Be Unstoppable!

This is going to potentially be information overload day! But, this is something I've wanted to do for a while now! I want to share one of my favorite forms of personal development and information sharing. Podcasting.

On my Resources page, I list a bunch of blogs, websites and materials that I LOVE. And a number of those at the bottom are Podcasts! Today, I'm going to focus on one specifically that is my go-to for some amazing content! But before I get into it, I want to introduce this podcast host a little bit...

Have you heard of Chalene Johnson?  Those of you that have any familiarity with Beachbody may just know her as a fitness expert. She's the trainer in hit fitness programs like TurboFire, ChaLEAN Extreme, and PiYo (All program names are links to the programs themselves). But really she is SO MUCH MORE than that!

Now - let me ask you this. How many of you have heard of "The Chalene Show"? I am an avid listener! So today, I wanted to share with you some of my very favorites of Chalene's podcasts! She covers all sorts of topics - from business building, to personal development, to subjects more in the realm of health and nutrition. Some of these are oldies, but their amazing and I reference them all the time in my challenge groups!

So let's get started on covering my FAVE "The Chalene Show" podcasts!

**Note that ALL of the Podcast Titles in this post are links to that blog post on Chalene Johnson's website**

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT:

 I originally had these podcasts ordered in the opposite order, with the fitness and nutrition podcasts first. But that just didn't feel right because frankly personal development is the tipping point in my opinion. Doing personal development is where results come from. It makes you mentally strong and persistent, helps you identify your passions and wants in life so you have direction, and your excuses so that you can navigate obstacles. I do a lot of personal development! Plus...if I order them this way, then I can start off with my absolute favorite Chalene Show podcast...

"Crazy Confidence" (27m 02s): This episode changed my life. Like no joke, I go back to it all the time! I think I've put it as an assignment in ALL of my challenge groups since I've discovered it. This is an amazing podcast.  Confidence is a tremendous problem for everyone! I mean, how often do you have issues with self-confidence, or self-image that hinder you in your life? How often do you feel like you're being judged, only to realize that the judgement was self-invented? Chalene talks about some things you can do to build your confidence, for example...
-Steps to change your inner voice
-How to attract people that lift you up
-How to overcome self-doubt
-How to understand that experience builds confidence, and you have to start by overcoming fears
-Small daily actions to improve confidence

"Introvert or Extrovert?" (29m 12s): I was stoked when I found this episode, because I feel like there are a lot of misconceptions about what it means to be an Introvert or Extrovert! For example, outwardly 75% of people would think that I'm an extrovert. But I'm not! I identify myself as an introvert! Why? Because I get drained, completely exhausted when I'm around large groups of people for an extended period of time! I am an outgoing introvert because I am loud, talkative, and friendly. But I draw my energy and recharge my batteries when I'm alone! That's the big difference! So, in this episode, Chalene addresses...
-the difference between introverts and extroverts
-How that differs from being shy or outgoing
-How to build social confidence and self-awareness
-Among other often tidbits, including her wonderful club which I've recently joined--The Courageous Confidence Club

"Creating Your Best Year Ever" (37m 02s): This one features the awesome Michael Hyatt! What I really enjoyed about this episode was how they tackle the idea of goal-setting! People have this big misconception that based on what they do or who they are that they don't need to set goals, but that's not true! If you want to avoid stagnating in your life, you need to set yourself some goals! In this episode, Chalene and Michael address that misconception and give us strategies for tackling our goals by addressing ways to deal with a goal you're afraid you won't meet, the idea of a PUSH goal (Chalene's 30 day push inspired this subject), and the importance of advancing yourself by pushing outside your comfort zone! It's a goodie! Totally check it out!|


FITNESS, NUTRITION and WEIGHT LOSS:

 "Weekend Weight Loss" (10m 2s): This is a great podcast about ways to really focus on our weight loss OVER THE WEEKEND. The weekend's for me are a struggle. I'm off my schedule, there's social events that tempt me, etc.  Chalene throw's out some awesome tips for things that you can do to really take advantage of your weekend. For example
- Don't drink over the weekend
-15 minute HIIT (high-intensity interval training) on two days
-Eat 1 cup of raw veggies before lunch and dinner! 
Check out the podcast for the rest of the tips!


