The Winning Playbook for Thriving in Mindset and Wellness

Unlock the superstar within you! Heather Gidusko, a wellness dynamo, and a former NFL cheerleader, teams up with me to map out a playbook for your life that's nothing short of a touchdown. We tackle tough opponents like self-sabotage and perfectionism head-on and share the winning strategy for adopting a mindset that will make you the MVP of your own life story. Get ready to fine-tune your personal growth playbook and learn how to quarterback your digital space for peak wellness.

Then, take a masterclass in mindset cultivation with Heather, author of "Girl with a Game Plan," who joins us to shed light on the art of turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones. We'll share the coach's playbook on pivoting during life's unforeseen challenges—think pandemic—and how to channel self-awareness into a dynamic offense against negative self-talk. Heather's insights are your game plan for aligning your passion with your goals.

Finally, we huddled up to discuss resilience—my journey from gym owner to author and how self-love kickstarts any wellness venture. We'll share tips on creating a close-knit community in the digital fitness world and offer you the coach's challenge: actionable steps for setting and achieving your own life goals. So, lace up your cleats and put your game face on; these empowering conversations are the playbook you've been waiting for to sprint toward personal victory.

Transcript

Cassandra: 0:20

Good day everyone. I'd like to welcome you to Is your Way In your Way podcast, and I'm your host, Cassandra Crawley Mayo, and, for those new listeners out there, I'd like to share with you what this podcast is all about. It's actually about individuals who are ready I mean really, really ready to move forward in their lives. You know, kind of ready to mitigate those self-imposed barriers like sabotage and perfection, and, you know, comparing and all of that stuff that's preventing you from living your best We talk about topics that are related to business and even personal development, and a lot of these topics will enable you to do what I call self-reflection.

Cassandra: 1:09

And today we have a great topic titled why do I need a game plan for life? And who better I mean better to talk about? It is Heather Gidsco, and first of all, before I bring her on stage, I asked her has she ever been on stage with Tony Robbins? Because that's what she reminds me of. She's just so energetic and I just can't wait to see her bring some energy to the screen right now. Welcome, how are you today.

Cassandra: 1:41

Thank you, listeners how are you doing today?

Heather: 1:45

Yes, I am so excited to be here, cassandra, and thank you so much for that beautiful intro, and I would love to be, just in case Tony Robbins is listening. I would love to be on stage with you.

Cassandra: 1:58

Yeah, yeah, let's put it out there. Like you said, Tony, are you out there?

Heather: 2:03

That's right, yeah.

Cassandra: 2:04

So hopefully my listeners, or somebody may know him. It's a small world. I say six degree of separation and somebody may know him. So who knows? Yeah? So let's get started on why do I need a game plan for life?

Cassandra: 2:18

And before we get started, I just wanted to read a little bit of your bio so my listeners will get a deeper understanding of what Heather is all about. She's actually a wellness superstar who empowers others to become the superstars of their lives. As an accomplished author, high energy speaker, fitness trainer and confidence coach, she empowers women and men to embrace a superstar mindset which allows them to be what she calls the most valuable person. She calls it an MVP of their lives. Season after season, with a background as a former NFL cheerleader, Heather brings an infectious energy and unique perspective to personal development. So get your head in the game. You want to take action and get ready to shine. And guess what? Heather has a book title. A book title A Girl with a Game Plan. Wow, isn't that something? Well, yeah, what I'd like my listeners to understand and hear about. What was life like before you became that person that empowers others to be superstars? What was your life like? What was your? What I can say, your backstory?

Heather: 3:43

What was your, backstory? Yeah, you know, that's an interesting question and I don't think I could say what was my life before I became that empowering person? I think it's part of my superstar, it is part of the light that I have been gifted with. It's we all kind of know and lean into those talents that we have, we all kind of know and lean into those talents that we have.

Heather: 4:11

One of my talents I've always known from as far as I can remember was I felt comfortable being in front of you know, whether it was just my small family, you know, at the dining room or whether it was, you know, in doing gymnastics and competing. But I always loved being in a role of commanding attention and as I grew into myself a little bit more I realized like, wow, I do have this magnetic energy and I can use this to inspire others to find their beautiful light, to inspire them to.

