This week, I’m chatting with another highly ambitious woman who is part of the Ascend mastermind community, Kimberly Kindig.

Kimberly is the CEO of Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada. A Las Vegas native, she’s worked in nonprofits for most of her career and is passionate about building and strengthening our community. But like many of us, Kimberly felt a bit out of alignment with her work and her life, and she knew she needed to move out of her comfort zone and take action towards creating change - both personally and professionally. In this interview Kimberly will share the remarkable transitions and transformations she experienced once she became crystal clear on her values and goals. From creating simple habits that improved her wellbeing to beefing up her confidence muscle so she could take a risk, she has definitely “ascended”. If you’re having difficulty figuring out how to get “unstuck” in your career or your life, and perhaps unclear about what you may even want, this conversation is for YOU.

REMINDER!! My Ascend Mastermind’s current cohort is open for the next three weeks and starts in November. You will have the opportunity to work with other badass, ambitious women all year long as you work to reach your goals. If you want to master how you think, act and feel so you can create the business and lifestyle that you want, then apply at http://www.kellytravis.net/ascend.

And be sure to listen to the end of this episode, where I delve into the changes that will be coming to this podcast very soon.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

- What was the biggest challenge Kimberly faced in her life prior to her joining my Ascend Mastermind.

- Discussing the dissatisfaction Kimberly felt that propelled her to seek out the company and support of other driven women like herself.

- What’s changed for Kimberly since she opened herself up to the reinforcement and shared trust of my Mastermind.

- How Kimberly went about making the necessary shifts in her mindset and lifestyle in order to get the most out of Ascend.

- Kimberly’s powerful advice for those currently on the fence about enrolling in my Ascend Mastermind.

- BIG NEWS: Why I’m changing the name of the Healthy High Performer podcast, which important things will remain the same, and who you can expect to hear from for the remainder of the year.

Quotes:

“Working in the nonprofit space takes a lot of energy and passion and you have to be able to bring it every day.”

“It’s okay for me to want the things I want.”

“Making that change has really created space for me to be able to really take a look at my health and focus on healthy habits.”

“The investment into Ascend is really and truly an investment into someone’s personal growth.”

Show Links:

Ascend Mastermind - http://www.kellytravis.net/ascend

Unapologetically Ascending: Less Self-Doubt and More Action with Stacey Wedding - http://healthyhighperformer.libsyn.com/19-unapologetically-ascending-less-self-doubt-and-more-action-with-stacey-wedding

How a Stressed-Out Attorney Went from Self-Doubt to Self-Belief and Started Going After Big Goals in Business and Life with Stefanie Frank - http://healthyhighperformer.libsyn.com/frankly-good-advice-with-stefanie-frank

Candlelighters homepage - https://candlelighters.net/

This week’s conversation is one that many listeners—and yours truly—find triggering: body image, the relationship with have with our bodies, and how to positively change this in our culture. According to researchers, roughly 80% of women are either extremely dissatisfied with or flat-out hate their bodies. That’s an epidemic of poor self-image and self-worth, one so widespread that there’s no single cause. And we’ve got to do something about it.

While I was at a Mastermind retreat last week, I learned about Mirna Valerio, an “ultrarunner,” cross-country coach and author of the memoir A Beautiful Work in Progress. Mirna’s words and experience triggered me and also inspired me to revisit the conversation around body image and discuss it on a deeper level. So for this episode, I’m going to discuss how body image can be an intergenerational issue, explain why body positivity can backfire, and leave you with some powerful parting words from Mirna.

Don’t forget! The Ascend Mastermind’s current cohort is open until the end of October and starts in November. You will have the opportunity to work with other badass, ambitious women all year long as you work uplevel your mindset, habits and strategies so you can reach your goals. If you want to master how you think and feel and make the most of your body so you can create the business and lifestyle that you want, then learn more and schedule a call at http://www.kellytravis.net/ascend.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

- Looking back on how older members of my family shaped how I began to look at my own body.

