Issue No. 69

No. 69 // Oct. 2021

A New Equation for a New Life p.5

Dress Rehearsing for Tragedy

Dr. Sheila Kilbane A Pediatrician’s Path to Best-Selling Author and Thriving Practice Owner

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Curating Your Work of Art Called Life p.12

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A Less Convenient Path: The Power of Commitment p.21

What’s Their Secret?

This Team is Hitting Goals Left and Right! p.23

Train Like a Winner…

Be a Winner

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TABLE OF CONTENTS p.5

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Value = what? What is on the other side of your life’s value equation? Perhaps this story will motivate you to nail it down!

Thinking too much about the “what ifs”? Well, if they are good “what ifs” then, great! Dr. Webb talks about the dangers of negative thinking.

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p.12 Our life is a precious collection, just like art. That’s what makes each of us curators… so let’s learn how to be a master curator!

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p.14 Dr. Sheila Kilbane’s journey from her draining bank account to her best-seller. p.17

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Danielle shares some great advice on why we should never take things personally.

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p.20 How do you grill a romaine salad? Luke Wood shares his method!

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p.21 I study all the time and read a ton on the subject so of course I’m committed! Are you though? Learn the difference between being heavily interested and truly committed. p.23

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The Queens Road Dentistry team rallies together to stay on track!

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Trevor’s lesson on how to train to win that’s worth revisiting.

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Tell us about your awesome practice, practitioner, or team and send us your photos.

Editors Outlook The Quarterly Rain Curse Perhaps I am too busy running around indoors to have noticed the rain that everyone alludes to at some point in our conversation as we reminisce about San Antonio quarterlies. Perhaps if I had gone outside more often it may have ceased. Could the rain have been for me? Maybe the rain gods just wanted me to show my face in the bright of day as to say, “hey… I’m here... you can stop now.” And then that would have been the end of it.

A beautiful, rainy run on the San Antonio Riverwalk

In case you were unaware, it apparently “always rains during quarterly.” I know this, not because I have seen it myself, but because those are the words that get spoken every time I suggest an outdoor activity with no backup rain plan; and because apparently, it’s every quarterly. At least that’s what I’m told.

I have had some great experiences in my past on rainy days. I’ve ran long distances in rain and have felt an intense connection with God; I’ve silly-danced in it, and I’ve sat and just watched it for hours on end. But I’ve also had some less fun times with it. Like those occasions where I’m heading out the door for a dinner party and it ruins my hair, or when it’s pouring, and the entire bottom of my jeans get soaked and gross. There are few things that are worse than wearing wet socks to work on a cold day.

As I write this, I know two things are certain: one, I cannot control the weather, and two, since this article will be published in an issue that is set to launch during quarterly… I might be writing about something that is happening right now!

As the event director, I always pray that everything goes according to plan. I try and think through every last detail thoroughly with lists and diagrams and outlines and alternate routes. I research for new ideas and brainstorm with the team, and I absolutely love hearing “this was fun.” I try and control what I can by planning it out; and then, I give my plans to God. November is our first in-person quarterly in nearly two years and I keep joking with the team that I’ve completely forgotten how to run in-person events. Sometimes, I make jokes when I’m nervous.

I want quarterly to be amazing. I want it to be insightful and memorable and motivational and a bunch of other adjectives that will cause people to say, “this was fun.” But I actually don’t know how things will turn out. I don’t know if our equipment with fail with no warning, or if the lights will go out during a session, or if we will suddenly realize that we forgot all about a particular detail that could have been easily accounted for. And I don’t know if it will rain.

What I do know is that I will put an extraordinary amount of effort into the planning of this event and every event that follows.

And I know that the entire team does the same. I know that no matter how much I plan, I cannot control everything. And I know that I will have to repeat that last part to myself constantly; so I don’t forget.

As for the rain… can we just decide now that if it shows up, we will make it one of those euphoric dancing moments? I can promise to bring some extra socks with me just in case.

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By: Mariza Elizondo Oct. 2021

A New Equation for a New Life Chapter I grew up in rural Maine as an only child on a 32-acre functional farm. I lived in a small town of 1200, about 45 minutes west of Portland. Our town had an elementary school, but not a middle or high school. I had been working on the farm and in the bordering apple orchard and strawberry fields since I was eight, but I was desperately looking forward to the day I could get a real job.