Heather: 4:44

Whatever it was at the time. You know, whether it was cheering for the Eagles or bettering yourself in the fitness realm and you know now I'm taking it a step further and bettering yourself all around, and not just doing it for yourself, but to exactly do what I'm doing inspiring others so that they can then inspire others. So for me it wasn't a before and after, and I feel really strongly about this, cassandra, is that it's so easy to think of ourselves as before and after pictures, right? Social media, you know, especially in the wellness industry. So I work in the wellness industry and you always have these before pictures and after pictures. Before what, after what?

Cassandra: 5:25

we are fluid creatures and we are always going through our life season after season after season, and it's about having that mindset to keep coming back strongly to support obstacles so do you think, especially now social media I mean, it's been around a while, but now it's on steroids Do you think it's really affected what you do, the wellness piece of it, and if so, why do you think that?

Heather: 5:53

It's affected it in both positive and negative ways. So there are ways to use social media and technology to help us, whether it's motivating, inspirational. So you know you mentioned Tony Robbins in the beginning. So the way that I use my social media feed is I follow people like Tony Robbins and Ed Mylet and Mel Robbins because those people inspire me. So I always tell my clients and when I'm on podcasts and in my book, these are the people on my social media feeds and who I choose to listen to and podcasts?

Heather: 6:31

are your assistant coaches. You're enlisting them to help you in your life, whether that is for the good of your life or to take you down. They're basically your assistant coaches and that's one of the roles you have to be your own head coach.

Heather: 6:46

So if you're curating your social media to make you upset or you have these triggers, you're in control, you can change it and then the other part of it is you have to be careful in who you enlist as your assistant coach, even though you think you might be doing a good job. Check for credentials right, Because there's a lot of people out there saying they are fitness professionals, wellness professionals, and they might just be fly-by-nighters.

Heather: 7:17

They may still be, you know, trying to figure things out themselves, whereas someone like me have a degree in kinesiology. I've worked with people of all different ages for the last 25 years. I'm a mom, you know. So look at the people you're following and make sure you feel confident in what kind of education you're getting from them.

Cassandra: 7:38

Yeah, I'm glad you said that, because I always say be careful what you listen to, because it can definitely impact your being, you know. So if you want to have that energy, if you want to do something in life, if you want to get out of your way, you know of doing things that's preventing you from living your best life, it's great to listen to individuals that will motivate and inspire you, and I love the fact that you talk about whether you have what I call literary coach, or figurative coach. You can get that on social media. I mean you can just listen to it as you do your exercise or roaming around the house, and it's the same as television.

Cassandra: 8:21

Just be careful of what it is that you're listening to and what your eyes are looking at. So I love that, stated that.

Heather: 8:28

Yes, absolutely.

Cassandra: 8:29

Yeah, so how does one live a superstar life Like what is? Tell us about that?

Heather: 8:37

Yeah, so you know, when I was writing the book well, let's take it a little step further but Prior to that is, I kind of lost my spark, lost my essence, my fizzle my fizzle was fizzled Right and that occurred because of an obstacle in my life. The obstacle, the struggle, was the pandemic for me, because I was a brick and mortar gym owner. I was ordered to have my gym closed and at the same time, was also my most prized job is mom right. So my oldest was a senior in high school in 2020.

Heather: 9:16

So, she was ordered to not go back to school, so all of those milestones and things that you look forward to as a mother, were taken away.

Heather: 9:25

In addition, I was trying to show up emotionally for her and my son, who was just right behind her as a junior, and just showing up for my kids and for my entire gym community. I showed up daily on Facebook Lives because I wanted to continue to be there for them and it was beautiful. We shared that. But I show up every single day and I'm not sure if you can tell, but when I show up, I show up, I give it all.

Heather: 9:53

And you know whether that was tears someday, whether that was fear someday, you know, so many emotions were flowing through our world then.

Cassandra: 10:01

And.

Heather: 10:02

I just felt lost. I put myself on the bench and that's the timeline of my book from Bench Warmer to Superstar, and because I put myself on the bench because of that obstacle, I allowed that setback and I created a set up for writing this book making sure that I didn't sit on the bench very long, but for many of us.

