What Do I Want To Do In Life & How Do I Get It?

We are in our THIRD post on How To Transform Your Hustle. I am super pumped to be sharing my thoughts with you on this topic. Last week, we talked about what hustle is and how you can find that inner hustle. This week we are going right in to figuring out how to apply that hustle, by evaluating exactly what it is you want to do!

Is there something that keeps you up at night? Like seriously, are you the person who gets an idea and either needs to write it down or tell someone immediately. If you have this, you know exactly what I mean. MOST people have this. Some may be super excited about a business idea, others about a recipe book, some may even be super excited about song lyrics they need to write it down so they don't forget to. Whatever THAT is, whatever keeps you up, makes you want to research and learn more... is exactly what you need to be doing if you want to transform your hustle.

You see, I've had so many clients and friends who have an absolutely amazing idea they share with me. I always ask what they are going to do with the idea, and nine times out of ten they just say "nothing". At some point in our lives we were taught to not follow our dreams. At some point we were either put down, failed badly at something, or lost our motivation for whatever reason. It's an unfortunate truth most of us have to accept, but the thing is it doesn't have to stay this way for you. We all have the power to change, so why not start now? If you want to have an amazing business and side hustle, you will have to turn down the volume on those voices in your head telling you it's too hard or you can't.

The most successful people in the world have fallen and failed just like you and I. The difference between them and your average Joe is they believed in that burning feeling that kept them up at night and decided that the possibility of making their dream a reality was way better than sitting back and keeping that just an idea in their head.

Now what should this all mean to you? It means that what you want in life is not something I can teach you or a friend can tell you. It is something so deep within you that only you will know it when it hits you.

Here are some of my tips to realize what it is that will motivate you and once you find this you will be able to plan it out and start working towards it:

1. Don't watch any TV for a week. Spend that time journaling, online, reading, etc. and see what you come up with. When your mind is a bit more quiet you will find some trends in your writing, reading, searches, etc. The things your mind wander in these moments can be something BIG.
2. At the end of the day write down 3 daily affirmations (ie. I am strong), 3 things you're grateful for, 1 thing that could've made your day better. Those things may give you a bit of motivation or insight to what really makes you happy.
3. Think about your ideal day. What does it look like? If it doesn't look like your current routine, then this means you may need to make a change. Being inspired by that change can be a great thing to keep you pushing for more.
4. Who do you look up to? Talk to them! Seriously, if someone you know is a BADASS talk to them about how they do what they do. It won't hurt to chat!

Try this, and tell me if it makes you feel like you're on to something!

Stay tuned for next post: How to start your side hustle

What is Hustle? How do you know if you have it? Here's my story!

Hustle is known to most of us as working your butt off to earn a dollar. For me hustle is working my butt off to create a better future and career for myself. Like me, I'm sure you feel the same way. How do you create a life you are proud of and how do you make money doing that? Well, my answer isn't short but I promise it's meaningful.

Hustle for different people comes in different forms. Did you know for most of my life I've had multiple jobs?

Read my story: SORRY IT'S LONG...

Let me share a little about how I got my hustle. Since I was really young, I've always had expensive taste. I can walk in to any store and usually the first thing I pick up is one of the most expensive items in the store. Growing up, I would constantly ask my parents for things. They never gave much allowance ($10 a week if you finished my chores) nor did they give us lunch money (we had plenty of food at home to bring and they didn't care if that wasn't cool). Little did they know, by being this way- although it did annoy me- they drove me to be extra motivated to work for the things I wanted (thanks mom and dad). 
At 15, I got a job (under the table) serving pizza at lunch time at Dominos. I made $5, got free lunch and also saved money by not having to buy lunch. Right when I turned 16 I wanted a job. My parents weren't so fond of the idea, as I played 3 competitive high school sports along with competitive travel soccer. I convinced them that I could balance it all and got a job. I now had money to go to the movies, buy clothes, etc. The summer before college I got my first 40 hour a week job to save for school. 
The first year of college I didn't work, because I was a Division 1 athlete and my parents wanted me to focus on school and track. I absolutely hated it. I wanted my own money to spend and it felt suffocating to not have that freedom. I think this time in my life was HUGE in showing me if I want something bad enough I can make it happen. After that year, I decided track & field wasn't for me. I stayed full time at my college, but decided to go back to a sport I love (soccer) for fun. In order to play soccer, I had to also be full-time at the junior college I was playing at. This is where my hustle really took off. I went to 2 colleges full time, played soccer and worked at a restaurant. I was making money, in school learning and getting fit. All the things I love. This for one, showed me I could do anything I put my mind to and also taught me I can have fun doing it. I did this for 2 years and loved it.

