Should I join a gym? That would take a huge chunk out of my precious work day.

Should I buy a piece of equipment for the home? We all know those end up as clothes horses.

Should I get a buddy? Would they be reliable?

Should I go hiking? That was an hour of driving round trip plus the hike time itself.

Should I just take a walk each day? How would that ever lead to weight loss?

And what about the kids? Between working and taking care of the kids, there just wasn’t any time!

So my friend looks at me and says, “Those are all just excuses. If you wanted to exercise, you’d exercise.”

Maybe, I sulked, but they seemed like good excuses to me. We stopped talking about exercise because he didn’t seem to understand my difficulties. He wasn’t empathizing very well.

The next morning I woke up at 6am refreshed and feeling fantastic. I remembered what my friend had said the night before. If I really wanted to exercise, I’d exercise. I’d find a way.

So I decided to just do it. In a flash I put on my sweat pants, a tank top, and my hiking shoes. I found a holder for my keys, some Kleenex, and my iPhone. Stuck my headphones in there and made sure I could hear my music. I woke Kyle up and told him I was going jogging and not to be scared if he woke up later and didn’t see me in the house. He said in a groggy voice, “Fine fine, Mama, you go do that.”

I walked out of the house and within 30 seconds I was jogging. Me. Jogging. I haven’t jogged in about 12 years. I didn’t care whether it was a good idea or not. I just wanted to do it.

The little ego imp on my shoulder said, “You’re going to hurt yourself. You’ll twist an ankle. You’ll have a heart attack.” I said, “I don’t care. Still doing it.”

He said, “You’ll never be able to sustain this pace. You’re going to be done in 2 minutes.” I said, “Then I’ll walk until I catch my breath and start jogging again.”

He said, “You’re going to be sore tomorrow. Do you really want to deal with soreness for 2 days? Is it worth it for this little jog that isn’t going to do anything for you anyway?” I told him to shut his pie hole.

He shut it.

I kept jogging. After a couple of minutes I was breathless so I walked. When I caught my breath I started jogging again. I didn’t want to stop. I was having a blast. The music mysteriously kept pace with me. I was listening to Within Temptation and when there was a fast song, I was jogging, and when there was a ballad I was walking. I was totally in sync.

My left ankle and knee weren’t feeling too spiffy but I kept going. I was super cold, so I put my hands in my jacket pockets and kept going. The garbage men were keeping pace with me at one point. I was so self-conscious, but me and my jiggly butt kept going. I ran around the block twice. I don’t know what the distance was but I was out there for a good 20 minutes. I was thrilled with my success.

I ran inside the house, made breakfast for the kids and packed their lunches, then took a hot shower.
I emailed my friend and told him I had gone jogging. He was shocked. I told him I had thought about what he said the night before. No excuses. If you want to do it, you do it.

I was super sore the next couple of days. My friend said, “That just means it’s working and you did a good job. Embrace the soreness.” So I did. Ouch. Definitely going to stretch before jogging and stretch afterwards.

Now before I go to bed I put my workout clothes in the bathroom so that as soon as I’m done brushing my teeth in the morning I can put the clothes on and get out of the house within minutes. No excuses.

What I learned from this was that if you want to do something, you find a way to do it. Nothing will stop you.

Ask yourself right now what one thing would you like to do, be, or have, and see what excuses you come up with as to why you don’t have it. If you really want it, squash the excuses and get it done. Just decide that nothing is going to prevent you from getting what you want.

Nothing feels as good as stomping on the excuses and showing them who’s boss. It’s your life. Just do it!

I’ll tell you. Meet the Ego Imp. He sits on your shoulder and whispers disempowering things in your ear. And you know what? You don’t have to listen to him. That’s right, you are under no contract, legal or otherwise, to sit there and listen to him ramble on incessantly about how horrible you are and how you’re just going to keep failing. You can shut him down.

“But, Erin, my Ego Imp has a megaphone. For a little guy he sure packs quite a wallop! How am I supposed to shut the little guy up?” Fear not! There are two steps to putting a muzzle on the Ego Imp.

First, you must become aware of when he’s talking to you. Should be obvious right? But it isn’t. The Ego Imp attacks you when your vibration is low, when you feel disconnected from love, when you’ve suffered a setback or emotional blow. And he’s insidious. He sounds like your own mind. He sounds like he’s making perfect sense. He appears to mirror exactly what you think your own self would say.

This is why it’s vital that you become aware of when the Ego Imp is whispering sweet nothings in your ear. You’ll recognize the thoughts because they are always disempowering, and they are not based in fact. The thoughts are based on conjecture alone. Are you REALLY never going to find love? Are you REALLY never going to make it in your chosen profession? No! That’s just speculation. These thoughts are just a conclusion drawn in a disempowering way designed to make you give up, feel bad, and take your ball and go home.

So the first step to stifling that Ego Imp is to become aware of when he’s talking to you. When you realize you’re having the disempowering thoughts, say, “Oh, I see you there, you little bugger. I know you’re whispering at me.” Seriously, that’s half the battle. The Ego Imp thrives on you not noticing when he’s talking to you. So shine a light on his impy ways and let him know that you know he’s there.

Now you’re ready to take him down. Get into position, bend your knees, find your center of gravity, and get ready to rumble! You’re about to do battle with your Ego Imp.

When he says, “You’re never going to find love,” you fire back with a more empowering thought; one that is just as accurate, if not more so. For example, “Oh yeah? I’m willing to wait for the right person and I’m not going to settle.” Score one for you.

Then the Ego Imp might say, “You’re nobody special.” So you counter with, “I’m unique, there’s no one else in the world like me. That right there means I’m special.” Burn! You: 2 Ego Imp: 0

Ego Imp is getting nervous, so he fires with, “You’re worthless. You can’t do anything right. You’re never going to succeed!” He’s sly, but you respond with, “I can think of at least 10 things that I CAN do right, and I will figure out how to put something together that is of value to others and run with it. I can’t be stopped unless I stop myself.”

Ego Imp is sweating now. His bullets are hitting Kevlar. He takes one final stab, “You’re not worthy of love!” Oh, ouch! Right below the belt. Ego Imp has hit a nerve, but you’re still standing and reply triumphantly with, “I was BORN worthy of love and that will never change no matter what happens!”

Game, set and match. Ego Imp slumps to the floor in defeat, waving his white flag in surrender. You’ve just shut down the Ego Imp. He’s completely depleted. He knows that no matter what he says to you, you can ALWAYS find a more empowering thought.

If you want, you can flick Ego Imp off your shoulder. Heck, stomp on him a couple of times if you’re in the mood. Then delete him and go on about your day.

The fact of the matter is that no one, not even yourself, can make you feel bad without your permission. You’re the one that lets the Ego Imp in, and you can escort him out just as easily. Once you do, you make way for more resourceful thoughts. You allow your mind to open to new possibilities. You can make new plans. It’s a good time to listen to your higher self, the one that knows your greatness already, the one that knows what you planned for yourself in this life, and wants to help you get it.

So there you have it… how to shut down the Ego Imp. Next time he clears his throat and gets ready to barrage you with disempowering thoughts you’re going to say, “Pfft, off with you, you little monster. You are not welcome on THIS shoulder!”

Winner and still champion: YOU!