Heather: 10:26

We don't do that. We allow that obstacle, that struggle whether it's a loss of a job, a loss of a loved one to set us back, and then we never actually get off that bench. And when we think of a star player on the field or we go to see an artist in concert or an artist that does our favorite art, we love to see them because they are passionate, there's something about them that makes us want to watch them and be inspired, and we all have that within ourselves. So the superstar inside of all of us. It's not about seeing our name in lights, it's not that kind of a superstar.

Heather: 11:05

It's about actually feeling that light inside of us, letting it shine so that we can inspire others to do the same, and I truly feel that's how this world is going to heal, and I do believe we're still all healing from that 2020 pandemic, because that was a pretty huge deal 2020 pandemic, because that was a pretty huge deal.

Cassandra: 11:24

Yes, it was Right. Yeah, For all of us. Exactly yeah Now. So you call it sitting on the bench, and some of my listeners are still sitting on the bench. So did you say you wrote the book during the pandemic?

Heather: 11:40

So what happened in 2020. My gym was closed. The world slowly started to open. My oldest daughter went to college in the fall of 2020. I reopened my gym and just felt this flat line like I was lost.

Cassandra: 11:58

And.

Heather: 11:58

I talked myself into it. So in the book I talk about different roles. I've talked about the coach role. There's also playing defense to that opponent in our heads and I wasn't very good. I was. I became kind of weak after going through that struggle of the pandemic and I allowed that opponent in my head to talk myself out of the fact that I have this beautiful gym community called sweat, like a girl and I allowed that negativity, that self disbelief that I could continue this to talk me out of it.

Heather: 12:27

So then, 2021 comes around July, I closed my gym and for that whole next year of 2021 to 2022, I just was searching, trying to figure out who I was outside and mom with three kids at home. Now, two of them were in college. One of them is still home, but I didn't have a gym anymore. Who am I? I'm still training clients, still trying to reclaim that spark.

Heather: 12:52

And in a conversation I had with one of my clients that I was training, I was explaining like, oh, I'm like I have this idea and it's. I feel like it's always been with me, but I'm really feeling like I need to get it on paper and I don't know if people would read it and she's like do it, and that's all I needed.

Heather: 13:07

I just needed one person to say just go do it, and I do thank her for the um acknowledgements; that's all I needed. So some say we don't understand the power of our words on others. They can be good or bad, so I decided October 2021, I'm going to write a book.

Heather: 13:25

Now, realize I've never written a book, I don't know anything about it, but I was going to do it and I made that choice. And then, by September of my journey of writing the book, while I'm writing it, and it's beautiful and it works, it's a true testament to the fact that this game plan can work for you. Okay, yeah, and I know you're an author too, right, cassandra?

Cassandra: 14:02

Yeah, I am, I am, and my book is titled Is your Way, in your Way. And just when you were flatlining, so to speak, it was sort of like that, was your way in your way a bit, you know, like because you've always been this energetic person you know, and I have listeners that are on the bench yeah, and one of the things you said is you kind of talk to yourself. You know, you didn't, well, but you could.

Cassandra: 14:40

Well, it's interesting because during that time we were all in isolation, so to speak. But yet you continue to speak with your clients, coach your clients, and all one had to say is just do it like Nike, just do it. Just do it. Yeah, yeah, and that just gave you the motivation. Okay, I can do that, I can do that, so good for you. And I'm hopeful that my listeners will just hear that and say, well, just do it, what is it that you want to do?

Heather: 15:05

Yeah, and you know what? My book is not just a book that you read, because I have I have a beautiful collection of self-help books and I love them. But I knew and this is probably the teacher in me, the coach in me that I wanted individuals, readers, to read it, feel it, but also self-reflect.

Heather: 15:25

So there is a lot of blank spaces for you to insert yourself in those pages, and then the book actually culminates in a competition. So we start with an off season. Where are you now? So this is where you kind of look at where am I? Am I getting in my own way, right?

Heather: 15:42

And then having that awareness. And also, cassandra, I'm sure you would agree that it's important for us to look at ourselves, and also look at ourselves non-judgmentally. So if we are on the bench right now to say you know what, this is my reality, I'm not going to make myself feel bad for what I didn't do yesterday. I am going to just look and say, okay, this is where I am and that's okay.