There was a resort, about 20 minutes away; Point Sebago, that was right on a lake and had a campground, family activities, a golf course, and a marina. We had a boat on the lake since I was little and would fuel up at the Point Sebago marina most weekends during the summer. It was my dream to work there the moment I was of legal age, which was 14 in Maine back then.

“For the first time, I understood what I wanted out of life, and who I wanted to be, rather than what others wanted me to be for them.”

Each year Point Sebago would host interviews for all open positions starting at 9 a.m. over a weekend in May. Once, I showed up at 8:30, sat in the lobby and nervously waited to meet with the marina director.

When it was my turn, I confidently walked into the office and placed my resume on his desk. The director looked at my resume, back up at me, and back down to the piece of paper that had my work history and core values outlined.

“Strawberry picking, huh…” He said with a grin. “Kid, what are you, 90 pounds?”

“110 sir,” I replied.

“Sure, soaking wet… Listen kid, this job entails lifting 45-pound gas cans, up and down the docks all day long. You’re not big enough or strong enough to do the basic requirements of the job. See ya in a few years. Send the next person in.”

One of my most vivid childhood memories is watching the marina director casually brush my resume off his desk into his trash can.

Walking down the hallway toward the lobby I heard a voice call out. “Hey kid!” It was coming from the next office over and the name plate read: Director of Golf – Fran O’Keefe. I peeked my head in, still holding back tears from the devastating blow I had just received.

“I heard what that jerk just said. Buckets of golf balls only weigh 20 pounds. I was about to head over to the golf course, want to take a ride with me?”

Later that day I was given the prestigious title of “Range Boy.” The job came with a clock-in time of 5:30 a.m., five days a week and a wage of $4.25 an hour. My roles and responsibilities involved driving a golf cart with a flimsy, rusted metal cage around the driving range while vacationing golfers aimed directly at me. “Make sure the range stays clean, and the customers stay happy.” Fran took a chance on me, and I was not going to let him down.

During my second week of work the first shift cart boy didn’t show up. The cart boys were all college kids and were prone to staying out too late the night before. Fran came and got me out on the range around 5:45 a.m. on a Friday morning in June. “Leave the range cart here, get in. You just got promoted.” We raced toward the parking lot, while Fran explained the new job.

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“Stop the cart right behind their car, but don’t block another parking space. Grab their bags and put them on the back. Make sure they are secure on the cart. If there are more than two people, you sprint as fast as you can back to get another cart. Clean their clubs, point them to the pro-shop and get to the next car before they get out.”

There were four guys so I ran as fast as I could to get another cart. When I returned, the driver handed Fran a five-dollar bill, which he turned around and gave to me. It was more than I made per hour.

“Kid, this is a big job. So, if I don’t see you sprinting, I’ll assume you’re not working. Let’s see what you can do out here today.”

I didn’t see Fran again until 11 a.m. when I walked into his office dusty, sweaty, and exhausted. I had money falling out of every pocket of my cargo shorts. We counted it together; $220. The previous record for a 12-hour shift was $150. I was officially promoted, and I had a new story to drive my decisions, actions, and behavior:

Hard work = Value This equation drove my professional life from that point forward. Eventually I had new bosses to impress in different industries and greater responsibilities. The equation grew to:

Hard Work + Availability + # of Hours = Value And it served me, until it didn’t anymore.

It’s amazing how a single moment can drive the trajectory of your life. For some, these moments are traumatic, for others, they are triumphant. For better or worse, they unconsciously drive our decisions, actions, and behavior, many times for far longer than they’re useful.

Not only was this equation no longer serving me, but it was also actually damaging my life, my relationships, and stunting my professional growth. I was no longer sprinting for tips or being paid by the hour. I didn’t even have anyone to try and impress by working at night, on the weekends and clocking 70-plus hours per week. It certainly wasn’t adding to my productivity or the bottom line. The story had served me well for a long time, but it was time for a rewrite.

