I'm Woman, Hear Me Roar!

We are at an exciting time for women! Women are coming into their power, realizing their potential of the gifts they have to offer the world no longer being afraid or lacking confidence to step up and take opportunities.

I know so many strong women in my life who are the sole providers for their families, many opening their own companies or moving up in their jobs to higher powered positions, taking on more than they ever have before.

More and more fitness professionals in our Results Fitness University Coaching Programopening gyms are women either on their own or together with their spouse(and we all know who the boss is:)). Being a lady boss is becoming the norm and I have to say we’re really good at it. When it comes to qualities that make a good leader…detail oriented, empathetic, good listeners, multitasking, driven…no wonder women are starting to take over. All of this while still continuing to be the amazing wife, mother & role model for others and yes making sure the laundry is done, the fridge and cupboards are stocked with groceries and there is something for dinner each night and in her “spare” time cleaning the house…oh and taking the Dog to the vet…and the list goes on…Oh and of course while always making her best effort to look put together best she can…hair appts, nail appts, make up…and so on. You look marvelous darling!

How do we do it all? Just thinking about it makes me exhausted and ready for a nap!

Women are no longer afraid of being strong physically and mentally. Strong has become the new sexy! I rarely hear a female client worried about gaining too much muscle any more, instead they are asking to be able to do a push up or a chin up and get stronger asking, “What can I do?” We have an entire powerlifting team at Results Fitness of almost all women setting records, going to national meets. 

With this new found power comes one small problem…The problem is that women put so much pressure on themselves to be perfect and do it all themselves all the time. As women are realizing they are capable of so much more there does seem to be a phenomenon of trying to take it all on and prove something. “I don’t need help. I got it. I can handle it.”

From one powerful “I can handle it all myself” woman to another…yes I’m talking to you! I felt compelled to write this post to say – You can’t do it all!

I know, I know…not very encouraging huh? Hear me out.

In order to be as powerful as you can be and have the biggest impact you can have you have to depend on others. It is ok to depend on others. You cannot do it without a team and support. You realize Beyonce has an entire entourage taking care of her before she steps on stage to be a Rock Star don’t you? It is Ok to ask for help. Let people help you.

There was a time in our business when I was managing the gym still running the day-to-day operations along with coaching certain groups such as our Drop Two Sizes Challenge and Half Marathon groups. We were also doing construction putting in a Shake Café and I was the project manager working with the contractor & the city to get it done. I also had my first book published by Rodale and had a number of TV appearances lined up and in person book signings and presentations so I was traveling quite a bit. In conjunction with my first book coming out I also started a membership website and in the mean time Alwyn & I had been growing Results Fitness University which had now grown to over 50 trainers who we were coaching. I got this! I can handle it all!

One of my biggest “Aha’s” was from Tony Hseih, the CEO of Zappos, who said – “If you don’t delegate you are being selfish.” This was a wake up call that someone else was better at and liked doing some of the tasks that I was trying to keep doing and I was being selfish by not handing them off. I decided to promote one of our team to manage the gym, I gave the opportunity to coach our specialty teams and challenges(even my D2S challenge) to our amazing coaches and hired an assistant to help me keep track of everything. Shortly after we had our biggest year yet for both companies. By trying to do it all I was not doing any of it as well as I could.

Learning to delegate can be one of the hardest things to do as you take on more responsibility and is so necessary to be able to reach your potential. It can be very scary to hand something off to someone else but if you don’t you are limiting your growth. If you are trying to do it all you cannot and will not sustain it long term.

As you are taking on more, creating more and becoming more let’s start with some of the things you have to let go of…that’s right feel free to belt out the Frozen soundtrack, “Let it go! Let it go!”

First and foremost, hire someone to clean your house! Seriously! And do not stress over how straight the vacuum lines are –who cares? You have better things to do like changing the world and making an impact helping others!

Second, build your team. Hire an assistant to handle your emails, your filing, your bookkeeping, your errands and anything else that is taking away from you spending time in your sweet spot “rocking the microphone” so to speak, making an impact! You cannot and should not do it all. If you want to help people then spend the majority of your time helping people and let other people help you! That’s what makes the world go around.

Third, do not feel guilty about taking care of yourself. You have to take time to nurture yourself with self-care, down time and relaxation. Take time to breathe and yes take a nap! Book that massage you’ve been meaning to! Make time for your workouts to stay strong and healthy! It’s an absolute necessity to you bringing your best to everything else you do.

Start there. Keep dreaming big and taking action to bring even more to the world! And as Beyonce sings, together we can run the world!  Who runs the world? Girls! Who runs the world? Girls!

One of my favorite books on this topic is Sheryl Sandberg’s book, “Lean In.” If you haven’t read it pick it up HERE now.