"Breaking a Weight Loss or Fitness Plateau" (25m 42s): How many of you have hit a plateau in an otherwise super successful weight loss journey? It's really frustrating, right? Well, here Chalene gives some VERY simple tips to help you combat that. Some of these tips include -- Looking at your nutrition, changing up your workout routine, sleep more, OR take a week OFF of exercise!

"Sugar Addiction" (36m 10s): Sugar addiction is something I've never heard of before...and the nutrition nerd in me was FREAKING OUT while I was listening to this! She has a sugar addiction and nutrition expert, JJ Virgin on the show as a guest for this one and it's awesome to hear her incredible insight. Some takeaways... - Fruit is NOT the same VEGGIES! Switching them out in your diet will not yield the same results.
- Sugar addiction is a real thing! Fatigue, bloating, and inconsistent energy levels are a side effect of sugar addiction and high sugar intake.
-And sugar is hidden in tons of foods that we think are "safe"... like balsamic vinegar for example

"Sleep Off Your Fat" (22m36s): Keith Harris in the house! I think this is when he starts to show up a log in her podcasts, but anywho. This is one of her longer fit tip episodes, but still super interesting!! We all spend so much time thinking about how our fitness and nutrition affect our waistline, and they do! But we don't spend enough time thinking about how sleep affects us!  In this episode, they discuss sleep topics such as... how much sleep to get, how important consistency in your sleeping patterns is, how to fall asleep faster, the best sleep environments etc!

"Paleo Primal Diet" (40m30s): What a FASCINATING podcast! In this one, Chalene invites Mark Sisson to her show and they talk about the work he does educating people about the "Primal" diet, which is very close to paleo! I love this episode because it addresses a lot of the misconceptions about nutrition! He has some weird daily habits, that I'm admittedly still trying to wrap my brain around. But this is a GOODY! Some of the nuggest of wisdom...
-Most of us are sugar burners...but to be really lean, you have to teach your body to burn FAT!
-Basics of the Primal Diet Lifestyle (rich in healthy fats, low in processed carbs, and high protein)
-Guidelines for the best LEAN protein shakes!


Basically...here's the takeaway...

I podcast to learn. To improve my life and my knowledge about things that I would otherwise be exposed to! And there are lots of podcasts and audiobooks that I listen to on my commute.

But, you know what...

Chalene Johnson is my fave and if I introduce one person to "The Chalene Show" through this word vomit of a post, all this typing will TOTALLY be worth it!!
I wrote my first life handbook post about a year ago. It can be found here, and is called A Life Handbook - The Ultimate Tool to Personal Development. Though I have considerably changed how I keep my life handbook, the gist of this tool is still the same.  

As I mention in the previous post, the thing that inspired me to start a life handbook was this website called Personal Excellence, where the creator Celestina Chua, created this idea of a tool that contains essentially everything you would need to motivate and organize your life. This thing, she called a life handbook, a description of which could be found at this link-- http://personalexcellence.co/blog/life-handbook/. The Life Handbook grew as an accessory from the PE program, 30 Days to Live a Better Life (or 30DLBL). If you have the time and the inclination, I highly recommend you partake in this program, and its sister program 30 Days to Be a Better Me (or 30DBBM).

Both of these programs can be found at the following links:
Live a Better Life in 30 Days - http://personalexcellence.co/30dlbl/
Be a Better Me in 30 Days - http://personalexcellence.co/30bbm/

 **Note that throughout this post I make references to Personal Excellence's website and tools of Celestina's that I modified to generate my Life Handbook.  All of those reference are links! Just hover over them and click and you'll be redirected to that information on Celes' site.**

A Life Handbook contains anything and everything pertaining to not only your current life, but also the life you want to live.  Everything you've ever been inspired by, yearned for, wanted to achieve, wanted to remember, needed to say, etc., all goes into your life handbook. It literally encompasses any and every aspect of your life that you want it to.  That is the overall point of a Life Handbook.