I was lucky to have some people in my life who had been through this, and who were able to coach and guide me through the process. The key was to start with personal values, not professional ones. For the first time, I understood what I wanted out of life, and who I wanted to be, rather than what others wanted me to be for them. I came out of this process with a new equation:

Value = My unique gifts, experiences, and how I live into my personal values each day I started valuing myself for who I was BEING, rather than finding my value in a never-ending cycle of hard work, increasing hours, and external validation. One of my coaches came up with a fun quote for me to remember every day. “Love yourself the way your dog does.” I did, and I refocused my professional life to work for me, rather than drive me. There are still times where I’ll clock extra hours, push through resistance or barriers, and encourage my team to do the same, but it’s done through a new lens.

My new equation has made me a better team member and leader, husband, father, and friend. And interestingly enough, it has equated to higher productivity, better decisions, and greater impact in a shorter amount of time.

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I check in with my new equation every morning while I journal. I reflect on my personal values and what is most important to my life. Adventure, Connection, Generosity, Adaptability, Truth. I think about how I’ll affirm my wife each day and how I can grow my relationship with my four-year-old son. It grounds me in what’s most important, and how I can show up for my day both personally and professionally. This daily exercise has dramatically improved my life.

I challenge you to take some time and sit with some of your most impactful and driving stories. Are they still serving you in your highest and best interest? If not, how can you take this opportunity to honor the lessons of your past, and move forward in a way that matches your personal and professional evolution? Realigning with what is most important to YOU will improve every aspect of your life, especially your business.

By: Seth Conger

Me and my family hiking in Golden, Colorado

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Dress Rehearsing for Tragedy A sure way to lose the opportunity for gratitude

Faith is an interesting word. It seems to carry different definitions depending on the circumstance we find ourselves in.

When things are going quite well it is easy to have faith that things will turn out as we hope; it’s easy to have a positive outlook on the future.

I find it peculiar to have conversations with people who claim to have strong faith, but obviously live in a state of anxiousness. The concept of faith existing alongside persistent worry is not congruent. How is our mind supposed to handle this? I ask myself, “why do they choose to allow an outcome, one in which they fear, dominate their thoughts?”

Could this just be a learned behavior, or is it some innate tendency inherited to survive, a reptilian response perhaps?

I’m not sure if we’ll ever know for sure, but what I do know is this; by allowing your thoughts to drift to the unpleasant, you are actually dress rehearsing for tragedy. Yep. You’re practicing it and planning it out all so well as you visualize things deteriorating. You can see it clearly and feel the accompanying emotions as a hollowness engulfs your inner being. I mean this is normal, right? We can’t just assume things will turn out good if not great? To be responsible, we must look at the worst-case scenario in all situations…right?

“The words that followed were attached to justifications; life situations that pulled her focus and her determination back into the “safe place” she had created in her mind. A self-made cell, padding included, to protect her from risk.”

With this said, there is nothing wrong with understanding and foreseeing risk. What’s not helpful or productive is to dwell on it. This is what I’m referring to as the “Dress Rehearsal”.

Have you found yourself in a place of peaceful content, in where all things seem to be going splendid, only to abruptly interrupt your joy and gratitude with “what if”? Have we been trained so well to believe this is some kind of mature 8 Hope for Health I No. 69

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response to living a responsible life? “Enjoy it while you can son, because tragedy always comes.” Who have you been listening to? Others who likely live in a state of worry rather than gratitude? Why is it so tough to simply keep our thoughts guarded against such destruction? Why do we tend not to choose gratitude? Why aren’t we inclined to dwell on gratitude?

I do have one theory that may tend to simplify this conundrum more than what is warranted, but then I do like simplicity. Here it is. Justification! That’s it, plain and simple. We like to justify things not turning out the way we hope so we don’t get hurt. We find reasons or make-up possible scenarios that could lead to “what we don’t want.”

Sounds crazy, but I see it all the time.

Case in point. I recently was conversing with a prospective client during an interview when the subject of faith came up. Diane stated her faith was her strength when filling out her homework. But was it?

