to slow down, but when I really want to focus on something like this post, it ends up suffering and I have excuse after excuse why I could not get it done.  However, this is something I want to do and strive more, so what I started doing based on John’s suggestions, is I started to make a list of what I want to accomplish and what my timeframe is.  I have included the list in a list of what my daily activities can look like.  Do not let time be an excuse to put your health aside. I get up most mornings to do a run at 5:00 AM so I have time to do other things throughout the day. AND unless I am sick or injured, I have a standing time every Tuesday to hit the gym for a class with one of my favorite coaches (and I do what I can to fit in other times throughout the week), I make time to make myself better and healthier.  This is something we can all work on; make sure we have the time to do the things we want to do, and not get bogged down by the things that do not really matter too much to our everyday lives,  focus on our output and not the activity itself.

Chapter 4- Circumstance- Circumstance is something we all deal with, it is just how we deal with it.  Per John, as a society we blame circumstance (any external factors) gives us a pass on facing reality.  I agree 1000% with him; I have seen it in co-workers, friends, and clients.  For instance, I am a horrible test taker,  I am one of the worst at standardized testing, but I do not let that stop me from what I want to achieve, and it does not mean I am not knowledgeable or a failure in my field.  What it actually has done it made me want to learn more and work harder to be the best.  You can turn the circumstance around to make you the best version of you.  One of the excuses he gives as an example it weather, so let us apply that to running, if you live in the Northeast you have snow to deal with, if you live in the South you have high heat.  There are ways around this and working with what you have, run earlier, use a treadmill, find running buddies to motivate you to get out earlier.  I have had people actually try to put the weather as an excuse in my head, but I do not let that get to me or control me and you should not either.

Chapter 5- Ego- John has nailed this one and hits the health and fitness industry very well too; our ego helps prevents us from getting outside our comfort zone, we use excuses like age, size, people around us, what kind of day we are having and so on.  This is easier said than done, but we need to get up and out of our heads.  I am 36 and I have heard all of these point right at me, people have used age, size, and I have used what kind of day I am having, all against me.  If I were, to listen and do what everyone’s perceptions were, I would not have gotten a second bachelors, I would not have gotten my masters, and I would have not started this blog.  I stopped all the negative self-talk and became positive, I am positive, that I am doing good even if I do not have a large audience, and I am positive that I am doing what I need to do for me.  We all need to just get out of our own heads and the heads of others and just do us.  The one thing I am not sure of that he uses, as an excuse in this chapter is that rewarding behavior is a part of the health and fitness world, sadly some people are only motivated by reward behavior (I had a good day so I get that candy bar).  We should encourage other behaviors to help motivate people, but this is something we are imprinted on our whole life.  Honestly, I even do it with Loki, Zorra and Coach Thor, they were good, so they get treats (Erie is not treat motivated).  That kind of habit from motivation is hard to break, however the negative version of it, we should try to stop, “I am having a bad day so I deserve a candy bar, but I am also not going to exercise or eat well too cause I do not feel like it because of my bad day.” Let’s just stop that negative self-talk.

Chapter 6- Scarcity- John examines, the “lack of” to keep us from doing what we want as an excuse.  But honestly, were there is a will there is a way, let’s break that excuse.  For instance, if you do not have the funds to join a gym, start walking or going for a run every day, find a YouTube workout video to play and do that every day.  My husband and I started going to a HIIT gym a year ago this October when it opened,  they kept running into problems when they were trying to open, one of the things is the current supply chain issue held them back from getting some of the equipment that they were supposed to get, what did they do?  Corporate sent them alternatives until they could get what they needed.  Money, supply chain issues not all of that is an excuse.  Where there is a will there is a way!

My final thoughts-  Overall, this book is amazing,  whether you thought my insights were good or not in regards to the health and fitness industries, this is something I think everyone should read.  He applies it to everyday life and other industries out there, we can all make these changes for the positive, and whether or not you realize it, you may be doing some of that now!  I highly recommend this book and will be reading his other books in the future.  Do not use the excuse you do not have time to read it either— get the audio that is the case and listen it when you can.

What are some of the excuses you are going to be working on?