After that, school was in full force working on my B.S. in Kinesiology, interning 3 days a week and I worked at a nice restaurant bringing in a good amount of cash, HOLLA! I worked on this blog in my free time and was also pretty much a fitness freak. I figured, if I kept doing things I love I will be all set!

Soon after I graduated college, I got a full-time job working at a physical therapy clinic 40 hours a week. The pay was absolute sh*!. I literally was making $12 an hour and most of my money was going to rent. I decided, why not keep your waitressing job? I loved it and it brought in extra money, score! I did this for about a year, and decided it was wearing on me. Between 2 jobs, working out a ton and feeling like I wasn't learning anything.. it was time for a change.

I decided to apply for corporate wellness jobs online. Fitness, health and people are what make me feel alive. Helping people reach their goals is so fun for me. I got my dream job at one of the biggest tech companies in the world running their fitness and wellness programs. This was an absolute dream. I moved to San Francisco for this job and was SHOCKED by not only the cost of living, but just the cost of everything in the city. My job took up most of my time, so I didn't really want a whole other job. However, about 6 months in to working there a life-changing opportunity came up for me.

I got asked to be a personal stylist. Oddly enough, I have always loved and adored fashion and with my 2 year stint being full-time at 2 colleges I even took a full years worth of fashion classes. This opportunity to be a personal stylist allowed me to be creative, do something I love and help this person feel great when they get dressed everyday. I felt like I was on to something and over the last few years this client turned in to 4 clients and 2 outside personal training clients. Making the time (on nights and weekends) for this seems to some as too much work, or not manageable. I beg to differ. When you're doing something you love it doesn't feel like work, and it opens so many other doors for you. I've learned the more apply myself, the more people I tell, the more opportunities arise.

Now how does my story let you know if you have this hustle?

My life experiences have pushed me to hustle at a young age, but you don't need to have the same experiences as me to find this. What it takes is goal setting and resilience.  You have to believe in yourself so much that failure is not an option. Of course little failures will happen, but you have to pick yourself back up. You have to take setbacks with poise and keep pushing for what you want even when you feel it may be nearly impossible. 

Figure out those goals, write them down, make a plan, go get them & don't give up!

Next post: What do I want to do in life and how do I get it? This post will be about narrowing down on what goals you want to focus on. 

Transform Your Hustle

I am about to start a series on how to Transform Your Hustle. I wanted to create a string of posts so you can either chime in to the specific conversations your interested in within the series OR progress along with me as I dive deeper from post to post.

The reason I am so inspired to share this with you all, is because we all oftentimes get a little stagnant in our lives and yearn for something exciting to happen and make everything better. Well, I do believe that by having faith in yourself that you can truly accomplish a lot. However, you can't accomplish anything without a plan.

Each and every person I chat about work, travel and their goals with have completely different approaches to getting what they want. To attain a dream job, take the trip of a lifetime or train for a marathon- there is not a one size fits all approach. That's where this series comes in. I have dedicated a lot of my time and really observed what it takes. For me, for my clients, and for you!

Stay tuned and follow my favorite approaches to making your hustle meaningful and fulfilling.

- What is hustle? How do I know if I have what it takes to pursue it?
- What do I want to do in life and how do I get it?
- How to start your side hustle
- If I know what I want and it's not working out, how do I move forward?

A List Of People You Need To Follow On Social Media

This quote holds very true to me. Surrounding yourself with positivity can truly change your outlook or mood and there are studies to prove it. I have to be real and super honest with you; we can't control that all the time nowadays. Think about it. We spend many hours each week in the car, tons of hours at work(sometimes stressful), and have a ton of time throughout our days where we are not surrounded by positivity & are actually immersed in stressful, negative atmospheres of which we can't control. However, I have a tip to combat all the negativity... since it seems to me we ALWAYS have access to or are on social media!

Think about it. We check our facebook, email, twitter, snapchat, instagram, and every other form of social media constantly throughout the day. The people we follow give us little reminders through their posts of our interests and take up space in our minds. Who are you filling that space with? We choose who we follow! I for one can admit there are some superficial people I follow because I am inspired by their fashion, but I also have unfollowed tons of people if I feel like what they stand for doesn't align with what I stand for. Excitingly enough, I have found some super amazingly inspiring people I follow and think you should too. It's always nice to see a post here and there of pure positivity.