I probed Diane for answers regarding her hesitancy to make changes when she made it clear her current situation was totally unacceptable. In fact, it had been unacceptable for quite a few years and was clearly affecting her sanity and her marriage. As I paused for her response, I witnessed her posture stiffen as her head tilted up and turned ever so slightly to the left. Her eyes looking upward as if searching her brain for the obvious answer. It never came. The words that followed were attached to justifications; life situations that pulled her focus and her determination back into the “safe place” she had created in her mind. A self-made cell, padding included, to protect her from risk.

Where was the faith? Perhaps there is a misunderstanding of the term, as I tend to participate in similar conversations more often than not.

I’m a man of faith, both in God and in my ability to handle challenges. This allows me to have hope in my future. I bring this up because I see individuals use God as a justification for things not hoped for. “Our business will do well if it’s God’s will.” Hang on. So, you’re telling me that if you fail to market your business, fail to understand entrepreneurship, and fail to take extreme ownership, and your business fails, that was just God’s will?

Of course, we should be in line with God’s will. And your willingness to work, provide for your family, and make a positive impact in this world is His will.

Is it your will to make things work? Is it your will to make your marriage work, or do you dwell on it unraveling? Hmm. This brings up a whole other topic called Commitment. I’ll wait on this for my next lesson.

Here’s your take-away. Start dress rehearsing for a beautiful show. What do you have to lose? Perhaps it really is that simple. Learn to take your thoughts captive and recognize when you’re playing out scenarios to justify unpleasant outcomes.

Leave with this thought, Imagine driving down the coastline during sunset on your way to dinner with dear friends. While enjoying the bliss of the moment, you suddenly begin to dwell on having an accident. You wonder what if you don’t make it to dinner. How long would you hold on to that thought? Why would you dress rehearse for that type of outcome? So why do it for your business, your marriage, your health, or anything for that matter?

Dress rehearse for what you want in gratitude.

By: Dr. Charles Webb

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Be Your Life’s Master Curator "You are a product of your environment. So, choose the environment that will best develop you toward your objective. Analyze your life in terms of its environment. Are the things around you helping you toward success - or are they holding you back?"

- W. Clement Stone Have you ever seen an episode of Queer Eye? If you haven’t, I encourage you to do so, you will learn some great tips on how to improve your life. On the show, five experts, called the Fab Five, set out to help individuals refine their wardrobes, grooming, diet, cultural pursuits, and home décor. In essence, they help people become curators of their own lives.

Curators are people who select, organize, and look after items in a collection or exhibition so if you have ever attended an art gallery, a curator was responsible for its development and care. I want to invite you to take on this role in your life. Select, organize, and look after your life as if it were a priceless collection in development. Curate every aspect and pay special attention to your environment.

The surroundings and conditions in which you live and operate in, including the natural world as a whole, are crucial to curating a precious work of art out of your life.

And if you are like most people, it is likely that you are already invested in and intentional with your business, relationships, fitness, and spirituality so why not become a master of your environment as well? If you are a driven person, know exactly what you want, and where you’re going that’s great, but does your environment support that?

It is said that you are a product of your environment. So, if your environment can influence you, then you also have the ability to influence and curate it as well. How you dress, eat, groom, and decorate your home, for example, says a lot about who you are and your internal state - as within, so without.

Think about yourself in each of the areas. Are you presenting yourself in a way worthy of a priceless exhibition? You must also understand that how you present yourself to the world has nothing to do with the world and everything to do with you. It has to do with having a sense of pride in who you are. And there is a difference between having a virtue of pride and being prideful.

Pride is a commitment to achieve self-esteem by taking credit and responsibility for acting on one's judgment, in accordance with principles and values. Pride is about feeling gratified and honored by something, feeling satisfied or happy about a fact or event while prideful is feeling superior or arrogant. Can you think of something you feel a great sense of pride in? What is it about that thing that makes you feel that way? Once you figure that out, I invite you to bring that same quality into becoming a master curator in every aspect of your life.

Blessings, Angel Santiago

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PRACTITIONER SPOTLIGHT: Dr. Sheila Kilbane

Pediatrician Proves Success is Earned, Not Given “When you have seen one child improve so profoundly with nutrition and with this integrated process, you can't not do this.”

