About Progress

We all know the amazing benefits of exercise: mental acuity, emotional release, increased strength, more consistent metabolism, confidence, and on and on.   But we don't often talk about the effects of abusing exercise, a trap we can all so subtly fall into. This can happen through both over- and under-use, although much of this episode it devoted to abuse through too much (or too intense, too oft...

"The preparation will meet your opportunity, and that is when you can have success. So, you need to work really hard and be ready for when you get that chance, because you never know when it’s going to come."   Camille Andros is a woman of many interests including science, writing, and children (she has 6 of her own). For many years, she found herself focusing on one thing and then the other, all...

“It starts with who you are.  Then what you do comes so naturally, and so beautifully, that that is respected because you were who you are first.”   There is a reason Jeni Awerkamp's mom called her "Jeni Joy" growing up. This woman radiates light and positivity! Jeni makes this choice every day, and the biggest key to her finding that joy is to focus on who she IS first, not her "successes."   Thi...

“It’s too easy to give in to the thought that ‘Well, this terrible thing happened to me . . .’ But at the end of the day, you write your own story . . . Your life is what YOU create.  And I wanted to create something awesome.”     Cara Baldwin had been a lifelong "overachiever." But at 30 years old, she found herself moving back in with her parents, filing for divorce with four very young children...

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts." ~Winston Churchill   We have all been there: you bust your behind trying to reach a goal, you have high hopes, but then you get dismal-at-best results.    It's hard to not take it personally.     I've been there recently and I found myself really questioning why I've been spending all this time doing something...

“We didn’t recognize each other, or ourselves. How do you reconcile this? How do you go and redefine how we work together if who we are has taken some pretty fundamental changes?”   Mark and Giulia fell in love at 18 years old and launched into what looked like would be a lifetime of happiness. Unexpectedly, three years into their marriage, their fairy tale fell apart as Giulia encountered struggl...

“Depression loves darkness . . . the only way to fight depression is to bring it into the light.”   I'm sure you read that article "Marriage Isn't For You" that circulated the internet a few years ago. How am I so sure? Because everyone read it, as in 100 million strong all over the world.    Seth Adam Smith is the author of that article, as well as four popular books (including his latest work of...

"God didn’t take it away, but I have felt so many times that he has sent living angels to help me through, time and time again."   Lauren Agostinelli-Gessel has been through more in her young life than most do in an entire lifetime. One week after getting married, she moved to Italy for months to receive a stem cell transplant and five rounds of chemotherapy. This was a drastic measure to help wit...

"There are things you can do to rewire your brain. It’s not going to be fun, it’s not going to be easy. But can you choose to do them? Yes. And will they make your life better even in the midst of depression? Absolutely." Andy is a "happiness nerd" who loves to share what he's studied and put into practice. His specialty is positive psychology, which researches the science of happy people and ways...

"If you bring forth what is within you, what is within you will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you." ~Gospel of Thomas   I heard this quote a few weekends ago from Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife's workshop I attended. I had already been working on this podcast and it gave me the lightbulb moment that I so love. (Sidenote: each special...

"Something I’ve really internalized is that it’s never to late to create the kind of life that you want, or to uncreate the life you’re not cool with . . . It’s never too late to enjoy your life, it’s never to late to feel like you have more control over something, even if it’s just as simple as changing the way you think about it."   By the age of 19, Celeste had already abandoned her modeling ca...

“Realizing that I am in control of the life I want to live, really allowed me to be the happiest I can be because I’m doing the things that I truly LOVE in life.”     Jessica Dahlquist is the brains behind the Extraordinary Moms Podcast (which I can't recommend enough), but this is her first time being on the other side of the interview. She does not disappoint!   Jessica talks about how her own t...

Kayti Oldham is your best gal who always manages to bring the fun, willingly shares all her makeup knowledge, and makes you feel like a million bucks.   But Kayti's gifts don't start and end with her makeup artistry. In today's podcast, we learn more about her past with the performing arts, how she learned from a young age to follow her passions, and how putting on red lipstick not only helped her...