Frank Sommerville
This man has such a kind heart and his Facebook page proves it. He inspires people to be kind, give back, and stay positive. Check him out and follow!

Prince Ea
This guy posts the most motivating and inspiring content through sharing awesome posts, but also creating spoken words. You have to follow his facebook page!

Healthy Is The New Skinny
Katie H. Willcox is a plus sized model who decided to create a company to support women of ALL shapes and sizes. No this isn't only for plus sized women, it is for all women. She digs in to healthy eating and exercise, looking at how effed up the media is on portraying women, and speaks to crowds on how to have a healthy mindset and life. Check them out here and here.

The Good Quote
The good quote is an instagram page I follow for little bits of inspiration throughout my day as I scroll. I love them, simple and awesome!

Ellen Degenerous
I mean who doesn't like Ellen. She is funny, kind, and will always brighten your day. I follow her on Facebook and she always posts funny videos and acts of kindness that I just can't help but watch.

Boss Babe
I love following hard working, driven, and supportive women. Boss Babe is a community of women working towards similar goals, to run their own business one day. It is an educational place, an inspiring place, and I love seeing their "create your own destiny" kind of posts.

Amber Dodzweit
I love her posts. I usually don't love following too many fitness people. The reason being is most don't eat enough, are obsessed with themselves, and don't have balanced lives. NOT Amber. She is as real as they come and I just love that. Her posts inspire, educate, and encourage. Check her out.

SoulCycle & Why I Don't Hate It

You may have seen over the last few weeks that I've "checked in" to SoulCycle & while it's a bit out of my normal routine, I want to chat in a bit more detail about my experience.

Let's first address the elephant in the room. $30 for a spin class is ridiculous, like really ridiculous. Now that that's been addressed we can get to the nitty gritty.

I have found over the last 8 years of being engrossed in fitness that many people who are in to fitness are the most picky and judgmental people around in regards to what kind of training is best. The people who don't love to workout hard love barre, the hippie vegans love their flow classes, skinny people who used to play sports love to run, people who hate lifting love to cycle, and gym rats love to lift. Well all these assumptions are quite close minded, and in my opinion BS. All types of people like different types of exercise for different reasons. Most people have a bit of crossover and like a few different types of workouts, but what I've come to find is that most people find that one activity they love and they do a lot of it. 

I think people love to hate SoulCycle, they love to hate Crossfit, and the list goes on.

1. Paying for workouts

I luckily don't lack the motivation to workout, but many do. Paying for a class likely ensures your commitment to showing up. Once your there, having guidance and an instructor guarantees you get more bang for your buck than just showing up to a gym and hopping on an elliptical. It's also nice to do something nice for yourself every once in a while giving back to your body. From a budget perspective, I don't mind spending the money on fitness. Fitness is the one non-negotiable for me, did you read about my musties or listen to my musties? 

2. From an exercise physiology perspective 

Many people in fitness are up in arms over the fact that SoulCycle is more choreographed and less about the actual cycle. People say it's a bit "dancey" and also way too "fake" for them. In every single class I've taken the instructors focus on proper set up, form, and let you know modifications. I also love the dancey feel, it makes the class more fun!

3. Dark rooms, loud music, too hot 

Yes. The rooms are dark, loud, and warm. I don't mind it. I think that's my favorite part. I am 100% in the zone & the music is so loud I don't have the distractions of my own head saying "I can't". It is quite warm, but this is to ensure you get warm fast and stay warm, remember the class is only 45 minutes. 

4. Not that different from other spin classes

Well, it actually is a whole lot different. I honestly don't enjoy spin nearly as much when I go to a class at Crunch or 24 hour fitness. I love the dark rooms, loud music, motivating instructors, and riding to the beat. That doesn't exist at many other spin studios. I leave here seriously pumped on life. 

5. Not something you can do everyday

True. I don't go to SoulCycle everyday. Lately, I have been going more often due to being away from home & the gym I belong to. To ensure I get my workouts in while not staying at home I have been running, doing home workouts, and going to SoulCycle. 

Not sure if this will inspire you to try a class, but I'm hoping this will open your mind to why people might take SoulCycle. If you put down your guard for a second, you mind discover something you really enjoy! 

