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By Nikki Jarrett First of all, WHOA! I HIGHLY recommend this book to literally anyone who is in a management position, part of a team of professionals, a boss, CEO, or you work with other people in general. You don’t even have to be in a management position to read this book! Why?? Because this book also helped me to see I was in a toxic work environment with a boss and not a leader. There is a HUGE difference between a boss and a leader. And this book highlights those differences. Also, a big part of why I love this book so much is Michelle’s direct approach. She does not sugar coat anything. Which resonates with me because I have the same attitude - tell it to me straight and I tell it like it is. #noBS Now, the lessons are not exactly black and white, do this, do that, don't do this or don't do that. She gives you a story of the lesson taken from her own experience and you have to do the critical thinking, which helps you actually learn the lesson and apply it. The fun part about the book is there are actual worksheets with deep thought provoking questions. No one likes to dig deep and get to the dirty part of their flaws. But with these questions, you dig deep, but only if you really want to get the most out of the lessons and grow yourself as a leader! (HINT HINT: highly suggest you do!!) I cannot say enough about this book! I will be rereading this book every year too! But I’ll let you get super curious about it so you can read it! I found Michelle Reines through the Podcast Master of Fitness Business, if you want to check out their conversation click the link below: https://trainerjim.net/106-michelle-reines/ You can follow Jim Adams in instagram too! IG: @mifb_podcast But you can check her out (which you should because she awesome and I wish we could be friends in real life): IG: @badassleader12 https://badassleader.com This book will get 5/5 Stars from me:

By Nikki Jarret If you haven't heard of this book by now, I would be surprised. I am not the type of person who likes to follow trends or jump on the hype of things. This is a good example of just that. I was seeing and hearing of this “amazing book” and would get “you just have to read it” from everyone who has read it, with those crazy eyes! So, I gave in a month ago, bought the book, and now feel somewhat disappointed. Now, by no means does this disappointment come because it was a ‘bad’ book. It just wasn’t for me. I do think it’s ok to read a book and go ‘meh’ when everyone else is going ‘this is the greatest.’ As a trainer I deal with habits daily. Either my own or my clients. None of the information in Atomic Habits was groundbreaking or changed my life. There are some points I did enjoy his take on, e.i. building systems to meet our habits. For myself, I have subconsciously done this and see things in the light or if,then statements. If I want X goal, then I will have to do Y. In my experience, working with countless different people I can assure you, this is not always the case, and most people don’t actually have “systems'' built for their goals. That's where I come in as their trainer and help them either build the system one step at a time or help change the goal to be successful! I do recommend this book to those people who need help building good habits to meet their goals and to break the habits that are holding them back from those goals. And I can tell you, it’s hard to break habits. It is a very conscious effort to start, and can feel impossible to change. But, I do know that it is possible when you have someone guiding you and helping you build the system that works for you. If you feel so inclined to read the book you can find it on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp/0735211299/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=atomic&qid=1615834824&sr=8-1 I give this book a 4 star rating. Even though I personally didn't like it as much as I thought and was disappointed, I can see who this book really is for and how it can have a great impact on them. Let me know your thoughts on the book!

