“I’m so exhausted,” I exclaimed, as I collapsed into bed. Mind you, it was only about 6:45 p.m., but I was fully intending to cocoon myself in the warm sheets for a TV marathon of the latest Bachelorette. [Don’t judge. We all have faults, and loving mindless reality TV is one of mine. I will not mention that this is one of the “better” reality shows I binge on. Ahem.]

My husband raised an eyebrow and gave me a look that I translated to mean: You’re not going to get any sympathy from me.

“My day was so stressful,” I argued, although he hadn’t said a word. “I just need to relax for a bit,” I continued.”

Hmmm. Who was I trying to convince?

Unfortunately, this was not just a long day in which I needed to do nothing to recharge and start again. This had been a somewhat consistent pattern during a two-week period: sleep in, skip workout, pledge to do workout at the end of the day, have a long, stressful day at work, become exhausted, collapse into bed and watch TV. You see where this is going. Not good.

Later that night, after I had eaten way too many snacks in lieu of a balanced dinner, Mr. rUnladylike came back into the room after being out with a friend for the evening. I immediately looked at him sheepishly and began making more excuses as I did before he left.

He gave me the same eyebrow raise. “I’m not disappointed,” he said. “The only person you’re disappointing is yourself.”

Truth. Ouch.

“Sometimes you just have to push through,” Mr. rUnladylike said. At that moment, I wanted to punch him in the face. Don’t you understand how much I don’t want to push through at the moment??? Don’t you see how I deserve this night, er pattern of nights, of laziness and self-sabotage? Well, now that I put it that way …

He was right. Even though I didn’t want to admit it, I already knew it. He wasn’t saying it to be callous or not understanding. He said it because he knows what makes me happy, and skipping workouts, being lazy too many days in a row and not eating well is not what makes me happy.

So, I put my big girl pants on and stopped making excuses.

The next morning, I got up, ran and did strength training. I scheduled a handful of fitness classes to meet friends the next few mornings. I cooked healthy dinners. I was out of my slump.

We all lose our mojo from time to time. All it takes is a single day to get it back. Sometimes we need a little tough love to get the kick in the pants we need. Other times, we’re the ones who need to dish it out to the people we care about most. There are days we need a Bachelorette (or Bloodline) marathon. But more often than not, there are a lot more days we just need to push through to grab what we really want. Achieving goals doesn’t happen by wishing for them. It only happens by working for them.

Have you received or dished out any tough love lately? How did you (or your loved one) take it?