living with anxiety and learning to let God provide

Part 1: 

We just did our grocery shopping for the month. At checkout we found out just how much fuel saver/free gas we left on the table by shopping today instead of Saturday. 

Corey's response: "eh, oh well"
My response: "I'll return the whole order, put everything back on the shelf, and come back Saturday to re-buy it" THAT is another glimpse into my over-analyzing, anxious brain. 😳

Where on of the spectrum of the 2 of us do you fall?

Part 2: 2 days later...

I wanted to share with you something that has really changed my perspective from Thursday. I remember posting about grocery shopping and the huge anxiety that I got afterwords realizing that essentially we had left an entire tank of free Fuel Saver gas on the table in the Yukon. Gas is still relatively cheap compared to last year, but it still takes a lot of gas to fill up that big thing. So this anxiety was bothering me Thursday and eating at me Friday.

But then I went to balance our checkbook and I logged in to see what my Beachbody paycheck was for Thursday (the day that we have gone grocery shopping) and it was so amazing and reassuring to find out that last week I actually made enough money to fill up both of our cars from dead empty! It didn't have to come from Corey's paycheck at all; it came from mine! I was really reassured and thankful to God for this opportunity, and He’s showing me that the work that I'm putting in, and the number of people that I'm able to help with their health and fitness is blessing our family so much.

There's no need to have such anxiety about paying our bills, or looking out for those coupons or the fuel saver. Yeah, it would have been nice if we would have done that obviously, but what was more amazing is that my little side job gig that I do for coaching it's no paying for things like gas for both of our cars. We don't fill our cars up every week either, so it's a really big deal for me and I wanted to share that with you guys. I wanted to give you some perspective that you don't need to worry about things because if you're faithful in all areas of your life and if you take your worries to God instead of letting them fester in your head, God will provide for you. I'm so grateful that the coaching opportunity has been able to help my family out in such a meaningful way.

That's why I keep inviting my friends to join me every month; that's why I keep sending invitations: because I want this opportunity not just to change your health like it has mine, but to change your life like the business has changed my life. If you would like to hear more about the coaching opportunity and what it could do for your family in your spare time, the little pockets of your day, let me know because my team wants thought to have you join us!

fitting my job into my life, not scheduling my life around my job

I hear from so many people that they have NO TIME to be a coach. I used to think so, too!! I've learned that you CAN create an income by using the little nuggets of your day. 

I listened to personal development on my drive down to the baseball game. I drank my Shakeology instead of having candy and a hot dog at the game. And I've been checking in with my challengers in between customers at the concessions stand. Not a huge time commitment, just bits here and there! 

If you've seen my posts and wondered even a little bit what coaching might be about, like or comment to this post. My team is hosting a free, no strings informational group this week to answer any/all questions you have about this coaching thing I do.

Unexpected car repair? No problem!

I'm just at the oil change place sipping my Shakeology when I get the news that my squeaky car has a bad U joint. Like DANGEROUSLY bad. The bill: $180. 😳
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Guess what? For the first time getting this kind of news I don't have to freak out and set a later appointment until we come up with the money or sell a few things. 🙌🏻 Why not?
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Because that's covered from my last 3 Beachbody weekly pay checks. 👊 We save what I make and sometimes it goes toward fun things like Addie's soccer sign up/equipment ⚽️ but sometimes it goes into savings for times like this. 🚙
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The fact that I can pay for things like this just from sharing my health and fitness journey honestly and helping other people do the same is such a blessing.
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If you'd like to turn your fitness into a business and are the tiniest bit curious about what I do as a coach, please like/comment/message me and I'd love to share some information with you. 😘
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"Beachbody does not guarantee any level of success or income from the Team Beachbody Coach Opportunity. Each Coach's income depends on his or her own efforts, diligence, and skill."

Did your job give you a raise last year? Mine did!