By Nikki Jarrett Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert M. Sapolsky About the Author: “Robert M. Sapolsky is a professor of biology and neurology at STanford University and a research associate with the Institute of Primate Research, National Museum of Kenya. He is the author of A Primate’s Memoir and The Trouble with Testosterone, which was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist. A regular contributor to Discover and The Sciences and a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant, he lives in San Francisco.” Why I Recommend this Book: If you are struggling to sleep, lose weight, or going on a supplement gold digging quest to find a solution to your health issue, then read this book. I talk about stress management ALL. THE. TIME. with clients and how important it is to manage their stress levels to reach performance goals and/or their weight loss goals. It’s easy to say but difficult to actually do and maintain because, as we all know, stress is constant. This gives you a deep dive as to what ‘stress’ is in this day in age, bc it’s no longer the fight-or-flight for survival. Stress can be caused by a simple thought in our mind, *cough cough ‘overthinkers’ couch cough,** and can literally cause a chain reaction in our body. He also dives into how the fight-or-flight response mode is different in women! Game changer for sure! Even though it starts out “sciency,” Sapolsky makes it easy to follow and understand the complexity of your system. I enjoyed learning the history on how we got here with science and how a rivalry between 2 scientists led to a great discovery about our hormones and the connection to the brain. This will be a book I’ll reread too, because of how much information is in it, you certainly can’t absorb it all in one read. Take your time reading it, and see how you can apply this knowledge to how you coach your clients. You certainly can recommend it to your clients to read it also. It might be beneficial for them to do the research for themselves! Why I Don’t Recommend this Book: This book took me some time to finish because it was quite a lot to read and absorb too. With a book that is based in science, I tend to take my time to really understand it. I look up things that are related because it brings up more questions! There are about 100 pages in the book that is just a “Note” section, which caused a deep dive into google! LOL I enjoy learning history about science but you can get sucked into a wormhole (fair warning, if you’re anything like me). Some may find this a bit much to read, but if you give yourself time and patience you can do it. Read 10 pages at a time and before you know you’ll have it read. As Always: I always want to be honest in these book reviews, but understand this is only my opinion and can differ from yours. I would love to hear your feedback on this book. Comment on it and we can chat! Star Rating: 3.5 Good info Lead to more learning A lot to absorb and understand Great guidance and simplification of the science. Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog to stay up to date with my reviews! Follow me on Instagram, Twitter @nik_a_lina and Facebook @NJTrainingsystems

If your are dealing with an injury please read If are reading this, then I’m assuming you are dealing with an injury or maybe have dealt with one at some point. If not, then thank you for reading, share this with a friend who might be struggling with an injury. In a previous post, I talked about how anyone and everyone will or have dealt with some sort of injury. Injuries happen but what happens after an injury is not always what we expect to happen. Most people expect a smooth flow from injury through tissue repair following a linear progression of technique such as: 1- assessing the injury 2- initial therapies for tissue repair 3- rehabilitation for injury 4- getting back to life pain free/injury free Well, unfortunately, and like most things in life, the rehab process is not always linear. Moving from injury to recovery to return to activities is a messy process and can be unpredictable. Often times concepts of recovering overlap, professions overlap and goals overlap. Most professionals in this industry will always go through the first step in the progression: assessing. If your’e not assessing, you’re guessing. An assessment will help determine what the next steps can be when the ultimate goal is to return to play or daily life. It can also aid in who to seek out, will you need to see a Physical Therapy, need surgery or whoever can aid in your recovery. After the assessment, you can begin recovery by reducing the pain in the injured area, and repairing the tissue in the area. This may look like ice and rest or you may need more aid in reducing the inflammation (e.i. Dry needling, pain meds, etc). If you seek a qualified PT after assessing the injury they will liking try to reduce the pain in the area before moving onto rehab and finding the weak link in the chain. Even during this time of reducing the pain it can be messy. Some injuries will take a little bit of time to reduce the swelling, inflammation, and pain. Don’t try to get back into your daily activities if you’re experiencing a lot of pain. Allow yourself to heal and slowly reintroduce movement that does not case pain in the area. If your injury is extensive enough to seek help of a PT, follow their guidelines, as this information is not to replace that of your physical therapist. As you work with your PT, rehab may not go as planned. You may start you rehab doing well, seeing weekly progress, but then the process slows or even stops. This is normal. You body is trying to heal and relearning motor patterns on a neurological level. Physical Therapist are there to help you navigate your recovery. Don’t rush your recovery to daily activity/performance. It’s crucial to listen to your body, push when you need too but also know when to call it too. If your pain is increasing with a exercise then it’s safe to say to stop and reassess why is it causing pain. Are you coming back too soon? Is the movement pattern poor? Is the demand of the movement too much at this point in time? Most of the time you are just putting a demand on your body that it is not ready to handle and you must work within your limits until you are ready for that demand. Recovery is not going to be linear. As much of life goes, nothing can be that easy. If it were, then we wouldn’t have to seek out professionals to help us and they would be out of a job. You should seek out a professional when you are unsure about the cause of pain, the pain in not going away or becoming worse, and unable to perform your normal activities. During your recovery you may seek different professionals and they may even overlap. There should be a cross over between PT and Strength coaches. We both have the same goals: help you perform at your best. There is a spectrum of what “at your best” is. PT will do as much as they can to progress you to return to daily activities and your sport, a strength coach will help you meet the demands of life and sport, and go beyond them becoming stronger reducing the risk of injury, especially re-injury. These professionals should overlap and be in communication, but this is also true for those professionals who perform surgeries all the way to sport skill coaches. Recovering from an injury or surgery is unpredictable but with a solid team that can take you from broken to return to play/life is priceless 😉. A solid team with an athlete center concept will bring about a better athlete at the end of recovery, then when the athlete first began. This is why building a strong network of multiple professionals in our area to help you get back to being your best and performing at your best. We understand that our coaches cannot know everything about everything but we find that most professionals care about the same big-picture concepts (e.i. Assessments, evaluation, movement quality and pain mitigation) as much as we do. We are building a network of professionals in Physical Therapy, Chiropractors, Pain Management Specialist, Massage Therapy, and others that will provide the best services to our athletes and their family. These professionals have the same goal as we do - helping our athletes/clients/patients feel better, move better and perform better. If you have an injury and would like help in navigating your recovery, let us help you find the best fit for you.

