Self-Love Is A Game Changer

This past year was tough for me. I went through some ups and downs that I still have trouble understanding. Don’t worry, I won’t waste your time telling you about all the negative things. That would be boring. I actually want to spend this time telling you about how I am thankful for every minute of hardship I have been through. I am thankful that I had times where I felt like I had no way out because it really made me think harder about how I wanted to live my life. I know that I am a generous, bold and loving person who loves to experience life at its fullest, but sometimes my “busy schedule” gets in the way. That is when I start to feel exhausted and drained as if I am dragging myself into each day.

Does this sound familiar? Do you ever feel like you are just not sure how you are going to get through the day because there is just so much on your mind? Like life sometimes gets too busy and is too overwhelming?

A Little Back Story

Before this year I had the time of my life and lived some amazing experiences that I can never forget. I was blessed with good people in my life and opened up my own business. When someone tells you that your life can change in a day, I can be honest and tell you that there is some truth to this. Things changed so fast that I didn’t even know if it was reality or if I was dreaming. What I thought I wanted “forever” took a 180 turn in both my personal life and in my career.

There had to be something better than dragging myself into each day feeling tired, exhausted and unsatisfied.

The Real Issue

I am already a pretty healthy person in regards to eating properly and taking care of myself physically BUT I realized that my problem was that I wasn’t present emotionally when it mattered most. My emotional needs didn’t matter if someone else wasn’t happy. I would put other people’s goals before my own and therefore waste my full potential. I spent most of my time trying to meet the needs of others, which was nice at times because I am a kind and generous person, but sometimes I forgot about myself. Now don’t get me wrong, I love coaching gymnastics and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I am also proud of myself for branding my name into a business in the last few years. Having the opportunity to work and teach coaches and athletes from all around the world is literally a dream that I was able to make a reality. The problem was that I didn’t have the freedom that I wanted and therefore I wasn’t able to take care of myself emotionally while trying to reach my goals. Once I realized that, I was able to think more clearly. I was able to see things with an open mind and started feeling ambitious again towards making decisions that can actually make improvements in my life. I knew it was time to stop feeling sorry for myself and get a move on doing something to solve my situation. Things weren’t going to miraculously get better if I didn’t put any effort in to change it. The reality of actually having to make changes instead of waiting for someone to do it for me was seriously setting in.

My First Steps

One of my coping mechanisms for stress or anxiety was to work out so I could feel better about myself. Of course, there were many issues to deal with but I found peace when treating my body with respect. I started reading some books and looking into motivational blogs and articles. I would spend any extra time that I had trying to introduce some sort of personal development. I started doing yoga because I found that it helped to relax and clear my mind. I began to see that health and fitness is truly where I find emotional happiness so I decided to start making it a consistent part of my daily routine.

Not only just portraying it to others as I do already, but truly living it and pushing my excuses to the curb. Doing something and doing something consistently are two very different things. It taught me that loving myself first is the most important thing if I wanted to be happier and present for myself and everyone else around me.

When I say “fitness and health” you are probably thinking “workout and eat healthy”, but I am actually taking this much more in depth. This is more in regards to willingly make healthy choices to make sure I am just as strong emotionally as I am physically.

Self-love and gratitude started becoming part of my daily routine. I would try and spend more time alone just doing things for me and wrote down 5 things I was thankful for each morning. By doing this I was able to think more positive and focus on the people and things that actually had meaning in my life. I quickly started to see what was important and what wasn’t. I also started to notice who truly believes in me and who was clinging on because they were afraid of change or unhappy with their own situations. I focused on the fact that the negativity of others is only a product of what they are dealing with, not me, and tried my best to stay distracted from that.

So What Did I Do?

I started focusing on my own business and looking for new opportunities to grow. I partnered with a few companies to help promote health and fitness in different ways. As I started making fitness a bigger part of my life than it already was I noticed I was more positive and felt less anxiety about everything that was going on around me. I was believing in myself and feeling positive about my ability to achieve my goals. I was happier and able to see how my hardships were not burdens, they were opportunities to learn. Getting myself to the gym was easier and eating better was simple because I knew how it was helping me get to where I wanted to be in life. Even now, I don’t feel bad about having a treat or sweet every now and then because my goals are clear enough to not let me get off track in the long run.

To be honest, one of my favourite things to do on my spare time is check out new restaurants because food is seriously “life”. Who’s with me?

Being able to do that without feeling like I am setting myself back in my goals is such a positive feeling. I met an amazing woman named Kim Fitzpatrick through teaching her daughter private tumbling lessons. She and her husband are two of the top Beachbody coaches in the world. When I saw how much she was able to do with the business I realized that I was totally in a place to be able to do it too.

I did Shaun T’s Insanity program a few years back and lost 15lbs. At that time I was lacking motivation and his program really helped me to find it again. I enjoyed it but didn’t look much into the business opportunity. I knew about it because a few of my friends did it but it wasn’t the first thing on my mind. When I heard about the “On Demand” workout streaming service I was blown away at how convenient it can be to get my workout in, eat properly and still have time to live life. That was one of my deciding factor as to why I decided to become an online health and fitness coach and also why I wanted to make it part of my business and my life. The other factor was my health, as I have struggled with it for many years. I used to play it off and pretend like I was okay when I should have been resting but one day about two years back, my eyes were opened at how powerful sickness can actually be. I don’t talk about much about this part of my “why” because it really hits home for me. On top of the happiness that fitness brings into my life, there is another huge personal experience that helped me see value in being an online health and fitness coach.