In my previous post, I described the sections that I use and how I organize them in an electronic version of the Life Handbook. I have sense gravitated to a hard copy life handbook. As much as I wanted to move away from using paper and carrying something clunky and large around, an electronic goal setting document never had the same feel to me as a hard copy.  I like the hard copy because I personally get more out of WRITING my goals out than I do from typing them out. There's something about pen to paper that makes the goal a more personal, tangible thing to me. That is my own person experience. If you do want to explore the soft copy, electronic version, than I suggest you check you out that previous post.

But, if you're interested in seeing the hard copy version...or even just interested in seeing the sections I now include in my life handbook...read on!

First things first, format. 


I use the Arc System from Staples in an 8.5" x 11" format.  I  love this system so much! It provides the same perks as a binder-- flexible and modifiable--with the sleek, flatness of a notebook.  I hesitated originally at the thought of doing a hard copy notebook, because a binder just seemed to bulky. But I didn't want to start a bound notebook, because what if I wanted to remove something, or change the order of something? No, I change my notebooks too much to have a notebook. This Arc System provided me with that nice balance! I can change things whenever I want, without compromising the look and feel of the notebook and that is something I LOVE!

You can also use a nice, leather-bound notebook, or a binder...or whatever other system you'd like! Really this is totally about you and what inspires your creativity.  

My Life Handbook Title Page
Now, in terms of content.

I suggest you open your book with something that inspires you! It could be a quote, an image, a collage, whatever! For me this quote was perfect! It takes up a whole page, and it's just so inspiring for me!

Now, we get into the sections of the notebook.  For me, my sections have gotten incredibly simplified since my last post...

Before I felt the need to get all crafty and clever. Now, my sections are very simple.
-Goal Setting
-Reflections
-Beachbody
-Science
-Projects/Ideas


GOAL SETTING Section.
Basically, this section boils down to the "what motivates me" section. There's many sub-sections of it, and in that sense it is probably my most extensive section.  

The first sub-section is my Mission Statement, which can be found in the middle left of the below collage. What is a mission statement you might ask? Well...it's hard to describe but essentially, it's the statement that governs and dictates anything and everything you do in your life. It can be one line. It can be many lines. But it should be so specific to you and so inspiring to you that you just want to GO DO SOMETHING when you read!
Goal Setting Cover Page (top), Mission statement (middle left),
Vision Board (bottom left), and Values (right)

My Mission statement reads:
To be fearless in all aspects of my life. To live with confidence and without regrets. To live with integrity, mindful and present in everything that I undertake, achieving my highest potential, so that I may inspire others to do the same. To improve the lives of others by my action and my influence.   
For me, that statement gives me butterflies, and makes me want to kick it into high gear and really swing into action. Yours should do the same! I developed my mission statement during the 30DLBL program I mentioned before. It was so incredibly worth it for reason.

The next section is my Vision Board (bottom left). A vision board is simply a collection of images compiled together that encompass all your most pressing goals from all aspects of your life.  For me that encompasses everything from being very fit, living healthy, having complete and utter confidence, travelling and experiencing the world, music (which I someday hope to play in public), and scientific goals.  

Next are my Values (right image).  I was inspired to develop my values when I was reading "Awaken the Giant Within" By: Anthony Robbins...I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to make big changes in their life. These are the things I value in life, more than anything in life. The things that give me the most pleasure, or the things that I think will enhance and improve my life. Not all of these things are things that I currently exercise, but I feel that by incorporating into my life they will improve my life.  

Life Evaluation worksheet (top left), Weekly goals worksheet (top middle), Action Plan worksheet (top right), 1, 5, and 10 year goal worksheets (bottom left), categorized milestones from 1, 5, and 10 year goal worksheets (bottom right).
For the next few sections I designed a number of worksheets, primarily using Google Drive's drawing tool. I really LOVE how these worksheets turned out! 

The next big section I call my Life Evaluation (top left). It's something I do before I set my goals because it's very important to determine what area of your life you need the most work in before you start setting goals. You'll otherwise set a goal in an area of your life where you don't need help, and what does that help really? 

This section was inspired by the Personal Excellence Life Wheel.  In this worksheet, you consider a number of areas of your life, ranging from business/career/studies, to health/fitness, to relationships, personal growth, etc. You score yourself from 1-10 in each category, and then you explain why you scored yourself in such a way on the right column.