- Exploring the shockingly high percentage of American women who are dissatisfied with their bodies and how those feelings originate.

- How even the health industry can have a negative impact on how women eat and treat their bodies.

- Why we need to listen to what our body actually needs rather than try to impose an unnatural lifestyle on it.

- Addressing one of the central conceits of body positivity and how it can actually impact you negatively.

- How unhealthy social media usage can further distort how we feel about our bodies, and what you can do to mitigate those feelings.

- I share my VERY strong feelings on the subject of positive affirmations, namely why I think they aren’t as constructive as we’d like them to be.

- I read some inspiring final few words from Mirna Valerio that may help you think differently and more constructively about your body.

Quotes:

“Our body and our mind are connected and we need to begin to treat it that way.”

“Using food to control what our body looks like gives us an illusion of safety.”

“Start paying attention, ask your body what it needs, and freaking listen!”

“You don’t have to wait for something to change to accept yourself.”

“The body follows where the mind goes.”

“No matter our background, how much we weigh, the color of our skin—any of that—what we share is that we all have a body and we have a relationship with that body.”

Show Links:

Kelly’s homepage - http://www.kellytravis.net

Ascend Mastermind - http://www.kellytravis.net/ascend

As we enter the home stretch of 2019, it isn’t too farfetched to guess that more than a few of you are feeling the overwhelm of the upcoming holiday season and, if you have kids, the new school year. The drive that keeps you going week in and week out can be so, so easily halted by any number of things in our own minds: fear, exhaustion, and even perfectionism. I recently had the honor of talking about this very subject at the Lucy Hobbs Project You event put on by the University of Detroit Mercy. So before these last few months of the year leave you feeling too burnt out, I want to ignite a fire in your soul.

In the course of my short but informative talk, I discuss 3 common mistakes we make that can sabotage our ability to create change in our life. Stay tuned through the end of this episode to learn about the free downloadable exercise you can find on my site right now. It will help you figure out where exactly you’re running into these limiting fears in your life and how you can push past them. As well, the next cohort for my Ascend Mastermind is currently open for enrollment! It’s a great way to gain support and accountability. Learn more and schedule a call at http://www.kellytravis.net/ascend.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

- What a recent study told us about how many people in the United States actually feel happy.

- How fear is THE major factor in keeping us from pursuing the major changes we need to make in our life in order to feel more fulfilled.

- Taking a closer look at how our own brains can set us up to fail—and why we need to take a stand against those limiting thoughts.

- I relate the moment I chose to stand up to the fear holding me back and take control of my life.

- Accepting that there’s no one size fits all approach to self-improvement: it takes time, trial and error to find a strategy that works best for you.

- What it means to be wary of the “barracuda” in your life.

- TAKE ACTION: Go to http://www.kellytravis.net/21 and take my free exercise that will allow you to identify the problem areas in your life and what you can do gain ground in your development.

Quotes:

“The people who make big changes in their life, they don’t wanna do it, but they get to that next level because they do.”

“Motivation is like kindling—you only need a little spark!”

“Health and wellbeing is not just cardio and kale… it’s what your relationships are like.”

“Done is better than perfect.”

Show Links:

Kelly’s homepage - http://www.kellytravis.net

Ascend Mastermind - http://www.kellytravis.net/ascend

If you’ve got big goals and big responsibilities - a business, family obligations, to-do lists - you likely have a fair amount of stress. You may have tried a few things to manage it, but have been unsuccessful. Or, maybe you think that to do everything you want to do, stress is just a given - so you deal with it. Not anymore!

As Lou Holtz says, it isn’t the load you’re carrying - it’s how you carry it.  It comes down to developing a more positive and productive relationship with stress (and the experience) and deciding how you can manage it so the load doesn’t feel so damn heavy.

So what I have for you this week are six strategies you can use to reduce stress and overwhelm in your own life. They range from removing or ignoring stressful stimuli, to changing how you react to stressors, to making yourself more mentally equipped to handle what life hurls at you. And here’s the easy part: you don’t need to do all of them—just find the tool that works best for you.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

- Be conscious throughout the day of what you’re thinking about and intentionally pivot toward more positive and constructive thoughts—Kelly’s fun little technique will help you out here.

