Strong N Flexi Podcast

Saw an image the other day on social media which is a visual rendering of the emotions we got through during the process of change. Title of the image is The Emotional Roller Coaster of Change. Don't recall who exactly had it posted, but whomever it is I give full credit to. The visual chart really gives a interesting and relatable perspective on the wide range of emotions we experience as we go through change. In today's episode we'll get into the roller coaster, try to relate to our own experiences during change, and how it's important to recognize that change comes with no shortcuts, and how staying committed, determined, focused, and accountable to your desired result will help you get through the ride.

A front-row seat This idea is along the same lines as the last podcast when we thought about who the people in our neighborhood are. While are working on ourselves, on our 5 pillars for a strong n flexi life; personal professional, physical, financial, and relationships; a critical piece of the progress is the company we keep.  The people in our orbit, the people we confide in, our mentors, our partners, our supporters.  They play a huge role in not just the progress we make but the person we are right now. When we think about where we want to be in life, the clearer the vision the more likely we'll achieve whatever it is we're going after.  Knowing that you can, no, that you will get there and what it looks like having that focused goal can drive all the pillar goals you have throughout the journey. And once we have that vision, every decision we make from that point forward needs to be aligned with that vision.  The moment to start making decisions that are not in line with your vision, the clarity fades, and it turns into a dream and not a possibility, not an inevitability. Ok, let's bring this back to the front-row concept.  So we have a vision, we have clarity, we have the commitment in our decision-making skills to drive us towards our vision.  A critical ingredient is the people whom you surround yourself with both now and as you move forward closer to the vision becoming reality. And this idea of who is in your front row, who has one of the precious front row seats, well it's an important one.  Because if you think about it, who is in your front row?  Think about it right now.  If all the world is a stage and we are merely players, then like any stage setting there is an audience, rows, and rows of seats.  Seats filled with people who are watching the performance.  In this case, you are the player on the stage and the audience is here for you.  Notice how I did not say here to see you which I could have as that would have worked.  But this is your life and as we all need people to support us, then the audience is here for you. That leads to the question again.  Who is in your front row?  Are the people in the front row perhaps people who paid the most and are there merely for themselves to show others that they can afford to be front and center for the performance?  Are they people who are emotionally, physically, spiritually, and positively invested in the performance they are there to see which again is your life.  Are the people in the front row smiling and cheering when the story has a happy scene?  Are they sad and concerned and offer encouragement when the scene takes a bad turn, sending positive vibes to help you through the scene willing you to preserve and move forward?  Or are they simply uninterested and not paying attention to much of anything only reacting with the proverbial golf clap? Who is in your front row?  Should they be there?  Now I will say that personally as I ponder this question and think about my life to this point I realize that those who have seats in the front row right now, didn't always have them.  While very few have always remained, there are many seats where the person sitting there has changed.  And that to me does make sense given the stages of my life and where I've been and where I am at.  Ok, so that feels like a good place to wrap things up.  A lot to ponder in that short yet powerful question.  So I'll end with the question one last time.  Who has a seat in your front row?

You've heard the saying that you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with right? This speaks to how our circle of friends can influence us perhaps more than we realize. If you're trying to achieve more, but your circle of friends is not, could that be one of the things holding you back? As kids our parents wanted us to have a great group of friends to hang out with. As adults, why do we stop wanting that for ourselves? We should always want a great group of friends. People that will challenge us to be better and support us on our journey.

Every day we're making choices, decisions that we hope bring us closer to our goals. Are those decisions coming from a place of positivity, where we are making solid "moving the needle" choices that will lead to a positive outcome? Or are they coming from a place where we feel we need to limit our choices, restrict our lives, and therefore attempt to make a negative choice spin positive? Intentional choices propel us toward our goals. Restrictive choices hold us back. Recently spoke to a friend about this, and thought I'd share my thoughts with you all. Stay Strong N Flexi everyone!

Our lives are chaotic. We're pulled in several directions and at times can feel lost. When that happens how do you react? For me, I remind myself of the phrase "where energy flows focus goes." This phrase reminds me to check my energy. Where is it pointed? What areas of life are getting energy? Are there areas in my life that have no energy flowing to them? My energy levels are only so high on a daily basis, therefore the need to be attentive to how it's distributed is high. That attention for my energy levels will in turn shift my focus to and from areas. Hope this podcast makes you think about your energy, where it's flowing, and the impact that has on your focus, your priorities, your progress.