The next section encompasses my Action Plans (top right).  I have 3 total action plans, corresponding to 3 different aspects of my life where I was weak and needed to improve. These worksheets outline Milestones I want to achieve and action steps that I want to take to achieve these milestones.  These milestones are followed by a section where I evaluate obstacles that I will face and how I plan to deal with those obstacles.  

Next I have a number of goals worksheets.  These goals worksheets include long term goals, including 1, 5, and 10 year goals.  These sections are pretty self explanatory, so I won't dwell on them other to say that I evaluate all aspects of my life and describe the things that I will achieve in those time frames.  

I then evaluate my goals on short term time frames--monthly, weekly, and daily.  

For the monthly goals worksheet (not pictured), I evaluate my goals for the month primarily in 4 categories--school/lab, love and family, Beachbody, and Personal Growth.  

For my weekly goals, I fill these out Sunday evening for the following week during my weekly review.  My worksheet contains 5 sections, not all of which are completed during this time.  These sections include:

Focus - What will be my focus this week?
Inspiration - What quote or notion is inspiring me this week?
To-Do List - What specific tasks will I accomplish this week?
Something Positive - To be completed at the end of the week describing at least something positive that occurred during the week.
Notes

Reflections coverpage (top), 4 sections of my reflection
section (bottom left), and example page from my daily
personal development section (bottom right)
Lastly for this goal section, is my daily goals, though this section is not so much a "goals" section in the classical sense. It is more of a section to focus my efforts for the day. Each morning while I drink my morning coffee, I complete what I call a Morning Ritual.  In this ritual I answer a series of questions. For example, What do I desire today? What direction should I take to guide me toward my goal? How am I going to be disciplined today? What am I excited about or looking forward to? Etc.

REFLECTION Section.  
This section of my Life Handbook is broken into a few sections--Daily Personal Development, Reflections, Gratitude, and Inspiration/Quotes.  I'll tackle each section one at a time, but basically this section is just a bunch of lined paper where I can record the information pertaining to these different sections. But these 4 sections definitely have a specific purpose.

My Daily Personal Development section is meant to accompany the personal development I do on a daily basis.  Whether it be reading books, listening to audiobooks or podcasts, occasionally these materials call for assignments or evaluation of specific aspects of your life. Sometimes its answering questions. Sometimes it's pouring your heart out for 5 minutes. But this is the section where I do that writing.  

My Reflections section is meant for exactly what it sounds like--reflection! I try to reflect at least weekly. In fact, I schedule and block out a considerable chunk of time for relaxation and reflection every Sunday evening. In this section, I reflect on how my week went. What were my successes? My failures? What did I struggle with? What went well? What would I like to improve upon for next week? All of that information is written here.

The last two sections are very self-explanatory.  Gratitudes and Inspiration/Quotes.  If there is something I'm particularly grateful about, I record it in the gratitude section. Even if it's nothing particularly special. If I'm having a bad week, or a bad day, I find it helpful to just start recording anything in my life that I'm grateful for.  If there's a quote or an interaction that I found inspiring, I record that in the inspiration section.  

Beachbody section - With tabs for "Team Calls" & "Training" notes (bottom left), my weekly schedule (bottom middle), and an example notes page from a Team Call (bottom left)
The next two sections of my Life Handbook are very specific to me, but who knows! Maybe you're a Beachbody Coach too, or a Scientist, and you want to include one or both of these sections!

BEACHBODY Section.
This is the section of my Life Handbook where I organize my Beachbody training and information. The majority of this information is contained on an excel document, but there are some things I like to have written out and available to me when I don't have a computer.  For example, my daily schedule (shown bottom center).  I also have my business tracker, as well as some more specific customer information. For example, keep a printout of Customer Shakeology Ship Dates, particularly for new customers so that I can check in with them prior to their next shipment.  Additionally, I have two subsections, which are very similarly organized to the Reflections subsections.  They're both comprised of lined paper and are primarily for note-taking during Team Calls and Training.

SCIENCE Section.
This section is a work in progress, but essentially it will contain project organization, plans, and notes relating to my research projects. Additionally, some science related sections from the next section (Projects/Ideas) will likely be moved to this section when it is more fleshed out.  