          I did some number crunching today and my jaw dropped. My 2015 Beachbody income was 3 TIMES what I made in 2014!! Can you say that about your 40+ hour a week job? This is the type of job where the sky is the limit. Nothing is guaranteed, but if you work hard you will be rewarded! I took part in several trainings, applied what I learned, and have a daily "Power Hour" of items where once I am done, I can shut my computer lid if need be and spend the rest of the day with my daughter. I never thought that the 2.5 hours twice a week that Addison is in preschool would be such a blessing but it has made a huge difference in my business and I am usually able to squeeze the most important things for my business into those mornings.

          Some months this income paid for gas and groceries, some months it paid for a splurge of a gift, this summer it paid for our trip to Kansas City, and other months it provides much needed savings for our emergency fund/debts. Every month, though, it paid for our Shakeology and then some. Which is more than enough for us!!

          How am I able to accomplish this without letting the tv raise Addie and the house fall into disarray? I don't need to work full time hours to create an income as a Beachbody coach. In fact, I joined as a coach simply to get a discount on Shakeology and to hold myself accountable to MY OWN fitness journey. I share that with you, and invite you to join me.

          To learn more about what it takes to be a Beachbody coach, please like/comment/message me because my team is hosting a free sneak peek this week that will answer all of your questions. Now is the perfect time to take control of your own health and fitness and to earn money while you're at it! 

          To keep Corporate happy: "Beachbody does not guarantee any level of success or income from the Team Beachbody Coach Opportunity. Each Coach's income depends on his or her own efforts, diligence, and skill."

Common Objections to Becoming a Beachbody Coach or Purchasing a Challenge Pack

Common Objections to Becoming a Beachbody Coach or Purchasing a Challenge Pack

I'm here to talk to you a little bit about Beachbody coaching and objections. Everybody has an objection- trust me; I've heard them all because I had them too! My friend worked on me for quite a while before getting me to sign up, and I wanted to share with you some of the objections I had before signing up because I hear them all the time now as a coach when I approach other people. Getting objections from other people is frustrating and to be honest, it kind of breaks my heart because I had them and I broke through them; I had faith in my friend that she would not be steering me wrong and I'm so glad that I listened to her because my life has changed in so many ways once I finally put the objections and the excuses aside and took a chance on myself to not only change my fitness but also financial future by becoming a coach.

I’ll get to specific objections to being an “active” coach later, but first I want to talk about what people say to getting a challenge pack or sale bundle. One of the top objections I hear all the time is “I don't have the money” Oh my goodness, I totally felt that way too! I'm a stay-at-home mom, my husband is a schoolteacher and we are paying off 2 sets of private college tuition: it is tough! I did not think that we had the money either at first. Fortunately, my husband and I work from a budget so we saw on paper what our income was and we kept track of what we were spending every month and we decided to prioritize our health and instead of paying money to go to the doctor, we decided to try to prevent some sickness. If we took away one or two times of going out to eat for a month, or some of the extra things that we were spending money on that we really didn't need to be buying, we could we could swap those out for Shakeology and a challenge pack. I really don't miss all that extra stuff but we have felt the benefits of Shakeology and it's been a year and half of drinking it every single day. I would not spend that money every single month if I didn't feel the health benefits and know that it is worth it, because trust me, I could totally be using that $100+ a month to get ahead on our loans, or go out to eat a couple more times in a month, and just enjoy other things like to the movies. But I'm so glad that I'm healthy and I think that you'd find that too, but you've got to take that chance for yourself.

If you are not sure that you want to sign up and it's a lot of money to put on the line, guess what? You can try the program, you can drink the entire bag of shakes and if you're not happy with the results you got or how you feel, you can get your money back even after you drink them! Now that is a money back guarantee one hundred-percent; there's really nothing to lose at that point when you know that you can drink them and still get your money back if you're not happy. That's how much faith that Beachbody has in the products that they put out.

