This morning, I got out of bed at 8:17am and was immediately swept with guilt. 

How could I sleep so late?
How dare I waste precious hours I could be devoting to my business or our home while our girls were still sleeping.
My husband had arrived at work this morning by 6am.  How could I be so unfair?

HUH!?!
This is exactly what my self-talk was straight out of bed. 

I had gotten the girls asleep by 9:30 last night and read for awhile before dozing off, having set my alarm for 6am. 

I had hit snooze for 2 whole hours!  I’m so lazy!
Ummmm….no. 

Thankfully, quite quickly, my brain snapped back with reasoning.  I was up at 1am for quite some time soothing my 4 year old who had had a night terror and wet her bed.  She was screaming, we were changing pajamas in the dark, and I was pulling bedding off her bed after tucking her into ours (next to our 2 year old who had climbed in sometime prior).  Then, spent most of the remainder of the night curled up at the foot of the bed trying to sleep like the family dog.  No wonder I was tired.

​But then… 
were these excuses?  Was I justifying my being lazy?
​
Isn’t it incredible the things we put ourselves thru for no reason?
 
I got to thinking…
I have just spent an additional 20 minutes worrying about justifying my failure to meet my self-established expectations to myself! 
Not only that, but I started my day with negative and self-sabotaging self-talk of which was not benefiting myself or anyone else. 
Why is that?
 
Do I feel guilty for running my business from home full time while my husband goes off to a job each day he may not love?
Do I feel guilty for having a job I love when so many don’t?
Have I read one too many “How successful people live life” articles that tell me I need to get up every day at 4am and spend 2 hours exercising and meditating before I get to work?
 
I’m not arguing that a morning regimen is or isn’t the key to starting your day right.  I also don’t believe that in most cases you can be successful while sleeping in or doing whatever you want for the most part. 

I commit a large amount of work to my business.  I have mentors.  I work night and day. 

However, if you are pushing yourself to constantly do something that is only bringing you stress, I do not believe that is a weakness you need to commit to overcoming.  I agree with Dean Graziosi in that you have to double down on your strengths.
If you are giving it your best effort, truly giving it your best effort, than progress will be made. 

Forcing yourself out of bed at 5am every day to workout will no doubt bring you some progress.  You may or might not get used to it and learn to enjoy it.  OR, you might see faster and more consistent performance if you workout during that hour in the afternoon after work before you make dinner.  Only you can make that decision. 

But, as Les Brown so eloquently tells us, “Someone else’s opinion does not need to become your reality!”
 
Push yourself.  Do your very best.  Recognize what is necessary and what just sounds good.  Work hard.  But do not talk down to yourself.  Do not start your day with disdain for yourself.  Do not sabotage.
​
You will never accomplish great things while you are beating yourself up.  Believe in yourself!
 

If you haven’t read it yet, Millionaire Success Habits by Dean Graziosi has a chapter that guides you through writing down your current story.  The story that might be holding you back and keeping you from your best self.  Then, it guides you through writing your new story.  The true story.  The true future.  He’s been giving it away for free.  I suggest you grab your copy!  TheBetterLife.com

Hi my name is Dr. Matthew Hodgden. I am a physical therapist. I help people get their life back. I do this by digging deeper into people’s stories to find out what they can no longer physically do but wish to do. We then find out why they are no longer able to do these things; it is usually due to: pain, loss of motion, or just fearful of trying. We then develop a plan to correct the impairments that are holding the person back from trying these activities and then meet these goals in order to fully restore an individual’s value of life. For example, I just finished up with a client that woke up 5 to 6 times at night due to pain; we were able to address her issues and, in only 4 visits, she is now sleeping soundly -- waking up refreshed and ready for the day.  

 I grew up in a split family my entire life; my mom, whom I primarily lived with, was in Holloway, MN (near the SD border) and my dad lived in Nimrod, MN (closer to Brainerd). Although I had 4 siblings, I essentially was raised as an only child by my mother and step-father which provided opportunities for me to learn how to push myself to always learn something new. The healthcare field has always been my direction of path as I was the youngest first responder in the state of MN at the age of 14 years old. After that, I became an EMT and went on to attend Paramedic school.  My father owned his construction company, so at a young age I also saw the benefits of being my own boss and, therefore, owning my own business has always been a dream for me.

I was originally planning to be a heart surgeon due to the family history of heart attacks before the age of 55 in my family. I was fully qualified and very confident that I would have been successful with this path but heart surgeons have an 89% divorce rate and I had been in a committed relationship (that eventually lead to my wonderful wife and now amazing two children), so I chose a healthcare career that allowed me to also balance well with my family life.  The Physical Therapy profession allows me to get to know my patients, really make them healthy, and have a great quality of life.

I know you feel this, yes you.  I know you have felt guilt about the lack of time, money, attention, or focus you have lacked due to your entrepreneurial adventures.  I also know you feel like you have to continue because you want better, you need better for yourself, for your family.  I bet you're still smiling.  You're thinking, yes, I feel that way at times, but it's good. I like being busy.  I like that I am working toward something.  I am setting an example for my kids.  It is not easy, but good will come of it.  

Oh, I'm going to have to go first, eh?  Alright, let's go:

I unraveled today.  ​