How do you want your loved ones to remember you? Your face illuminated by the light of a screen?   Of course not. None of us do.    But we are ALL guilty of letting our devices distract us from what is most important. If you've struggled from time to time with balancing your technology use, if you often feel sad, jealous, lonely, or apathetic, and if your devices are acting more as a task master t...

“I think that it’s so important to make that effort to try and not to worry so much about the result . . . The real satisfaction comes in the effort, not the outcome.”   You know my "Do Something" campaign, where I encourage people to try things that scare them? That is Amy Nash's entire life story.   This woman has done so many incredible things that required courage and testing her limits: she h...

“When new clients come in, my job is to see them and to let them know, 'You are seen. I recognize that you have a name. I see that you are hungry, and I will feed you. I see that your clothes are dirty and you are essentially naked, and my job is to clothe you. I see that you are heartbroken . . . and my job is to be present with you. My job is to hear your story and hold your hand.'”   My friend...

"I had to find a new way. And I had to stop believing that I could do it all by myself, that I could get through everything on my own."   Rachel Gainer was a lifelong perfectionist, until her world fell apart. She struggled through infertility, she let "getting healthy" go too far, she was overworked and not taking care of herself, and then she and her husband suffered two devastating losses in a...

The past year, I feel as though I have gone through a metamorphosis. The underlying factor? Goals! I've been an OCD planner and extremely goal-oriented; and I've also gone years without making them. Fear drove both of those phases for me. I've learned better how to use goals without them using me. In today's podcast, I speak about the power of goals, some stories of progress with my goals this yea...

"This isn't something you chose. This is a disease your body has."   Kyle is a physician in Utah who is very open about his long history with anxiety and depression. These bouts started as a teen and came and went with intensity throughout his 14 year marriage to Becki, who has also dealt with circumstantial depression while they were in the stressful years of medical school.   Kyle speaks from bo...

"Consider yourself a failure, and consider yourself in very good company [of people] who have done the same. But the difference between them and everyone else is that they learned from that failure and kept on going, one foot in front of the other."   Matt calls himself a "regular guy," but I'm telling you he is anything but. What makes him this way for me is his resilience and his refusal to play...

Have you ever wondered what it is really like to be a successful fashion blogger? Meet Sarah Tripp. Sarah, from Sassy Red Lipstick, does her job so well that she makes it look easy. But it absolutely isn't. Sarah has the right mix of dreaming big and working hard. Fashion is a huge form of her self-expression and has been a life-long passion. But another important passion for Sarah is her desire t...

“The more you spend time with people and are able to communicate with them what you are feeling . . . the more logic and reason come back into your life.”   Meet your new best friend, Anne Cropper. Anne is one of those people who takes you in, makes you laugh, makes you cry, and can give you some good fashion, food, and house tips on the side. She is a resounding writer and Instagrammer whose main...

"I love to be enjoying any situation that I'm in. Obviously that's not always easy . . . but I think if you're having fun in what you're doing, it's way better than being miserable."   Kaycee Sogard is so refreshing. Yes, she's a beloved blogger and Instagrammer; but in SO many ways, Kaycee breaks the mold. For one, she is frank, silly, and genuine. For another, she is very grounded in what matter...

"Don't waste time feeling inadequate . . . "   Katharine and I have been friends for 18 years. (Side note: Whoa. What scares me most about that fact is that we were 12 years old when we first chatted in band class. I swear I was just 12!)   After high school, Katharine left our small town of Farmington, UT and headed to the east coast to study music, theology, and art history. She attended a small...

“I don’t think that we should be stagnant and not ever want to change ourselves. It doesn’t have to do with not loving ourselves, it has to do with just wanting to be better.”   Amber Brueseke's arms speak for themselves, but just a quick glance of her Instagram page--Biceps After Babies--will tell you that this woman knows what she's talking about.    Amber is all about goals and helping others a...