What are you becoming?

If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.

~CS Lewis

There’s a paradox in life, that things should not come easy, anything worth having is only earned through struggle and sacrifice. Yet, we should also seek out those things that come naturally and we find easy to implement, to listen to the universe, and avoid battling our inner selves.

Hmmm… most things that have been the right choice were the easy choices to make, the obvious choices. But also, those things that have been the most rewarding have been challenging and the hardest to implement. There must be a balance between what your heart is drawn to naturally, and the perseverance towards what is scary as shit that challenges your very core. Both make us feel alive, but only in tandem!

In one of his latest newsletters, Sahil Bloom writes, “… other words, you have two paths to choose between in life:

1. Easy now—hard later.

2. Hard now—easy later.

Delayed gratification—doing hard things now with the anticipation of a benefit later—is the source of real joy and fulfillment. It's not in the having, but in the becoming.”

“It’s not in the having, but in the becoming.” Fucking genius.

So, what are your hard things? Things that come naturally, but also challenge you to step outside yourself? I’ll share with you mine:

Waking up early, going to bed early
Focusing on quality time in relationships
Expressing boundaries and honest feelings
Prioritizing foods that nourish my body
Forgiving myself, holding others accountable
Moving my body no matter what
Shedding negative energy, and people
Instigating social endeavors
Letting my kiddos go <3

5 tips to overcome the dreaded “daylight savings” jetlag 😴!

✅ Keep your same wake and sleep schedule even though it is now one hour off, if you need a little extra rest try to sneak a few naps to refill your sleep bank

✅ Stick close to your same eating and exercise schedule in the new time as well! Your body will re-align much quicker to the new time when you nudge it towards this altered circadian rhythm

✅ Get daylight in your eyes in the first part of the day, if it’s cloudy aim for at least 10 extra minutes!

✅ Keep your evenings lit with soft, dim lights, pointing towards the floor (lamp shades are great for this!) and avoid digital screens just before bed if possible.

✅ Your body responds to temperature similarly as it does to eating and wake times! Taking a warm bath or shower before bed may help signal your body to rest, and keep the bedroom cool with moving air.

What have I been up to? Last month I attended the Vigor Ground Coaching Summit in Seattle, Washington, where I met some awesome coaches and trainers, my head exploding with new tech, coaching genius, and training wisdom. I’ll share with you some golden nuggets on coaching from the great Martin Rooney:

“A Coach, can see people as they cannot yet see themselves. But where the magic happens, is when they believe you believe.

A Coach, knows motivation is one of her main responsibilities! If you’re not sold, you can’t sell, you don’t lack it, you block it, nothing changes, if nothing changes.

A Coach, must first be on fire in order to get someone else to burn. To coach, you need the ability to get more excited about someone else than you are about yourself.

A Coach, knows the greatest gift she can give a person is to believe in them. I don’t know who the diamond will be, so I polish all of them.

A Coach, can see people as they cannot yet see themselves. Where the magic happens, is when they believe you believe.” Martin Rooney

The Pygmalion Effect, where higher expectations of others, lead to improved performance:

Our Actions (towards others) >>> impact >>> Others Beliefs (about us) >>> cause >>> Others Actions (towards us) >>> reinforce >>> Our Beliefs (about ourselves)

Nutrition Tip 🥦🍳: We are officially now in the dark times, the days are shorter, weather colder and without realizing it, we are moving much less. Your nutrition should reflect your activity level, you cannot eat the amount you were eating when your normal day had 15K steps plus a 2 hour bike ride! Listen to your body, regulate your portions, and dial in the snacking. Be careful of the “comfort foods” we crave this time of year, and the many parties and desserts that will begin to appear… everywhere. Have a plan for the parties, keep your own environment free of temptations, and enjoy the holidays keeping a balance between eating for “pleasure” and eating for health.

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Jess is a certified personal trainer with the NSCA, a Precision Nutrition Level 1 graduate, certified in Metabolic Flexibility, and HRV, with Dr. Mike T. Nelson, coached by Author and Nutritionist Georgie Fear, R.D., CSSD, and most recently has completed the Menopause for Athletes Course with Dr. Stacy Sims. She is constantly learning and striving for new information to stay up to date for herself and her clients, to help solve the common problems we face when it comes to our training, diet and lifestyles.