Another thing: maybe it might take a couple months of saving to get yourself signed up- that is fine! Maybe you can sell a few things- my husband and I sell stuff on Facebook and eBay all the time to make room for our fun purchases. Or maybe you can say “Let's invest in ourselves this year for Christmas. Let's not get each other gifts, let's get each other a challenge pack.” It'll be a gift that lasts a lot longer.

If you still can’t swing it to continue Shakeology monthly even after looking at your budget or selling things- I totally understand! You could drink half a shake a day (your bag will then last 2 months) or split a serving with your spouse every day. You're still going to get those extra nutrients; maybe not a full dose but it's still going to make a difference in your day. We drink half a shake a day too: you my husband and I are not at the point where we can afford two bags a month but we've still seen changes in our health and our lives just from drinking half a shake a day. What I’m trying to say is that if you make your health a priority, then you'll find a way to make it work.

Now, onto some things people think about becoming a coach and why they wouldn’t be able to do it or be good at it. People always say: “I don't have the time” and I did not think that I had the time either. Even as a stay-at-home mom I was busy doing other things, but how much time do you spend watching TV a day? I know most people now have a DVR, so what you can do is DVR your favorite show ahead of time and then fast forward through the commercials. Your hour-long show just turned into 40 minutes and you now have time to fit in that half an hour workout, especially if you watch more than one show a night! Half an hour is such a small percentage of your day, but it's going to give you so much more energy and it’s going to make you feel so much better.

Another thing I hear a lot is “I don't have the time to be a coach.” Well, you can dedicate as much time or as little time as you want into being a coach, especially for those Beachbody coaches that work full-time and have family events too. That is not my situation since I'm stay-at-home mom, so I have a little more time during the day to reach out to people. The most successful coaches use something called a “Power Hour” and that is where you set your focus for one hour to do the things for your business like inviting people everyday and spending time catching up with people. Let’s be honest: everyone scrolls on Facebook!! I scroll on Facebook; you use Facebook during your lunch hour; you log on after you get home from work or before bed. Why not take that time scrolling on Facebook and instead of just mindless scrolling, focus on connecting with people and having conversations. It's not posting sales on your wall and selling to people all the time. It's just building relationships and with that, an opportunity to present Beachbody to them should come about naturally in your conversation. If you're posting about what you're doing for your health and fitness to your wall daily, people are going to see it and they might ask you about it or a chance for you to you invite them to your accountability group or to the coaching opportunity might come about naturally as you are talking.

Another excuse I had before signing up as a coach was that being a coach scared me! I was not at my goal weight or body; I was not a picture of health. I thought, “I'm not perfect. No one is going to want to look at me as an example to follow.”  But honestly what I’ve found is that is the opposite! Almost every day I get a message saying “the fact that you're posting every day about your workout inspires me.” Perfection does not inspire people- it doesn't! When you see those “perfect” people in the magazines or on TV, that doesn't really inspire you. It almost makes you feel bad about yourself because you're not that perfect.

Guess what? I have stretch marks and I still have areas on my body I'm not happy with or would like to change but I work out everyday, I share my struggles, and the fact that I'm not feeling it someday and don't want to work out but I choose to press play and I choose to post about it, that's all I'm doing! As a coach, I’m trying to show people that I take that one extra step of SHARING and that is what gives other people motivation to try and what inspires them. A sales pitch or an advertisement does not inspire people; being relatable and being honest is what it takes to be a coach.

