The concept and importance of understanding “my word” was first introduced to me at a personal growth seminar a few years back. The instructor at the seminar tasked me with making three phone calls, that night, to ask people in my life if they felt they could count on my word. Did they trust what I said? Could they count on me?

That evening, I called my son, mother and father. To my surprise, their answers were very similar. They said that I usually keep my word when its important to me, but not always. I was asking for the truth and that is what I got, although it stung a little. I’m glad that I did this exercise and learned there was room for improvement. I want to be a woman of my word, so I work diligently to keep my commitments to other people. I want others to be able to count on me.

However, it wasn’t until years later, when I read The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford and listened to Confidence 101 by Brian Johnson that I realized that keeping my word means more than keeping commitments to others. It also plays a significant role in my confidence, trust in myself and how likely I believe I will achieve the things I want to achieve.

For example, what happens when I say I am going to be on time, exercise or meet a deadline? If I continually keep my word and follow through with what I say, then I will have complete trust in myself that these things will happen in the future. The more I master keeping my word with small everyday items, the more confident I will be tackling larger goals in my life. It spreads across all areas in my life, and I am able to make commitments to others and myself with total confidence.

It has become routine for me to check in with myself, my children and my accountability partners to see how I’m doing in this area.  I challenge you to ask yourself and others how you’re doing and if you have room for improvement.  Embrace the feedback you receive because it is a gift!

Love, Heather

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I embrace the mindset that life is a journey. There will be some great and “not so” great things along the way. Both are gifts as long as I choose to see it that way. And I do. While it is easy to celebrate the good days, it can be challenging to appreciate the bad ones. This takes both commitment and practice. I have to make a conscious choice to see the value in everything that occurs. Here are a few tips on how to do this:
– Detach from the outcome. When you do this, you’re able to enjoy the learning and growth process along the way. Make it about giving your best every day and the journey will reward you along the way with increased patience, appreciation for the small things that really matter, new skills and more.
– See the “bad” days as good ones that come to you bearing gifts. Ask questions that are full of possibilities. What can I learn from this that makes me better without blaming myself or someone else? What is the gift in this situation that supports my life purpose? There is something positive I can take from this experience, what is it? “Oh, it’s an opportunity to show empathy, practice acceptance and detach from the outcome.”

– Get an accountability partner to help you. My partners and I have a rule we follow. We get 5 minutes to vent or curse about how bad something is. After that we go to work turning it into a “good” bad day. With negative self talk going most of the time, a great partner makes all the difference in keeping you on track.
Get started today in transforming those bad days into good ones!

Keith

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Most of my mornings are solid. I begin the day with meditation, an inspirational podcast and exercise. This is typically enough to keep me in a positive mindset throughout my day. Well in April of this year, that formula didn’t produce the same result. I needed to update my entire program because the negative self talk following a breakup was distracting me from my purpose.

For about a week I fought to have a bright outlook with no success. Thankfully one morning I listened to the podcast, Optimize with Brian Johnson. It was an interview with Hal Elrod, author of the Miracle Morning. I was locked in from the beginning because he shared about two rock bottom events in his life and how he bounced back stronger than ever.

Elrod suggested 6 practices to do before embarking on your day.
• Silence
• Affirmations
• Visualizations
• Exercise
• Reading
• Scribing or Journaling

While I did 4 of the 6 practices most of the time, I didn’t do them all every day. I was close to rock bottom so I enthusiastically went all in with the suggestions. It’s been 6 weeks now and the results are phenomenal. I wake up every morning in silence and with a breathing meditation. I then do visualizations and voice my affirmations. Reading and journaling follow. Next is listening to an inspiring and educational podcast. I finish strong with an hour of exercise with friends.

My days have never been better since committing to starting every day with a Miracle Morning. If negative self talk is distracting you from your purpose, try these practices today!

Keith

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These hotcakes are a huge hit in my home!  Don’t reserve this tasty treat for breakfast.  Have them for dinner too, like we do!!!

Prep Time- 5 mins Total time- 15 mins

Author: Candy’s Clean Kitchen @2BeRe-U
Recipe type: Breakfast
Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Cup of Old Fashion Oats
• 2 Scoops of Vanilla Protein Powder
• 1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
• 1 Cup of Cottage Cheese
• 3/4 Cup of Egg Whites
• 1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup of Pumpkin
• 1/2 Cup of Water

Optional:  Add more water if you prefer a thinner consistency.

METHOD

Add all ingredients into a blender (I prefer a Vitamix).  Blend all ingredients until combined and they have reached your preferred consistency.  Cook in a medium pan over medium heat.  What until cake has turned golden on the pan side down and top has small bubbles (about 2-3 minutes).  Flip and repeat.

I top my cakes with cinnamon and pure maple, grade B syrup (I use 1/2 water and 1/2 maple syrup to cut out sugars and warm before topping my cakes).  Enjoy!

Love, Heather

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There is one quote that resonates with me when it comes to hard work. “The grind will not give you what you haven’t worked for.” This is true for all areas of life; especially exercise and nutrition. If I want to be in my best physical shape and have lean muscles with killer abs, I have to work for it and eat clean. Doing half reps and having somewhat healthy eating habits won’t produce the results I want.