Heather: 16:08

But now the preseason is all about where do I want to go? Because we can't get anywhere, first of all, if we don't know where we're coming from. That's our current reality, right, and we don't know where. We can't get anywhere if we don't have a definitive place we want to go to. So that's what happens in the preseason of the book and you're reflecting. So then, by the end of the competition season, it's actually a planner, a game planner, where you're taking all of that work you did and you are living it out for eight weeks.

Heather: 16:36

And yeah, so it is. It's the real deal.

Cassandra: 16:40

Wow. So, heather, how do you, how do you tap into individuals that are on the bench? You know, like, like you indicated, you have a community. Your gym is back. It's open now, right.

Heather: 16:54

No, so I currently train out of my home and I train in and around the community.

Cassandra: 16:59

Wow, that's amazing. So this is what you gained from the loss you felt due to the pandemic. So you took that loss, so to speak, and just catapulted it into something different, which you would never have done before.

Heather: 17:16

Exactly, and you know, that's a, that's a lesson for even the small things in life, right? So we don't need huge hurdles to have an eye-opening experience. It could be on the way to work and you get stuck in traffic because this is going to happen, right, we get stuck in traffic.

Heather: 17:32

but how can you use that obstacle, that setback, to know that you're going to get to work late, right? Instead of getting yourself all bent out of shape, taking some deep breaths in and being like you know what? I'm going to pop on that one meditation that my friend told me about and I'm going to listen to the words that this meditation trainer has for me, or I'm going to focus on my breathing, or I'm going to listen to Cassandra's podcast that I missed last week.

Heather: 17:57

So how can you use these obstacles in our lives that are going to happen and help set us up for something that we may not have seen coming?

Cassandra: 18:06

That's right, and you talk a lot about mindset, and mindset is critical. You know it impacts your life so much, enormously, and you talked about achieving a superstar mindset as a result of following your game plan. So what, like what? Is the methodology that you use to help your clients change that mindset and I know it doesn't happen overnight, but it's something that you do or support them in making a shift. What is that?

Heather: 18:42

Yeah, so it's. It's really all of those pieces that I write about in the book playing those different roles, like wearing those different hats, like being the star player Again, we talked about that a little bit. What do we love about that star player that we go see is their passion. So it's about remembering the passion within, inside of you. So, even though it's a wellness self-help book, the very first thing is not the star player, is not about like, oh, I want to lose weight, I want to get my body ready for the beach. It is what do I want to do? That lights me up. You know, for 2023, it was writing a book that was lighting me up, like, wow, this is my, this is my passion, I'm going to do this. That doesn't mean it's going to be easy. Right, we can still get excited, but it was lonely. It's lonely to sit your butt down in your office chair and start writing and then have that opponent.

Heather: 19:34

So I had to be able to play a defense against that imposter syndrome that was saying no, you're not good enough, no one's going to read it. So you know that also goes hand in hand. That's why I have my foam finger and my pom poms, because you have to also have gratitude. You have to be your own biggest fan.

Heather: 19:53

And if we all think about it for a moment. Do we treat ourselves with kindness? Do we look at our lives and look at the beautiful blessings before we take a moment to complain about the things that aren't the way we want them? And that's where I teach how do you be your biggest fan Through gratitude, right? And then the cheerleader, it's all about affirmations right Go, team go right Before they're going Score. Team score before they're scoring. So why not tell ourselves I am strong, I am capable, I am worthy.

Cassandra: 20:23

That's right.

Heather: 20:24

The more you say these things, the more positive energy you infuse. The more you say these things, the more positive energy you infuse. And we talked about, like the mindset, it affects so much from stress and stress causes all kinds of things on our body from heart disease, to cancer, to, you know, inflammation.

Heather: 20:41

So if we can start our day with this beautiful morning warmup of saying gratitude, saying some affirmations, remembering what it is we want to do that lights us up in this world, and big one, defending that self that we have against our own internal turmoil and opponents, we're going to be starting the day with this beautiful energy and love and light.

Heather: 21:05

So that's one piece of it. So the book obviously goes into more roles. And I do want to say these are the four things, the four pillars of the superstar mindset is it's got to start with love, right? Starts with love, then it continues with faith, and it continues with that strength, and it continues with that resilience.

Cassandra: 21:27

So when you have those four pillars.

Heather: 21:29

In your life, you're going to have more winning seasons than the losing seasons. Will there be some rainy seasons? Will there be some momentary times where you put yourself on the bench? Maybe? But you won't stay there quite as long.

