Last week, I cleaned out and reorganized my refrigerator. It sounds pretty basic, but it felt like such a huge accomplishment. It was something I’d been needing to do for a while but kept finding reasons not to. Then I had a meeting with my life coach who told me to stop making excuses and do it already.

Here’s the thing. It’s really easy to feel overwhelmed.

There are a lot of things that can make things harder in life. For me, some of those things are fibromyalgia, anxiety, reoccurring depression, adhd, and ptsd. Sometimes it makes the easiest things seem like a challenge. Things like getting out of bed, taking a shower, cooking a meal… Most of the time, I can manage to do all of the things I need to do. But some days, they seem close to impossible. Which means that on those days, if I can find a reason not to do something, I probably won’t do it.

It’s easy to make excuses.

There are so many things that I want to do for me or for my family. Some of those things I know would make my life easier and yet, I will still make excuses and put it off because it’s easier in the moment not to do the thing. A prime example is my refrigerator.

Months ago, I started seeing these videos on social media of people rearranging their refrigerators. Instead of using the vegetable and fruit drawers, they were putting their produce in the main sections or door of the fridge, while using those drawers to hold things like condiments. I thought it was genius! Seriously, I can’t even count the number of times that I’ve had to throw away the healthy food that has gone bad because I forgot about it. Or the times when I’ve come back from the grocery store with something that I already had plenty of- all because it was hidden in that drawer. When it comes to my refrigerator, it’s literally out of sight, out of mind.

These videos made it look so easy and organized and clean. Almost all of them used those clear plastic bins that made everything look so pretty. Multiple times I’d show them to my husband and he’d say something like ‘yeah that would be great!’ but that was as far as it went. I knew that doing something like this would be good for our family. It would save us money, because we wouldn’t constantly be throwing away food that had gone bad. We would snack healthier, because the first thing we’d see would be the fruits and veggies instead of snacks. Meal planning would be easier because we’d actually know what we had and be able to find it easier.

SO many positive outcomes, and yet we kept putting it off.

It would take too long to clean out the fridge. I have so many other things to do. I’m so tired. Those clear bins are hard to find and so expensive. What if we try it and it doesn’t work? It’s really easy to come up with excuses. And if no one calls you out on it, it’s easy to just keep avoiding doing the thing that needs doing. Again, I knew that the result would be beneficial, but that knowledge wasn’t enough to push me. Finally, my life coach called me out on it. (Thankfully!)

stop making excuses and do it already.

When she said this to me, it was an eye opener. First I had told her about how I’d wanted to reorganize everything but hadn’t done it. I told her about the bins, about the time I didn’t have, and all of the other things that were stopping me. She put it so simply: Those are just excuses. And she was right! You actually don’t need the bins and  you can make the time if you really want to. So if this is really something I wanted done, I had to stop making excuses and do it already.

I was shocked at first. It couldn’t really be that simple, could it? But it turns out that it totally was! I roped my husband into helping me and it did take a lot of time. There were moments when I thought things like, I could’ve gotten this done for my business or I could have done that for my blog or I could have taken a nap. But, at the same time, I was proud of myself for finally doing something I’d talked about for so long.

The hard work paid off!

I am super excited to say that my refrigerator is  now not only spotless, but organized in a completely new way that I think will really work well for my family.  We moved the produce to the door, moved the shelves around so that everything has it’s place, and put all of the condiments into those drawers where things seem to disappear. I also cleaned and organized my freezer and we threw away so many things that were either not good for us or had been in there for way too long. Once I finished cleaning and organizing, I created an inventory list that I synced between my computer and our phones so that we can easily keep track of what we have in the house at all times and what needs to be added to our grocery list.

I know it’s only been a short amount of time, but so far, it’s been amazing. Everything is so easy to find and every single time I open my fridge, I get a little feeling of pride because I remember how hard we worked on it. When I am bored or hungry, the first thing I see is fruit so my snacking has been better. And it’s made planning out our meals so much easier. This led to me thinking…

What else have I been making excuses for?

If something is worth doing or having, it’s worth doing the work to get there. Making excuses might be easier, but then you’ll never get that reward- whether it’s an actual product, a result or even just pride. I started looking at different areas of my life and things I’ve wanted to do or have for so long. The amount of excuses I’ve made out of laziness or even fear that things might not work out is insanely long. In my career, in my relationships, even when it comes to my body… There are so many times that I didn’t do what I wanted because it was easier or less scary to make an excuse instead.

Reorganizing my refrigerator might seem so simple, but it was really the push I needed to look closer at my choices and goals. It was the first step towards taking more risks and going after the things that I want. I’m really excited at the possibilities that are going to open up from this and I’ve already started filling my journal with ideas and plans.

Afterall, the word of the year is fearless.

Is there something you’ve been putting off or making excuses to avoid doing because you’re subconsciously afraid? Or maybe you don’t even know why you’re making excuses, but that thing you’ve talked about doing just isn’t getting done… I invite you to take some time and journal about it or talk with a friend about it. And then stop making excuses and do it. See how great it feels.

If you want to share what that thing is, or something you recently stopped making excuses about, drop it in the comments- I’d love to hear!

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