Projects/Ideas - My checklist for the 21 day journal article challenge my
friends and I are doing (top right), project pages for PD and Science reading
(bottom middle and right)
The last section, but certainly not the least (though probably the least extensive) is the PROJECTS/IDEAS Section. It's nothing particularly fancy. It contains Project lined paper, and contains project pages for things like Personal Development resources I want to explore, as well as Blog ideas, Science reading ideas, etc.  

Eventually, I plan on expanding this book even further to include planner pages so that I can truly make this book the one and only tool I need for organizing and improving my life!

So that is the extent of my Life Handbook! I highly suggest you check out the Personal Excellence website, check out some of her 30 day self-improvement programs, and start your own Life Handbook. If you have any other questions or would like to see larger pictures of any of the worksheets I created for my Life Handbook, feel free to let me know in the comments sections!

Happy Saturday! And as always, never stop improving my friends!

Until next time,
Okay - so this week has kicked some serious butt on so many levels, and it's only Wednesday! Which is especially awesome because last week was pretty crappy...

First off - GO SEAHAWKS!! :-) Okay, I'm done.

It's been a rare occasion lately when something so powerful, so inspirational has happened that I felt the need to share it. You may have noticed that my "personal development" section is a little bit sparse. Well, that's because I'm still figuring out what I like, what works. I don't want to share something worthless. I want to share something powerful.

 Well, this morning some serious inspiration hit, and amzingly enough, these were my own words that I was so uplifted by.

Six months ago, I wrote myself a letter.  I know, it sounds cheesy, but I wrote myself a letter to motivate myself and remind myself of what I wanted in the next six months.  So, I went to this website, futureme.org.  I wrote this letter, and then I completely forgot about it.  Well, this morning I got an email from this Future Me website, and I frankly almost deleted it.  My first thought was oh my god, more spam! But, instead, I clicked on it.  And damn near started crying reading what I had written to myself.

Here are some excerpts from my letter to myself that I found so powerful:
First thing, I hope you’re happy. I hope that you’re not letting the negative distract you from your goals, and why you wanted to pursue the things you are pursuing. Things won’t go right always, but as long as you stay focused and push through the bad times, the good times will be that much more enjoyable.  
...And if you've find someone who sees how unbelievable you are, open up to them. Don't be afraid. Be vulnerable. Be ridiculous. Be passionate. Be yourself and they will be themselves. Be genuine. Love deeply and fully. I want the best for you, and you should find someone who gives you the best and pushes you to be better. So, don't settle until you find that.  
Write. Meditate. Be positive. Read. Improve. Develop. NEVER STOP IMPROVING! Open yourself up to yourself, to the deep, scary, intense feeling that you have. Love yourself as deeply as you want to be loved. 
These were powerful things for me to read, because they were my own words. My own fears and hopes for myself.  My own reminders of why I am putting myself through what I'm putting myself through.  My goals.  How can I not be uplifted by that?

So if you know that you have some big moments ahead of you...things that will try you and future obstacles that you know will try to set you back, try this out--futureme.org.  Motivate and support yourself through your own words, because there is nothing better than knowing that you're fully supporting yourself.  When we get into negative situations, it is very easy to let negative feelings snowball and to get down on ourselves. I do it all the time, and today there was nothing more uplifting than knowing that, when I wasn't frustrated and angry, I am my own biggest cheerleader.  That's always how it should be.  

 Always, always, always be your own biggest fan!
**For UPDATED Life Handbook post CLICK HERE!**

Life Handbook
The Life Handbook - from PE.  Photo credit to Personal Excellence
I stumbled across a blog post about a year and a half ago about a life handbook. I found myself on a bit of a spiritual/personal development journey and looking for something really pivotal out of life, and I thought that this was a publication of life hacks, adages, etc.  But, it actually turned out better than than that.

Introducing the Life Handbook (LH).

Now before I go any further in describing this, I want to make sure I tell you that credit for this idea is entirely due to Celestina Chua. Check out her blog/website/description at the link below.
http://personalexcellence.co/blog/create-your-life-handbook/

The LH is an accessory that sort of developed out of PE's program, 30 Days to Live a Better Life (or 30DLBL).  If you have the time and the inclination, I highly recommend you partake in this program.