It surprises people to learn that I don’t love exercise or that I only lift weights twice per week. I exercise and eat healthy strictly for the benefits. With so few days spent squatting and benching, it’s critical that I maximize my training sessions. So my mantra is every rep matters. If the set calls for 10 squats below parallel, each one is performed that way. Every abdominal movement is done with complete integrity. Every pull-up is executed with chin over the bar for a pause and no swinging. And if for some reason I don’t perform it perfectly, I do it again.

At your next workout, honor your goals and time with 100% commitment. Every rep matters!

Keith

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Today is my brother Kevin’s birthday. He’s 9 months younger than me. He has loved me unconditionally since day one. Growing up I was not the best brother to him. Filled with blame and anger toward my step father (his biological father), I projected my feelings onto Kevin. My energy towards him was not always loving. Instead it was a lot of impatience and judgment. Despite the way I treated him, he sent love my way.
It took a lot of personal work, the personal development seminar Landmark and accepting/loving myself (flaws and all) to get to the root of why I judged Kevin and others. The work paid off. I have no ill will toward anyone now. I love my brother.

These days he struggles with staying on his path and loving himself in a healthy way. I have love and empathy for him. He will always be the brother who loved me no matter how I showed up for him.

What I am present to is that this peaceful, loving place I am can change in a instant if I don’t stay focused and on purpose. The negative self talk never goes away. The moment I stop my daily practice, it returns accompanied by judgment, blame, shame, guilt and victimhood. Loving myself and those in my life is too important for me to let that happen. I am all in! Love yourself and others completely and unconditionally.

Keith

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A few weeks ago 2BeRe-U coach Heather sent out an impassioned email about rekindling relationships. She shared why she was doing it and how it aligned with her mission and life purpose. (See her upcoming blog post on Rekindling Relationships). I read her words as a call to action.
I reached out to 8 people I hadn’t communicated with in years. They were family members, friends and someone I parted ways with 15 years ago over a disagreement. Each conversation included a joyful greeting, gratitude for who they were in my life and a commitment to stay in touch each month no matter what. In the case of my friend who I hadn’t talked to in over a decade, I picked up the phone and called him. I got right to it by apologizing for my role in the split. I passed no blame. And there was no expectation of an apology from him. My intentions were clear. I wanted the energy between us to be love and unconditional friendship.
I am happy to say these eight relationships are alive again. This would not have happened if not for Heather calling me into action. What relationships will you infuse with love, acceptance and possibility today?

Keith

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I had a trail run planned for my Saturday morning cardio workout, until I woke up to a very, rainy day.  Being 100% committed to my Saturday morning workout, skipping it was not an option.  I love this because if I was only 99% committed, I could have easily talked myself out of a workout.  Instead I quickly shifted my mindset to, what “can” I do to keep this commitment?  Brian Johnson’s podcast- 99% is a Bitch, 100% is a Breeze states this philosophy perfectly.  This was a non-negotiable item for me, so I spent no energy making excuses and instead focused on a solution.

After making a quick shift, I created the following cardio workout and the new plan turned out nicely.  I tried to liven up the typical treadmill workout to make it more fun!

Treadmill, Abs and Pull-ups– 1 set is Treadmill + Abs + Pull-up Variation.  Complete 3 sets.

Treadmill– Repeat this 3 times to equal 15 minutes:

Run 3 minutes (I ran at a speed of 6.0- 10 minute miles)

Shuffle to the left on the treadmill for 1 minute (I shuffled at a speed of 3.5)

Shuffle to the right on the treadmill for 1 minute (I shuffled at a speed of 3.5)

Abs– 1 minute:

100s, crunches, bicycles or a CSC combination in TRX straps

Pull-up Variations- 1 minute:

Max on unassisted pull-ups, 10 with a spot or resistance band or 12 on pull-up machine

Repeat this set treadmill (15 minutes) + Abs (1 minute) + Pull-up Variation (1 minute) 3 times through.  Total workout = approximately 51 minutes.

Adjust to your skill level, but remember to push yourself!!!

Love, Heather

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For as long as I can remember, I have valued efficiency. Being efficient means achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense. One area I apply this to is my nutrition. I take what I eat seriously. I want optimal results for the hours per week that I spend working and exercising. Great nutrition is essential to this.

I hit the gym 5 days a week. Each workout is filthy. From deep squats to 2BeRe-U abs to wicked TRX combinations, I need every rep to be my best rep so it counts toward my goal to feel and look my best. If my nutrition is less than 100%, the work I’ve put in during training hasn’t been maximized. The workouts are too hard hitting and intense for me to let that happen.

I spent years settling for “just above average” fitness, 2 hour workout sessions 6-7 days a week and nagging injuries. I was exhausted all the time and hitting plateaus in my fitness. I had enough and knew I had to make a change. So I set out to learn how I could exercise less while getting maximum results in my fitness and appearance. The answer was excellent nutrition. If I ate healthy all the time, not 99% of the time, but 100%, I would look and feel my best. And it would not require 2 plus hours of training 7 days per week. Once I discovered this, I committed fully. My fitness soon reached knew heights, my body looked better and the injuries went away.

If maximizing your time and training matters, embrace nutrition and go all in. Make it 100%! Your body will thank you. And you will love the way you feel and look.

Keith

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