No Excuses

No Excuses.

I would like to take a moment to talk about excuses. We all make them. Excuses for why we stayed home, why we performed poorly, or why we aren’t where we want to be. We tell ourselves “I’m too sore”, “I didn’t get enough sleep”, “I have an injury”, “I’m too old”, “I have stress in my personal life”, etc. I especially hear a lot of excuses at tournaments when people lose. 

Here’s the thing: There will always be an excuse. Everyone has injuries. Everyone is tired. Everyone has problems in their lives. If you want to find an excuse, then you will. The champions are the ones who don’t accept the excuses and push themselves to excellence anyways. Mindset is key. If you show up to a competition already with an excuse in mind, you have already lost. You need to be prepared to give 100% no matter what. Anything can happen. I’ve won tournaments on one hour of sleep, and I’ve lost tournaments when I was fully rested. I’ve seen new mothers crush the competition at the highest level. 

I’m talking specifically about Jiu-Jitsu right now, but this applies to every area of life. If you decide to do something, give it your all. Don’t let excuses bog you down. 

Sidenote: I’m not saying that you shouldn’t take care of yourself or rest your injuries. Sleep is important. Rest is important. Sometimes our personal lives need to take priority over our training. Just take a good hard look at your life and ask yourself if you are making excuses. Are you limiting yourself? Are you preventing yourself from reaching your full potential?

My advice: Take your excuses, and let them work for you. Decide to win despite your struggles. You’re sick or tired? Finish all of your opponents in 30 seconds so you don’t have to fight any longer. You’re frustrated about personal problems in your life? Let them fuel your fire and fight even harder. Prove everyone wrong. Be someone’s inspiration. Show the world what’s possible. And if it’s not your day, it’s not your day. But no excuses. Leave saying you left everything you had out on those mats. 

By

Nikki Sullivan