Everyday is filled with a lot of "To Do's" ranging from making lunch, to work, to activities, to the checkbook, you name it. It always feels like there are fewer and fewer minutes just for us. And so when we find a "free" minute or two, what do we do with it? To me, those minutes are with Mindful or Mindless with each having its place in our day. That's right. Those mindless minutes scrolling social media, in my opinion, are also important just like mindful minutes reading a book. Important both yes, but equal they are not. How we choose to spend out time drives the direction we're headed. In this episode I think out loud about these two Mind Minutes. Hope it gets you thinking like it did me!

This past week there have several instances where I found myself learning about relationships. Once was a co-worker, discussing the success to her 30 year marriage. Another was just being so darn proud of my wife for a fantastic opportunity at work that I know she's going to excel at. Last was a social media post featuring part of a set by comedian/actor Chris Rock giving his take on relationships. Each instances brought a learning opportunity, something to ponder. Felt the need to share my experience this week. Enjoy!

During a recent workout I was reminded that Success by the yard is hard, but by the inch it's a synch. We all have goals we're after, and those goals should challenge us, take us outside our comfort zone. And if we remember to commit to consistency, building one good day on top of the another will lead to the bigger picture success we're after. Short message, powerful reminder. Stay Strong N Flexi!

We're about at the end of 2022, staring 2023 in the eyes. For many of us this is a time for planning and goal setting the year ahead of us. Goals are something we want to achieve. Setting ourselves up for success in achieving those goals is important. When setting new years resolutions, let's not forget we need Real Solutions in order to crush our goals. Tangible, actionable steps that we can implement that will ensure our success. Always be asking yourself "How" as you're working on Real Solutions. This process will make you drill down to the very specific thing(s) you need to do in order to succeed. Want to start journaling? How will you? By purchasing a journal. Great now how will you start? By placing it next to the coffee maker so every morning as my coffee brews I'll write. Now we're talking! Here's to a year full of Goals, Real Solutions, and straight up Crushing It! Stay Strong N Flexi everyone!

Two simple words that steer our society. How do we listen and how do we communicate. I have struggled with understanding why so many people seem bent on getting their opinion out there regardless of the manner in which is occurs. What are some good habits of strong listeners and communicators? Let's share, learn, and grow together!

First time in a long time. I've had a lot I've wanted to say but have lacked the confidence to post. Let's hope this episode is the restart of something great. Watch Your Step offers some sage advice from an unlikely source.

There are moments throughout our lives that leave an indelible mark on them. But are we aware enough, open enough, in a positive mind set to properly experience and appreciate those moments? And do we even recognize them at the time, or perhaps later on as we reflect. We each have our own path to follow, however there are a multitude of moments that shape, guide, and give us choice on that path. I've recently realized the power of being open to those experiences, and share a couple of moments along with my usual ramblings.

Don't get upset with the results from the work you didn't do. That's deep. If your focus, energy, and effort are not being put fully into a goal how can you ever expect to achieve it to the level you want or even at all?! In this episode I ramble a bit about this phrase and what it means to be and how I hope to keep the focus in the right direction to achieve my goals.

We all have big goals, huge aspirations, mega sized plans for our lives. It can be challenging working towards those goals when we try taking too big a leap to get there. Thinking about climbing a ladder, we take one rung at a time making incremental upward progress. Achieving our goals is just like climbing a ladder. Take it one rung at a time. Looking back should be done with amazement at the progress you've made to that point. Looking to the top of the ladder you be motivating to know your that much closer. Let's go climbing!

We all live crazy lives, and in those crazy lives we have crazy goals. Better relationships, more money, career advancement, improved mental, physical, and spiritual health. Achieving those goals take work. So how hard are you willing to work for it? Whatever your IT is, the hard work needs to be done to get there. Hope this question makes you think about your IT or ITs and how you're doing getting there.

Our daily lives are bombarded constantly with priorities that pull our attention multiple directions. Being able to dedicate time to the aspects that are truly important to us and our family's well-being and success is vital. So remember, where effort goes success flows. Focus your efforts in the areas that align with your values, and the chances of success will increase dramatically.