- Being an uncritical people pleaser will burn you out in time. Learn when to say no to people, even the ones you love. And construct a boundary between yourself and potentially stressful daily news.

- Minimize distractions. Don’t let yourself be at the beck and call of social media, email and phone calls all day. Keep a steady schedule for when other people should contact you.

- Be intentional about the time you take off rather than just cramming in breaks when you can—and no, checking social media does NOT count as a break!

- Cultivate gratitude in your life as if there’s a garden full of it—keeping a gratitude journal will help you do this.

- Be mindful about how you breath. Use measured breathing before engaging in potentially stressful situations to keep your heart rate down and mind at ease.

- TAKE ACTION:  reach out to me via email or social media and let me know if these strategies have helped to take your mind off some of the regular stressors in your life.

Quotes:

“We can play the victim and complain about being stressed and overwhelmed, or we can show up and do something about it.”

“We have to manage the stress rather than let it manage us.”

“If you’re giving away all your time to other people, you are going to be stressed.”

“You have control and you don’t need to feel this way.”

Show Links:

Healthy High Performer #8: How to Stop Saying You Don’t Have Time - http://healthyhighperformer.libsyn.com/how-to-ditch-time-scarcity

Kelly’s homepage - http://www.kellytravis.net

Ascend Mastermind - http://www.kellytravis.net/ascend

I am so excited to share this guest with you, because it’s important to me that you hear what is possible for you when you prioritize your overall health and well-being. 

Stacey Wedding is the founder, CEO and chief strategist of Professionals in Philanthropy. Over the past year she has not only improved her relationship with all things “health” and her body and gained more self-confidence, Awesome, right?

I ‘m sharing this with you today because, perhaps like you, Stacey struggled with knowing how to listen to her body, lacked the confidence to put herself first AND go after her big goals, and had a serious fear of failure (and success). But when she decided to make a commitment towards moving out of that and into a place of empowerment, many things changed. Has it been perfect, hell no! Having a plan and support definitely helps though!

Tune in to this interview and learn about Stacey’s journey as a business owner, her experience in the Ascend Mastermind, and the things that have helped her grow over this last year. If you want to learn how you can get the support and accountability to begin to build confidence, define what health means in your life, and get after your big goals with a plan - schedule your Ascend Mastermind call with Kelly at http://www.kellytravis.net/ascend10.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

- Stacey relates her experiences working in the nonprofit sector and what drew her to philanthropic causes.

- What was the biggest issue Stacey struggled with prior to joining Kelly’s Ascend Mastermind?

- The importance of viewing health from a holistic angle rather than on a 1-100 scale.

- Stacey reveals some of the big and little ways her life has improved since working with Kelly.

- The one area of life that Stacey realized she wasn’t prioritizing, and how that has shifted.

- A sneak peek at the new program Stacey is launching September 20.

- Which Ascend Mastermind activity Stacey found particularly empowering, and her last word on the matter of why you should sign up.

Quotes:

“My definition of health and wellness and the priority I make it in my life has been huge.”

“One of my biggest takeaways is remembering ‘one little step forward’.”

“It always felt like I was less than, and always comparing myself to others”

“I felt like enough in work and business, and poured myself into it”

“There are days I stumble and fall backward, but it’s a journey and I think I‘m further along”

“I can’t always wait for perfection.”

“You deserve this and this will absolutely help you in all aspects of your life, so what are you waiting for?”

