Tag Archives: Personal Development

Goal Setting Tools

 

I know..I know.  I did that thing again where I say I’m going to start posting more often and then I don’t. It happens, I have no excuse and you know what? I’m not sorry.

In life you have to pick and choose where your energy goes and as I much as I enjoy sharing my story and writing, the old blog here just didn’t rank high on the list in 2019. I will say that writing more is officially a 2020 goal but I haven’t decided if it will be here, on my Medium account or a new project all together.

Curious about what 2019 was all about for me? You can hop on over to the Podcast and listen to some of my solo episodes, or you can jump on over to Instagram and check out my post there. It didn’t post too much in my feed (I’m way more active in stories) but I did post.

ANYWAY…the purpose of this post is to share a Goal Setting sheet that I saw on-line. Someone shared a photo of the goals they set for themselves and I loved the format they used, so I recreated it.

I recently did a podcast on Tips for Making a Vision Board, and last night on Instagram I shared my struggle with setting my goals. Since goals are on my mind lately and so many people reached out to tell me they were struggling too, I thought I would share this little tool!

Hope you enjoy it and are able to put it to good use! If you do, let me know…maybe I’ll make more stuff like this as we go through 2020!

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#Last90Days Challenge

Instagram is a place I spend a lot of time.

I have made a lot of friends, found a lot of empowered people to learn from, I’ve found motivation, and I’d like to think I provide some value and motivation to those who take the time to double tap and hopefully read the mini novels I sometimes (Okay…quite often) write under my photos.

Don’t follow me on Instragram? You can by clicking here & hitting that FOLLOW button!

Earlier this year I read the book Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis and it really spoke to me. It made me stop and think about my life… like REALLY stop and think about things.

It’s something I’ve been focused on this year and there has been a lot of change taking place behind the scenes of my writing and posts. It’s a bag of mixed emotions cause let’s be honest, facing your shit and owning up to your actions isn’t the easiest thing to do in the world but as Rachel Hollis says in her book…

If You're Unhappy That's On You

So when I was scrolling my feed and saw a lot of people joining the #Last90Days challenge that Rachel Hollis and her husband where hosting, I thought why not?!

(What more info on the challenge? Click here)

I started out Day 1 by reading the e-mails, watching the videos and listening to the podcasts listed. I felt fired up and began reflecting on one of the quotes and topics from the book Girl Wash Your Face…

Never Break A Promise To YourselfEver stop to think about that? Cause I hadn’t since I read the book.

If a friend or family member made a promise to you and time and time again broke their promise or left you hanging would you trust them anymore?

The answer to that is most likely no, yet we break promises to ourselves ALL. THE. TIME.

  • “I’m going to start eating healthy on Monday.”
  • “I’m going to start going to the gym.”
  • “I’m going to make time to read.”
  • “I’m going to make time to relax.”

Any of these sound familiar? I’m sure they do and I’m sure there is stuff on this list that you made excuses NOT to go thru with because it’s easier to grab fast food, lay on the couch watching Netflix or put everyone else needs before your own.

It’s time to stop flaking on yourself and make yourself the priority you deserve to be!

I am sooooo guilty of breaking promises to myself and I am determined to stop doing that. I am going to use the next 90 days (well 87 since it’s day 3 as I’m writing this) to get my shit together and start treating myself with the respect that I deserve.

If you struggle with any of this stuff I encourage you to join the #Last90Days challenge, connect with me on Instagram and end your year STRONG!

Which promise are you most guilty of breaking to yourself? Drop a comment below and let’s chat!

 

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Chase Your Dreams

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Once again I have been a slacker when it comes to writing here and honestly, I’m okay with that, because I’ve been busy chasing my dreams.

I was feeling a little bit lost in my life and what direction it should take, but I’m feeling much more focused now. I suppose it’s something we all go through at some point in life. When I lost my job a year and a half ago, I knew I wanted to switch my focus towards my passion, which was health & fitness. I spent some time deciding how I wanted to go about doing it and eventually decided to begin studying for my NASM Personal Trainer certification, as I’ve mention here before. I’m proud to say I completed it, however once I did, I didn’t know what I wanted to do next. I was never comfortable being in a gym and that is where most people start out once they are certified, so I sucked it up and went to meet with someone at a local gym about shadowing and learning the ropes. While I was there, I knew in my gut it wasn’t for me. NOTHING about it felt comfortable and after speaking with the trainer there, I knew in my heart I wasn’t going to be happy following that route. So I went home, cried and questioned everything I had been doing to this point.

