What does it mean to feel "stuck" in life or in your career? And how does someone get "unstuck"? We hear this phrase a lot when listening to life and transformation coaches, but what does it really mean? I talked to Dagmar Bryant, PhD about life transformation, empowerment, clarity, and finding our life's purpose in Episode 143 of Power Up Your Performance. 

On the podcast she says:

"Even though we call it 'stuck,' they're often feeling really disempowered, so one of the key things for me is trying to understand or help them understand who they are and where they fit into things. Why have things turned out the way they have? What have they tried? What haven't they tried? What is it that they actually want to achieve? 

Sometimes we tell ourselves we want something, but we really need to go into our core to understand. It's coming to that understanding of: do you really want what you think you want? And we have to get to the core of that first."

Next, she says, we need to ...

If I came up to you and said that at midnight tonight, it would be time to run into your dream life and get back to doing the things you love, would you be ready? What would it take to be ready? If it's running or triathlon, you're going to need to start running and cycling and maybe swimming again, if you aren't already doing those things.

Or maybe you've been running, but now it's time to start gradually bumping up the mileage. Or maybe, you know exactly what you need to do--but you need the accountability of a coach. If you're an actor, what's your stamina like right now? If you had the opportunity to start rehearsals for a show tomorrow, would you have the energy and the focus to memorize lines or to sing and dance without feeling like you're going to collapse? Can you sing without feeling breathless?

Whatever your thing is that you want to get back to, let's start by making a list of the things that you know that you need to be able to do successfully so you...

As athletes, we are always pushing our bodies to the limit, trying to see what we are capable of. To compete at the highest levels, it's important to have help with your mindset. You saw a lot of examples of this if you listened to my interviews with Deena Kastor, Nick Symmonds, and Katherine Switzer. In this interview with Lisa Bonta Sumii, LCSW for the Power Up Your Performance Podcast, we talked about mental skills training and how what we learn as athletes can transfer to all the areas of our lives.

Lisa has 21 years experience as a therapist, but started working with athletes over the last two years because her 14 year old daughter began playing softball. In that process, the culture of competition was reintroduced to her. Lisa was a competitive soccer player growing up, so her own identity as an athlete was reignited.

She saw the intensity, the pressure, and the responsibility of being an athlete at a competitive level at such a young age and recalled her own...

We may be eager to put 2020 behind us, but amid the uncertainty and stress, we learned a lot.

• We discovered we are more resilient than we thought,
• We learned who we can depend on,
• We found new ways to work remotely, to sell our products online, or to pivot so we could continue to bring in income,
• We figured out new methods for teaching and learning,
• We sought out creative ways to connect with family, neighbors, and coworkers,
• And, hopefully we learned that those with privilege felt the effects of the pandemic less, and that we need to find ways to level the playing field and help our brothers and sisters get the support and opportunities they deserve.

In 2020, we felt great highs and deep lows, and the Top 10 Power Up Your Performance podcasts of the year reflect the needs for hope and optimism. I've  recorded 54 podcast episodes (with three more to go) this year. Here's the top 10 list for 2020:

10. Episode 115. Become Your Best Advocate and SOAR: Jen...

I'm writing this on Sunday night, and the Kansas City Chiefs have just won the AFC Championship – advancing to their first Super Bowl in 50 years. Once again, the Chiefs played a remarkable game, serving us a ton of life lessons, so I want you to read on... even if you're a Titans fan (and even if football is not your thing!) 

You can listen to the entire episode, or read below for the major points. Listen via the player on this page, or search Power Up Your Performance on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or iHeart Radio.

 

Seven Life Lessons We Can Learn from the Super Bowl Bound Kansas City Chiefs:

1. A setback doesn't mean you are starting over from scratch. Last year, the Chiefs lost the AFC Championship game. They learned from it and applied the lessons to their off-season preparation and their play. We all need to accept "failure" as an opportunity to learn and understand that we are never starting over, only building on past lessons.
2. Mindset is...

The game between the Chiefs and the Texans was CRAZY last weekend! If you weren’t watching, the Chiefs were down, at home 24-0 in the first 20 minutes of the game--in the loudest stadium in the NFL. Fans were screaming at their televisions and walking out of the stadium, in pure disbelief. How could our Chiefs show up to their biggest game of the year and play like a bunch of rookies?

There's even an article about "Bad Luck Chuck," who left the game because he determined he was a jinx. After he left the stadium, things turned around--and now Mahomes and the Chiefs are asking him to "do what's best for the Kingdom" and watch this Sunday's championship game from home. Chuck doesn't seem too worried about his big sacrifice, according to the Kansas City Star, he's received calls from a producer from the Ellen Show, and fans have reimbursed him for his ticket.

I recorded a podcast about this because I'm fascinated by the speech that Patrick Mahomes gave his team...

Can YOU walk a marathon? Can you WALK a marathon? I recently recorded a podcast that was inspired by a dinner conversation. A friend asked me if I thought it was possible to walk a marathon. I hesitated slightly--but only because I was trying to do the math in my head--before I said, "YES! Yes, you can walk a marathon!" The only reason I hesitated is because most races have a course cut-off time, a time that all runners need to be off the course. The only obstacle I saw is that she would need to find a race that offered enough time to complete the race at the pace she would be walking. If a person is willing to travel to find this race, then yes, walking a marathon is entirely possible!

If you walked an average of a 20 minute pace, the race would take just under nine hours to finish. However, I know that with training and time, anyone who put in consistent effort would increase their walking pace. And if they could get closer to a 17 minute mile walking pace, there are a lot more...

When I first started the podcast, Power Up Your Performance, I did it with a mission of learning more about how high achievers think. If someone is a champion in their personal life, their work or sport, what are the thought processes that drive them? What do these people have in common? And what can we learn from them that we might be able to try in our own lives?

At the end of each podcast, I ask the question, "What three traits do you believe all champions possess?" In this episode (embedded above), you can listen to seven high achievers talk about three traits they believe are important.

Here, I'm going to elaborate on a few of those traits (but listen to the podcast because you'll want to hear it in their own words):

1. Resilience. High achievers are not deterred by obstacles. They bounce back. If they struggle, they try again. They seek out ideas and education so they can refine their methods until they ultimately are successful.
2. Grit. You have to be willing to grind and do the...

I was alarmed when I woke up and read an article one of my friends posted on Facebook. It talked about the link between Alzheimer's and menopause. Early in the article, neuroscientist, Dr. Lisa Mosconi, says, "Well for one we have known for a good 10 years that taking out the ovaries or the uterus, increases risk of dementia in women."

The article also mentions that surgical removal of the ovaries increases the risk of Alzheimer's by 70%. This was not exactly the statistic I wanted to wake up to. At the end of the article, almost as a footnote, they mentioned that no one had yet studied how this affects breast cancer patients who are on hormone-blocking drugs. I felt like I was going to hyperventilate. Breast cancer sometimes feels like it's the gift that keeps on giving. 

"Well for one we have known for a good 10 years that taking out the ovaries or the uterus, increases risk of dementia in women." - Dr. Lisa Mosconi

This is not an "old person problem." These...

As I started looking more critically at my own habits, I noticed something: I've been slipping. When we gain weight, or lose fitness, it's easy to blame middle age, or a medication or an unfortunate turn of events. But sometimes, we need to take a look at our habits. Are we doing the things we know work for us? Or are we sliding into a behavior pattern where we are constantly making exceptions?

In this episode, I give you three areas to check on your own habits:

• Nutrition
• Sleep
• Stress

And, I give you some real world examples of how this is working in my own family. You will love these practical journaling strategies that will set you up for success. A few hints:

• Journal like you're documenting your own personal science experiment.
• Create lists of easy recipes and grocery items to have on hand at all times.
• Make lists of contingency plans. The "What if..." list. So you have already thought out some potential ways to respond when you're hangry and want to make choices that...