Starting Over: My transition in to a new career

I am the first to admit. I don’t have it all figured out when it comes to my career. Does anyone though? Even if you’re satisfied where you’re at now. Are you on the path to continuously grow your role? The cool thing about work is, well a few things.

You can do whatever you want. Seriously, it’s like the… what do you want to be when you grow up question we are asked time and time again at a young age. If you decide you want to do one thing and decide to change your mind, YOU CAN! That’s one of the many blessings we have living in the USA.

I recently made a really tough decision & changed my career. Ever since I was in college I knew Kinesiology, health and fitness were my passions.  I knew I wanted to incorporate these passions in to my life & set out to start my career in fitness.

I started working in a physical therapy clinic & after about a year of doing that (knowing I wanted to branch out in to corporate fitness) I moved back to the Bay Area for my “dream job”. I started working for Plus One Health Management helping run fitness and wellness programs at a HUGE tech company. Over the 3.5 years I was there I got about 5 promotions, learned a ton, and truly met the most inspiring people. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by individuals who motivated me to be the best version of myself. Over time I sort of became unchallenged and bored. I was still super happy, but not inspired. I missed being inspired and excited about work. I enjoyed it, had fun, but wasn’t learning anything or anywhere near the compensation I wanted to be making. I discovered that I am the type of person who needs to be constantly learning to be happy at work. So what did that mean for me? I had to get a new job.

I decided to start hunting for a new role & explored many options. I landed on moving in to either sales or recruiting. Sales is sales and recruiting is people sales. My passion in health and fitness stemmed from helping people get fit & healthy. Recruiting was just that, but helping people in their career. Once I made this decision to transition in to recruiting the hunt began.

I worked with a few agencies & also applied online. Many people asked, “why the switch” & my response was that I felt ready to gain knowledge and skills in something outside of fitness. I started at GoPro & learned SO much over the next 4 months. I got used to a different schedule. Actually having my mornings to myself. Being able to in a sense disconnect my passion from my life. My manager was what I like to call a BAB (Badass Bitch). This is a compliment of course. She is motivated, hard-working, intense, and someone I learned a whole lot from. I felt like I was in boot camp some days, but wouldn’t take that experience back for anything. GoPro started feeling really weird. I felt like I wasn’t supposed to be there. The communication style for lack of better words sucked & the amount of change in such a short amount of time raised some red flags for me. Peoples demeanor changed & everyone seemed to start to feel like there was “weird stuff” going on. My gut was telling me to start looking for a new job.

I had a problem with what my gut was telling me at first. One was because I just started there, and two was for the reason that I wanted to make sure it was legitimate and me not just feeling like there was too much change. I reflected for a while and realized it wasn’t the change, it was how things were being handled and communicated that made it so shady. I quickly started looking for a new job. I interviewed a bunch of places & the most frequent question I was asked was why I was looking for the change. I had to be honest, but with my honesty I think some people could’ve mistaken it for someone leaving WAY too early after just starting a job. That didn’t bother me.

I interviewed a bunch of places, and was nervous to get an offer somewhere. You see I didn’t hate GoPro, I just knew in my gut I needed to leave. After a very promising onsite interview at a company in SF on a Wednesday night, I headed to work back at GoPro. The news was broken to me on Thursday that Friday would be my last day at GoPro. Yep, I was laid off. Me, a 26-year-old passionate capable and qualified employee. I was in shock. I also, oddly enough, felt a sense of comfort. I know its weird to say, but I then knew and trusted my intuition more than ever. There was shady stuff going on, and I had a pulse on it. I wasn’t sad like many of my other co-workers, but I was a bit stressed. I was stressed on money & wanted to make sure I had an income. I talked to my mom, my boyfriend, and a few friends & I felt good. I felt supported and I felt blessed to be moving to a new company. By Friday, I had already scheduled 3 more interviews.

The next Monday I had 5 interviews, Wednesday rolled around & I already had a job offer (I wasn’t sure if I wanted to work there). By the next week I had finalized my last interviews and by that next Wednesday I had an offer. I believe all this opportunity came about for a few reasons. One, I believe God has a plan for you even if you aren’t aware of it. Two, I truly believe life gives you exactly what you need practice in. Three, if you work really hard and are kind and amazing things will happen. Four, trust your gut.

