“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in a decade.”
-Bill Gates
Hello friends! It's been a while since I shared my heart on the blog, but I've missed this space so I'm excited to announce that I'M BACK!!
I've been going through some big and exciting shifts and changes in my life and business behind the scenes over the past few months, and I needed to take some time to process and integrate everything. AKA figure out wtf I'm doing with my life! As usual.
This past month marked a pretty big milestone for me: my 3rd anniversary with Beachbody.
I've actually never held a full time job for this long in my entire life, and I'm pretty proud to be standing here three years later, still chugging along with my business and team Inspire Joy.
Beachbody has taken me on the journey of a lifetime: I've literally traveled all over the world and also deep into myself and my soul's purpose.
It's been so much more than a heath and fitness platform.
It's been a door and a path for me to find myself, heal my anxiety, overcome self doubt, pivot into a career path and a lifestyle that is completely aligned with my passions and strengths, support myself, and serve other women in a bigger way.
In late February 2014, I made the decision to try out Beachbody coaching.
"I want to inspire people. I want someone to look at me and say, "because of you, I didn't give up."
This quote has been my guiding mantra since literally Day One.
I want my life to mean something. I want to share my experiences and connect with other women so we feel seen, heard, and understood. I want to empower myself and other women to dig deep, fight for our happiness, and never settle for less than we're worth whether that's in our job, relationships, or the way we treat ourselves.
Why did I sign up with Beachbody?
Well to be honest, I can't really explain. It was one of those intuitive/God moments where I felt called, like there was a plan in place and I had to hop on the train without worrying about the details or how it was all going to go down.
Back in 2014 I was in a pretty deep quarter life crisis rut, feeling lost, insecure, dealing with chronic food and body image issues, lacking a sense of purpose or hope in my life, and feeling backed into a career corner.
I was craving more positivity in my life and a community of people who were MY people.
The opportunity to earn an income by sharing my passion for health and fitness and sharing my story and inspiring other women along the way was irresistible.
Not to mention the glimmer of hope that I could maybe even be my own boss!
So I did the damn thing.
I quit my job 6 months in with a few months of living expenses in savings, fueled on optimism, dreams, and the blind confidence that comes when I'm starting something new and exciting.
Freeeeeeedommmm!
Since then I've learned more about myself than I ever thought possible, and to be honest it's taken me these three full years to find my groove and confidence as an entrepreneur.
I want to share some of the biggest lessons I've learned on my journey so far because I always love looking back at how far I've come, and I know that in three more years (or 10, or 20) I want to be able to look back at this post and smile.
I also want to hopefully inspire YOU to take a leap (or baby step) of faith on your own intuition too. It takes work, but there's a wide world of happiness and joy out there waiting for you!
Lessons learned in 3 years of Beachbody coaching
1. It's so important to get clear on your own definition of success.
If you let other people define what success means, you'll either constantly be caught in comparison-itis and never feel like you're quite "there" yet, or else you'll blindly move through life on autopilot only to wake up one morning and not even recognize who you are anymore.
Define success based on your priorities, YOUR goals and dreams, and on how you want to show up in your life each and every day.
First get clear on how you want to feel, and then figure out what you can do NOW to experience those feelings in the present moment. If you don't know how to be happy today, you won't know how to be happy even when you reach your goal, and you'll constantly feel empty or postpone your happiness until some distant imaginary point in the future when you reach XYZ goal.
2. No one will care about your goals and dreams as much as you -- and YOU are the only one who can make them happen.
So stop waiting and wishing for the stars to align and get out there! Be fierce with your goals and dreams. Braindump a huge list of everything you'll need to do/learn/become/release to make them happen, break them down into micro tasks you can complete in less than a day, and then put them on your calendar and make it happen!
3. Use jealousy for your own good.
This is an interesting lesson I'm still practicing, because I used to be super insecure and would get SO jealous when I saw a woman out there in the world crushing life and doing all the things I wanted to do deep down. I'd build a wall between her and me, and put myself down for not being "there" yet.
But it's not because I'm not good enough or that I can't be where she's at.
It's safe to celebrate the success or beauty of other women without questioning our own! It's so important to lift each other up instead of tearing ourselves and each other down.
I'm learning that when we feel that prick of envy, it's because we see something in that person that we see in ourselves too- something that we aren't yet acknowledging or owning. Get curious with your jealousy and ask yourself "what does she have that I want? How can I nurture or acknowledge those qualities in myself?"
And for the love of woman power, don't ever put other people on a pedestal. Raise your OWN pedestal to meet them, because deep down we're all the same. Send her a message to thank her for having the guts and courage to go for it, and tell her how much you admire her work!
4. HAVE PATIENCE and learn how to enjoy the process as you're working towards your goals!
Entrepreneurship is like building a house: everything is going to take 4x as long as your expected timeline.
Trust the process, focus on the journey not the results!
Allow yourself to grow and evolve.