That is when clarity took over and I realized that the answer had always been in front of me. I had taken steps down the path toward it in the past, but always got scared, worried about what other people were going to think and talked myself out of it.

You see, back when I completed my first round of P90X 4 years ago, I tried Shakeology for the first time and really liked it, however I really couldn’t afford it. I saw the nutritional value it offered, but I couldn’t get past the price tag. That is when my coach introduced me to Beachbody Coaching (Yes, I said Beachbody Coaching…please don’t run away now) and how I could get a 25% discount on Shakeology. I was very skeptical at first and I asked a million questions to everyone I knew who was doing the program on Twitter and I eventually decided to sign-up. While I was told I was inspiring and motivating by many people I met at that time, I wasn’t comfortable coaching anyone so I just enjoyed the Shakeology discount and if people asked me what I was doing to get in shape I would tell them, share a link and make a little extra money by doing so.

From time to time I would attend a local Beachbody event, because I loved the programs. Coaches I met there would try to talk to me into “working my business” but I refused to “drink the Kool-Aid” so I would just smile a nod. In all honesty I was intrigued by it, but I was also scared of it. I wasn’t a fitness professional and I was still trying to figure out all this fitness stuff on my own. How on earth could I possibly help other people reach their goals when I hadn’t even reached mine?! When I look back on this I was stupid and I was just scared. I was scared of leaving my comfort zone, scared of what other people would think and scared of failing. Now I know that failing at things is the way to grow in life. If we just sit back in our comfort zone, we aren’t living life to it’s fullest, and we certainly aren’t being as happy as we could possibly be.

Over the course of 4 years I have toyed with the idea of actually following this path and coaching others, on and off. I always allowed the fear to stop me but I never quit. I thought about it many times but for some reason I never called and cancelled my coach account and I never fully gave up on the idea of doing it. Why? I’m pretty sure it’s because the Universe wants me to pursue this. I know … I know… the Universe?! Yeah, well… I’m not religious but I do believe in a higher power. I wholeheartedly believe that we have a path we are meant to follow in life, and that people and events come into our lives to lead us to this path. When we ignore the path things will keep happening to redirect us towards it, and that’s what kept happening to me with coaching.

So, as of this month, I am officially applying myself with my coaching! I am chasing my dreams of helping others and paying it forward. I am no longer running from this opportunity to touch other peoples lives and pass along the knowledge that I have gained over the course of my 5 year weight loss journey. I was able to change my life and I know that YOU can too. If you have been scared to start, I want you to know that it is normal and it doesn’t mean that you can never do it!

Now that I have  finally, openly, talked about what it is I do, I hope that if you are ever up late watching TV and an infomercial comes on for P90X, T25, 21 Day Fix, PiYo or any other Beachbdoy program, you will wait to order it and come speak to me first. If you already own one of these programs but have struggled with them or never even got started, I would love the opportunity to coach you,  find out what your goals are and help you to reach them!

It’s time to chase your dreams and make them a reality!

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Filed under 21 Day Fix, Body Beast, Focus T25, Health & Fitness, Insanity, My Ramblings, P90X

Hello, My Name Is Perfectionist

Hello My Name Is
The irony in this is that I know there is no such thing as perfection and I tell people on a daily basis that they don’t have to be perfect, they just need to do their best.  One would think I would take my own advice, but I don’t.

I have a tendency to set very high goals for myself, and when I fall short of them, I beat myself up.

Some might say my high standards are why I have had such success with my lifestyle changes, and it probably is. Setting the bar high makes me work hard toward my goals, however, when I fall short of my goals, I tend to beat myself up and that is not good.

Recognizing this problem is step one in my being able to fix it. I need to learn how to cut myself some slack, and show myself some love. I need to learn how to focus on the progress I’ve made and not dwell on what I wasn’t able to do.

I also need to learn that I am not Super Woman and I can NOT do it all. I am one of those people who don’t know how to ask for help. I’ve always been so independent that asking for help is like showing weakness to me, but it’s not weakness, it’s being human…and I know that I need to learn how to delegate.

I’ve come so far in the past four years, but my self esteem isn’t where it should be and that is because I spent so much time being a perfectionist.