I then got connected with my old company. Not Plus One, but the tech company we contracted with. They interviewed me via phone & then asked me onsite. I was ecstatic, because something felt right. Out of all the amazing companies I interviewed with, this one was the best. However, I had to get back to another company who extended me an offer. I had to accept or decline without having all my options laid out in front of me. I asked for more time & got it. A few days later I got an offer at Facebook. I couldn’t have been more excited. I realized at that moment that’s what it should feel like when accepting a job. You shouldn’t just be inspired by money as money won’t make you want to show up to work everyday. It’s much better to make your choice based on opportunity, growth potential, company values, impact, and culture. Facebook was the company who checked all those boxes for me. I immediately accepted and my new chapter began.

Over the last few months, I haven’t posted much. I was going through so many transitions in my career I didn’t know where to start when thinking about posting and blogging. I do believe this post is very important, especially now, because much like myself I’m sure there are others out there dealing with comparable situations. Whether you’re interested in leaving your job, trying something new,  have recently started something new. Know that it will all work out. It doesn’t mean it will be easy, but you will know when you find the right fit.

Girl Talk: What are your Musties?

After hearing about my non-negotiables or "musties", I want to know what yours are in the comments below!

Girl Talk: Weekly Podcast for Ladies

Girl Talk. Girl talk is defined by Urban Dictionary as "Deep conversation between members of the female sex. Contrary to popular believe, it is not always about boys." Wow. Women can talk about things deeper than clothes, boys, and juice cleanses? Who'da thought!

The honest truth is all those things are super fun to talk about, but I can't wait to open a forum to discuss so much more than just that. My podcast will be posted weekly and I will be chatting about my thoughts as well as answering your questions. Don't forget to post your questions in the comment section of my blog, instagram, or Youtube.

Working On Yourself: Why this time will always be the most valuable in your life

Do you find that the more caught up in life you, the less you have the chance to work on yourself? Maybe you haven’t thought about it much. Perhaps you are someone who plans out the logistics of your day and as the day goes on check things off the list. You go to meetings or work, you respond to emails, go to the gym, and catch up with an old friend. If you think of it these things are work (or to you a task). You are expending energy planning, coordinating, and doing. Now it’s time to ask yourself; What are you doing to recharge yourself or fill up that energy tank?

Working on yourself is the most important thing you can do to better your life. What would you do if you had zero responsibility for a day. I like to think of this as “free time”. The free time we had in preschool where we got to do whatever we wanted for 30 minutes. You could play house, read, color, listen to music, take a nap, etc. It’s super important for you to plan out “free time” in your busy schedule. This time can be 20 minutes to 6 hours. It’s totally your call, but just be in tune with yourself to know how much you need to allot for yourself. You can go on a walk and listen to music, sit in a bath drinking wine, watch a movie, go get a mani/pedi, or whatever else you feel like doing. Be sure during this free time you aren’t working on anything. No instagram posts, no emailing, no taking calls, no texting friends; this is YOUR time. Once you take this time for yourself recharge, you will be full of energy to do the things you love doing all week/weekend long. 

I encourage you to plan out some interruption-free free time in to your weekly plans. Tell me what you plan on doing, and how you felt afterwards. It’s truly a great way to reset and recharge.

Cheers to the weekend.

Sunday Reflection: How To Release Stress

What a week. Do you ever look back on your week and realize it went by too fast, you're totally exhausted, or you wish some things panned out differently? Well, you aren't alone. It's totally normal to have so much to do and think about, that it's almost debilitating. Whether it be looking at a calendar full of commitments, an inbox full of emails, or getting screwed over by a significant other or friend. All of these things are somewhat out of our control. They are what they are. They are things you can't fully control. I am not telling you they don't happen to me, but what I am telling you is I've gotten a lot better at dealing with these things in a more calm manner to where they don't stress me out as much.

The nature of my work often has me listening to people complain about their job, relationships, or schedule. I used to be overwhelmed by hearing all this information, but now I totally know how to deal with it. In fact, I feel like I can help people with it. When you become stressed or perceive something as stressful, you typically put a negative label on whatever that stressor is. If it's work you then start to rant about not just that one thing stressing you out, but continue on to talk about the people at work who stress you out & all the little tasks at work that add to your stress. What I've learned is to do a little "exercise" to help my clients and myself perceive that stress for what it is before it escalates. I have them write down everything they are stressed about on a piece of paper and then we chat about it for no more than 5 minutes. Once you write all those things down you then look at them and come up with a plan of attack. For example, one thing that has stressed me out before is a lack of communication with my boss. Once I read it out loud (after telling numerous people) I decided to attack it and stop talking about it. What did I do? I drafted an email to my boss asking for a meeting and vocalized my needs. Right after that email was sent, I became much less stressed. I became at ease, because this was now no longer in my control. I did what I needed to do. Once you do everything in your control to fix a messy situation, you have to release it. You have to move on. Worrying about every little thing you can't control will eat you up inside. It will negatively effect your mood for days; is it really worth it? 