Still another objection I had is “What will people think of me?” I didn't really want to put myself out there. I got to the point where holding back/not sharing as much or being honest in my posts was affecting my relationships. So many of our relationships now are cultivated through social media because we do not live close to a lot of our friends and family. My best friend lives in Wisconsin so obviously I don't see her very often at all but I share on social media with her and I message her daily, so if I wasn't being truthful in what I posted online our friendship wouldn't be real. I got to a point where I stopped caring what other people thought about me because I can't control what anyone thinks about me; all I can control is myself and my reactions to people. If they don't like what I post, then they are free to unfriend me, unfollow me, block me, whatever. I don't need their negative energy bringing me down anyways! I'm going to share who I am and if you like that, that's awesome and you are the kind of person that I want in my life being friends with me. I got past being embarrassed and being scared or knowing what to post as a coach. I just post who I am and the people who identify with that are the people that I’m going to want to partner with me in accountability groups and to be on my team as coaches. You’ve heard of the idea that “like attracts like”: you put out there who you are and the people that want to follow you will follow you!

Those are a lot of hesitations that I had before I started as a coach and now that I'm on the other side, I wanted to tell you that you're not the only person with objections: I get messages with them all the time. Those are just my experience having overcome those objections and I hope this has helped you realized that you don't have to be perfect and you don't have to know everything. We have trainings available and however you much time and energy you want to devote to this business to creating financial freedom for your family, or just saving $20something a month on your Shakeology and working on yourself and you may be referring a friend once in awhile that's totally fine! Being a coach on whatever level you choose is fine with me. I hope this post helps with some of the objections you may be having right now and if you have any questions, please let me know!

A playground epiphany

I was at the playground earlier with Addie and I got to thinking about what my life was like before I got in shape- before I joined Team Beachbody as a coach. Even though she wasn’t that old at the time (about a year or year and a half), the playground almost seemed to be a punishment for me because I couldn't do anything with her. I didn't have enough energy to run and play and chase and climb with her. Yes, she's having fun without me, but don't you hate it when your kids say “Mommy come down the slide with me” or “Mommy can you lift me up? I can't reach the monkey bars.” If you're stuck on the bench because you can't fit in the swing, or you can’t run around the playground with your kids…that was my life before I got healthy and got the wake-up call that I needed. I have a little girl to keep up with and set a good example for!

I asked Addie a question of “Is it more fun when mommy plays with you at the playground or when mommy watches you?” What do you think she said? Of COURSE she said it’s more fun when I play with her!!

I do still get tired and need breaks, so I’ll tell her to just give me a minute. Right away I see that she'll get deflated because I didn't have enough energy for her. I just need a minute or two to catch up, but if that's your life every day and you don't have the energy to keep up with your kids, and you see that you don't see that little glimmer in their eyes when you're chasing them or you're going down the slide after them and stuff like that… If my wake-up call is the same as your wake-up call then here it is: I'm reading it for you!!

If you want accountability and encouragement while you are making healthy changes in your life, or if you’d like to see what Beachbody Coaching is all about: how just getting more fit changed my life in other ways, how it pays my bills while I provide support for other people changing their lives, I’d love to share this opportunity with you.

A new meaning to "business casual" wardrobe: working toward financial freedom in my pajamas

If you showed up to your next business meeting looking like this, would you still have a job?



I was:

-still half asleep

-in my pjs

-sporting bed head

-feeding my daughter breakfast

-with my best friends

-following my own daily schedule

-GROWING MY BUSINESS!

          Intrigued? As a Beachbody coach, I set my own hours, I work with who I want to, I am PRESENT for my daughter, I am growing personally, I keep myself accountable for my own fitness, I earn a paycheck, and I partner with other people who want to do the same!

          We paid for our hotel stay from our recent road trip entirely from my coaching income without having to sweat it coming from my husband's teaching salary! But you know what? In the past, we haven't been able to take road trips or vacations without my parents...because they paid for everything for us. Like...we didn't even have extra money to leave a tip on the dinner out that they would buy. Granted, I love my parents and I love being spoiled by them and they love spoiling us (my mom's love language is most definitely gifts)...but as a 29 year old I want to be able to pay for things myself and have that pride of doing things for my daughter without having to always say "Grandma bought us that."