A year ago, I would have never logged the miles running that I have this year. Instead of being happy about the miles logged or the fact that I’ve been dedicated enough to go out when it was 21 degrees or raining, I’ve spent time beating myself up because I haven’t increased my speed or because I took time off and didn’t log as many as I could have. This is not a healthy way to view things and I am working on changing that.

Personal development has played a big role in my life the past few weeks and I hope to free myself of this perfectionist pipe dream soon.

Do you hold yourself to high standards? Do you tend to overlook your accomplishments and only focus on your short comings? Read any good personal development books lately? If so, I’d love for you to share below!

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Ready. Aim. Focused.

It seems I found my groove so well, that I haven’t had time to sit down and write.

Wow!

The past two weeks have been quite the whirl wind. The kids went back to school, so we started a new routine. I made lots of small changes to my fitness and nutrition, which are yielding big results, and I’ve been working on lots of personal development, which feels amazing.

With the kids back in school, my day starts a lot earlier and it allows me to get my Focus T25 workouts in bright and early. This week I started the Beta phase of the program and I absolutely love it. I’m not sure if it’s because all of the workouts are new for this month, because there are weights involved or if it is because I was doing Alpha for so long, but I’m honestly enjoying the change. My favorite so far is Speed 2.0. I can feel everything engaging, I get a good sweat going and I didn’t clock watch at all when I did that one. I know…it’s a 25 minutes program, but I do catch myself clock watching at times. I find I look for the halfway mark and the 5 minute mark, but I didn’t do that with Speed 2.0, I was actually shocked when it was over.

This week was a rest week for Body Beast with the hybrid Mike is doing, so I just followed my regular T25 schedule. I’m looking forward to new workouts with Body Beast next week, too. I’m sure there will be lots of soreness in my future!

Meal prepping has continued to be a life saver for me. I slacked a little with it this week and it resulted in us ordering pizza last night. We used to order pizza every Friday night… it was tradition, but we hadn’t done it in the past month and I didn’t have anything ready to toss together for dinner so I said why not. I had no idea I would gorge myself as soon as it entered the house. I ended up feeling tired and sluggish after eating it, which is something I never noticed before, but I guess with the nutritional changes I’ve made over the past few weeks, my body rejected the amount I forced it to consume.

MyFitnessPal has also become part of my routine again. We were challenged as part of the accountability group I am in for Focust T25, to track AND post screen captures of our food intake daily. It really made me think twice before I grabbed a cookie, handful of almonds or an extra scoop of rice. For the most part, it just helped me to tweak the types of food I was eating. It also helped me to ensure I was hitting my daily caloric goal, because I didn’t realize I was under most days, before I started tracking. The small task of logging my meals showed not only on the scale the past two weeks, but in my measurements (You all know I feel about the scale by itself.) so if you have been stuck and you’re getting frustrated by a lack of results, make sure you take the time to journal your food!

The other thing I have been spending a lot of time on is Personal Development. It’s one of those things that I’ve been told to do, as a coach, but I allowed everything else to come first and I never had time. Sound familiar? Because that’s the excuse I hear all the time, from people who want my help getting healthier, but haven’t committed yet. Ironic, isn’t it? Well… I realized the irony, I made changes, and I committed. I’ve been reading a minimum of 10 pages per day (my current book of choice is The Compound Effect), I watch or listen to at least 15 minutes of inspiring video or audio a day (so easy to do while running errands in the car or I pop ear buds in while I fold laundry), I’ve made a digital dream board which I plan on printing and hanging where I can see it daily and I’ve set goals for myself.

I could kick myself for not starting this sooner, but I can’t change the past, so I’ve just been focused on my daily tasks and enjoying the feeling it brings.

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Lastly, many of you who have been following my blog from the beginning, know that Shakeology has been a staple in my diet for years. Lately, I’ve had a lot of people messaging me on Facebook, asking questions about it as well as the programs I’ve done, so I’ve organized 7 Day Shakeology Challenges over on Facebook. I am so excited by the positive response it has received! If you have ever wanted to try Shakeology, need to jump start healthy habits and gain energy without sugary energy drinks and tons of coffee, stop by my page or comment below for more details! I’ll also be starting some program based challenges soon!

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Filed under Fitness Inspiration, Health & Fitness, Shakeology Cleanse