Dr. Sheila Kilbane, FPC veteran practitioner and owner of Infinite Health, just finished launching her first book with the intention of reaching as many people as possible. Her hope is to give parents and other practitioners tools and techniques to transform the health of children for good. “Healthy Kids, Happy Moms” does more than talk about the seven-step process to heal and prevent childhood illnesses; it helps alleviate the frustration that parents often face while at their doctor’s office - not being heard.

As a child, Sheila would frequently run severely high fevers and became very familiar with feeling insignificant during routine doctor’s visits. There was no attempt on the doctor’s end to form any sort of connection with her or her mother, and much less, to determine the root of the problem.

“My mother would take me to the doctor to get a shot of penicillin and I would be scared, and the doctor would never even talk to me. She’d ask him if there was something else we could do or if we should be looking deeper, and he was just not interested in investigating that at all.”

“She’d ask him if there was something else we could do or if we should be looking deeper, and he was just not interested in investigating that at all.”

The experiences she had in her youth reiterated her interest in the health industry and in 2002, Sheila earned her medical degree and then began practicing shortly after finishing her residency. But she had a dream. Sheila wanted to run her own practice and in 2012 it finally became a reality.

“When I left the previous practice I was in, it was one of the happiest days of my life. I always knew I wanted to have my own business, but I had no idea how to run a practice. I didn’t even know what an excel spreadsheet was; and I was just bleeding money and draining bank accounts for three years.”

Sheila first heard about FPC while listening to a functional medicine webinar and later, while at a Mindshare mastermind conference, she asked the organizations founder, JJ Virgin, for her thoughts on the Freedom Practice Program.

“I asked her if she'd ever heard of FPC and she said, yes! I hear they're working miracles down there. So, it was a pretty good endorsement. So, I called [FPC’s] Mike Smith and said you’ve got to come with me. And we went down to San Antonio, and both signed up.”

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According to Sheila, what came after signing was the hard part. She said that she worked harder in her first year with FPC than she had since medical school and keeping all the to-do’s from causing overwhelm was challenging.

“Getting all the details done was tough. I had set things up, but I didn’t have it organized. FPC is like a well-oiled machine and the systems approach is just brilliant. I mean, I increased my monthly revenue by seven times in my first year.”

“Follow the system!” Sheila stated passionately before I could even finish my “what advice would you give other’s” question. “I am that classic person who isn’t always consistent in doing things the way they should be done,” she added.

“I think if I had followed more closely, I could have done things a little quicker.”

Sheila is now a best-selling author, an owner of a thriving practice, and has plans in the works to get one million kids off medicine. And though she has nailed down her purpose, is clear on her “why,” and is continuously expanding her vision; she feels that true success is in how you live out every day.

“It's that inner peace and being in flow as much as possible. The walls could be falling down around me, but I always do yoga; I meditate every day, and I always eat healthy.”

By: Mariza Elizondo

“I'm a voice for children and an ear for parents and a resource for other healthcare practitioners.”

-Dr. Sheila Kilbane

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2022 QUARTERLY DATES

Winter Quarterly February 11th – 13th Virtual

Summer Quarterly August 12th – 14th Virtual

Spring Quarterly May 19th – 22nd The Westin Riverwalk, San Antonio

Fall Quarterly November 10th – 13th The Westin Riverwalk, San Antonio

TELL US ABOUT IT: Your FPC team works extra hard on making every event valuable and unique.

Careful thought is placed into the type of content we deliver, the networking opportunities we provide, and even how the event theme helps tie everything together. This is all planned with you in mind. So that’s why your opinion is important to us.

If you have an idea, we’d love to hear it! If you’ve seen something done before that would be fun to have at one of our events, let us know. And if you’ve experienced something during quarterly that you felt just wasn’t awesome, we’d like to hear about that too.

Tell us how we’re doing and how we can improve.

y l r e t r a #fpcqu Email the Event Director.

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The Power of Not Taking Things Personally Have you ever been cut off by a stranger in traffic and felt an immediate shift in your mood? Did it cause enough anger for you to yell out your favorite curse word? Or perhaps you cut someone off accidentally and were given a dramatic, angry gesture in return. And as they sped off you thought to yourself “it was an accident; I didn’t even see you!”