Cassandra: 21:42

Right and resilience is important. I have like three formulas that I use to help support individuals in getting out of their way, and it's called the RAM Resilience, amplified Method and resilience. You know it's interesting If you're living, you have used resilience before but you just not thought about it. You know, yeah, because life can be, can be tough sometimes. I mean, that's, that's kind of how it is. So when you um have now I'm curious, before you wrote the book, what was the methodology Like? Was it just the wellness piece of it, like what was going on before you wrote the book? Because it seems like after you wrote the book, you um, what you're doing kind of like advanced or progressed. Is that the case? Like what was going on before that book? Because the book is new.

Heather: 22:44

Yeah, the book is new. You know what I was really just leaning into all of the beautiful words that were inspiring me from all the people that I listened to, and just knowing my worth and believing in my worth again and knowing that you know what I don't have. I can't live in the past and feel guilty about closing my gym Right, so I can be in this moment and look how can I be the best author that I can be, and not for me, but so that other people can read it and start their lives to be strong and radiant.

Heather: 23:19

And you know, again, lean into the feeling and knowing this that what makes me a little bit special, that some people love and some people don't love, is my over the top energy. And how can I use that to take me places? And reach more people. So now I'm doing, I am doing. You know, I just did a lady boss summit here in the Lehigh Valley and I was a keynote speaker, so that was huge.

Heather: 23:43

That was one of my goals for this year and again it's leaning into that passion, and one of the biggest things is when we talk about that star player goal and whether it's writing a book or me starting my gym or simply just deciding I'm going to make the best garden in my backyard this summer it's about who else it's going to impact. Because when I sat down to write my book, it did get lonely. Many times I wanted to give up, but it was that knowingness that it wasn't just about me, that it was going to help others. So it doesn't have to be these huge, grandiose goals, right. So if you're sitting on the bench thinking, well, I'm not going to be a speaker, I'm not opening a gym, it's not about that. It could be simply, let's make. One of the clients I'm coaching right now with my book is creating a space in her basement so that her whole family can gather and play games and her granddaughter will have a place to stay over. So that is huge. And who is that?

Heather: 24:40

going to affect, it's going to affect her, her family, and allow these beautiful experiences. So we really keep that close to our heart, like what lights me up and who can I help on track? And then, and then Cassandra, then all of the other stuff, that wellness piece falls into place. And that's kind of where this was birthed at. I want to say is, after so many years of working with women, and they come to see me and they don't come to me from a place of love, they kind of are hating their love.

Heather: 25:13

They're hating their body, right. They're hating this, they're hating that. If we can get to a place of loving ourselves doesn't mean we have to like every part right. There's parts of me I don't like. But to come from a place of love and think I'm going to go get a trainer because I love and care about myself, I have a great spouse or I have great coworkers and I want to be healthy for them, not just for myself. Wow, what healthy for them not just for myself.

Heather: 25:40

Wow, what a difference your attitude and effort will make when you go to that trainer or when you go to the grocery store to start eating healthy. So again, it really starts with that love and then that faith in yourself.

Cassandra: 25:47

Yeah, I love that because it's like systemic, you know, and I liked it when you said individuals. It's not about losing weight. I mean, that's my goal. I want to lose weight. Let's look at the totality of it and let's just have a healthy lifestyle and that could be mind, body, spirit and all, because once they lose that weight, then they lost the weight and they're done, but the rest of their life is like yeah, so I really like that. That is so cool.

Heather: 26:16

Yeah, and you know it's okay to have those goals, right to have that weight loss goal. But how can you wrap it and say I want to lose weight because I'm going to plan a trip to Italy with my family and I want to be able to walk the streets? Without getting tired or work then in a family vacation to Ocean City, maryland, and I want to be able to walk from the beach house down to the beach with my grandkids. Again, put all of this into context of where you are in your life and reduce the judgment right.

Heather: 26:48

There's too many other people in this world judging us. Let's not be one of them right, that is so right.

Cassandra: 26:55

That is so right. Wow, I love that. You know, like you indicated, it's no before and after, so to speak. You have always been this energetic individual and my mom would answer the phone energetically and I have a friend who says, you know what I enjoy talking to your mom, but she's just so energetic, you know, it just gets on my nerves because right then, they're on a bench, right and you know you're contagious. You know, because of your energy. And when individuals, when I said well, how do you tap into? So, initially, people come to you for wellness, is that right? The initial thing? And then they get something bigger.