I wanted share with you that trainers - me - struggle too. I wanted you to know that you're not alone in this struggle of life. I posted on Facebook and IG about this but here is where I feel I can go into more depth of my struggle. I’ve been pretty quiet on social media lately, mainly because I have felt like there is nothing for me to share or say that would be of any importance. But also because life can be hard and if I told you that trainers never struggle with their own nutrition, training, and over health, then I would be lying to you. And oh boy! Have I been struggling! We are human and just like you, we can find ourself on the struggle bus. Sometimes we are even driving that sucker! Voom Voom! I have been trying to practice grace and patience with myself and that shit is hard! And it’s takes a lot out of me too. Everyday seems to be something new to battle. I’m sure most can relate especially this year! #2020sucks The deeper side of the struggle... It's not just about 2020 and how crazy it has been for the world. To tell you the truth during the shut down I was thriving! I was able to refocus on my goals and think about that it is I truly wanted, which is when I started all of THIS ( NJ wouldn't be here if the pandemic never happened). Later last year I had the 'rug pulled out from underneath me,' and ever since I've been trying to figure out my next move. It's been about 9 months of uncertainty with no end in sight, and it's been talking a toll on me, my marriage and so many other things. I am finally at my breaking point, if I don't starting taking back control, I will find myself with another episode of an eating disorder, and if you have ever experience it you will understand it's not a road you ever want to revisit again, or twice. Now, I'm not sharing this to gain pity or sympathy, but to show you that trainers can struggle too. And you're not alone either. The whole point of me opening up to you and basically whoever reads my blog is to keep it real with you. My slogan is "REAL fitness for REAL people" because who wants some fitness Inspo (is that even right?) telling you if you drink this tea, and do this workout you can look like me? and she's like 17, with abs and has never gone through life or a guy with big biceps doing the same thing but knows nothing about having a full time job, kids, and a partner etc. I want to help you because I know how much I wished for someone to help me that was real and wasn't telling to eat 'X' meal plan and do 'X' workout and somehow it will = Victoria Secret Model Body. Life is not going to magical create the perfect scenario for you to start your workout plan or even your diet. You have to create it by doing what you can, showing up and doing the work. And sometimes the work is laying on the couch in your PJs from the time you wake up to when its time to finally crawl back in bed. But, it's also about getting the help you need and surrounding yourself with people that will help you move forward to the place you want to be. Every day isn't going to be easy and those hard days will suck, but I know you'll get through them. I don't know if I'm saying this for you or me right now, but I also know its true. This too shall pass. I keep telling myself this everyday to the next day. I have been working on ways to keep me going and even though I have mentioned a few things in my Facebook post I wanted to share with just you an extended list: But I am determined to get through this struggle with a little help from my friends, husband and family. A few things that I have found that helps me are: Getting out in nature - whether it be kayaking, hiking or laying in the sun, having that time outside put me as ease Quality sleep - this is so important for so many reasons but if I don’t have enough sleep I have grumpy and my nutrition choice will suffer Working out - although this has been a tough one for me lately and I’m actively trying to work on it Taking breaks from social media - the world seems crazy right now but the irl people are a lot more friendly and seem a lot less crazy. Binging on Netflix - I have watch Unwell, Glow Up, Athlete A, and so many more (please share some of your favorites!) Snuggling with my pups - they are the best snugglers Blasting music in my car - seriously it help get me out of my own head space Having ice cream - it just makes everything better Cleaning - having a clan space help decrease anxiety Hanging around awesome people - find a few people that are great to be with and leave you feeling better and not worst Talking with my Doc - I'll be taking medication to help because sometime you need a little help If you are struggling - YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Share with me your struggles or how you cope with your struggles, and maybe you can help me too. Email me at nikkijarrett73@gmail.com I look forward to hearing from you!

