What is probably the best self-care habit we can incorporate into our lives? How about high-fiving yourself every morning. Welcome to Mel Robbins' fantastic book, the High 5 Habit.

Mel Robbins is a successful life coach. Her TED Talk -- How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over-- has over 31 MILLION views, and there's a reason for it, it's epic. (In fact, check it out even before you listen, Mel is a fracking genius!) You can also check out her first book The 5-Second Rule.

Get a free template for your own High 5 Journal (you do need to sign up for Mel's newsletter to receive it).

Connect with ZooFit and all our work to help you become the best version of yourself each and every day.

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To kick off Women's History Month, I sat down with three of the authors from the She Writes Press anthology Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis: Women Writers Respond to the Call. Barbara Terrao, Donna Cameron, and Teresa Janssen generously shared their experience and insight on their pieces in the anthology, talking about the power of stories, and of our voices and words, and how writing and sharing our experiences makes us stronger.

Check out the book yourself:

She Writes Press

Bookshop (better alternative to Amazon)

Connect with our authors:

Barbara Terrao

Teresa Janssen 

Donna Cameron

Share you stories with me and the world. Contact me at [email protected] or through my website ZooFit

Today, I celebrate one of my all-time favorite conservation heroines, Wangari Maathai by reading her memoir Unbowed. I loved learning about Wangari's childhood, her past experiences and how they shaped her destiny to become a strong, independent woman who championed the environment and communities of Kenya.  We delve into some big ideas like understanding others' pasts, turning obstacles into opportunities, and doing what you can, no matter who you are.

Related Zoo-notable: Wangari Planting Trees to Change the World 

Learn more at ZooFit

A collection of essays, poetry, and stories of hope, truth, courage, and solutions, All We Can Save celebrates diversity and women, and everyone who is fighting for climate action.

Want to read more? Check out All We Can Save at your local library, bookstore, or zoo (I have seen this book for sale at all major zoos in the Pacific Northwest).

Have you ever heard of elimination diets to reset your body and figure out what foods work best for you? Well, this elimination and reset program has become one of the most popular in the world, for good reason, it works for a lot of people. 

It Starts With Food is the book that propelled the Whole30 movement. Today we'll discuss some big ideas such as food should make us healthy, 100% is easier than 99%, and even Whole30 is not the only, or necessarily the best, option.

Want to check out the book yourself? Visit your library or local bookstore. 

Listen to other related Zoo-notables: Food Rules by Michael Pollan and Intuitive Eating

Connect with me online at ZooFit, read more insights from Zoo-notables, and connect to yourself, and the earth in a healthy, positive way.

After reading this book a couple of years ago, I re-read it and had to add it to my top 20 all-time favorite books. Every chapter is filled with fantastic wisdom, you can check out more from this book on my blog: ZooFit.

It takes discipline. It takes commitment. It takes time and effort. It takes what it takes.

Love this Zoo-notable? Check out the book at your local library or community bookstore.

I'm a published author! In 2021, I joined a program called the Narrative Project, where I met my guests for today-- Isabel Castro, Lauren Trantham, and Carrie Kenner. Throughout the year, we helped each other finish our stories, and now one of the fruits of our labor is out in the real world with the release of True Stories Vol. 5. 

With the release of our new book, I gathered my group of Badass Warrior Women to celebrate, reminisce, and inspire anyone and everyone with a story to share. Spoiler: WE ALL HAVE STORIES TO SHARE!

Enjoy our conversation, but more importantly, let this spur you forward to start telling your story! If you want some help, or just a platform to share, let me know!

This is a candid conversation so there is some explicit language (this is your trigger warning).

Contact me through ZooFit, and keep on rocking your dreams!

Lauren's non-profit organization Ride My Road

See what Carrie does: Carrie Kenner

Connect with Isabel: Living Balance

In Part 1 of my Zoo-notable on Atomic Habits, I discussed the grand ideas that resonated the most with me, personally (Check it out here). In Part 2, we delve more into the science of how these principles and ideas are used with training animals, and why they are life-changing for us, too.

We'll discuss why becoming aware of our behaviors is so important, how to bridge our effort and success, and how to make habits easier and more accessible.

If you want some more information on training yourself using the same principles as positive reinforcer trainers, check out TAG Teach and Karen Pryor Clicker Training Academy

Want to check the book out yourself? Connect with your local library or your local bookstore

Related Zoo-notables: Superhuman by Habit; Miracle Morning

Learn more about ZooFit - stay connected through YouTube-- support our projects on Patreon

Our habits build our identity; we are what we repeatedly do. Let's create a system for success and make it easy, attractive, and satisfying by delving into Atomic Habits by James Clear. Atomic Habits needs no real introduction. It is one of the most popular books on habits ever written, with over 10 million copies sold world-wide. But today, we'll peel the skin off this amazing book and dive into ways we can incorporate small changes in our lives for amazing results.

This is Part 1 of 2 episodes on the book. Today, we're looking at the ideas that resonated with me, personally, the most, and why. In Part 2, we'll see how animal trainers utilize these principles in working with animals, and how it applies to self-care as well.

Want more? Check out Brian Johnson's Philosopher Notes

Read the book yourself: Find Your Library or Find Your Local Bookstore

Check out ZooFit online, and start making your habits fun, engaging, and impactful.

Want to go from ordinary to EXTRAordinary, gain superpowers, and show up as the best version of yourself for the new year? The best way to close the gap from where you are to where you want to be is through implementing HABITS. We're kicking off the new year with a great little book on habits-- Superhuman by Habit. It's by a guy named simply Tynan (check out his work here). 

We'll discuss how habits set you free, how habits help us shape a superhuman identity, why we never skip twice, ways to win in forming new habits, and how to get better, faster, and stronger with healthy habits.

Links to pertinent topics:

My husband Chris' website: chrisbeaven.com 

Find your local library

Support Zoo-notable and ZooFit by joining the Pride on Patreon or subscribe to my Blog/Newsletter

Other books you may like related to Superhuman by Habit:

Atomic Habits by James Clear (next week's Zoo-notable)

Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg

Mini Habits by Stephen Guise

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg