“The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do.” — Bill Phillips One of my favorite things in life is to talk to people about their goals and dreams. I love seeing people’s faces light up when they consider their possible future selves. And yet I’ve noticed a distinct difference in the types of people that go on and make those dreams happen and those who don’t. The first type of person is willing to take a hard look at their biggest goals and figure out what they have to do to make them happen. They are undaunted by the months, years, or decades of hard work ..read more

“What are you training right now?” This is probably the most common question I get asked by my fitness-loving friends. My answer is almost always the same: “I’m training handstands. Yes, still.” I first started dabbling in handstands back in 2013. I took a few adult gymnastics classes and was immediately hooked. How could something so seemingly simple — standing upside down on your hands — be so hard in practice? As a late-blooming athlete, I didn’t do my first push-ups until my early twenties (and my first decent push-ups years after that). It took me even longer to be able to do other basic ..read more

Mental fitness is a term that gets thrown a lot these days, especially now during the COVID pandemic. It seems like everyone is struggling with something, and having strong mental fitness feels more important than ever. But what does it mean to be mentally fit? In psychology, mental fitness is loosely defined as creating a state of positive well-being and learning to cultivate awareness of how we think, behave and feel. Increasing mental fitness has tons of benefits, such as: Becoming more aware of your thoughts so they don’t control you Increasing your ability to focus and concentrate ..read more

I once almost got a tattoo that said “hustle.” At the time, I was still newly out of college and trying to figure out what to do with my life. I was living in San Francisco, surrounded by techies and startup founders — the type of people who glorify long hours and live off of copious amounts of caffeine and very little sleep. Growing up, I never had to work very hard to get straight A’s. School came fairly easily to me, so I skated by, often doing the bare minimum to keep my grades up. But the real world doesn’t work that way. In the real world, you can’t get by without putting in effort. So ..read more

The other day, I went to do a few sets of pull-ups and was disappointed to realize I could no longer do as many as I once could. There was a time a few years ago when I was working pull-ups diligently a few times a week and got up to doing ten in a row. For someone who could barely hang from a pull-up bar as a teenager, I was pretty proud of that number. But on this day I could only knock out four, maybe five at a time, before my form completely fell apart. At first, I started to get pretty down on myself. How could I have let this happen?  Then I took a step back and cons ..read more

I didn’t grow up as an athlete. I was a shy, clumsy kid who preferred books to sports. I didn’t do my first push-up until I was twenty-one, and it wasn’t until much later that “athlete” became a core part of my identity. Like most adults, I first started exercising mainly to lose weight. Once I caught the fitness bug, my reasons expanded beyond appearance to include building strength, learning new athletic skills, and physically becoming the best athlete I could be. But the benefits I’ve gotten from fitness and sport have been so much more than just physical. Despite discovering fitness a lit ..read more

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” – Tony Robbins Setting goals is one of the most important things you can do to go from where you are to where you want to be. One reason goals are so powerful is that they give our lives direction. Setting goals helps us filter out what’s important and take clear action steps to accomplish those goals. Whether fitness, career, or lifestyle-related, goals help give our lives meaning and purpose by giving us something to work toward. But goals can be overwhelming — paralyzing even — when you’re early on in the pro ..read more

I usually look forward to my training. My workouts are my time to focus and get out of my head. I enjoy the alone time and the chance to work toward goals that excite me. Whereas some people dread their workouts, my training sessions are usually the highlight of my day. But for some reason, all week, I’ve caught myself trying to talk myself out of training. In fact, I haven’t felt like doing much of anything at all. I haven’t felt this unmotivated in a long time. I’ve tried all the tricks. I’ve pre-planned my workouts ahead of time so that I don’t have to think or make decisions during my actu ..read more

Happy Monday, Books have been some of my biggest teachers in life. I’ve always loved to read and usually have anywhere from three to six books ranging from non-fiction science-based books to autobiographies to science fiction or literary fiction all going at once. I like to have a mix of audiobooks, Kindle books, and “real” books — I feel like I get something different out of each type. These five books have changed my worldview in recent years and are some of my favorites: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck This is the book that started it all for me. Dweck’s differentiatio ..read more

“If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.” — Epictetus Very few people enjoy the feeling of being a beginner. That awkward, bumbling beginner phase is something most people will do just about anything to avoid. I know this because I avoided being bad at things for most of my life, choosing instead to always play to my strengths. Growing up, I wouldn’t even try something new unless I was reasonably sure I would be good at it. I followed this same strategy until around my mid-twenties, when I realized that I’d need to start putting myself in challenging and uncomfort ..read more