Every athlete faces that moment - when excuses threaten their goals. Whether it's pre-game anxiety, physical fatigue, or lack of motivation, these mental barriers feel insurmountable. But what if those excuses could become your secret weapon

We're excited to share this unconventional insight from mental performance coach, Mike Mata, who discovered a counterintuitive method for transforming excuses into fuel for achievement. His approach to excuse-stacking aligns with our mental training philosophy - turning barriers into growth opportunities through deliberate daily practice.

In this post, you'll learn:

• A fresh perspective on transforming excuses into motivation
• How intentional mental preparation changes performance outcomes
• An innovative technique for building psychological resilience
• Ways to implement daily mental training routines that stick

Mike's experience with open water swimming demonstrates why systematic mental preparation can help athletes push through mental barriers. This approach is integrated into Mettle's AI-powered coaching tools. Let's explore his unconventional approach and see how it helps athletes transform their mental game through deliberate practice and psychological preparation.

The Concept of 'Excuse-Stacking'

Use it all as fuel to get it done.

Throughout life, we often have to do things that we don’t want to do. Sometimes it’s working an extra job to cover living costs, other times it’s getting up early to exercise because we know it’ll be worth it to invest in our health. However it looks, there’s no way around this part of the human experience.

On top of that, it’s usually easy to draft plenty of logical reasons that become excuses not to do the thing that we know is in our own best interest; and it’s usually very clearly in our own best interest. It wasn’t until recently that I learned there may be opportunity living here.

Anecdote
There was a time this past summer where an open water swim was in my sights. Around that time, I remember seeing a video online that had someone list their excuses, one by one. They hungrily listed more, waiting until the end before saying that they plan to use them all as fuel for motivation to do it anyway, right in the face of them all; with each of them laid out. Interested in the concept, I took a moment the night before my swim to come up with every reason I could not to commit.

As I wrote out each of my excuses, I made the point to look at each one and use them as fuel to carry out the swim in the face of all of this evidence. All of it pointed toward logical reasons for backing out. I had a pulled muscle in my lower back, an open wound on my left foot, a debilitating fear of deep, open water (this time involving 40+ feet), a big portion of my belongings to pack up in preparation for a ~28 hour road trip the following day, a business meeting directly upon arrival of said road trip, and I was in quite a bit of sleep debt as it was. I continued to list more things and then consciously said to myself, "time to do it anyway." I woke up the next morning and drove to the dock without hesitation. I just went with it and did it anyway.

Much of the credit is due to preparation in the form of this thought exercise, as well as some stretching, visualization, breathwork, and a few extra hours of sleep. I was able to execute the plan and though it was a marathon of events leading up to a rest period post-business-meeting, I felt proud, whole, and satisfied. There was an added layer of accomplishment that came from knowing that I did something most people wouldn't have in that moment.

The exercise went something like this ⤵

Excuse-Stacking Exercise

Give this exercise a try the next time you find excuses getting in the way of what you’re looking to accomplish. Stack them as high as you can, acknowledge them for what they are, weigh the cost/benefits of them, and then engage in the behavior in spite of it all (within reason). Look at each excuse as fuel for the task you’re looking to accomplish.

• Choose something that you want to accomplish but that you have little motivation to do
• Lay out as many excuses as you can for not doing this activity, stacking them as high as you can
• Upon seeing the excuses written out, acknowledge each one honestly for what it is
• Then, do it anyway in the face of them all (within reason)
  • Completing this exercise results in a excuse-stacking-repetition
  • After some reps, reflect on where/how else this muscle could be exercised
  • Acknowledge, praise, and reward yourself with an experience that’s purely for self-enjoyment upon completion
  • *Within reason = within logical bounds, not putting yourself or others at risk

Takeaways

• While this experience had valuable lessons for me, I don’t recommend going against your intuition, and I’m not necessarily encouraging the reader to go and do things in spite of reasons not to. Instead, the hope is for the reader to relate to how easy it is to allow the excuses to get in the way of accomplishment, when alternatively, there’s an opportunity to view them as a source of motivation. A chance to point them in the opposite direction; toward achievement.
• It’s worth noting that the power of regret played a role in this experience, as well. I didn’t want to regret not carrying out the opportunity to swim in nature. I feel like there’s opportunity within this way of thinking: to leverage the thought of possible regret to bolster motivation in times where you may not feel motivated. This certainly added to the effect and made it more powerful in this case. For more on this concept, check out The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward by Daniel H. Pink.

Perhaps there’s a workout, a gathering, a polar plunge, or a holiday party coming up where you’ll get out there and see some friends. For some, these events can stir up excuses pretty easily. Sounds like an opportunity for practice to me.

Michael Mata, CMPC®, is a sport and performance psychology specialist with degrees from Hunter College and the University of Denver. He co-founded his practice, Limitless Mental Performance, to offer evidence-based, individualized mental skills training. Michael helps athletes harmonize their strengths, values, and goals to optimize performance and personal growth.