Guest Links:

Professionals in Philanthropy (PiP): www.profinphil.com

PiP Facebook: www.facebook.com/profinphil

PiP Twitter: www.twitter.com/profinphil

Nonprofit Everything podcast: www.nonprofiteverything.com

Show Links:

Kelly’s homepage - http://www.kellytravis.net
Ascend Mastermind - http://www.kellytravis.net/ascend

One area that Kelly is obsessed with helping women improve on is their relationship with exercise, because most women tend to have a story around exercise and it usually isn’t a positive one. For ambitious women, it’s important to figure this piece out because it can directly impact business growth, overwhelm and anxiety, physical health and relationships. Whether you find yourself obsessed with exercise in a way that is consuming too much mental and physical energy, or you find that exercise is another item on the to-do list that doesn’t get done (and therefore you shame yourself for it) - it’s important to do the work to shift your perception of what fitness can be in your life. 

In this episode, Kelly shares the history of her own rollercoaster relationship with exercise - and the impact it had on her life. She also delves deep into the reasons why exercise can be a toxic relationship for women and lays out four things you can do to shift your relationship with exercise in a way that allows you to keep yourself healthy on a day-to-day basis, avoid burnout, and have fun.

Kelly also has a free PDF for seven activities you can add to your nightly routine that will make you feel more energized and focused when you wake up the next day. You can grab your free guide here: https://kellythealth.lpages.co/nightly-routine-guide/

The Finer Details of This Episode:

- How Kelly came discover the sheer amount of fear and anxiety women have toward exercise.

- Why industrialization has had such a negative impact on the amount of daily exercise we do—and what you can do to compensate for it.

- The little things you can do to stay active throughout the day and avoid the kind of sedentary lifestyle that modern life enables.

- How Kelly’s own relationship with exercise has changed for better and for worse throughout her life.

- Getting honest with your personal fitness goals and accepting that they may be different from your friends’.

- Don’t feel constrained to just the gym: seek out other modes of exercise that get you outside, working out with others, and most importantly having fun!

- Remember that you need to pace yourself: you can’t exercise well if you go overboard and burn yourself out.

- TAKE ACTION: Decide the first step you’ll take to improve your relationship with exercise and do it!

Quotes:

“We need to identify what works best for us.”

“A little bit goes a long way.”

“We wanna be working with our bodies instead of against them.”

“I’m racing right now and training for races because I’m enjoying it!”

“However you feel best moving, that’s what you should be doing!”

“We have to have some goals, yes, but we also have to have some fun along the way.”

Show Links:

Dan Buetter and Blue Zones - https://www.bluezones.com/dan-buettner/

Free PDF with 7 things you can do to wake up feeling your best - https://kellythealth.lpages.co/nightly-routine-guide/

Kelly’s homepage - http://www.kellytravis.net

Ascend Mastermind - http://www.kellytravis.net/ascend

How many times have you come up against resistance after considering a goal - whether it be personal, health, business, etc? It’s not that we necessarily talk ourselves out of making these big changes consciously—rather, our brains are wired to protect us from any sort of change that could feel scary, and as a result will throw all kinds of excuses our way. Our brain likes comfort and uniformity, not shaking things up in order to take big risks and playing a bigger game. So it’s important that we acknowledge the excuses that come up that often derail us when we consider moving from “I’m fine” to “I’m ready to stop setting and take action”. 

In this episode, Kelly walks you through what she believes to be the five most common excuses women fall back on to keep from progressing in their personal and professional lives, and explains what you can do to combat these mental arguments when they come up. She also tells the empowering story of Lucy Hobbs and emphasizes the importance of being proactive instead of reactive in your life.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

- The first and most common excuse: that you don’t have time to pursue your goals and enact significant change.

- The second excuse: that you’re not ready to make the necessary changes to turn your goals into realities.

- The third excuse: you’ve failed at this goal or something similar before and you think you’ll fail again.

- The fourth excuse: that you’re not [INSERT TRAIT] enough to pursue your goal.

- The fifth and often most limiting excuse: that you’re fine where you currently are and don’t need to go after any other goals.

- TAKE ACTION: Write down the goal you’re having the hardest time pursuing, and then jot down all of the excuses that deter you from turning that dream into a reality. Think really hard about these excuses and pinpoint the reasons why they are, in Kelly’s words, “bullshit,” and how you’re going to combat them.

Quotes:

“No one feels like doing the work to change but those that reach that next level of success do it anyway.”

