Happy New Year!
You may recall I posted this picture (and some others) a few months back when I attended the Women’s Fitness Summit this past September. I went with Stacey who I met awhile ago through social media and we ran into her friend, Keri, at the airport. I was fortunate enough to spend the entire weekend with these lovely ladies.
Lucky for me, there was no shortage of conversation and we developed quite the bond as we ate, learned, trained and traveled together. We talked about everything from pregnancy to fitness competitions to relationships to building our businesses to managing our own fitness and nutrition goals, to dreams, etc. By the end of the weekend, I felt like I had known both of these women for most of my life.
One of the keys to being successful in anything is surrounding yourself with supportive and motivating people. The type of people who make you better. The type of people who motivate you, make you think, make you feel loved and genuinely want to see you succeed. The type of people who build you up and remind you that you can always grow. These two women are those type of people.
Keri, Stacey and I each spend quite a bit of time working in a bubble when we are not with clients so it’s been amazing teaming up with each other to share ideas and talk about what’s working and not working, both in our businesses and in our lives. As Keri pointed out, it’s perfect because we can give each other a bit of tough love (when needed) since we all know that it’s coming form a place of love. We have a mutual respect for each other and each other’s goals and it’s AWESOME!!
Here’s the great thing for you as a reader. Yes, we are all fitness professionals. However, we are three very different women with three different lifestyles, three different body types, and three different goals for this upcoming year. We’re excited to share what works for us (and what hasn’t worked so well in the past) to help you gain some ideas and insights into how you may be able to reach your own goals in 2015.
Keri, Stacey and I are focused on keeping it real and helping you develop a great mindset, as well as fitness and nutrition habits, that fit into your life instead of controlling your life.
We’re not here to feed you information you can’t use or tell you that you’ve got to be perfect to succeed. In fact, we’re here to help you figure out what’s truly important to you, in other words, what you value in life, and how to make sure your priorities, what you actually spend time and energy doing, match up with those values for success. I’m excited to team up with Keri and Stacey to bring you some of the best REAL content and information out there.
Join the fun and let’s make 2015 amazeballs!
Keep up with us on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #getreal15.
Reset your mindset.
Today, we’re talking mindset, the first part in our three-part series on how fitness professionals approach the new year. Stayed tuned for parts two and three, coming out in the next two weeks where we will each discuss how we are approaching our nutrition and training for 2015.
Hint: it’s not with crazy restrictive diets or complete lifestyle overhauls.
My Mindset For 2015!
If you’re here you probably already know a bit about me, Amanda Perry. If you want a quick summary, check out the spotlight Girls Gone Strong posted about me last week. I’m a mom, wife, personal trainer, nutrition coach and gym owner.
I am so excited for 2015. In this coming year, life is sure to get even more interesting than it already is since I’m expecting my second baby in June, 2015. Additionally, we’re always busy working to grow our gym, Skill of Strength. We’re constantly looking for ways to improve our training and community.
Believe me, life as a business owner and mom to a preschooler is busy, but somehow I am always tempted to want to keep doing more. You know the feeling, right? When something isn’t as good as we’d like, usually our quick solution is to do more. In today’s fast-paced world, we’re programmed to think we always need to do more… work more hours, parent more often, sleep more, and exercise more. More is always better, right?
Not quite. More is often not better. In fact, when you constantly focus on doing more, you usually end up overwhelmed (or injured!) and eventually you decide to throw in the towel. Or like me, you get super stressed, feel like you’re just okay at a lot of things and not really great at anything.
It’s especially tempting to want to do more or engage in a compete lifestyle overhaul at the start of a new year when you’re surrounded by all kinds of buzz about new ways to lose weight and get healthier. Believe me, I get it.
Think about it though. If what you’re doing isn’t working, is adding more of that, or adding more to your list in general, really the answer?
Maybe it’s time to do less, but do less really well. You better believe that I need to make sure I’m taking care of myself in order to keep our house, family and business in order. I’m finally learning that sometimes in order to take care of myself (so I can keep our house, family and business in order) that means I need to ask for help and/or outsource things that I simply don’t have time to do, or at least not do well.
This year, I know I’m in for a lot of change and many busy days are coming my way. I’m not setting any crazy goals or trying to overhaul anything. Instead, I’m simply staying focused on continuing to do more of what really matters to me and less of what doesn’t.
I’m focused on three things. 1. Taking care of myself during pregnancy, which includes getting enough sleep and continuing to train (and walk) often. 2. Taking care of my family, which includes play time with my son as well as things like laundry, cooking, grocery shopping, paying bills, etc. and 3. Growing our business, which includes spending time marketing, nailing down systems to help our business run more smoothly and making sure all clients are as happy as possible.
If something doesn’t fit into my list of priorities, I have to remember it’s not a must-do. I’ll do it if I have extra time or if it’s something I really want to do. However, if not, it doesn’t belong on the list right now.
Pick a few things that are really important to you. Think about what you’re doing that’s in line with those few things you really value. What’s helping you achieve your goals? Do more of that and less of everything else. Choose your priorities wisely and make decisions based on what’s important to you instead of always just saying yes and doing more. Do less. Do less well. Prioritize you and your own happiness.
Connect with me:
Twitter: @amandamaryperry
Instagram: @amandamaryperry
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sistasofstrength.com
How Stacey Schaedler is Going to Kick Ass This Year!
