My client, Brennan has been doing amazing work these past few months. Not only has he lost a ton of weight, but he is constantly growing in emotional health and mental health. Really grateful to have him in my life and peep the full conversation here!

I am a grade A instahoe. I'm trying to break free from my addiction to instagram and here are some of the things that I am learning. 

Kobe Bryant’s legend still lives on. I had to prepare a monologue this past week for an audition and I chose Kobe’s poem, “dear basketball”. You could tell how much he loved the game and dedicated his whole life to his craft. Here are a few of the lessons I also learned from him.

I'm usually a pretty zen person that will tell you to rest if you need to and do what makes you feel happy. Although I still believe that, I also believe that it is so important to lean into discomfort. When you challenge yourself and push past discomfort you will find your new level of strength, stamina, and success. 

Lean into discomfort to reach your new level. 

Loved this talk with my cousin and best friend, JR De Guzman. We shared so many great laughs and you get a taste of the conversations we have together. check it out here 

I want to do more of these talks on my podcast with guests that I admire and respect. So grateful that I was able to get Billy Palladino on the podcast. He is one of the owners of Tribe Fitness SFand is also an amazing holistic lifestyle coach and personal trainer. In our conversation we talked about how he remains motivated in this time and he kept reminded me of the importance of taking care of the people around you and doing it for them. I think he is such a great leader for those reasons. At the end of the interview we also talked about how to set proper SMART goals. 

The truth is some people might annoy us because they are … annoying or a nuisance, but also some people might annoy us for different reasons. Here is a quote from “You Are a Badass” by Jen Sincero:

“The things that bother us about other people bother us because they remind us of things that we don’t like about ourselves or their behavior triggers a fear or insecurity that we have, but maybe not reality that we have.“ Some people can bother us just by reminding us of our insecurities or fears. Some people are just too perfect and it can irritate us. Zac Efron is that type of guy and he is not even trying to be. But one thing I am learning about jealousy is that the cure is inspiration. Instead of asking the question “why”, we should instead ask “how”.

Zac Efron, you inspire me.

"Offense wins games, defense wins championships." I remember this mantra from elementary school basketball and I use to really pride myself on my defense. Defense is crucial to success in any sport, but also in life. There are 4 things that I want you to try playing better defense with. 

1. Defend your mind.

2. Defend your time.

3. Defend your health.

4. Defend your money. 

Lessons in Nature

I have never been to Japan, but there is so much to appreciate about Japanese culture. Most of the cars that I have owned have been from Japan. The cameras that I have used are all Japanese companies. Many of the game shows that we watch here in the states are influenced by Japanese shows. Japan just gets so much right and I think we can learn so much from their culture. One thing that I heard about was something called shirin-yoku which means “forest bathing”. Essentially it is a form of eco therapy. It is exercise, but also a mindfulness practice. I am sure you can go on an amazing adventure in the forest led by some hippie and it could change your life, but you could also just go to the forest for a few hours and see how nature heals you. 

This past weekend, I spontaneously went with my friend Minja on this great hike close to Half Moon Bay. We parked at the top of the mountain and hiked through the he forest absorbing these breathtaking views of Half Moon Bay and explored for miles (well maybe just a few). It was so good to have some clear space away from the city and being able to explore a completely new place. Being an INFP, I kept thinking about the lessons that I was learning from this experience. Here’s a few:

1. Fulfillment comes on the path, not at the end.

2. Deceleration is also important. 

3. Intermittent Work is Efficient Work

4. Embrace the Grind. 

I do not know if everything happens for a reason, but I want to believe that it does. There is no fact that things are happening for our good, but I have faith that they are. Steve Jobs said, "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." 

Here's to believing everything is happening for a reason and is happening for your good.