Heather: 27:45

Yes, yeah.

Cassandra: 27:46

Absolutely.

Heather: 27:47

Absolutely yeah, so many times, you know, most, most of my clients are coming to me for the fitness benefits or the how to fuel your body, nutrition benefits.

Cassandra: 27:58

And you know it's.

Heather: 28:01

It always comes back to that mindset, you know. And of course now I have my book as a tool and I'm able to coach from that aspect. But yeah it, it always will come back to that self-love, right? And again, we love and not like parts of ourself, and that's okay, because that part of us not liking us is going to set us into motion to say, hey, I'm going to love myself, I got faith in myself and it's going to suck a little, right? Let's not sugarcoat it. Life is going to be hard.

Heather: 28:30

One of my favorite mottos is suck it up, buttercup right. Because you got to struggle a little bit to get stronger whether that is in the weight room, you got to struggle to get stronger or just with your mindset. Struggle a little bit and you're going to make mistakes, and that's where the resilience comes into it Exactly, exactly.

Cassandra: 28:47

Tell my listeners what is your day like, like what happens in your day, like it has to start with something.

Heather: 28:55

It does. Well, you know what one of the things that I make sure that I say in my, in my keynote talks is. You know, take a moment to your listeners right now. Close your eyes and just visualize what you do in the morning. How are you waking up? Is your alarm clock waking you up? Are you waking up? You know, gently, on your own?

Cassandra: 29:17

Right or wrong, it doesn't matter. How do you wake up?

Heather: 29:19

But then, after you're awake, do you approach the day with excitement and looking forward to what you have. So I say, do you choose to roll out of bed simply being a spectator to your life?

Cassandra: 29:34

right.

Heather: 29:35

Or do you choose to rise and shine your superstar and inspire others? You know, is that going to happen every day? No, but when you can get in this mindset of doing that, and what do I do? I wake up and I coach and train others in fitness, and I'm also simultaneously doing it, so I use my morning as a workout. I have my morning mindset, I have my morning movement and that sets the tone for my day and it is beautiful. And listen, I get it. I was never a morning person right.

Heather: 30:11

I would always say I'm not a morning person. Again, watch our words, because we will. We will make our realities come true. If you continually say I'm not a morning person, I can't work out in the morning, You're never going to. It wasn't until I lost my morning instructor when I had my gym and I was like, okay, I guess I have to do this.

Heather: 30:31

I got to get myself up and I got myself up and then I realized, wow, you know what I actually really enjoy this. Now, that being said, I still don't like to talk to my husband in the morning before coffee, right, that's right. So that is really, really important to me is getting that movement, that mindset, and then having my morning coffee, then getting ready and again having. I'm an old school paper and pencil planner girl. That's why I have it in my book. And then I look at my day, and, and then by the end of the day, I feel good, I accomplished everything I needed to, except for the days when you don't, because life happens, right.

Cassandra: 31:09

That's right, right, right. I know that book is awesome. I'm going to have to get that book Now as we wrap up. I want to know what's your game plan for 2024? Here we are in April, january, february, march, and things are moving quickly to me. I'm like I can't believe it's.

Heather: 31:28

April.

Cassandra: 31:29

What's your game plan for 2024?.

Heather: 31:32

Yeah, so one of my, one of the goals has already come to fruition. Right, I want to be a speaker, right. So I want to continue my growth in the speaking world and getting in front of stages and different places and inspiring, you know, not just women of a certain age, but all different people. Specifically, I gravitate to women but, really honestly, all different individuals.

Heather: 32:00

I've done a lot of networking lately in my community, so that's been a lot of fun. And then the other big thing is I'm putting together my goal is to create, since I don't have my brick and mortar gym, which I'm not sure I want to go back to- I want to create an atmosphere, a boutique style fitness studio online where I have a team.

Heather: 32:25

Right, because if you've ever played sports in your younger years, it's fun to be part of a team. Right, because it's not just about you showing up again, it's about being part of a team and encouraging others. So to make like this team-like atmosphere online, we all wake up with our morning mindset, we wake up with our morning movement, we have team huddles on a certain day in the afternoon and we are just there for each other, living this life, working on all the things that matter to us.