Next time you are sad, stressed, or upset make sure to write it down and work through it ASAP. It just takes a bit of reflection before you can stop feeling sorry for yourself and move on. Don't let it eat you up for weeks and ruin all the positive times you could be experiencing.

Try this exercise. We all have something we haven't released. It's an amazing feeling.

Thoughts From A Personal Trainer (or a coach)

The précis of me writing this post is so that maybe just a few people can step away from reading this with a different mindset of what it takes to be a personal trainer. If you're a trainer you already know this, if you want to be a trainer hopefully this will prepare you, and if you are a client I just hope this helps you understand.

Let's start with me expressing how much I love my job. It is super rad that I get to coach people everyday to become more fit and confident that they ever thought, but this line of work isn't easy.

Some things you might not know.

1. We put a TON of our energy in to our clients:

As a trainer, you would think your job is to plan your clients workouts. Yes, but there's so much more to it. It's your job to make someone happy when they are sad. Talk them through their stress at work. Be their sounding voice when they have family or relationship issues. Make sure you work extra on emailing them the workouts they should do on the weekend if they as for it, and even be "on call" when they have a meltdown and need you to talk them off the ledge of eating something bad. I have many clients who message me at 11pm on both weeknights and weekends asking for my advice on things, and of course I love all my clients and reply when they need me. I'm just saying at the end of the day it can be emotionally exhausting.

2. Even with a degree in Exercise Science and obtaining numerous (expensive) certifications, the pay is mediocre:

Clients think that if they are paying a lot for their sessions that the trainer must be making a lot! WRONG, most trainers get less than 50% of whatever the client pays and then get taxed on that!

3. It's exhausting:

As I mentioned earlier it takes up a lot of your energy emotionally. It also takes up a lot of your energy physically. We stand all day, move to demonstrate exercises, and of course we force ourselves to workout before/after work. 

4. It's not a 9-5 job, it's stressful:

My clients assume my job isn't stressful since I'm happy and truly love training. It's seriously such a fun job, but I also have so much work to do before and after I see my clients. I wake up at 5am and usually get home around 5 or 6pm, then I go to the gym, and am on email from 9-11pm. Sending calendar invites, sending numerous emails to clients, programming workouts for the week, redeeming clients sessions online, and working on our time sheets are just a few more duties we have. 

5. It's not guaranteed $$, so most trainers have numerous jobs:

What happens when a client is traveling, sick, or can't make it? We don't get paid. There is no set amount for when you aren't training, so you truly have to hustle and get clients. I train some weekends at a bootcamp, as well as an added 10+ hours a week doing personal styling on the side to be able to afford my lifestyle. It's crazy that 75% of the trainers at my gym have more than 1 job.

6. We have a ton of pressure on us to look a certain way:

No one wants to train with an out of shape trainer. We love exercise, that's one main reason we do what we do. After standing all day I personally need the release is to go workout, but I totally understand that some trainers would just be super burnt out by the end of the day. We need to practice what we preach and because of this many trainers put added pressure on themselves.

7. Takes a toll on you when clients don't get results: 

You try everything you can as a trainer to coach change, but sometimes when the client isn't putting in the work on their own it's nearly impossible. I've caught clients eating pizza and burritos directly after training them (which would be fine in they were looking for GAINZ, but they were looking to lose weight). Seeing that truly makes me feel like what we just spoke about prior was a waste of time and energy. Another example is when your client only works out the days they see you (1-2x a week) but want quick results. Rome wasn't built in a day, nor can you change your physique without putting in the seriously hard work.

Now, I want to finish with one last thing. You would think after reading this that I am on edge and ready to leave this field. Nope, I truly have passion for this job and love what I do. If I didn't love it I wouldn't be doing it. I am lucky I get to help people and get paid for it even if it isn't for a ton. If I wanted to make a butt load of money I would be working in a different field. My main goals in life don't include making tons of money. My goal is to help people, connect with individuals, and help people unveil their best selves. It's just important for me to share some of what it takes to be a trainer, and if you have a trainer just let them know that you appreciate the energy they give to you.

