3 Morning Practices for More Energy Through the Day

So excited to present my free guide to "3 Morning Practices for More ENERGY Through the Day." This is the "big project" I've been working on. If you are on your third cup of coffee by 11am, this is the guide for you. Make these easy shifts in your morning routine and you'll go from rushed to relaxed and exhausted to energized: https://lindsey-oconnor.leadpages.net/morningpractices/

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Finding Yourself: It's An Inside Job

I have a chronic fear of being stuck. As in, this (relationship, career, home, job, city, environment) is sucking my soul and how will I ever get out of it?

Up until "adulthood" (aka post-graduate life), most of us live in the distinct time frame of a school year. Semesters, quarters, summer breaks...if a class is miserable, you know you'll be done with it in December. If your roommate and apartment suck, you know you can move at the end of the semester. The chapters are short. There is always an end date.

But after graduation, at least for me, it was a wide-open expansive land of time and I guess it freaked me out more than I thought. I'm always afraid of being "stuck."

Physically, in a relationship, a career, a city, in a certain environment. It's not fear of commitment. Hell, I'll 150% commit to something I believe in and if I think it's a good thing. But it's "stuck" in the sense of believing there is no way out of a situation that drains me of energy, positivity, passion and strength. A stagnant, negative relationship. A energy draining, anxiety-filled job. Scares the crap out of me if I ever think of getting stuck in either of those things.

But at the same time I have to laugh at myself. If I ever got myself in those situations, I get the hell out. I'm just that kind of person.

So what am I afraid of?

Being vulnerable enough to stay put for more than 6-months and see what happens? Being at peace and open to whatever the Universe brings me, whether that's tomorrow or in 5 months? Currently, there is no end date to anything I'm doing. I'm fortunate to I love all that I'm doing now and where I live (yes, the car situation in SF sucks and I miss my sunny home and family in San Diego), but overall, it's pretty darn dandy.

It's the no-end-date lifestyle that I need to get used to. In the past, I probably forced those end dates a little too soon and a little too often. I would get restless and scared that I wasn't going anywhere or that I didn't know what I wanted to do...so I would try and solve that by moving. Again.

I feel as though part of my restlessness is coming from the false sense of security I get when I move to a different city or job or apartment. I think that by picking up and moving, everything will be figured out. I'll have left my problems and emotional angst in the last city. I'll be in the right place...finally. I'll find my true purpose...finally. 

But it doesn't work like that.

I realize that when I have those emotions to pick up and leave, to travel and explore (if I got a dollar for all the times I went on Hipmunk to find the cheapest plane ticket to Spain, I could pay for the damn ticket), it's because I'm outwardly searching for answers I can only find on the inside. It's a sign that I need to explore inwardly to find what I'm attempting to discover while on those daring, romantic adventures. I need to explore what is currently and presently surrounding me. Be present and real with it in that moment.

I'm where I am for a reason. The Universe is giving me all the tools to "find myself" right where I am. So by drastically shifting and moving my environment to "find myself," I prolong the whole experience. Because finding yourself isn't really a destination. It's an everyday journey that we're continually on. Yes, I believe one day we can discover our higher purposes and innate reason for being, but until then, finding ourself is being present with ourself. Where we are in that moment.

So as romantic as it sounds to "find myself" in a small cafe at the end of a winding cobblestone street in Italy or on a sunny beach in Greece...I'm not going to find myself any more than I would at the coffee shop down my street. Certainly, I can have grand discoveries or epiphanies or light-bulb moments while in those dreamy places, but it's not going to lead me any closer to that forever elusive thing I'm trying to find.

Maybe if I stop searching, I won't need to find anything. The answers are always here anyways.

What the heck is a Fitness Coach?

Happy Thursday! I hope you are having a wonderful week! So very excited and nervous (I'll be honest) to share my newest video with you. In light of my recent blog post about my friend and fellow coach, I wanted to create a video to share my coaching story: what inspired me to become a fitness coach, why I was scared as hell in the beginning and how I will continue to help others and grow a team of fit and fabulous people wanting to do the same! Lots of love heart emoticon 

Beachbody coaching and health coaching isn’t 100% my life. My life is mine and mine alone to define, through many other things. But Beachbody coaching helps instill my life with purpose, direction and gives me an incredible way to inspire and help others live a happy and healthy life...and earn an income while doing it. 

When I became a coach...

What I expected:

1. Discount on Shakeology and Beachbody programs

2. Ability to run challenge groups to help people get fit and reach their ideal weight

3. Earn enough money to pay for my Shakeology every month

What I actually got...
1. An opportunity to inspire and motivate others to be the healthiest and happiest versions of themselves
2. My team: an amazing community of coaches and friends who inspire and mentor me every day.
3. The incredible honor to watch people's life change beyond fitness and nutrition. The motivation, energy, confidence gained in the challenge group spills over into your life!
4. Easily pay for my shakeology order, and then some, every month.
5. A second source of income. I didn't expect to grow a business, but my business and income grew through HELPING people, so it just sort of happened naturally.
6. Confidence to be a mentor and leader.
7. A sense of fulfillment and purpose.
8. TRAVEL to Nashville in July 2015 for Coach Summit and fucking JAMAICA in spring of 2016 for the Beachbody cruise. I mean, WTF.
9. Oh yeah, the bomb-ass discount on my Shakeology and programs ;)

So yeah, you can imagine it was sort of like Christmas morning when I realized everything that I was blessed with when I took a chance and leap of faith to become a coach. 

Think you'd be a good fit? Questions? Interest? Want more details? Email me at: theglowstickdiaries(at)gmail.com. 

Coach Spotlight: Stephanie Madison Podgor, Fitness Coach and Total Inspiration

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Stephanie Madison Podgor. She is a fellow teammate and Beachbody Coach and couldn't be more of an inspiration. I mean, seriously, her energy and enthusiasm crossed time zones and cyber space...I was in awe. I had been drawn to her unique, genuine and positive posts on Facebook, but it was her blog post that me realize I needed to interview her pronto. We chatted about what got her started with Beachbody, her journey as a coach and her "why." Which is always my favorite thing to learn about someone: What is their story? What is their why? 

Our interview lasted over 30 minutes, but I have put together a video that highlights all those points above. She also has some great advice to anyone wanting to get fit and healthy, but is finding a lot of excuses (legit or not) to avoid that positive change.

(**sidenote** Our WiFi/Internet connection was a little shaky, so there are times when the picture and voice do not match up. But...we're all adults here, we can handle it ;)

Enjoy watching!! She's an absolute delight.

You can follow Stephanie on Facebook here.

Meltdowns, Mascara and Organic Peanut Butter

I think we all have this expectation that when we have a meltdown, we’ll somehow look like the Disney princesses as they flawlessly toss their heads into their arms and do a few snot-free, back-heaving sobs. Who are then suddenly surrounded by their small woodland friends, all of whom have a vocabulary larger than mine, who comfort them in their weaker moments. 

But “flawless” was the furthest thing from my meltdown today as I found myself sitting in my car, full-on sobs, nose running, eyes dripping and with nothing to wipe my face with other than the sleeve of my woolen-ish sweater (ew) and my hands.  

If you’re like me, you can kind of tell when a mini-meltdown will be happening. Like how weather/science/geologist people predict something will happen within a given timeframe, they’re just not sure exactly when and what will set it off. 

Welp, I am a super-scientist when it comes to my meltdowns. I know they’re gonna happen, but since I'm a fairly even-keeled person, I don’t know what will set them off. Although when the switch is flipped, it’s usually because of something completely unrelated…that “cap on the pickle-jar” scenario. It's usually something ridiculous, like the trash bag not fitting on the lid of the trashcan. And rather than pleasantly giving up and buying different trash bags like a normal, sane person, we stretch that sucker until it breaks and the trash can flips over. 

“Oh my gosh, why are you crying Lindsey??”

“The f*cking trash bag won’t fit on the f*cking trash can and it’s so stupid and I’m just so sick of this shit!!”

It wasn’t a trashcan that set me off today; it was finding zero parking spots in my neighborhood. Like zilch. All the ones I did find were free because of the street cleaning tomorrow, which was exactly why I was moving my car in the first place. After about 20 minutes of zooming around, I finally gave up and angrily jerked my car from drive to reverse from drive to reverse until I was backed into an open spot that was indeed marked for street cleaning tomorrow. And then I burst into tears. 

A few weeks of going from my day job (which I love) to my apartment to do my work (building my health and fitness coaching business), with too little sleep and too much coffee, already had my poor adrenals on high alert. I wasn’t giving myself enough breathing time. 

I love every single thing I am doing; it is a lot of work, but at the same time, it doesn’t feel like it. If I need to stay up until midnight to get my projects done, then so be it! I’m full of passion for what I’m creating and doing. The last few weekends have been great…but filled with work. Again, something I’m totally, 100% willing to do. Another under-lying factor is that I am confident in what I’m doing, but at the same time, I also feel like I have no idea what the hell I’m doing. I just keep believing in myself, taking action and feeling so blessed that I have support from amazing people.

But I could feel the breaking point coming where I would need to release the stress and adrenaline. I had hoped that it would be via a sad movie sob session or maybe even through a longer meditation (in my dreams), but no. Blubbering in my car. And then proudly prancing down Broderick Street to my apartment, face mildly streaked with make up and mascara (it was cute. And one more contributing factor to #thesinglelife.)

So, my meltdown wasn’t flawless. It was gushing, full of snot and clearly non-waterproof mascara. At the same time, it was fantastic and much needed. 

But I can tell you what I am flawlessly doing right now is sitting on the floor of my apartment writing this with a spoonful of peanut butter in my mouth (it’s organic with no additives, thank you). This was post-forced-cuddle session with my bird, which, for those of you who know birds, “cuddling” isn’t their forte. He loved it though. I know it.  

Anyways, I’m gonna go make dinner. 

I know, there were no “action steps to make you life healthier and happier” in this post. But I hope this was a story that provided entertainment and a sense that we all have “those kinds of days.” A relatable "fairytale."

Lots of love from the health and fitness coach who still stress-eats peanut butter once in a while. Peace out friends. 

Why I Became A Health and Fitness Coach: My Story

I was encouraged by some friends and mentors to share my story into health and fitness coaching. I am very excited, proud (and scared) to share my story with you. I wish everyone their healthiest and happiest year yet. I am always here to support, help or inspire you in any way. 

The ONE Thing That Will Make or Break Your New Year's Resolutions

I seriously hesitated to write this post. I didn't want to be just one more voice in the avalanche of "New Year's Resolutions" advice. BUT, since I do have some thoughts on the subject (surprise, surprise) and I have had some quite intense one-on-one sessions with myself about achieving goals and adapting a new mindset about it all, I thought I might as well share it here.

So, think about the goals and resolutions you set for 2015. You know what separates you from staring at those goals the rest of the year versus you actually achieving them? What separates you from falling off the "I can do it!" bandwagon in 2 months versus making it into a habit and part of your daily routine? 

It's believing in yourself. Like really, truly believing in yourself. 

Yep. The real deal breaker when it comes to achieving your New Year's resolutions is belief in yourself and belief that you can accomplish your goals. 

It's so simple, it sounds stupid, right? 

Again, take a look at / think about your goals. You've most likely written down things that you truly want to accomplish and that you really want to change...but do you really believe that you can? It's easy to write them down and say, "Yeah, I'm TOTALLY going to do it this time." But, do you really believe that you can do it? Do you really believe you can change?

To set yourself up for goal-crushing success this year, shift you mindset to one of true, deep conviction that you can actually achieve them. BELIEVE in yourself! If you believe in yourself and really believe that you're going to do it, no questions asked. When you have that kind of mindset, you are on the path to success. Because with that kind of mindset, little setbacks won't derail you for the rest of the year. You'll plan out action steps for the big, scary goals that don't seem realistically achievable (even though they are.) 

Every time you hear a voice of weak conviction, stop that story from growing even bigger. Shake your head, jump up and down, say "no" out loud, anything you can do to stop that self-doubt from growing louder and ultimately keep you from achieving all that you want. 

Believe in yourself. Shift your mindset. When you look at those goal, tell yourself that you will do it. And then DO IT. Make a plan, take small action steps every day, surround yourself with a supportive tribe, be consistent! 

When it comes to goals. Dream big and dream small. I'm talking about setting short-term, realistic goals for yourself. For me, I'm not drinking until my birthday on the 24th. My little liver got a lot of love over the holidays and I want to give it a break. It also works well since I'm doing the 21 Day Fix for my Challenge Group right now. But I will be that person going out with friends on a Friday night drinking soda water with a lemon wedge. Even as I write it, I'm doing a huge, sulking eye-roll.

But make BIG goals for yourself too! What do you dream of doing? How do you want to feel? Then break it down into action steps. You can't wake up one morning and be 30lbs lighter and have glowing skin. You CAN however, set mini-goals to help you along the way. Workout every day, join an accountability group, cut out fast food/soda/processed crap and adapt a cleaner diet, you can drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water (yes, water). All those little action steps, all those little commitments and goals will take you to that BIG goal of losing a certain amount of weight, having brighter skin, etc. Own it. And most importantly BELIEVE you can do it. Because you absolutely can. I mean, there's not even an ounce of doubt in my mind that someone couldn't achieve that if they put their mind to it and believed they could.

*Truth moment* I've set a huge goal to build my team of health and fitness coaches. I've set a goal to be able to pay my rent each month with income I make from health and fitness coaching by the end of the year. I want to write an ebook. All things that I could so easily not do because they're scary and I am filled with self-doubt. But I'm shifting my mindset, I WILL achieve these goals. 

If you need support, daily reminders and help building an actionable plan to get you there, I'm your gal. Either sign up for a free 30 minute health coaching consultation or joining my 30-day challenge group will give you the support and pathway to a better, healthier year.

SO much love and bouncing-up-and-down-clapping-my-hands-excitement for the new year and what we all will accomplish. Go get it and BELIEVE you can get it.

Ringing in the New Year at the Palace Hotel in SF ;)