Cassandra: 32:55

Wow, that's definitely community, right, yeah, that's community. Well, as we wrap this up, I wanted to know you've said so many things that my listeners can just take away, and that's what I wanted Any other words of encouragement or inspiration that you could provide them with? Because these are listeners who want to do something different, who have goals, who has passion, who has dreams, but yet they're kind of like I was. It took me 12 years to write a book. I've always wanted to write a book, but it took that long for me to write it because I was in my way. You know who wants to read my book? Like who wants to hear my story? Now, nobody knows me. On and on, and on and on, and then, finally, finally, I got sick and tired of being sick and tired and I wrote my book. So what words of wisdom would you have for the listeners today?

Heather: 33:52

Yeah, I think, going back to when you were describing what your podcast is about and trying not to cut fall into comparison and self-sabotage, um, the best way to combat that is to take action in your life. So, you know, easier said than done, take action, okay. So listeners might be like, okay, I don't know what to do. So let's start with one goal and for today's sake, it could be movement-based, it could be nutrition-based, it could be passionate-based.

Heather: 34:26

So, write it down on a piece of paper, right? So let's say it's to plant that garden. Okay, so I want to plant a garden this summer, this spring. What's the first step? Put all the different things down you think you need to do, and step one might be getting your booty looking at the internet figuring out what, how do I plan a garden?

Heather: 34:46

Because again let's use technology for us. If you've never done one, go online, look at it and you know what Our communities. We probably don't even realize all the resources that are in our own communities that are helpful for us when we want to learn how to plant a garden or community centers for fitness and wellness. Look around you. There are so many people that want to help you in your journey, Not necessarily that you even need to pay them high amounts of investments in monetary but a lot of people are willing to invest their time in you and help you with your goals.

Heather: 35:21

So start with your big goal, and it can be big, right, it may not. It's not something you have to accomplish this week, but what's one action you can take today listening today.

Heather: 35:33

Right, let's stop babying ourselves. Let's say what can I do today to work on this? And it can be itty bitty, just by doing that simple Google search or reaching out to your community center and figuring it out. And guess what? There is strength in numbers. Get your girlfriends, get your coworkers and say, hey, you know what? I just listened to this great podcast and she was talking about starting a garden and let's go do this. Or if you want to start a book club. What is it that you can?

Cassandra: 36:02

do and get excited. That's right.

Heather: 36:05

We only go around here one time Cassandra and none of us are getting out alive.

Cassandra: 36:08

Right, that's right, absolutely, absolutely, and I love that about action, you know, when I hear that, that's also another formula that I talk about and I always use Forrest Gump. You know, forrest Gump was always moving. He was doing something. He may not have had goals, but he kept it moving. He was going and going and going, but yet he had some amazing outcomes in his life. So I really appreciate that.

Heather: 36:35

Absolutely. And you can't, you can't learn, you can't get stronger by sitting idly right, just like when we learned to drive a car. You can sit there and you can go over everything you need to think you know, but until you press the gas and you're going is you gotta learn in real life, real time, and I do say this in my book about taking the on-ramp right. So, just like we're on the highway, we're on the highway, we're learning how to drive or you're just getting on.

Heather: 37:04

You can't go with the speeding cars. You've got to use your own pace, you got to get on there and do what works for you. And again it goes back to that non-judgment, that non-comparison. Let's lift ourselves up, let's talk to ourselves like we are our own biggest fan, like we need to parent ourselves.

Cassandra: 37:17

That's right, and get the I should have, because thast's judging. I should have done this. I should have done that Right. Well, heather, that's that. This is wonderful, and I want to let my listeners know. If you found this podcast to be of value, please share it. It also going to be on all podcast platforms, and I just want to thank Heather and not only did she drop nuggets, but I see little sparkles of diamonds that she dropped down. You know what I mean, and so I'd like you to just grasp that what she said. Re-listen to this podcast, because I know it will be a blessing to all of you. So, again, thank you, heather. I always, heather, tell my listeners bye for now. I never say bye. I say bye for now and.

Cassandra: 38:08

God bless you. And again, Heather, thank you so much.

Heather: 38:12

Thank you so much.