What Does Success Look Like To You?

Success is defined as "the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame." It's a funny definition, because I totally disagree that success is defined by just those things. 

In my opinion each persons idea of success is much different. Wealth to me may mean $75,000 and wealth to another person might mean $500,000. I've thought a lot about what success means to me over the last few weeks and I've decided it's totally subjective. 

Personally, success isn't just financially driven. It means I am able to live a comfortable life making enough money to 

• have spending cash to do the simple things I love like buying coffee in the morning, eating out every now and then, affording a gym membership.
• travel to a new place twice a year (and splurge while I'm there)
• pay for rent and bills 
• have a growing savings, and retirement account
• enjoy my free time after work and am able to workout, not take my workload home or stress home
• have time to take up new hobbies
• don't resent going to work every day 

I don't personally think being rich would necessarily make me that much happier than making enough to just do what I love and enjoy life. 

I don't think success is working 80 hours a week with no time to see your friends and family. Yes, you may have a great job title; are you truly living if you don't have the time or energy to enjoy? A happy balanced life doesn't mean making X amount of dollars or having a certain car. Once you find what success looks like to you and what your goals are I think you'll change the way you approach life. Now I ask you, what does a successful life look like to you? What does your day look like? I'm curious! Please share.

Healthy Is The New Skinny

Healthy is the new skinny. Rocking my favorite sweatshirt today and feeling like I need to write a little more about what it means to me. 
The reason I am posting this to social media, is because I think women need to hear this. We have become so caught up with what the media thinks is beautiful (myself included). Most girls I know either don't eat gluten, or don't eat carbs, are on a meal plan, count their calories, or are trying some new diet. I am not here to bash any diet or tell you what is right or wrong for your personal lifestyle. I am, however, here to tell you that being healthy doesn't always mean being skinny or having defined muscles. Even a lot of the fitness models you follow on Instagram have disordered eating habits (I know because I used to be one of them). It's time to spend some time on learning to find what works for you. Find a workout, diet, and lifestyle that is balanced and manageable for YOU. Not for your girlfriend or your sisters mom, find a routine that works for you and fond one you like! There is no one size fits all to anything in life. Find your own happy, healthy, & balanced life.
Support Healthy is the new Skinny& Katie H. Willcox Healthy is the New Skinny Founder by empowering yourself and the women around you to find their health and happiness. 

Simple Ways To Save Water in The California Drought

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-famiglietti-drought-california-20150313-story.html

I read the article above and knew that I have been making changes over the last few months to save water. I thought I'd share the simple changes I've made. Some of them are so small you won't even have to change much.

1.Wash your hair less

Sounds gross right? Wrong! It's actually better for your hair to wash it less often. Washing your hair too often can result in a dry scalp, dry hair, color fading, and/or breakage. It also cuts your shower time and saves water!

2. Brushing your teeth without the faucet running

This is so simple. Wet your tooth brush then turn off the faucet. Turn it back on to rinse your mouth. Make sure to not leave it running! 

3. Face washing

Same as for brushing your teeth. Don't keep the water running when you're washing your face.

4. Save water when doing your dishes

Fill the sink and do all your dishes in the sink water. Once you're done washing all of them drain the sink and rinse the soap off quickly. Let them air dry in a drying rack instead of using the dishwasher.

5. Take shorter showers

I know they are warm and amazing, but keep them short. Wouldn't you rather have a short shower now than not being able to take a shower at all in a few years due to having no water? 

6. Only do your laundry if you NEED to

Jeans should be washed after wearing 3-8 times. Don't wash your clothes unless they are dirty! When it comes to towels, make sure to wash them less often (as you only use them when your body is clean, so they shouldn't be very dirty or need to be washed often).

7. If you want to be really hippie...

Reuse water. Left over water in your teapot? Pour it in your dogs water bowl! Extra ice in your cup? Water your plants with it! Whatever you can do, try it! 

#LeanInTogether

Yesterday Sheryl Sandberg and Lean In​ launched the campaign #leanintogether – celebrating men who lean in for equality.