By NJ NEAT! What is it and how does it impact your fitness goals?? N - Non E - Exercise A - Activity T - Thermogenesis “Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise. It ranges from the energy expended walking to work, typing, performing yard work, undertaking agricultural tasks and fidgeting.” Basically is everything you do outside of the gym. The pictures are actual snapshots of my fitbit to help show how NEAT can impact your calories and how you can easily create a calorie deficit without eating less or increasing your time in the gym. All 3 of these days were non-gym days: (see pics below) 1) Obviously I didn’t do much that day as my steps where very low. 2) Is a day I hit my step goal (I should be doing this daily) and if you notice I’ve easily burned more calories without going to the gym! 3) Was a day I did WELL above my normal steps with a hike. As you can see my calorie expenditure has greatly increased from the first pic. Day 3 allowed me to obtain a calorie deficit of almost 1,000 calories without much effort. Now, I don’t recommend having that great of a deficit daily, but it does help when I have a few days during the week like day 1. The average of the week is about a 200-500 daily calorie deficit which is optimal for a sustainable weight loss goal. 5 Ways You Can Increase Your NEAT: Park farther away Take the stairs Break up your day with 10-15 scroll Get a standing desk Do chores / run your errands Bonus!: take a daily walk for 30 minutes - not only will it boost your NEAT But also boost your creativity levels! . [TAKE AWAY] Increase your NEAT to easily create a calorie deficit without decreasing your calories (which no one likes to eat less), and without increase your time at the gym and before you know it you will hit your weight loss goal! . . . If you would like to learn more about Fat / Weight-loss Check out my other posts: Fat Loss is Possible IF You Get This Right! The Secret to Fat Loss and More! Why Most People Quit Trying to Lose Weight - Don't Be Like Them!

Conscious Coaching - The Art & Science of Building Buy-In - By Brett Bartholomew Another WOW! When I first learned of this book through another coach (I forget who I saw it from?? Either Tony Gentilcore or Zach Even-Esh...maybe, I don’t know now) I immediately dropped the book in my amazon cart. I then went on to follow Brett Bartholomew @coach_brettb on IG. If you don’t already follow him, go do it now, you will not be disappointed. https://www.instagram.com/coach_brettb/ The Summary “In the world of strength and conditioning, learning how to move others - not just physically, but also psychologically and emotionally - is paramount to getting the most out of them. People are the ultimate performance variable, and understanding how to effectively blend knowledge of proper training with the nuances of human behavior is integral to helping athletes achieve their ultimate goals…” - Brett Bartholomew Brett showcases the principles and strategies needed to become a ‘Conscious Coach,’ starting with explaining the buy-in needed, building an authentic relationship, having social intelligence, and allowing time to grow that trust, and ultimate buy-in from your athletes/clients. Becoming your true-self and the tools to help you find yourself better are in this book too. He goes to explain why it’s important to have a good understanding of who you are and owning who you are, for the betterment of connecting with your athletes/clients. “If you truly want to affect people, you better know how to be in touch with yourself and every single one of your drives and vulnerabilities as a human.” This book is full of great information, insight, and tools needed to apply this knowledge or at the bare minimum gives you a foundation to begin to discover yourself to be a better coach. Favorite Part This book has highlighted sentences and paragraphs all over it! But one of the parts I appreciated the most was the explanations and stories of the different personalities you will run into as a coach. Even as a personal trainer I have run into some of these personalities, and if I haven't yet, I will. He takes and information about them is helpful. The stories of other coaches describing their experiences with certain personalities are entertaining and relatable too. I found myself laughing and nodding in agreement with them too! Taking Action As I stated before, this book is full of information and insight and it's a re-read for sure, but the next step for me is to take action on the knowledge gained in this book. As I can’t do it all at once, I have been focusing my time on discovering myself, how I would like to share my story, and owning who I am. The last few chapters in the book give an outline to how to take actions and showcase the mistakes that most coaches make and how to avoid them, which was helpful to me and my reflection as a coach. This book deserves 5 out 5 Stars for sure! I plan to re-read this book to get the most out of it, because as we grow we can find new meaning in things and see things differently depending on where we are in life. Never stop learning and continue to grow to become the best you can because your athletes and clients deserve it. You deserve to see your true potential too! You can find the book on Amazon (surprisingly lol) Conscious-Coaching-Science-Building-Buy And if you want to learn more about Brett you can check him out here. For more book reviews by me check them out here.

