Today I chatted with Nicole Grace, creator of Cultivate Wellness - workplace and community wellbeing programs. Nicole and I have known each other for quite some time and was one of the people who initially inspired me to start working in the fitness industry.
Although Nicole was never an athlete growing up, she took an interest in group fitness pretty early on and has been working in the fitness industry in some way, shape, or form either part-time or full-time for over 25 years.
Quick Back Story: I used to work for Nicole at a local non-profit straight out of college, and one day I remember her sort of running in and apologizing for being a few minutes late because she had just come from teaching a class at a nearby gym. I was in awe, that 1. She got up that early to exercise and 2. that this was something she got paid to do. I asked her to tell me more about how she got certified, how she got the job, etc. And, as they say….the rest is history!
So a big Thanks to Nicole Grace, who introduced me to the idea of teaching group fitness.
Fast forward to a couple of years ago, where I realized Nicole had transitioned from an instructor to Life Coach and is now the Creator of Cultivate Wellness. Nicole’s passion for positive psychology and human behavior paired with her natural tendency to inspire & motivate others brought her to this place where she wanted to help people move forward in all aspects of their lives. As one of Nicole’s personal clients, I can’t attest enough to how much our work together has not only helped me personally but also professionally as I have used some of those mindset principles with my 1:1 clients in order to help them move towards their health and fitness goals.
We started off by unpacking what it means to be healthy and how fitness is a small part of that big picture. I asked Nicole what she thought her top 3 dial movers are for helping clients become more mindful so that they can achieve overall wellbeing, and here’s what she said.
- Self-Awareness: Being self-aware of how your body feels throughout the day, being aware of how you feel after a workout, etc. Nicole recommends stopping & pausing. Take a second to stop and think about what you’re feeling, where you’re feeling it physically and/or emotionally.
This led to a conversation around the word “busy” and how as a society being busy and overworked has somehow become a badge of honor. That the goal in life should be to be crazy, busy….so crazy busy, you just don’t have time for anything else. Which ironically ends up giving the word “busy” a negative connotation.
- Discover your limiting beliefs. For example, saying things like…”I’m not strong enough. I don’t have time. I can’t XYZ” Using phrases that hold you back from being able to achieve something. We use these limiting beliefs to stop us from getting uncomfortable and trying. Nicole suggests adding the word “yet” to the end of your limiting belief. For instance, “I’m not strong enough yet.”
According to Nicole, we (humans) are wired for negative bias. We are wired to think negatively before thinking positively. Crazy, right?! The good news is, we can definitely rewire our brains to look at things from a different perspective. “Your body follows what your mind tells it to do.”
Other words contributing to limiting beliefs about yourself are the infamous phrases that start with…
“I CAN’T…” and “I SHOULD…” and “I USE TO…” If you find yourself using this more often than not, consider asking yourself if you truly can’t or just won’t. There is a huge difference between not being able to do something and not being willing to do something. Phrases starting with “I should and/ or I use to” keeps you thinking about the past and things that you can no longer control or change. Nicole stresses that these phrases are most likely holding you back and stuck rather than focusing on the today, the person you are today, and what that person needs now to get where they want to go.
- Find things you love. Find a type of exercise that feels good to you. Engage in things that re-energize you rather than draining your energy.
Before wrapping things up I had to ask if you could give your 30-year-old self some advice what would it be? “Cut yourself some slack, give yourself a break,” Nicole says. Nicole mentions that when you start to hit those milestone birthdays like 40 and 50, you start to shed some emotional weight by not caring so much about what others think of you. You start to realize how exhausting it is to care so much about what others think about you and where you are in your life, and she personally wishes she shed that weight earlier in life. Your thirties are such a great time to discover what truly makes you happy, so focus on that.
Focus on living in the moment because we can’t change the past and the future is unknown.
If you want to learn more about how Nicole builds mindful-based wellness programs for organizations to learn how to manage stress, build resilience and increase productivity you can email her directly at nicole@cultivatewellnessri.com or visit www.cultivatewellnessri.com.
You can also find her on all social media platforms;
https://www.instagram.com/nicolegcultivatewellness/
https://www.facebook.com/cultivatewellnessri
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-gracecw/
As always, I hope that you found this episode to be helpful, and would love to connect with you further in our Making FIT Work community on Facebook or on Instagram at @fitwith_nina.
Until next time...be strong, be healthy, be happy!
