“One, Two, Three, all eyes on me!”

When a kindergarten teacher calls out this chant to a rowdy group of five-year-olds, something magical happens. The kids chant back “One, Two, Three eyes on you,” and suddenly, the classroom has gone from chaos to focused attention.

We don’t have to leave this magic in grade school. Find a comfy place on the carpet because today’s story is all about the power of transitions.

Let’s brainstorm for a minute the transitions you come across in a day:

• Getting out of bed
• Heading off to work
• Moving from one project (or errand) to the next
• Ending your workday
• Picking the kids up from school
• Meeting with a coworker or friend
• Going to bed

This list can go on and on, but you get the idea. I’m not talking about significant life changes here, just the small changes that happen in the course of your day.

Have you thought about those changes? What you do in the moments before you walk into the gym or sit down at...

I’ve talked about delegation before. 

It’s a ninja move to get unbusy but many of you don’t have anyone to delegate to...so today I introduce you to my friend Jono who will educate you on the ninja delegation move: outsourcing.

Jono Petrohilos is the 2020 Australian Fitness Educator of The Year and Founder of The Course Creator Community.

Take it away Jono.

I remember when I created my first ever eBook. I was a Group Fitness Instructor at the time and was teaching 2-3 fitness classes a night, earning give or take $100 a night. I wanted to create an eBook of workout ideas that I could sell to other Group Fitness Instructors to save them time and give them new ideas.

So I opened up Microsoft Word, wrote down every workout I knew (something like 50-60 workouts that were all really good)! There was one problem though. The eBook looked like a Microsoft Word document. It was boring. I knew if I was going to sell it, I...

The dark and dusty attic was full of old furniture, holiday decor, and boxes.  Over 40 years of memories stored in these rafters.  I opened a box to find my childhood journals.

I opened the pink journal on top and read “Another LONG day in the car.  Almost 8 hours!” 

HA!  These were my tales from a two-week journey from Northern California to Yellowstone National Park.  My summers were defined by the family road trip.  Dad would start each day with his checklist of our must see/do for the day.  

• Wake up at dawn
• Drive into the park - don’t miss the bison
• Checkout Old Faithful
• Relax a bit at Old Faithful Inn
• Move onto Morning Glory Pool
• You get the idea….

Have you ever thought about how much of your vacation style is shaped by the trips you took as a child?  

Fast forward to my Tahitian honeymoon a decade later.  I awoke on my first day in paradise and hightailed...

What will you keep, improve, start or stop doing?

I answer this question very early every Sunday morning.  I don’t always have all the answers but just spending time pondering that question has given me some amazing breakthroughs.

I’ll share one with ya.  I registered for an online summit a few weeks back but it fell on a weekend.  I wasn’t sure how I could attend but not take myself away from my family 100%. I decided to book a road trip that same weekend and planned our drive times around the zoom calls.

Did I get to attend every speaker I wanted to listen to? NO! 

But I did get to attend.  I made some amazing connections, picked up a ton of knowledge, and my kids were blissful when they hit the beach.

It was a hail mary effort I threw together at the last moment but when I reflected back, it was the perfect solution for a virtual weekend conference.

Are you ready to harness the power of reflection?...

Yesterday I lost my shit.

In two weeks we should be in paradise (AKA Hawaii) but we still hadn’t booked our COVID tests. I delegated it to my husband but he didn’t seem to give it the same level of importance it was currently occupying in my brain.

I pulled out my laptop determined to finally check this off my list.  In just a few mouse clicks, I realized all the free appointments were gone.  Putting this off was now going to cost us.

I was grumpy, irritated and felt rushed.  I finally found the best option and got hubby on board to complete the online paperwork.

My temper tantrum was 100% a result of a mismanaged task list. I fell off track with managing my list.  This is a reminder for me and hopefully it helps you too.

To-Do List Like a Boss

The first step is to find a system for organizing tasks that works for you. I’m not going to get into that here but I recommend finding one that works for your ...

Why you should make a Life Plan instead.

Think back to the last time you took a big trip. You spent time planning what to do, how to get there, and who will be along for the journey. Most of us have limited vacation time. While you may want to travel the world, you narrow your trip to just a few places you can see during the time you have.

Now stop for a minute and think. Have you ever applied this planning to your life?

I remember meeting with a school counsellor in both high school and college to discuss my career path, but let’s be honest while you think you know everything at 18 years old it’s a far cry from reality.

If I could turn back time, I would spend time writing (or refining) a Life Plan at the start of each year instead of a New Year’s resolution I will toss out before February.

What’s a Life Plan?

It’s a concept I discovered thanks to the brilliant Michael Hyatt. A life plan starts with the end in mind. You think about how you...

You know that sinking feeling when you realize you’re in a conversation with no end in sight?

Instead of focusing on what’s said, your mind is running through your To-Do list for the day.

I realized last week that I lost about 30 minutes of my most productive time chatting with our carpet cleaner. Working from home allows for lots of time saved, but contactors and home maintenance workers can sabotage your productivity.

Small Talk Within Reason

I tend to be the type to pretend that I’m not home when the doorbell rings (thank goodness for video doorbells). On the occasion when I need to let someone into the house, I’m always polite. Probably too polite, which is what gets me in trouble. However, I genuinely appreciate the value of good help, and I think a few minutes of niceties go a long way.

“How are you? Can I get you anything? OK, here’s where we need help.”

Sound the Alarms

When you’ve gone beyond the small talk, and the...

It’s Tuesday morning after a 3 day weekend.  There’s an anxious knot in the pit of my stomach for the short week ahead.

Part of life balance is taking the time to soak in those LOONG 3 day weekends but fit my work into a shortened week.  Time to lean heavy on my calendar.

“What gets scheduled gets done” Michael Hyatt

This is important during any week but even more important today.  

Here’s a breakdown of my calendar process.

1. For me it starts with my personal yearly review.  I spend time reconnecting with my life plan.  
2. Next I set goals for the year that connect to the plan and commit those goals to a quarter during my year. There are times when goals have to roll from one quarter to the next but that’s a post for another day.
3. Finally I take those quarterly goals and break them into weekly tasks that are put into my calendar.  
4. I review my calendar each day to make...

Do you wonder how you’ll ever find the time to work on your big project? You’re ready to be more than just a Mom.

You’re not going to believe this but there’s a tool to find time for whatever it is that you want in your life.  It’s simple but not always easy.

It’s called the Ideal Week. It’s a downloadable template that will move your life from reactive to proactive.  It’s your life.  OWN IT!

The purpose is to find an intersection between your dreams and your realities.

Here’s what mine looks like today.

Steps to Create Your Own

1. Do a brain dump of everything that is and you would like to have in your schedule. Include all your tasks and habits.
2. Print out the template and use a pencil to time-block in all the actionable items (I make a lot of edits along the way)
3. Recheck for happiness.  This is your ideal week, so make sure the week you have planned out makes you smile. Yes that...

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” Steve Jobs

Thanks, Steve, but what if you don’t know how to go after those BIG dreams? 

We talked about how to set goals for your dreams. Now let’s dive deeper into the action plans for your achievement goals (not habits).  The steps you need to take to bring yourself closer to living out those dreams.

Often we feel lost and overwhelmed with anxiety with the thought of sitting down to tackle those big dreams. This is because you don’t have a clear path to your dream.  How do you face this unknown? I want to share with you a tested method I picked up from Jessica Abel.

Start with the Questions

First, write down all the questions that occur to you in a short brainstorming session.   

You could use a journal, a digital notebook or any other means of capturing info that works for you. (NOTE: keep this list handy so...