Hey ladies, my name is Stacey Schaedler. I run my own strength training business out of the largest yoga studio in Boston. I have been in the health and fitness industry for over 10 years and my philosophy is Progress not Perfection. You can read more about me www.staceyschaedler.com.
When thinking about the New Year a few key things come to mind. Happiness is what we are all searching for and the sooner we realize it can only come from inside of us, the sooner we will be truly happy.
My yoga practice has taught me that starting each day with movement/ breath and some gratitude can’t be beat. Remember, you and only you are responsible for your happiness.
Secondly, spend your time and energy on the things you have control over. As soon as you let go of the things you cannot control your life becomes instantly easier.
Unlike Keri and Amanda, I am not married and I have no children. However I do have a loving boyfriend and a furry son named Tater. My focus is my health and happiness, my family and my business. The fact of the matter is this: if you don’t put yourself first, you won’ be any good to anyone else. It is not selfish to make yourself a priority; it’s a necessity.
Ever love someone so much, you would do anything for them? Yeah well make that someone yourself and do whatever the fuck you want!
Another word of advice is this. Learn how to say “no”. Over the past several years I have learned not to fear saying NO to things that won’t help me with my happiness or my ultimate goals. There is nothing wrong with resisting what does not feel right for your life.
At the beginning this can be lonely. Put yourself out there and the right people and opportunities will find you! I spend time with people who love me for me and encourage me to be better. Remember you are the product of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Surround yourself with kick ass people and you too will kick ass!
Lastly, THERE IS ONLY ONE YOU! Don’t fall into the comparison trap. Nowadays with social media, we can all find ourselves comparing our strengths, our bodies, our businesses our successes /failures our freaking lives to complete strangers. There is nothing good that comes along with this. The more you can tap into your own self awareness the better. Might sound corny but follow your heart/gut whichever you chose to believe in, you already have all the answers. 😉
Learn more about Stacey:
Website: www.staceyschaedler.com
Instagram: @staceyschaedler
Twitter: @StaceySchaedler
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StaceySchaedlerStrength
How Keri Mantie’s Gonna Rock 2015 with Gratitude!
Hey guys! My name is Keri Mantie and I’m super excited to be here with Amanda and Stacey sharing our mindset in how we are approaching 2015! Like Amanda said, we all live very different lives, but we also have a ton in common. The biggest being that we all have a passion for being healthy and happy and we want to share our education and experiences to help women achieve their goals in a way that is safe, sustainable and also on that fits into their lives! We want to give you REAL strategies that will give you realistic results.
Basically we’re gonna #getreal in 2015.
I’m a married, working mom of twin 4 -year old twin boys and 2015 is going to be all about continuing to find balance between work, life, being a mom and staying healthy and fit.
For a very very long time, I struggled with the “all or nothing” and “more is better” mindset. You know, being really strict with my diet during the week, only to blow it all weekend and make up for it by doing extra workouts? Yeah, that was me…I let the number on the scale dictate my mood, my thoughts, pretty much everything. It sucked.
And then I got pregnant and had my 2 adorable little guys and thankfully my mindset changed. Drastically. I no longer wanted to do what I’d always done, which was stress about my body, how long I had to exercise, what I was going to eat every 3 hours. And ironically, the less I stressed about food and exercise, the better I felt. Mentally and physically.
One thing I know I want to continue practicing, and I invite you to do the same, is to focus more on the things we HAVE instead of the things we DON’T. Keeping a gratitude journal was always something that I thought was a good idea, but never actually thought it would do any good. I mean, I know what I’m grateful for, why do I have to write it down, right?! But I’m telling you, for me, just taking a few minutes at the end of the day really puts things into perspective. Try it!
Speaking of perspective. This is one thing that we have complete control over. It is so easy to play the victim and be all “woe is me”, “I can’t do it”, but I’ve learned that the way we look at all situations is our CHOICE. 2015 is going to be all about choosing to look on the bright side. Finding the sliver lining in everything, being happy for what I have, and working hard towards the things I want.
Learn more about Keri:
Website: at www.kerimantie.com
Instagram: @kerimantie
Twitter: @kerimantie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kerimantiepersonaltraining
How can you reset your mindset?
We each wrote the posts above individually and I love that we all came back to a few themes. First, you are worth it. Second, be thankful. Third, prioritize things you have to do and want to do.
It’s time to start removing distractions. If something isn’t working or isn’t making you happy stop dedicating any time to that.
I always resort back to one of my favorite quotes:
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
– Albert Einstein
If every year you’ve decided you’re going to lose 15 pounds by going on a diet, counting calories again, or exercising a million times a week ask yourself these questions:
- How is that working for you?
- How has that worked for you in the past?
If you keep ending up in the same place on December 31, telling yourself you will “do better” this coming year, it’s probably not working.
Maybe it’s time to try something new. Re-read some of the mindset ideas above and see if any resonate with you. Are there things you need to start saying no to? Are there things you spend a ton of time doing that really don’t fit well with your values and priorities? Are you seeing yourself as a victim or someone who is prone to an all-or-nothing attitude? What is something you can do today to improve your mindset for 2015?
Thanks for taking the time to read today. If you want to read more about mindset, check out this post Jen Sinkler recently published on her blog. This is freaking amazing. Really, just read it.
How to Create an Indomitable Mindset.
Stay tuned for part two in this series…nutrition.
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