If you don't have time to read her whole post - let me break it down for you.  An LH contains anything and everything pertaining to your life.  Everything you've ever been inspired by, yearned for, wanted to achieve, wanted to remember, needed to say, etc.  It literally can encompass any and every aspect of your life.That's the overall point of an LH.

Now, let's talk about format.  The LH is exactly as it sounds - a book. I found that as much as I liked the idea of having a book, it wasn't practical to carry around an additional book.  We've discussed - I'm in graduate school! My backpack is full of enough other crap! :-)  So, I have found that the soft copy format works best for me.  If you're up in the air, I would start with the soft copy version. You can always transition later to an actual hard copy book, if you'd like. If you want to do a soft copy, you could use any program that works most feasibly for you - Excel, Powerpoint, Word, etc. I love One Note for this.  As someone who really liked the format of a hard copy, but didn't find it feasible, One Note is a good intermediate. It is formatted very much like a notebook, but with the convenience of a soft copy.  I have Outline+ on my ipad (to be discussed in a future post about best apps for graduate school!!), and Outline 2013 on my laptop. I save my life handbook to Dropbox (best apps for grad school!!), and am able to access it seamlessly between my ipad, which I have with me all day, and my laptop when I get home in the evening.

Now, it took me a while to format my life handbook and to really fill it with applicable content that fit my life and my goals.  I've broken my LH into some rather unconventional section, at least by the standard of what was original described by PE.  These sections are broken up as follows:

Just Me
By far the most comprehensive and personal section of my LH.  This section contains the following, each as its own individual section to allow for future editing, and some of which are sections that I created without the guidance of PE...
Mission Statement
My Values
Ideal Life
Vision Board
Character Board
Role Models
My Ten Commandments
20 Things
Strengths
Weaknesses
Bucket List (& of course a subsection of completed bucket list items)

Extraordinary Life
This section contains all things pertaining to my goals, plans, etc.  Such things include a Life Map of 1, 3, and 5 year goals, as well as 10 year goals.  Also, I have plans of action for some of my more specific and continuous goals, each with fun little names pertaining to the goal - these include my career/education goals, "LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE" (my personal goals), my fitness and health goals, and my financial goals ("Operation Financial Stability").

Who needs talking...
My wonderful iPad set up and how I stay up to date on my LH
I'm a big writer. I love journaling, writing poetry, and songwriting as an emotional release. As such, I find that I'm very comfortable alone, in silence, sitting with my thoughts.  Hence the name of this section. It includes all of the aspects of my LH that are meant to be reflective.  I have a journaling section (yes - I'm finally transitioning to going paperless), which is dedicated to the sorts of reflections that are done out of necessity - when I'm having a bad day and need to vent, or release all sorts of negative emotions. This is the section that isn't meant to have a positive resolution.  Let's face it - sometimes you don't want things resolved. You just want to vent about them.  The other part of this section is the Self-Reflection section.  Self-reflection, as demonstrated in 30 Days to Live a Better Life, is an absolutely crucial part of bettering yourself. If you don't reflect on what you did and what you did wrong, or could improve on, how will you ever know your strengths and weaknesses?  This is probably the most extensive portion of my LH.

Lastly, there's the Pick Me Up section.
Just like it sounds, this section contains my inspiration - quotes, images, poetry - motivation, songwriting, life adages, and workout motivation.  This is the section I go to when I need a pick me up.  The poem "Invictus", which I shared with you in a previous post is at the very top of my inspiration, along with quotes from Steve Jobs, the Dalai Lama, and Panache Desai.  Anything that makes you feel good goes in this section, for me.

So, that's my life handbook!  It's constantly changing!  That's what's so amazing about it, because it is such a true reflection of your life and what you want! Make it your own! Personalize it to no end! It is you in a compiled document, so do what you will with it!

If you want more information, I encourage you to check out Personal Excellence, specifically her post on the life handbook!

Let me know, and definitely let Celes know what you think and how you formatted your life handbook! She would love it!  A truly great person!  Follow her on facebook as well! She's a great resource and is constantly posting inspiring quotes and stories!

Until next time!

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