The man I most want to celebrate is my dad Larry Nolan. He was the first person to play sports with me, try to braid my hair, the man who will always be there to help me move apartments, and will always be a sounding voice when I need advice (work, boys, building a business). Even though he probably hated me dragging him to see Spice world & to go shopping at the mall, I wasn't that fond of him when he dragged me to comic book conventions & bike races. As I grow older, I realize no matter what I was interested in whether it was "girly" or considered "tom boy" I had his support. Thanks Dad for making it feel easy for me to push for my dreams!

Share your story of the men who lean in to support you. #LeanInTogether. http://leanin.org/together/

10 Reasons Why Trying To Be A "HOT" Girl Will Make You Broke

Being a girl is super awesome, right? Guys think we have it easy. We get free club entrances, and free dinners on our first few dates. I mean it is super easy to have a model face, perfect skin, have awesome bodies, and make it look easy. Little do men know how much money goes in to being a girl (especially during the holidays).

1. Haircuts: 
Split ends are not ok, but what the hell it costs $50-$400 dollars to get our hair done every 6-8 weeks. That is only if the hairstylist doesn't fuck the color up and we only have to stop by once in that 6-8 week span (unlikely).

2. Nails:
When you are a busy bitch like me you are usually running around town in workout clothes. We have to get our nails done just so we don't feel like boys running around in sweats. If we get regular polish that will chip in about 20 minutes, so we get gel & $45 dollars later we are feeling fresh, and broke.

3. Fitness classes:
Girls are all supposed to have perfect bodies. Big (and perky) boobs, round butts, and a tiny waist. Gym memberships now run from about $50-$180 a month. This doesn't include the cost of personal trainers so we know how to properly do exercises ($65-$180 an hour), Pilates classes to lengthen and tone ($18-$30), spin classes to keep on trend($20-$35), and yoga to stay flexible ($15-$30).

4. Clothes:
Guys make fun of girls for shopping. Guys won't date a girl who doesn't have good style. Therefore, we have to keep up with the trends. Good jeans cost well over $100. Boots start at $50-$300. A nice top runs around $30-$130. A nice jacket $60-$300. Hundreds of dollars later we have one outfit that cost about half our rent.

5. Makeup:
Every girl has gotten the "are you tired?" question when they show up to work without makeup on. Gosh! We are almost forced to put shit on our face to make us look "presentable". According to a study from Mint, the average woman spends approximately $15,000 on beauty products during her lifetime. Of that, $3,770 goes to mascara alone (I mean, it does brighten your whole face). Next time I want to buy a car and can't come up with the money, I will thank my full face of makeup for that!

6. Face wash, lotions, & potions:
Wrinkles? Oh, hell no! We buy shit tons of sunscreen, eye cream, face wash, a Clarasonic, toner, night cream, and the list goes on. We are scammed in to buying everything we can to make us look youthful, fresh, and have clear skin. I can't believe it when I leave the estheticians office on how much money I just spend and how much I walk away with.

7. Spray tans, tanning lotions, bronzer:
Nothing is worse than a girl who is pasty white, right? The last thing you want to do is get in to a bikini when you match your white towel. Spray tans cost an upwards of $40 and if you want it to last then you better buy the $30 lotion that helps it stay. If you don't want to pay $40 for a spray tan you most likely are willing to get a "steal" and spend $20 on a gradual at home tanner.

8. Waxing & Threading:
It is totally unacceptable to have bushy ass eyebrows, and GOD FORBID your vagina isn't waxed. If you have hairy arms, you better wax that too. This is where the "pain is beauty" comes in to play. Waxing and treading will cost you $100+ a month if you are going every 2 weeks. As we all know, girls aren't supposed to have hair like normal human beings.

9. Bras, panties, and Spanx:
Girls want to wake up looking like a supermodel. Unfortunately, less that 1% of the population looks like one. The other 99% are spending money on push up bras, thongs, and Spanx to keep everything "in it's place". Sadly, after dropping our hard earned cash on lingerie we will never look like Gisele.

10. Health and diet foods:
Green juices, organic salads, tea cleanses, and the lose 5 pounds in two week diet program will cost you way more than just eating regular "fat people food". I want to be skinny, so of course I am willing to spend my lifes savings at Whole Foods.

 

The list goes on so for the people who get plastic surgery, Botox, teeth whitening, eyelash tinting, eyelash extensions, or anything else... BE READY TO BE BROKE. Dudes better pay for our damn dinners after all we do to stay looking this fly! Beyonce (bless her) did NOT Wake Up Like Dat.