I used to believe when it came to exercise, more was always more.

Especially for a multisport athlete who is running, backpacking, mountaineering and wanting to be ALWAYS READY TO ROLL at a moment's notice.

Also, as I cruised toward 50, I felt like I needed to work harder just to maintain a certain level of performance.

But this summer, I got tired of being exhausted.

Tired of grinding through my day job.

Tired of feeling irritated with every little thing. (Like I would knock over a can of Seltzer and fly into a rage.)

Tired of starting each weekend adventure exhausted from the last weekend adventure.

Tired of feeling spacey and not fully connected while coaching my clients. 

So I did a crazy thing.

😱 I actually cut back my workouts by 30%.

And you know what? 

I am absolutely loving the results! 

I feel like I'm actually performing BETTER on my adventures.

And having more time and energy for everyone else in my life.

In this week's episode of the Climb Your Mountain podcast, I'll pull back the curtain and share exactly how I started working out smarter and not harder.

We'll go through the full before and after.

(And also why I didn't do it sooner. I had a lot of insecurities about cutting back. But they were just lies my brain was telling me.)

I hope this gives you so much permission to stop grinding and create a more joyous and sustainable fitness life!

COACH WITH SARAH:

• Email questions to [email protected] OR
• Schedule a free discovery call

"I'm silly for feeling this way."

"Other people have it worse."

"Some people have war in their countries."

"Look at me and my first world problems."

Have you ever said things like these to yourself during times of stress or sadness?

If so, it's totally understandable!

We're all programmed to disregard our mental health by a capitalist society that benefits when we push through, grind it out, and shame ourselves for not having high vibes 100% of the time.

Well, no more!

In this week's episode, I'll share some of my own recent experiences with stress and mental health and how I finally realized I needed to stop gaslighting myself and take my own emotions seriously.

And I'll share some tips for breaking free of the matrix so you can create space and permission to regulate your nervous system and feel better.

COACH WITH SARAH:

• Email questions to [email protected] OR
• Schedule a free discovery call

Have you ever thought about signing up to hike the Inca Trail?

Or summit Mt. Rainier?

Or even join a pub run at your neighborhood bar?

And then stopped yourself, because you're worried about slowing the group down or getting left behind?

Friend, if you are feeling ashamed of your pace and worrying you won't fit in ...

I have a GOLDEN tip for you on this week's episode of Climb Your Mountain. 

We'll discuss:

⭐️ Why the fastest is not always the fittest (<- life changing shit alert!)
⭐️ How so many recreational athletes are missing out on life-changing experiences because of insecurities around being slow
⭐️ What other people really think about your pace
⭐️ What you need to believe to make joining group activities fun again
⭐️ Tips for enjoying group outings and trips when you're the slowest one (from personal experience!)

COACH WITH SARAH:

• Email questions to [email protected] OR
• Schedule a free discovery call

Before I was a life coach, I was an endurance sports coach (think running and mountaineering).

And I'll tell you one thing: almost all my clients were overtraining.

They believed that more was better.

And if they slowed down even a little, they'd crumble.

And that the answer to getting older was to train harder.

Almost none of them were getting enough rest to really hit their peak performance. In fact, they were so inflamed that injuries and illnesses were common.

Friends, I am here to save you from all that.

On this week's episode of the Climb Your Mountain podcast, we're going to talk about the benefits of UNDERtraining.

How erring on the side of doing too little can:

• Improve performance
• Promote health and longevity
• Save you a ton of time
• Greatly enhance your quality of life

If you're a runner, hiker, backpacker, mountaineer, or any kind of endurance athlete, this episode will set your free!

COACH WITH SARAH:

• Email questions to [email protected] OR
• Schedule a free discovery call

You've got big plans for your life! You want to ditch the day job, start your own business, and run a 100-mile ultra — all while dating and finding your perfect person.

But who the hell has time for that?

A lot of us are afraid to dream bigger because we already feel so squeezed for time.

But here's a cool thing: It's possible to create more time.

Not by bullet journaling your life away.

Not by treating scheduling as a blood sport.

But simply by changing the way you think about time.  

Sound too good to be true?

Then you MUST tune into this week's episode of Climb Your Mountain podcast and hear my 13 top time hacks for space and productivity. 

This is me talking to you as someone who is growing a business while working a corporate job, caring for an aging parent, training for an ultramarathon, and still getting outside and staying connected to the people I love.

These 13 tips changed my life. And I know they'll change yours too!

COACH WITH SARAH:

• Email questions to [email protected] OR
• Schedule a free discovery call

A lot of people think changing careers will be a shortcut to happiness. (Kinda like people think having a baby or getting married or buying a house will finally make them happy.)

But what if you could be happy in any career -- including the one you're in now?

Here's a truth that might feel a little confronting.

It's not your work that makes you happy. It's your thoughts.

