Breaking Ordinary with Andy Petranek

Rebecca is really a badass - in the truest sense of the word. A Six-Time World Champion Mountain Biker and 20x finisher of the worlds largest and most difficult adventure races, but the one thing you should really know before diving into this podcast is that even though Rebecca Rusch sounds like one of the most extreme people you might ever meet, she is actually one of the most “normal” human beings I know.

If you bumped into Rebecca on the street, you would have absolutely no idea she is “Betty Badass,” even after talking with her for a few minutes. She’s humble, sweet, kind, emotional, funny, relatable, responsible, well-spoken, interested, and generous. When you meet her, you can’t help but like her.

Join us as she talks about failure, fear, taking risks, and never giving up.

Steve Chandler has been in the business of helping others with their own personal development for over twenty years. He’s a public speaker, business consultant, and master life coach. He’s also written more than thirty books.  

 

I was originally introduced to Steve’s work though my own life coach, and his writing style quickly became one of my favorites for self-help books. I realized he was someone I wanted to talk with more about the habits we tackle during the Whole Life Challenge. And, of course, I recorded it all to share it with you.

 

If you've ever wondered after finishing the Whole Life Challenge, "What's next?", this conversation about the Advanced Challenge is for you.

After 10 Original Whole Life Challenges over the past 4 years, Michael and I decided it was time to create a next level challenge. For us, the biggest question was, "What does an advanced challenge look like in the context of the Whole Life Challenge?"

We came up with a format that we're incredibly excited about... nervous, because it's something completely new for us too, and excited!  

• Here's the main question you'll be with during the Challenge: “Were the actions I took today appropriate for where I am today, and effective for where I’m headed long term?”
• 4 weeks (starts July 18th), has four major categories (exercise, nutrition, sleep & meditation)

Scoring Categories

• Exercise: 1 point for exercising, 2nd point if exercise is appropriate or effective for today and long-term goals
• Nutrition: 1 point for keeping food journal, 2nd point for keeping compliant to level
• Sleep: 1 point for taking action to improve quality or duration of sleep, 2nd point for waking up naturally (without the use of an alarm)
• Meditation: 1 point for at least 5 minutes; 2nd point for at least 15 minutes
• Reflection: 1 point for writing at a 25 character reflection

 

Join us for this conversation with 3 of our ambassadors, Susan, Abba & Ayesha, as we talk about the overall concept, the ins and outs of the scoring categories, and why if you've ever played the WLC, you should definitely join us in July.

Think back 7 weeks. It was the start of the Whole Life Challenge... and we asked you to do three things in order to measure your starting point: do a measurable workout, measure your body, and take a before photo. These measurements were there to serve you as a measurable starting point - a marker in time that you could look back on and say difinitively, "This is where I was."

Now it's time for your final measurements - workout, body and photo. This is really the act of finishing the Challenge, like putting a period at the end of a sentence, marking the end of your journey and giving you the ability to see, specifically, how you've changed over the past 8 weeks. 

It doesn't matter whether you think you've improved or not. Being willing to measure yourself at the end of the Challenge is simply the act of completing.

Join us as we talk about these measurements and why it's so important to finish what you started this way. 

Robb Wolf is one of the recognized worldwide leaders of the Paleo movement and in conversing with him, you immediately see why. He is a walking encyclopedia of biochemical, genetic, nutritional and anthropologic information... and is also a really "normal" guy. 

In this podcast we talk about a super wide variety of things: commonalities among long-living people in blue zones, life-long genetic predispositions based on factors at birth, eating dirt, indivicual tinkering with macronutrient levels, hunger vs. the perception of hunger, the modern-day eating challenges due to the prevalence of mini-marts, and Robb's experience in starvation during 9-days in the wilderness.   Robb's knowledge and life experience is extraordinary. You can find out more about him and what he's up to at www.robbwolf.com. 

The lifestyle practice this week is something new and different for the Whole Life Challenge... spending 10 minutes in solitude. I know that it's something that I resist - spending time doing nothing, whether it's meditation, sitting and thinking or going for a walk. My tendency is to convince myself that I don't have time to do nothing, or to just think, or meditate, in spite of the fact that that time is so incredibly valuable.

Think of these ten minutes each day as a gift to yourself.

And then... we've got the fact that we're in week #7... the end of the Challenge is in sight. Now is the time to start thinking about the end and what you're going to do when there is no longer a game or community to support you. The dreaded "time between Challenges."

This off time is really valuable, because it puts the burden of responsibility squarely on your shoulders. Don't over commit. Pick a couple things to be accountable for, and see if you can stick with them.  

About a month before the start of the Spring Challenge, we sent out an email to 6 WLC players who all had a lot of experience playing the game, and who were also active in social media. These 6 people became our first ever Whole Life Challenge Ambassadors.

You may recognize their names from our Official FB Group - Jessica Trundy, Abba Corliss, Athena Slavin, Kristin Kaschak, Ayesh Kamal, Susan van Inwegen. 

We thought it would be fun to have them on the Podcast - to share their unique perspective on the Whole Life Challenge, what they've learned, how they approach things, and their tips for best Challenge practices. They are both veterans and have had a lot of interaction with players during this Challenge, and let me tell you, they didn't disappoint!

 

It's the sixth week of the Challenge... by this point in the Challenge you've undoubtedly experience a day that wasn't your best. You might have even forgotten to score yourself on a day or two. The big question is... how resilient are you? Do you pick yourself up by your bootstraps the next morning and go on as if nothing happened, or do you let your mis-steps dictate your atitude and ability to progress forward into your next day?

Here's our invitation. If you've been derailed because of some bad choices or a few missed days of entering your score... this is the week to let yourself off the hook, and to begin again. Fresh. New. As if you've got no reason not to. Because in all honesty, you don't.

Have a great week in the Challenge!

There are many reasons people give for staying out of the kitchen - no time, don't know how to cook, haven't prepaired, don't know which is a good recipe, etc... but what if it's something deeper, something that is rooted in the way you relate to to cooking itself, or the way you feel after having cooked for your family?

This is Alma Schneider's expertise. She is a licensed clinical social worker and a cooking coach. She understands the importance of cooking in the home, of the ability to prepare your own food, and the nourishment that home cooked meals provides for families.

She also knows from experience how many people avoid the kitchen entirely because of the way they relate to the food they prepare, the reviews they get from their family members, the expectations they have on themselves to get it right... for many, the kitchen is a place to avoid at all costs.

Join us as we talk with Alma about strategies for "taking back the kitchen." Very simple things you can do to make it easy, reduce your expectations, plan meals (her suggestion for this is fantastic), and make the kitchen a place that you look forward to being in - for the fun you can have in cooking and the nourishment that the food you make provides to your family. 

For more about Alma, you can visit her website at www.takebackthekitchen.com.

 

Week 5 in the WLC is like a "start over"... while we're not actually starting over, we're starting second half, which is also the beginning of the 2nd four weeks of the Challenge. If something has been standing in the way of you giving it your all in the first four weeks, there couldn't be a better time to re-commit, re-energize, re-engage and start again, fresh. 

This week on the podcast, Andy is joined by Kristin Kaschak, one of the WLC Ambassadors while Michael is out recovering from shoulder surgery. In the podcast, we talk about the importance of the practice of "showing up", how showing up for the Challenge by recording your score is so easy to let slip at this point... and why it's important not to, and finally about the lifestyle practice this week.

Join us... and WELCOME... to the second, and juciest half of the Challenge!