There is power in how you receive the energy of others; both negative and positive. There is power in how you receive words of praise, or words of discouragement; a smile, or an evil stare; criticism from somebody you admire, or compliments from strangers on social media. There is power in how you respond, and you can choose to allow the negative energy to weaken you, or to remain strong and not take it personally.

Recently, I discovered patterns in my life where this influential power emerged. If someone gave me a seemingly dirty look, I’d wilt. Don’t they know how nice I am? If I was given praise, it boosted my confidence. Yes! You see, I am awesome!

The trouble with running on this type of externally created energy is that your happiness, your joy, your peace, and your motivation are dependent on others. How others speak and interact with you will determine your day and even worse, your self-worth.

“I learned that the hard grief I experienced…was not only about her absence in my daily life but also the loss of her constant affirmations that had been my fuel since I was a child.”

A depressed, discontented, or unmotivated person will drain your energy supply. And if they are truly angry, or at severely low levels of stress or depression, you will fall right in step with them. How many times have you been enraged by something you’ve read on social media? Have you ever felt your mood begin to shift when you are in a PME with someone whose spouse is sitting with their arms tightly crossed and daggers in their eyes?

“Breathe,” I tell myself. “It’s not about me!”

When I choose words with the intention of uplifting a team member just to have them met with an eye-roll, it’s not about me. When “well, that’s dumb” is what follows my voiced opinion with my partner, it’s not about me. When the cashier is rude and short for absolutely no reason, it’s not about me. The energy of others is never about you and always about them. You must remember to never take it personally.

Growing up I was the youngest in a very large family and was doted on and given a tremendous amount of positive attention and feedback. I was constantly being told I was the most intelligent, the prettiest, and the most creative individual. According to my family my brilliance was unmatched! While they had good intentions, this was detrimental to my growth because I became very dependent on these types of affirmations from others. I didn’t know my purpose or who I was unless someone else breathed it into me.

It’s been almost two years since I lost my Nana, and it wasn’t until much later that I learned that the hard grief I experienced as a result was not only about her absence in my daily life, but also the loss of her constant affirmations that had been my fuel since I was a child. She told me I was going to change the world and I believed her. I had grown utterly dependent on her loving words of encouragement. I miss my Nana dearly, and I am also very thankful that I am no longer that person who seeks out positive words and energy from others. Now, I look within myself to create my own uplifting energy.

In the Celestine Prophecy they discuss the civilizations that disappeared from the earth, discovering that when they vibrated at a collectively higher frequency they went to another dimension, heaven, plane. Can you imagine if every one of us chose to speak life into others, emit

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positive energy, and not take anything personally? The things we would accomplish!

You are wonderfully and fearfully made, and no one should ever be able to take that from you. Take your power back.

Never take things personally and remember that no one has your vision, your skill set, your experience, or your divine purpose. Always rise above and choose to operate on a higher frequency.

With Love, Danielle Chandler

Me & my Nana

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Luke Wood’s

Grilled Romaine Salad Recipe INGREDIENTS

2 heads of romaine lettuce (cut vertically) Avocado oil Kosher salt Black pepper One medium lemon cut in half Fresh parmesan cheese Cherry tomatoes Green goddess dressing (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Make sure grates of grill are clean and turn to medium high (350-400F).

2. Brush lettuce halves liberally with avocado oil. Then sprinkle each side with salt & pepper.

3. Grill for 3-5 minutes, cut side down, pressing with your tongs to make sure the lettuce gets a good sear.

Flip and grill for 2-3 more minutes.

4. Remove from grill. Sprinkle with more salt and pepper. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over each half.

Use a grater to shave fresh parmesan on each half.

5. Cut off the bottom of each half (the hard part). Chop into smaller pieces.

6. Cut cherry tomatoes (3 per half) and add green goddess dressing (it is just as good with no dressing).

7. Serve & Enjoy!

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The Power of Commitment “There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it is convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.” – Ken Blanchard Almost everyone thinks that they are committed to something in which their actions actually contradict their belief. We all know that person who is very forthcoming about their future plans of achievement but when it comes down to committing to the steps it involves to execute their plans, we hear crickets. Have you ever been guilty of this? I have and I’m grateful for those hard-earned lessons to be able to grow and improve.