"Just because we can't yet see something happening, doesn't mean it's not happening. So long as we keep dreaming and taking baby steps, in spite of not knowing where they may land or how they may be used later." (Mike Dooley, Leveraging the Universe)
5. You always have enough time to do what really matters.
Lack of time is not a valid excuse for why you're not working on your passions and doing the things you want to do.
How do I know this? Because I now have 100% complete control over my own time, and I still struggle to do all the things!
Yes, you need time. But you also need energy, focus, discipline, and belief in yourself.
If something is truly important to you, you'll make the time.
6. Focus on happiness, and success will follow.
I've always been an overachiever, and for most of my life I was a slave to success. I worked and worked and sacrificed my mental and emotional wellbeing at the altar of productivity.
Something I'm finally learning is that happiness doesn't come when we're successful.
If we're only focusing on achieving the external goals, we'll still feel empty once we reach them. When we put our happiness FIRST, success will follow.
Same thing with weight loss: When you put taking care of your body first and focus on eating things that make you feel healthy and energized, the pounds will drop off!
7. We all need support.
I'm a control freak, a perfectionist, and an oldest child with a wild rebellious streak deep down.
It is SO hard for me to ask for help, but we can't do life or achieve success and happiness alone. Find people who will share your vision and pull you to keep working on what's important.
Start with baby steps, like receiving a compliment instead of brushing it off!
8. Your purpose isn't something you have to "discover" or figure out.
It's inside you already. You just have to get quiet to listen to your heart and learn how to TRUST your own voice.
9. Courage comes from taking action before we feel ready.
If we wait until we're ready or we have time, or everything in life is perfect and the stars are all aligned before we take the first step, guess what? We'll never get there.
I love using the car analogy: when we're driving in the dark, we can only see as far as our headlights, but do we freak out that we can't see what lies ahead on the highway between our starting place and our final destination? No! We trust that the road is there and we'll be able to make the entire journey even though we can only see the tiny bit of road illuminated right in front of us. There might be deer, road construction, detours, pitstops, flat tires, and unexpected adventures along the way, but that's ok!
The same is true with life. We'll only ever be able to see the next couple steps ahead of us, but if we trust the path will appear and keep moving, we'll get to where we need to be.
Take action before you're ready and figure it out as you go.
You don't have to be fearless, you just need 10 seconds of bravery to send the email/make the call/publish the blog post/tell your friend about your crazy idea.
The only way to figure everything out when you're feeling lost or overwhelmed is to get moving. Clarity comes from getting in the trenches. You don't have to take big giant leaps. Start where you're at and figure out the very first teeny tiny baby step. Then do it! Find someone to hold you accountable and celebrate every single micro-victory along the way!
10. Invest in yourself.
Dreams don't come for free, baby.
Treat your personal development, growth, and business like you're going back to college for a PhD in YOU.
Get your finances under control and make sure you're spending your money where your priorities lie!
Invest in the best quality food, supplements, self care, coaches, designers, and therapists that you can, depending on what you need. Can you bootstrap and DIY stuff on your own? Maybe. But is that really the best use of your time and energy, and will you get the results you desire?
Don't cut corners on yourself. It's like planning a wedding. Use the pros!
And remember that nothing is a waste of money if it will make you happier, healthier, or wealthier in the long haul. Investments have returns. The more you pour into yourself, the more you'll be able to pour into the world, and the more richly you'll be rewarded in love, success, and abundance.
BONUS LESSON: Dreams don't work unless you do.
I am not lucky. I have worked my booty off to create my own definition of success and happiness. But it IS POSSIBLE!
I've grown so much in the past three years on the inside and out. I feel so blessed to be part of a company that truly values giving back and helping people change their own lives, and I'm super excited for this next chapter in the story.
I’ve decided to follow my passion of helping women transform on the inside even farther and become a certified life coach! I'm now super excited to be able to support women on a more intensive 1:1 level in addition to my health and fitness accountability groups and coach business mentorships.
What's next for Inspire Joy?
My vision for my Beachbody business and team Inspire Joy is to create a community and sisterhood of empowered women who are passionate about making their own self care, health, and happiness a priority, desire more freedom and control over their lifestyle choices and career path, and want to pay it forward to help other people take ownership of their health and happiness too. The world needs more strong and confident women who are unapologetic about owning their voice and standing in their own power, and Inspire Joy is a leadership incubator to provide a safe space for us to grow and evolve into the women we're meant to be. It all starts with self care and self love!
What's next for this blog?
THIS blog will revert back to what it was in the very beginning when I started writing in 2009: my online journal, creative outlet, and a space for me to share my heart and the life lessons I'm learning from the trenches.
Expect to see lots more stories, rambles, DIY tutorials, and behind the scenes updates!
And make sure to sign up for my monthly AML News to get the latest posts, updates, and surprises straight to your inbox.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me and following along. Let me know if this post resonated with you, I love hearing from you!!
xo Anna
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 at https://images.beachbody.com/coach-office/downloads/statement_of_independent_coach_earnings.pdf for the most recent information on our Coaches' actual incomes.