Everyday we accomplish non scale victories. Meal prepping lunches for the week. Finishing that book you've been meaning to wrap up. Spending quality time friends and family. Progress to a health lifestyle is about more than just changing the numbers on the scale, though that is important. A Strong N Flexi lifestyle focuses on physical, professional, personal, financial, and relationship goals. Non scale victories are all around us. We just need to take time to acknowledge them, appreciate them, and celebrate ourselves!

Fear holds us back from being our best selves. It prevents us from taking advantage of the opportunities life puts in front of us. If we can acknowledge our fears, accept the things that are preventing us from being at our best, than we can conquer them. Earlier this week I had chance to participate in a session around conquering one's fears. It was powerful for me, and so I thought I'd share a little of that experience with you. My hope is that hearing this experience might lead you to conquering your fears.

Our lives have us in a constant state of motion. We're moving from one responsibility to another, and sometimes our calendar can control us not the other way around. One way to keep control of your own progress is to remember to KISS, or Keep It Super Simple. I prefer to think of the acronym like this other than the Keep It Simple Stupid term most of us know. We are not stupid, just crazy busy working on our best selves. Sometimes a gentle reminder to Keep It Super Simple is all we need to get back on track.

Ever have that moment when you realize something is off? That happened me to just this week when I found myself stress eating a half gallon of ice cream! Once I put the spoon down I began to think through how I got to that point, and discovered I was neglecting a key component of my toolbox. I give a quick overview of how I thought the problem through, realized what was wrong, and how I plan to fix it. We all get lost sometimes. Just remember those moments do not define you. Use them as fuel to help push consistent healthy habits even more.

When living that Strong N Flexi lifestyle, nutrition takes on more meaning than just the nutrients consumed to fuel your body. We look at nutrition as your whole environment. So on today's episode, we ask "How is your nutrition?" in order to get you thinking about ways to keep it under control, in check, and primed to make you as successful as possible.

What is going on Strong N Flexi family! I hope everyone is still working hard to be better every day. Surf's up everyone! Today we're going to use the sport of surfing to talk life lessons and strategies. So get ready to hop on your board, paddle through the waves, and ride one back to shore!

Understanding why you do the things you is important to discovering who you are and the path you're on. In this episode I talk about a few of my Why's as the related living the Strong N Flexi lifestyle. Think about your goals the reasons for them. Those reasons can lead you to your Why.

We're all working hard on our goals for the 5 phases of that Strong N Flexi lifestyle: Personal, Financial, Professional, Physical, and Relationships. Keep up the growth work! Let's take a few moments and check in on our progress. We're going to use the 5X5 Fitness Score to get a baseline for our progress, and identify areas we can focus on going forward for serious gains! Hope you find this exercise as useful as I did!

Just finished reading Make Your Bed by Admiral William H McRaven Us Navy retired. Full of personal growth tidbits I share a few of my favorites and what I got out of them. Hoping this inspires you to read this or any other great personal growth book. Send me a message once you've read it, I'd love to compare notes!

In this episode I share my thought process on how I created my Strong N Flexi roadmap. This is active participation, so grab a pencil and paper or a device and be ready to map out your road to success! I have goals for all 5 phases: Personal, Physical, Professional, Financial, and Relationships. On this episode I go into a few of the Physical goals and how I created SMART actionable tasks for them to ensure I stay on track to achieve them. Having multiple goals is great, but remembering to stay focused and prioritized is key. Use this exercise to create your goal list, action items for the most important goals, and begin the work. Stay Strong N Flexi everyone!

We all have a lot of priorities that need our attention on a daily basis. How do you cope when it starts to feel like it's all becoming too much? How do you catch yourself? And what do you do to course correct? In this episode I share how I've been feeling it and how I'm trying to get back on track.

How many times can I say positive in one episode? A ton! In this episode I want us to think about the times in our lives where we think negatively, either because we think we can't do something. Then if we change can't to another word, what type of impact that really has on our words and actions. Finally, we'll turn those negative statements into positive statements. We'll shift our mindset to a positive one and get our mind right so we can move forward and become our best self! Strong N Flexi is achievable with positive vibes.

In this episode Tom gives some background to where Strong N Flexi came from, and how it ties into the word Fitness.

Taking a quick minute to introduce myself, describe what Strong N Flexi means, and prepare all of us to take a journey together!