The Most Important Part

Two years back I got so sick and was in a place where I felt like I wasn’t going to make it through. My busy life was put on hold because of my health. I have struggled with immunity for years but never to this extreme. For almost two months I was almost immobile and even after that it took months to get my energy levels back to where they were before.

 I already watched my sister go through Cancer and so these circumstances drove me to realize how important taking care of myself actually was. I was not sick because I didn’t take care of myself so I did understand that fitness was not the only answer. I did know that it helped me to feel better by increasing my energy and improving my respiratory issues even in small amounts so for that it was worth it. Finally we were blessed with some answers and treatments began showing progress. Today, I still deal with my health on a regular basis but am able to maintain it better thanks to so many caring people who took the time out of their life to help me.

So long story short, after watching myself and my sister go through life threatening illnesses, having to watch my parents give everything to us to make sure we were okay, plus my negative perceptions of my personal life and career in the past year, I decided that it was time to jump on this business opportunity and turn things around. I was nervous because I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was ready for change. I couldn’t help but see how so many people could actually benefit from the on demand workout service and how meaningful it could be. It was the opening of a new chapter in my life. I can workout anytime, anywhere, and stream on any device.

I don’t have to get up and drive myself to the gym, or worry about making it to places on time. There are hundreds of workouts to choose from, all made by world class trainers. Each program comes with a nutrition plan and information on how you can get the most out of it. Workout fast, slow, long, short, stretch, cardio, weights, hiit, lift, yoga, nutrition, and so much more.

YOU NAME IT! THEY HAVE IT!

As my business grows I can do this more from home and be present for myself, my family and loved ones who matter most. I have more time to take care of my health when it is needed, relax when necessary and experience life at its fullest. As I learn more and grow the business side of things, I won’t have to worry about sick days if I am not feeling well or vacation days if I want to travel. The flexibility with time while being able to promote my business simultaneously is a true blessing and I am so thankful that I have started on this path. One of the best parts about this business is that I get to work with an amazing group of people who believe in themselves and are motivated for some of the same reasons. This positive environment I get to be surrounded by on a daily basis is really the biggest thing for me. Our accountability group is something I look forward to checking into daily. When I first joined, I actually thought to myself “Is this real life?”. The love, support and motivation that circulates in our accountability group is just unreal. I couldn’t believe I didn’t know about this sooner. It is not always sunshine and rainbows like you see on social media. It’s a place where you can just be real and say what you are feeling without judgement or negative comments. It’s okay if you didn’t workout or eat properly that day. No one is judging because we are all humans on our own journey. When you are on top of your game there are people there to congratulate you and when you are slowing down there are people to pick you up. So many people are ashamed of their own feelings, but here you don’t have to feel that way. Motivation is a priority in the group and because of that, myself and hundreds of others are kept on our toes. After once feeling like I had no way out, I now see through exciting business opportunities, have access to a huge positive support system of people just like me and can take care of myself in all aspects of my life. I get to help people everyday become better than they were yesterday. That is literally what makes life so exciting and I can’t help but want that for every person.

My Gratitude

So thank you to my hardships and my failures because they only helped me to see beyond my limits. Thank you to all of the people who are part or have been part of my life whether we had positive or negative experiences together. I would not be where I am today without you. Thank you for the lessons I have learned and I am looking forward to implementing those lessons into this new year. I am excited to see what I can make out of 2019.

So That’s That. Now You.

That’s why I decided to leap into this online health and fitness coaching and I am loving it. Now that you know all about me, I want to know how you are doing with taking care of yourself? Do you do things for you? Do you make sure you are taking care of your body and mind? Are you ever wondering how you can make a change in your life?

I would be happy to talk with you about your situation and how you can improve yourself. If you believe in yourself, there are endless opportunities. One of my coaches/mentors the other day said “If someone tells you that you can’t, they are only showing you what their limits are. NOT YOURS!”. This really resonated with me because I literally just spent half my year trying to please others and forgot how happy I can be just by taking care of myself and making more time for the things and people I am grateful for.

Anyone can do this if they believe in it. If fitness and health is how you want to live, have more time. more money (only if you work at it), flexibility and be fully present in your life, you can do this too. What will 2019 bring for you?

This article goes into detail about what this coaching business is and how it can benefit you. Take a look and see what you think.

What Does Coaching Mean For You?

Amy Silverman tells her story here about how coaching has benefited her life.

Brian Rulka tells his story also here if you are interested to see how this has worked for other people.

Comment below and I will connect with you personally about how you can start making better choices for you. You can workout and get healthy from home and start to change your life today. You will be able to join our community and have access to the amazing accountability group that I was raving about earlier. Even if you aren’t fully ready but just want to start with baby steps, I am here for you. It sucks that often times we have to feel down before we can see more clearly how to get back up, but I am so happy for being in that place because if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

Feeling great and being healthy sparks joy in my life. What sparks joy in yours? Self-love was the game changer in my life and I think it is the key to becoming the best version of yourself.

Thank you for reading my “why”. I can’t wait to read yours. I hope you have a wonderful day and I look forward to hearing from you. Be sure to check out What Is Coaching?