Tip: Never stop learning and learn what will help you become better for your clients today... This Certification was a long time coming. I have been following Molly - Founder of GGS - for about 8+ years now, and the last 4 years I have wanted to take the Pre and Post- Natal Course to better understand and provide a better training experience for all women. You can learn more about GGS and Molly here. Why I wanted to Become a Certified Pre and Post - Natal Coach (CPPC) It was important to me to take the opportunity to get certified to focus solely on the needs of women, through all seasons of a woman’s life. Being a woman, and recognizing the gap there is for us in the training world I wanted to help bridge that gap. We are constantly surrounded by diet culture, media and other sources tell us to be smaller, and defining for us what is beautiful. At GGS, this is the opposite. They empower women to make their own choices, choose how they want to represent, and show us how to be stronger, more confident women in this world, freeing us from the society trying to define us. I firmly believe we as women need to help empower each other. This certification helped me learn how I can be a better coach to women, and help them navigate through all the changes their body will go through during pregnancy and after. 100% of women fall into one of the two categories: Pre or Post - Natal - which is why it is an useful and important certification to obtain. And because I love what GGS stands for it was an easy decision to take their course. About the Course I love how this course was self paced, online, and offered not just the book, workbook, and exams, but RESOURCES too! They did a great job connecting resources to the lesson and has already helped me give better advice to the Mamas I have worked with. I have also been able to refer my new mamas to the resources to help them make the best informed decisions for themselves, which is important to give your new mamas. Another great aspect to the course was the thorough videos explaining technique, and coaching cues for common exercises we use but how it can be coached better for different stages in pregnancy. One of my favorites was the ‘Connection Breath.’ Now, I understand the impotence of breath, and the impact it has on the body through PRI breathing drills I have implemented into my training system but the ‘Connection Breath offered something different; the element of connecting the pelvic floor to the diaphramic breathing. This can be a simple but significant change in a woman, as it has the potential to help strengthen the pelvic floor, decrease incontinence, and aid in recovering after giving birth. I have already implemented this in my training system with positive results! If you are a trainer, coach, or whatever and you work with women, I HIGHLY recommend this course! Overall Experience From the time I hit the ‘Submit’ button to receive more information about the Certification, to relieving the goods, to just this week receiving the official Certification, the experience with the GGS team and communicating through the time with Molly’s sister, it was a smooth, friendly and great experience! Even though I finished the course in December 2019, they were in contact with about the details of what name i wanted on the certification (which is surprisingly important as when I started the course I was not yet a Jarrett, but I was able to receive with my new name), and when I would receive the package in the mail too. I appreciated a company willingness to help out and stay in communication with their students/clients especially being an online course. The packaging was super cute too! Who doesn't like to see a cute box with a postcard welcoming you by name to the GGS community! In the package I received my supplies needed for the course: textbook, workbook, access to the online courses, and sticks and a cute postcard welcoming me. Plus, access to the Facebook Group to help with questions I could have or anything else I would need like support. From emails, to the facebook group, everyone was very responsive and helpful. I even found out about a new podcast which has been a great source too! Conclusion I’m very happy I took this opportunity and have gained a better understanding of women and their needs. Even though I am a woman, and it's assumed I should know and understand “this stuff” but we are all so different when it comes to our needs, and wants. Being able to have body autonomy is vital for women, I want to be able to give that to my clients and guide them through their journey from Pre - Natal to Post - Natal and everything in between. If you are a new mom, soon to be mom, a mom of a mom, mom of angels, or a fur baby mom (thats me!), feel free to connect with me. I would love to hear about your mom experiences!

