Via Forte

Put Your Own Mask On In the airline safety briefing, they have a consistent message: “Put your own mask on before assisting others”. You’ve heard it before on every flight. It sounds obvious in that scenario. If I run out of breath while trying to help someone else, we are both in trouble. It makes sense when we think of safety at 30,000 feet. BUT, it’s a lot harder to live on the ground. Most people I work with are wired to take care of others first. We have family, work, team, and all kinds of responsibilities. Over time, that starts to feel normal. Each of these is necessary and can even become part of our identity. But there’s a cost. When your energy is low, your patience shortens. Your clarity fades. Your ability to show up the way you want to starts to slip, even if your intentions haven’t changed. A few things to remember when thinking about self-care: First, a disclaimer: Self-care is as simple as doing what you need for yourself. I’m not talking about some com...

  April – Assessment Building the Year: April Assessment As we move into April, we have officially entered the second quarter of the year. No matter where you are with your goals, the first part of the year is over, and the first three months are behind us. With our plan, we are building the year, but more importantly, we are setting ourselves up for success each month. By building month to month, we are making sure that each month will help us put something in place that will help next month, and as we do that over the course of the year, we know that we will be further along. One thing that breaking the year up into smaller parts is designed to do, aside from giving us smaller steps to focus on, is the allow for more adjustments and more places to assess. That is what April is all about: Assessment This month, we are going to pause and assess. Where are you now? What steps have you taken? What is working? What is not working? What challenges have you run into? ...

  You’re Never Starting Over When we hit a set-back, it can feel like we have failed and have to go back to the drawing board. While it feels like you are going all the way back to the beginning, you are really never starting over. Even if you feel like a bigger plan has failed or you have to try a new approach, that doesn’t mean you are back at square one. The best part about progress is that, even if results come and go in different increments, our skills, knowledge and experience are cumulative. Even if I’m only down a few pounds and feeling like I’m stuck today, I have been working on this plan or plans like it for my entire adult life. As I talked this week with a client running into a major roadblock, I remind them: It pays to remember that you have been here before. Not only have you run into days as difficult as this, but you have also overcome them. You already have the experience of this frustration. You already have the tools to advance through this. This is an i...

Longevity: What Actually Matters Working with people of all ages, longevity has always been a topic we discuss. I've always had clients approaching, some well over 50. As I get closer myself, I find that the conversation is quite a bit more real. Actually, I feel better having this conversation now that I'm here too. My perspective has shifted from a young coach trying to help people, to a coach, doing the same things you are doing. I am living this right along with you.  As these conversations go, somewhere in your 40s, we start to realize another dreaded milestone is on the way. Full transparency, I actually had a realization before I hit 40. I wasn't even worried about 40, let alone 50, but my body had other plans. For whatever reason, 39 was a year that looked and felt very different for me physically. It hit me hard. Everything was harder. My energy was lower and recovery took longer. It was a nice “preview” of my 40s. And the reality is, I somehow have continued to ...

  There’s a lot of noise right now about GLP-1 medications. Between the commercials, articles and all of the buzz, there is a lot of excitement. A lot of skepticism. A lot of opinions. Like most things in health, there isn’t just “one truth” or a “right way vs. wrong way”. In fact, the more noise there is, the harder it can be to hear what we really need to hear. For most people, GLP-1 medications can be helpful. We’ve seen some great results from studies, starting with Type-1 diabetics and as the general population started using these for weight loss, the results…and the hype have only grown. For some people, GLP-1s have been very helpful. But they are not the whole plan. They are a tool to use in your plan. And like any tool, how you use it determines whether it helps you build something lasting or just gives you short-term results that don’t hold. Or worse, it sets you up for more trouble as any downsides are ignored. If you’re taking one (or considering it), what matters ...

March Motion  You’ve heard of Newton's First Law of Motion, also known as the law of inertia. It states that: an object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion with the same speed and direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. This law is a fundamental principle in classical mechanics and is often summarized as "An object in motion stays in motion." It is a key concept in understanding the behavior of objects in the physical world and is the foundation further exploration of motion laws in physics. Spring is almost here. Even in Minnesota, we can see the sidewalks again. It may still be cold, but we are getting a point where outside is an option. I know there are some others like me that are outside no matter what the weather. The old saying goes: “There is not bad weather, only bad gear.”, so as long as you have the equipment for it, you can be out in any conditions, any time of year. I know it’s not that simple. I’ve heard some...