I was in college when I first began my journey into health and wellness and even though I was a collegiate runner, I was starting to struggle with different health related issues. In practice, my workouts were getting worse, I was always drained of energy, and I would experience an intense burn in my legs even during easy paced runs. I lacked confidence and wasn’t living the college life like my teammates.

I started to research to see what could possibly be going on and stumbled upon a list of symptoms for low testosterone and almost all of them resonated with me. But how could this be? I was in my early twenties; I was strong and fit. I spoke with doctors who just pushed me aside since I appeared healthy and said my testosterone level was “within normal range.” I’m sure most of us have had this experience before; being told everything looks normal and feeling completely abnormal.

“When Oreo’s were placed in front of me, I wouldn’t just eat a couple, I would eat the whole container. Then I would spend the next day feeling guilty and disgusted.”

I started spending hours a day researching health and learning about how fats weren’t evil and how chronic cardio like I was doing can tank your hormones, especially testosterone. At this point, I was interested; very interested, so I slowly started to make changes. I increased my fat content, started to decrease gluten, and implemented a few of the other little things I had learned. But as soon as it was no longer convenient, I would cave. When Oreo’s were placed in front of me, I wouldn’t just eat a couple, I would eat the whole container. Then I would spend the next day feeling guilty and disgusted. This cycle went on for almost two years.

I finally had enough with the back-and-forth yo-yoing. I was tired of not getting the results I wanted and feeling crappy several days a week. I needed to do something different; I needed to make a commitment. So, I went all in.

Up until that point endurance sports had been my identity and I knew giving that up would be difficult. But making this commitment meant I had to let that go. I stopped the chronic cardio that I was doing and started weight training. I cut out gluten permanently as well as the other foods that were causing my issues. And sure enough, I started to feel better. I had more energy, I was adding muscle mass, and the burning in the legs stopped. My confidence improved and all the symptoms I was struggling with vanished.

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All it took was going all in, and not just doing it when it was convenient. The extensive research would mean nothing if I hadn’t implemented the appropriate steps needed to get the results I desired. It took focusing on my goals and the life I wanted to live. It took a mindset shift in order to say that enough was enough and that my current life wasn’t acceptable, and it was up to me and only me to make a change.

So, are you committed? If you skip the work you need to do to watch Netflix, or often choose the path of least resistance, you may be interested but you’re not committed.

Author Steven Pressfield says “resistance cannot be seen, touched, heard, or smelled. But it can be felt. We experience it as an energy field radiating from a work-in-potential. It’s a repelling force. It’s negative. Its aim is to shove us away, distract us, prevent us from doing our work.”

Be aware of the resistance in your life. Generally, the thing you want to do the least, is what you should work on the most.

If you know you should practice your presentation but choose to spend time on email or chatting for hours instead, that’s resistance. If you know you should input your stats but use that time for studying or reading clinical articles, that’s resistance. Giving in to the call of the Oreo versus committing to live the life I desired was resistance.

Stand up to resistance and choose the path less traveled, it’s much more beautiful.

By: Luke Wempe

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Queens Road Dentistry Team

Repeat Goal-Hitters Working Together “Figure out what your core values are and hire people who have the same core values.”

With the help of the FPC hiring process and his coach, Forrest Norman, DDS, has zeroed in on his core values and has assembled an outstanding “A team” at Queens Road Dentistry. The team of seven have been hitting back-to-back monthly goals and finally broke free from declaring September as their “plagued month.”

“August was our best month ever. We hit a hundred thousand and we’ve never done that. And we are hitting goal in September as well and it used to be our worst month of the year. We used to call it suck-tember.”

Forrest joined FPC in March of 2020 and hit a few bumps from the get-go. Due to the onset of the pandemic, he made the difficult decision to close his doors for a full seven weeks and then lost a good number of his staff amid the transition.

“I was worried that keeping track of the numbers daily would take the focus off the practice member and thought that we’d be too focused on money, but the opposite happened.”

Despite the challenge, Forrest found a way to persevere. He took the advice of his coach to heart and implemented what he was taught. This not only allowed him to stay focused but also helped him develop a team that he is truly grateful for.