          Before we had Addison, I would pick a reservation at the CHEAPEST place I could find when Corey and I had to travel. I have nothing against hotels that at least have clean sheets and warm rooms for $70 a night, but with a 3 year old I want something a little bigger, more amenities, and things that make traveling less stressful. I discovered the Drury Inn in Kansas City. They include *everything* in their stay! 2 hot meals a day (really good ones), popcorn and pop in the lobby, wifi, parking, fitness center, and they are walking distance to Kauffman Stadium which is where we went for our recent trip. You can't find that in a hotel for $70 a night! You do pay for those premium perks, though. Before Beachbody I would have never even dreamed of  spending over $100 a night for a hotel, or staying more than 1 night in a row! But thanks to a couple hours of dedicated time daily building my business over the last year, I've been able to enjoy the fruits of my labor. We are still in debt for student loans and on a tight budget, but having a bit of breathing room for fun stuff like this makes all the difference in the world. And I know that I will continue moving up from here.

I have been so blessed by the coaching opportunity and if you're not on board, you need to be! Please reach out to me and share with others if this post resonated with you or if you know someone who could benefit from this opportunity.

Beachbody does not guarantee any level of success or income from the Team Beachbody Coach Opportunity. Each Coach's income depends on his or her own efforts, diligence, and skill. See our Statement of Independent Coach Earnings located in the Coach Online Office for the most recent information on our Coaches' actual incomes." In addition, please provide prospective and current Coaches with the link to the Statement of Independent Coach Earnings, http://tbbcoa.ch/TBB_SOICE

What I've lost in 1 year with Beachbody, and what I've gained

**I started this post and then it got lost...but better late than never

to show my 1 year transformation story with Beachbody!**

1 year ago Monday I started the 21 Day Fix with my husband- officially kicking off our Beachbody transformations. This Monday we started the 21 Day Fix Extreme. A year to the day! So here is a comparison of what I've lost in 1 year. But I've also gained...and what I've gained isn't shown by the scale or a measuring tape.

 

I've gained knowledge about nutrition:

• You don't have to make a drastic change to make a difference. Try first going from white bread to wheat to whole grain, or even Ezekiel bread; or go from flavored chemical-laden regular yogurt to Greek yogurt to plain Greek yogurt with your own flavorings.
• Generally, you should build your meal around a protein and use carbs sparingly. I used to begin every meal plan with a carb or always add bread/butter, biscuit, fries, etc. to every meal. Not any more!
• The more healthy the food is, the larger space it should take up on your plate.
• You can't really overeat on veggies or fruits.
• What a proper portion looks like, and how many portions I need of what type of food each day.

I've gained confidence:

• No one else's thoughts should dictate how I feel about myself.
• If I don't love and accept my body, who will??
• If I don't treat my body with respect for the amazing things it can do, how will my daughter learn to do that?
• My mood should not depend on a number on the scale.

I've gained strength, energy, and muscle definition:

• I have more energy than my daughter and can get up earlier in the day to get more done.
• I can do things around the house without having to ask my husband when he gets home from work.

I could go on and on, but I'll stop here. If you'd like this type of transformation - inside and out - in your life, please reach out to me! I'd love to help you achieve this for yourself.

Freedom comes in many forms

What do you see in this picture that could possibly have to do with freedom?

 I see a freshly cut lawn that I was able to do myself, without needing Corey to start the mower for me. Last year, I could not do that. Doing Les Mills Pump has made me ‪#‎stronger‬, a "non-scale victory" impacting my daily life. Now I have the ‪#‎freedom‬ to surprise my husband with a mowed lawn when he gets home.
Thursday is ‪#‎payday‬ for Beachbody coaches. I am having my best month yet as a coach. I'm not saying this to brag AT ALL on myself, but rather this amazing ‪#‎opportunity‬ I joined. Now I also have the freedom to contribute to my family's bills, and just maybe surprise my husband with an awesome present when he graduates with his Master's degree on May 9th.
What freedoms can joining my team give you??