“You don’t have to prove you’re Superwoman by doing all the things.”

“If you’re doing all of it, you’re not doing it right.”

“There’s so much we can do in ten minutes that literally moves the needle forward.”

“Just find one thing that shows some progress and gets you in the damn race.”

“The failures in our past are opportunities to change our approach.”

“You are meant to do more and you are meant to feel your best doing it.”

Show Links:

Kelly’s homepage - http://www.kellytravis.net

Ascend Mastermind - http://www.kellytravis.net/ascend

When Kelly took a trip down to the beach a few days ago, she found she wasn’t able to unplug and relax as easily as she’d been able to previously. This led to a bit of tension and frustration, namely toward herself for not making the most of a restorative opportunity. But Kelly also knows firsthand that resentment—be it toward yourself or other people—really only serves to build up negative energy until you either lash out or burn out. Forgiveness, as difficult as it might seem, is key to exorcizing these thoughts and moving on with your life. If you’re a high-functioning Type A and find yourself overanalyzing and unable to let go of past transgressions then this episode is for you.

In this episode, Kelly helps you understand how resentment—even of the most justified variety—really only serves to make you wallow in anger and toxicity. She lays out a variety of tools and strategies you can use to deal with these negative feelings in a healthier manner, and also describes some of her own experiences with resentment and how she was able to move on from them.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

- Learning to view regrets and resentment as the wastes of energy that they are and moving on from decisions you can’t unmake.

- Kelly’s video game analogy for understanding personal progress.

- How holding onto negative vibes out of a misplaced desire to seek justice can build up and act as “spiritual constipation.”

- Why resenting other people is effectively giving them power over you—and they aren’t even aware of it!

- Kelly relates her own struggle to forgive someone who had wronged her deeply.

- If you want to know what Kelly’s personal mantra is for grappling with intense feelings of resentment, send her a direct message at http://www.instagram.com/kellythealth 

- Don’t forget to schedule a quick chat with Kelly to learn more about her Ascend Mastermind at http://www.kellytravis.net/ascend!

Quotes:

“There is so much freedom in forgiveness—and that freedom leads to greater success.”

“If you want to forgive others, you also have to forgive yourself.”

“The beauty in life is that we always have a choice.”

“Everyone is doing the best they can with what they have, and hurt people usually hurt people.”

“It takes more courage to forgive than to hold a grudge.”

Show Links:

Kelly’s homepage - http://www.kellytravis.net

Ascend Mastermind - http://www.kellytravis.net/ascend

It’s Healthy High Performer’s 15th episode, which Kelly considers to be a major milestone on this show’s journey—to reach this point requires consistency, determination, and being able to learn from your mistakes.

At the time of this recording, Kelly had just gotten off a call with the women in her Ascend Mastermind. She’s so thankful to be a part of this driven group of women and be able to witness the positive changes they’ve made over the last year. Key to their collective success is being able to recognize where they’re failing in their lives—personal, professional, spiritual—and then enacting changes before those failures turn into ruts. If we have enough self-awareness to know when we’re slipping and not doing as well as we could, we have a chance to correct our course and make necessary, positive changes.

In this episode, Kelly asks you to look over key areas of your life and consider how you’re controlling your fear (or vice versa), if you’re stuck in inaction, who besides yourself you’re trying to satisfy, and what you’re actually doing to invest in your success. Also, that Ascend Mastermind she speaks so highly of? You can sign up for its mailing list at http://www.kellytravis.net/ascendlist.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

- Really think about what you’re failing at right now—or at the very least an area of your life with significant room for improvement.

- Consider if the people you surround yourself with are truly inspirational and want to raise you up.

- The common characteristics of healthy high performers and why not settling is a key trait.

- Taking a closer look at how self-help actually works and why all of the reading and preparation in the world means little if you’re not willing or able to take action.

- Why Kelly views fear as not only necessary to your growth but very healthy as well.

- Realize that in your journey toward self-improvement, you’re not going to please everybody—nor should you want to.

- Ultimately, recognize that long-term success and improvement requires investment on all levels: investing in yourself spiritually, investing in yourself physically, and investing in your own work or business.

- TAKE ACTION: Really take inventory of where you are in your journey. Are you being held back by fear or letting it motivate you? Are you resting on your laurels or taking action? Who are you still trying to please?

- UPCOMING: For next week’s episode, Kelly is talking all about forgiveness—not just forgiving others, but yourself as well.

Quotes:

“We’re failing at different things and we have to be honest with ourselves about what that is.”

“Ask yourself ‘What am I failing at right now?’ and what you can do right now to pivot.”

“I want to see how very successful entrepreneurs are also taking care of themselves.”

“I challenge you to start thinking about who that woman you are working to become is.”

“What got you where you’re at right now is not going to get you to that next level.”

“What are you doing to build that trust in yourself?”

“I want you to be unapologetic about the things you want and be bold about going after them.”

Show Links:

Kelly’s homepage - http://www.kellytravis.net

Ascend Mastermind - http://www.kellytravis.net/ascend

While mainstream medicine is effective at treating disease and disorder, too often it’s focused on caring for the immediate, day-to-day symptoms rather than developing a larger picture of the patient’s health and what’s truly affecting them. Today’s guest looks past mere symptoms and works with her patients holistically to determine what’s really causing them pain and discomfort.

Jenn Malecha is the (W)holistic Health Boss, a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner based out of the San Diego area. Halfway between being a health coach and a naturopathic doctor, she helps her clients find missing pieces of their “health puzzles” and insists on treating the person as a whole, rather than just attending to their lab results. To do this she uses comprehensive test results and the patient’s health history to reveal the underlying causes of what ails them.

In this eye-opening discussion, Jenn traces her own health journey over the years and explains how you can investigate your own health symptoms. In addition, Kelly is opening up applications for her Ascend Mastermind, where she’ll help you bust through your fears, prioritize your health and get after your business goals. If you’re interested and have any questions, drop Kelly a line on social media or sign up for the Ascend mailing list at http://www.kellytravis.net/ascendlist.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

- Jenn breaks down what she does in her line of work and what distinguishes her from naturopathic doctors.

- What personal experiences prompted Jenn to reevaluate her health situation and pursue a diagnostic nutrition practitioner career?

- Why we need to avoid running our lives on “autopilot” regardless of how we feel in the moment.

- The ways Jenn has noticed her clients have become more empowered in the aftermath of taking ahold of their health.

- How Jenn helped one client figure out what was holding them back from taking charge of their health and holding back their quality of life.

- Why “grit and determination” are not the keys to achieving your health goals, and how dogged persistence can actually backfire.

- Techniques for keeping yourself from falling into a “death spiral” and taking up bad habits you previously shed.

- The moment in Jenn’s journey that her self-worth truly began to improve.

- A few tools Jenn uses to stay alert to how her body is changing and adapting.

- Everyday, seemingly innocuous symptoms that are actually big red flags about your health.

- Jenn explains how the testing she uses in her line of work is more comprehensive than the average doctor-prescribed blood test.

Quotes:

“We shouldn’t be settling for anything less than what we deserve when it comes to our health and well-being.”

“Our body will do anything that we ask it to do but that doesn’t mean that we should either.”

“Whatever’s going on with you right now is an accumulation of what has happened over your lifetime.”

“Test, don’t guess, otherwise you’re just taking a shot in the dark.”

“If you don’t feel right in your own body, that is enough alone to explore what is going on with you.”

Guest Links:

(W)holistic Health Boss - https://wholistichealthboss.com/

(W)holistic Health Boss on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wholistichealthboss/

(W)holistic Health Boss on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/FunctionalDiagnosticNutrition/

Show Links:

Oura Ring - https://ouraring.com/

Elite HRV - https://elitehrv.com/

Kelly’s homepage - http://www.kellytravis.net

Ascend Mastermind - http://www.kellytravis.net/ascend