And the good news is that you get to think whatever the hell you want!

It opens up the possibility that you could be happy right where you are -- before the big career change.

It also takes the pressure off the process. Because now you don't have to find the one magic unicorn career that will make you happy. You can just decide which career you want to be happy in.

And on this week's episode of the Climb Your Mountain podcast, I show you exactly how to figure that out!

We'll explore:

• Why there's no one right career for you
• Why trying to quickly escape your current career often backfires -- and what to do instead
• How to begin changing your thoughts so you can feel better where you are, slow down, and do a really great career exploration
• How to start identifying careers that resonate with your values (and rule out ones that don't)

COACH WITH SARAH:

• Email questions to [email protected] OR
• Schedule a free discovery call

Is there such a thing as a life coaching cult? Yes, but they're exceedingly rare.

Notable examples: Lighthouse (see the BBC podcast series "A Very British Cult" and arguably Scientology). 

Yes, your girly loves a good cult documentary. 🤣 

So rest assured, if you sign up for help to stop yelling at your kids, it's extremely unlikely you'll end up living in a dorm, eating a mango-only diet, and shaving Dear Leader's butt hairs.

But that doesn't mean that you can't ask great questions and be an informed consumer when looking for a life coach.

If you've heard that life coaching is unregulated and anyone can hang out a shingle, YOU'RE RIGHT!

So on this week's episode of Climb Your Mountain, I show you how to find a coach who helps you get results while empowering you as a person.

We'll dive into:

🤓 How coaches are trained and regulated (or not)
🤓 The levels of damage an unethical coach can do (from outright abuse to merely wasting your time and money)
🤓 How to get a feel for a coach's approach and style before you approach them
🤓 Useful questions to ask on the free consult
🤓 Red flags to watch for in a coaching relationship

COACH WITH SARAH:

• Email questions to [email protected] OR
• Schedule a free discovery call

What's wrong with advice? Everyone wants advice, right? (Especially great advice yours!)

Here's the thing.

We're all conditioned to give and receive advice. You can't post about your cat's teeth-grinding without getting a million helpful suggestions — everything from supplements to surgery to GET HIM TO THE VET IMMEDIATELY BEFORE HE DIEZ.

But repeat after me:

🦄 More than anything, people just want to be seen or heard
🦄 And advice does the opposite
🦄 It creates separation
🦄 Especially when we're missing big pieces of context (and we almost always are)

You know what else?

Most of us are also taking too much advice. We're unconsciously believing others know better for us. We've been conditioned not to trust ourselves.

Well adieu to all that!

On this week's episode of the Climb Your Mountain podcast, we dive into:

😊 Why it's important to resist giving unsolicited advice
😊 What to try first when you feel REALLY tempted to give advice
😊 A process to walk yourself through if you're genuinely worried about the other person's situation
😊 Why indirect suggestions work better than advice + examples
😊 Why you should take less advice about your dreams and what to do instead. 

COACH WITH SARAH:

• Email questions to [email protected] OR
• Schedule a free discovery call

"All I do is give ... and no one cares."

"I'm drowning under the weight of my obligations."

"I'm surrounded by takers who drain me."

"I'm sick of being the strong one who's there for everyone else." 😡 

^ If you've ever had thoughts like these, you're not alone.

The issue of support (and lack thereof) comes up so often in life coaching.

If you're feeling unsupported and unappreciated in any area of your life — work, family, friendships or anywhere — this week's podcast episode is for you!

We'll dive into the mindset that tends to unconsciously create and perpetuate a lack of support. 

I'll also offer you three exercises to help you turn that energy around so you can attract more support into your life. (And maybe see some of the ways you're already more supported than you think.)

COACH WITH SARAH:

• Email questions to [email protected] OR
• Schedule a free discovery call

Can we just all agree that exercise (the actual doing of it) is wicked uncomfortable?

This is doubly true if you've been away for awhile living life and are now coming back to fitness.

"I can't WAIT to get on the treadmill and start huffing and sweating and feeling like I'm charging through a wall of jello."

^ Said no human ever. 🤣 

When exercise feels hard, we often make it mean we're lazy or weak or broken.

But what if that's not true? 

What if it just gets to be hard? 

Are you willing to do hard things to get what you want?

In this week's podcast episode, we're going to dive into the energetics of fitness — and more specifically habit change.

So you can become the person who works out every day just as naturally and easily as you brush your teeth.

I'm going to offer you some thoughts you can use to start creating that result right now.

Things like:

🦄 Nothing has gone wrong
🦄 The past can't hold me down
🦄 I can choose comfort, or I can choose going after what I want with passion and grit
🦄 I belong in this damn gym
🦄 And many more

Enjoy!

COACH WITH SARAH:

• Email questions to [email protected] OR
• Schedule a free discovery call
• Weekly breathwork group on Meetup