Noble Excuses

The road to self-sabotage is paved with noble excuses.

In the fall of 2018, a mentor of mine flew in for the weekend to support me at a powerlifting competition. At dinner the night before, I told him I was thinking about moving to Arizona to live my ideal of life: writing, sprinting, and building my consulting business.

The only problem was, I had just gotten into a relationship with my then girlfriend, now wife, Tiffany. I told my mentor I was torn between chasing my ideal life and leaving her.

“Noble excuses.” My mentor said, smiling as he plucked a grape from its stem on the charcuterie board between us. “What does Hunter want to do?”

I wanted to go to Arizona.

Less than a year later, I did.

For those of you who’ve read my book, you know what happened next.

For those who haven’t, it didn’t end well.

• I went broke.
• I became suicidal.
• I admitted myself into therapy.

Three years after that meeting with my mentor, I moved back to Michigan.

• Tiffany and I bought a house.
• We got married a year-and-a-half later.
• I got my first book published, became a professional football player, and rose the ranks in the Quick Service Restaurant industry, providing for my family instead of thinking of them as a noble excuse and sabotaging myself.

What’s the noble excuse keeping you stuck in self-sabotage?