Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success QUOTES

101 " After John’s arrest, I felt like I had no time to Pause and Think. I just needed to Act. Call back the lawyer, get interviewed by the detectives, find a divorce attorney, figure out who was going to pick up the girls, cancel my conference call, monitor the news, clean up the disaster from the police search, remember to feed the girls, remember to feed myself, remember to sleep, try to get my confiscated computers back from the police, remember to breathe . . .
But as someone who is no stranger to working too hard, I reminded myself that if I kept Acting without Pausing and Thinking, I’d only end up in more of a mess. I’d learned that the hard way, and those painful lessons served as the backdrop for developing this model. When I was going into that climb, I was lucky that I had a strong Thoughtfully Fit core. And that core got me to the top of the mountain. "

― Darcy Luoma , Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

102 " Perhaps the greatest benefit of being Thoughtfully Fit is that it allows you to save your energy for the things that matter most to you. Rather than using up your energy stomping around, being angry, harboring resentment, trying to change people, or cleaning up the messes you made from acting thoughtlessly, you can use these practices to help build strong, honest relationships and get back to working on what you do best. "

― Darcy Luoma , Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

103 " I sometimes describe conflict as dandelions. At first one pops up—maybe someone says something that rubs you the wrong way, and it’s not such a big deal. It’s a surface issue. No need to spray pesticides. Mow over it, and it’ll go away. Or better yet, ignore it.
But then it goes to seed. That’s okay! The seeds are pretty, then they blow away, and your dandelion is gone. Except it isn’t gone; it’s just hiding. Until next spring, when you wake up and your entire yard is full of dandelions.
In the book Have a Nice Conflict: How to Find Success and Satisfaction in the Most Unlikely Places, the authors point out that one of the biggest challenges is to learn how to manage a conflict when you’re already firmly entrenched in it.4 So, it’s better to deal with it before you’re firmly entrenched. The best way to get rid of dandelions is to pull out the roots when you first notice them. It’s the same with conflict, which is best resolved when you address it immediately, before it grows roots and spreads. "

― Darcy Luoma , Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

104 " Strength is an internal practice that focuses on your ability to be in control. If you want to be an effective leader, whether in your home or professional life, first you need internal Strength. "

― Darcy Luoma , Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

105 " It’s no coincidence that the Thoughtfully Fit model helps you focus on your choices and control. That’s what coaching does too. From my master’s thesis to my office to the university classroom, this is a training plan grounded in coaching philosophies that work. "

― Darcy Luoma , Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

106 " Strength is a huge part of being Thoughtfully Fit, and it requires you to be in control of your actions and emotions, instead of letting them control you. Strength does not mean you can’t feel sad, angry, or frustrated, but it requires you to make a conscious choice not to lead with anger or frustration. Having Strength is about honoring what you’re feeling and then thoughtfully choosing what you want to do next. "

― Darcy Luoma , Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

107 " The core of the Thoughtfully Fit model is the source of your power. The more you engage your core—and focus on your choices and what you control—the greater your ability to clear any hurdle. With any obstacle, engaging your core can help you respond in an intentional way. "

― Darcy Luoma , Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

108 " In 2004, I was working toward my master’s in organizational development at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School and decided to write my thesis on the effectiveness of life coaching. Two years of extensive research with almost one hundred former US Senate interns showed what I already knew from personal experience. Regardless of age, gender, level of self-awareness, or degree, three months of coaching increased their life satisfaction and improved their personal growth.
The key conclusions that emerged from this study include:
•Life coaching makes a significant difference in overall life satisfaction.
•Coaching is an effective approach to goal attainment and personal development.
•Coaching helps clients be more effective in setting concrete, measurable goals instead of being overwhelmed by large tasks.
•Asking challenging questions encourages the client to look at a problem in new, creative ways.
I knew coaching was effective, and this research proved it. "

― Darcy Luoma , Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

109 " If you haven’t exercised in a while and you go to a strength class, would you grab twenty-pound dumbbells off the shelf? Probably not. They have lots of different weights for a reason. As with physical strength, the Thoughtfully Fit practice of Strength requires you to start small. "

― Darcy Luoma , Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

110 " Strength is about consciously choosing how you want to show up, to avoid letting others dictate your emotions and behavior. If you set your own thermostat, you can always be a cool sixty-eight degrees even if everyone around you is at ninety-five. And if you’re feeling a little hot? Take a Pause and a deep breath, then Think about ways to bring yourself down to where you know you’ll be in better control of your actions. Then Act from that cooler place. "

― Darcy Luoma , Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

111 " Endurance is about overcoming obstacles. Some obstacles prevent us from doing things we’ve set out to do, and some obstacles prevent us from even getting started in working toward a goal or a dream. Without Endurance, we end up stuck or give up trying, and that means we aren’t reaching our full potential. "

― Darcy Luoma , Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

112 " Companies are finding that they can improve productivity by honoring our need to alternate between periods of intense focus and renewal. We aren’t meant to work hard all the time, without stopping to take a breath. It’s why athletes need rest days; your muscles rebuild stronger on your day off from lifting. And it’s why we need Stillness in our daily lives: it gives us a chance to recharge and come back rejuvenated. This kills your argument that you don’t have time for Stillness. The research shows that when you’re still, you’ll get more done. Stop working so hard. It’s counterproductive. "

― Darcy Luoma , Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

113 " The Pause is the foundation of being Thoughtfully Fit. It takes practice and might lead to an awkward moment or two, but it will be worth it. Because without the Pause, you’re also likely to skip Thinking, and then you’ve already crashed. And you can’t summit Mount Crisis if you crash and burn. "

― Darcy Luoma , Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

114 " Coaches provide structure, support, and accountability that help clients focus on what they control. Identifying the places where they can make significant changes, instead of focusing on the frustrations beyond their control, enables them to achieve their goals faster. "

― Darcy Luoma , Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

115 " Just because you went to a seminar about how to be a more efficient swimmer, your swim stroke won’t improve without practice. Likewise, a bike-riding video can’t improve your balance until you practice. And you certainly can’t wake up tomorrow and do an Ironman Triathlon if you haven’t been training. "

― Darcy Luoma , Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success