By NJ Real talk on [VALUES]: Here’s the thing all businesses and people hold - values - or profess that they do. When we look at our relationships, friendships and even those we do business with, what values do you look for in those areas? Are they the same ones you hold yourself? More importantly do yours or their ACTIONS fall in line with those values? . The #1 value I hold as a person, friend, coach and business is integrity. This isn’t a value I take lightly, or just throw around. This value isn’t just saved for when I do business either when it come to exchanging of money for service. . Integrity means to me - doing what is right, even when it’s not fun, fast, or easy. This goes into all aspects of my life. As a coach I will not let you do anything just for the sake of fun, it’s fancy/cool, or ‘for the gram, you will earn you way and own your movements before moving ahead. You will be following a plan and learning proper techniques before jumping into something that will hurt you. . As a business, if I can’t help you then I’ll be referring you out to someone who can that is the best fit for your needs, even if that means I am losing money. I’m not in this for the money, I’m in this to help you. . As friend and as a person I will be honest with you and maybe too honest at times. But I would rather be honest then to bullshit you into believing lies for my own gain. . If you don’t have integrity, you have nothing. This is my #1 value, and I will hold this til the day I die. . . If you’re looking for some tough love and honest coaching check out my link in my BIO.

Real Talk. This is probably one of my biggest pet peeves as I have gotten older. So, here it goes... . LADIES (and even guys) LISTEN UP! . Why is it, when a girlfriend gets engaged or announces a pregnancy (which are all great news and should be celebrated) her friends rally around her enthusiastically celebrating these life events, getting together, holding celebrations and all that... BUUUUTTTTTT . When that same girlfriend announces a job promotion, or opens her own business, or lands a tough position at her dream job, there isn’t the same support or excitement?? Seriously? Why? Please help me understand this. . It’s almost as if sending a simple ‘congrats’ is enough of acknowledgement but it’s not. If you truly support your friends doing big things, reach out and celebrate it with them!! Trust me they need it, it’s scary to start something new or level up at a job. But knowing they have a friend or two, who believes in them and supports them, goes a long way in those times of doubt. And those times of doubt happen ALL THE TIME! In my experience, posting on Facebook or any social media platform about my wedding day got more likes, comments, engagement, than me posting that I open my own business, not just once but twice now. And I will admit, it's scarier doing the latter. I have so many days of self doubt, suffering from imposter syndrome, or just struggling with being a female entrupenure. It's kind of lonely here and having a friend just to talk to would help or send some encouragement would be nice. Now this isn't me having a pity party for myself. I love what I do and taking this huge risk, is hopefully worth it. But what I am saying is that women need to come together and celebrate more than what society has given us. We are more than marriage, and babies. We can do GREAT things and have fulfilling lives without a man or S/O or babies, we can be powerful, independent, and conquer the world, but a little boost of encouragement can give us the boost we need when times seem tough. . So, girls, support each other, rally around each other, reach out to your friends doing big things, offer support by sharing their posts, talking to people about their business or simply go out and celebrate with them like you would if they just got engage. . Everyone has a different perspective of success and maybe marriage and babies isn’t all we should celebrate for women. . Who will you celebrate today?

A bit dramatic, but motivation is only going to get you so far. What you need to do instead… “I’ll start Monday.” “New week, time to crush _____ goal(s).” “New Year, New Me.” “Oh no, I missed the new (insert whatever starting line you choose), I’ll just start (insert new starting line here).” Do you start the week with the optimism you’re going to crush every goal you set out for the week, but by Friday it’s all fallen apart and your weekend is filled with self loathing and ‘f**k it’, only to repeat the same thing Monday? Is Monday ‘your day’ to start again?...every week? Does this sound like you? If you’re guilty of any one of these, then lack of motivation is killing your vibe, man. But is it really the lack of motivation stifling your goals? Probably not, but let’s examine this further. If you've been around the fitness world long enough you know all about the wave of New Year Rosolutioners. These are the people committing themselves to lose X amount of weight, revamp their entire diet overnight starting fresh on January 1st, only to fizzle out by the beginning of February. But why? They were so motivated, excited, etc. What happened? Well, truth is motivation is a fleeting feeling, that means it doesn't stay around. This is the same reason why every Monday morning is tagged with #mondaymotivation only to succumb to the reality that it's not there by the end of the week and we toss in the towel, giving up on the goal(s) we set forth so proudly days before. If you can’t rely on motivation to get you through the week, how can you rely on it to get you through the month, year, or however long it's going to take you to reach your biggest dream or goals? You can’t rely on motivation to always be there, motivation is not your ‘Friends.’ (see what I did there?) So, who is going to be there when it hasn't been you day, week, or even your year? (Sorry, I can't help myself today!) D·I·S·C·I·P·L·I·N·E· Discipline is important because it brings about stability and structure into a person's life. It teaches a person to be responsible and respectful. If you can cultivate discipline into your life, you can reach ANY goal you set out for and truly transform yourself and your life. Think about it this way - If you only take action when motivation is high, let say every Monday your motivation is high, then you only have 52 chances to make a change in your life or to reach your goal. But let’s say you start when motivation is high, and build the discipline to continue your goal even when your motivation is low, then you have 365 chances to reach your goal. That’s over a 600% increase in your chances to reach your goal! Whoa! I don’t know about you, but developing discipline is going to do more for you in the long run than motivation ever could. Now, I’m not saying motivation isn’t helpful. It is, just looking back at my first example of New Year Resolutioners. Thousands of people sign-up for gym memberships, gyms are packed, everyone is stocking up on produce in the grocery store, and your friends are talking about new recipes trying new diets. But what happens after 3 weeks? The crowd is gone and the regular gym-goers have more space and can get back to their routine of things. There are a handful of people who do come in on that wave of change and STAY! But what do they do differently than the other people who rode in on the same wave? They developed discipline. They kept going when motivation left them high and dry. They went to the gym on the days they ‘didn’t feel like it’ and most likely left feeling better than when they started. By doing the workout when they didn't want to do it begins to instill the discipline principle even more. Soon enough they see the fruits of their labor, losing the weight, reaching that PR, or whatever goal they have. Then by magic these are the same people who are approached by the #motivationmonday people asking how they did it. Or even better, they ask how they stay motivated to continue to go to the gym and eat well everyday when it was so hard for themselves to do so. The difference is the first group relies heavily on motivation to get them to their goal, whereas the second group developed discipline in order to reach their goals. If you have a goal, and it's going to be longer than a few days to complete it, I encourage you to be more like the second group. Develop discipline, as motivation is fleeting and can’t be relied on. Your goal will surely die relying on motivation alone. Give yourself 365 chances to get it right and reach your goals, life is too short to give yourself anything less. #nikkijarrett #nj #fitness #goals #goalsetting #mondaymotivation #discipline #nevergiveup #keepgoing #setgoalsandcrushthem #personaltraining #onlinecoaching #strengthandconditioning

Real talk about COVID-19 and I'm not talking about the virus I'm talking about gaining weight... Honestly, the COVID-19 is real, just like the freshman 15 everyone warned you about. I am definitely guilty of a lot stress, and boredom eating during quarantine. Do I feel guilty or ashamed or even disappointed that I gained 19 pounds after struggling to lose it for AN ENTIRE YEAR? Yes and no. I would be lying if I said I don't feel any of those things about gaining weight, and had rude comments slide into my DMs about it too (not joking)! But, the reality is I was doing the best I could during the time. I kept myself busy with pivoting a business, reading over 5 books, earning a new certification, building my website, and while keeping my athletes motivated and supported too. Eating was the last thing on my mind and that's why I am not going to dwell or beat myself up over the weight gain. This is a journey and there will be peaks and valleys all my life and I hope I have a long life too. I've been through episodes of eating disorders and disorderly eating, it has taken me YEARS of heard work to be here today 1) telling you and 2) not feeling bad about it too. My self worth is not a number on a scale. And neither is your self worth. You are more than a number on the scale. You are more than your eating habits. You are dong the best you can, give yourself some grace. But, I am going to quit being an asshole to myself too. Because I feel like shit, and I know I'll feel better if I quit eating like an asshole and probably should eat those veggies I tell myself I will every week I buy them. LOL. Give yourself grace but love your self to eat your veggies too! If you recognize the you need to taper your stress eating like me, this is a great article to read! #nikkijarrett #fitnessblog #njfitnessblog #gym #eatyourveggies#quitbeinganasshole #NOBS #realtalkwithNJ #athomeworkoutssuck#athometips #fitness #workout #healthytips #girlsgonestrong#sundayfunday #ggs #cppc #preandpostnatalcert #girlsrules #gwpl#powerlifter #personaltrainer #realfitnesstips