Stop making excuses for things that will bring you happiness

Let me clarify a little on my last post.
It is okay to make an excuse if that excuse will get you out of an activity that is inconvenient or will bring you long-term unhappiness or discomfort.
It is never okay to make an excuse to exempt yourself from something that will have a positive effect on you.
When I began my fitness journey, all I had were excuses. “I don’t have time” was my favorite, because I worked 60 hours or more a week. It was easy to justify skipping a workout by saying “It’s going to hurt” or “I don’t want to mess up my hair” or “I want to go straight home and go to sleep”. I was only hurting myself with these excuses. I knew what I needed to do, and I used every excuse in the book not to do it.
Today, I have trouble distinguishing between real legitimate excuses and the excuses I make to avoid pushing myself. For example, at my work out on Saturday, I avoided going on the stair machine because “It will make my knee hurt”. I had to take a step back and decide if this was an excuse I was making to stay in my comfort zone, or if it would actually cause me physical pain. I took a chance, and it turned out to be just another of my useless excuses. I did 15 flights (I think – don’t hold me to that) before I tapped out. I did not experience any serious physical pain other than the burn I love so much, and I will definitely be returning to that machine today.