Amy, Forrest’s wife, has officially joined the team as a health coach, is closing programs like a champ, and according to Forrest has “always had a passion for real food and how important it is for nourishing the body.” Robyn, Dental Hygienist, is a “five-star google review superstar and is amazing at building relationships with patients,” said Forrest.

Queens Road’s newest team member, Madison (Dental Hygienist), “hit the ground running and is wise beyond her years.”

Kristen, Office Manager, is super organized and Forrest says she is “great with stats and keeps everyone in check and on point.”

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Tyra is the Orthodontics Assistant who knows everything! “I think she may know more about orthodontics than I do,” says Forrest. “And if we want a real answer that is not sugar-coated, we ask Rita (Clinical Assistant).”

With the help of his team and FPC, Forrest put several systems in place for bringing in new practice members. Now, he has not only doubled the amount of his new monthly clients, but he was able to do something this year that he hadn’t done since he opened his doors. He took a 10-day vacation.

“I took the family to Montana. I used to go there twice a year and just loved it but had never taken the whole family, so it was pretty special. And I’ve taken vacations here and there but never two weeks!”

My guess is that Forrest Norman’s team will continue to appear on our communities list of “weekly wins” because according to his coach, they always rally together and find a way to hit their goals; and Forrest says it’s all about keeping track of the numbers.

“I was worried that keeping track of the numbers daily would take the focus off the practice member and thought that we’d be too focused on money, but the opposite happened. The team gets excited and motivated when we go through the numbers because we know where we’re at. When we started keeping track, that was key.”

Hitting goals is one of the many things that the Queens Road team does together. Each morning they huddle up to review their game plan and tackle any concerns or pressing issues; and they consistently role-play during their weekly team trainings to nail down the discovery call. Sometimes, they even do this over lunch at their favorite restaurant.

“Yesterday for our staff meeting, we went out to lunch. We are definitely making goal, so we were also celebrating. And we had our meeting at a local restaurant and celebrated our two months in a row of hitting goals.”

There is no question that Forrest’s team has experienced a significant amount of growth and he attributes their success to FPC and the guidance of his coach.

“We really enjoy being with FPC. I mean, it's just a wealth of information! And my coach Luke has really helped build my business. We worked on building a good team by sticking to our core values. We are very cohesive; we communicate well, and perform well. And we like each other too!”

By: Mariza Elizondo

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The Three Components for Effective Training I’ve been a music enthusiast my entire life. I started playing piano when I was only six years old. I was 10 when I started playing the trumpet and 15 when I started playing the guitar. My family seems to have a lot of musical talent in our genes. I was first chair in my high school, district, and county symphonic and jazz bands. I even received awards and scholarships.

I wrote music, sang, and played one instrument or another in multiple bands and genres covering ska, swing, rock, punk, folk, bluegrass, even circus sideshow music! So, when I recently decided to learn to play a song by one of my favorite artists, John Mayer, I figured it wouldn’t be too difficult. But when I picked up the guitar and actually started to play, I couldn’t do it. I sounded terrible. It felt like I had never touched a guitar in my life.

Why? It was a new picking pattern that I had never played before. John made it sound so easy the way he was able to flawlessly play while singing. And even though I’ve been playing music for over 30 years, for me this was a new skill set; so, I had to go back to training.

I broke down the song into small parts. I worked on the picking pattern without even playing any notes. I repeated it hundreds of times until I developed my muscle memory. Then, I read the notes. I played a few at a time and repeated just those few over and over until I felt comfortable with both the picking pattern and where the placement of my left hand was for playing the chords. Slowly, I was able to learn to play the entire song.

Whether we have natural talent in an area, or are getting completely outside of our comfort zone, we all need to learn how to train. There are three components to effective training that can apply to any pursuit, whether professional or personal.

First, we need to study the content. Training starts with understanding the basic steps of the skill. Read, watch tutorials, study the theory. How much time are you setting aside to study FPC content? For new practices we recommend two hours per day.

Second, and most important, is repetition. There is not adequate replacement for doing the reps. The famous Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comaneci, trained six hours No. 69

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a day, five days a week, as she prepared to perform a 40 second uneven bars routine in the 1976 Montreal Olympics where she scored the first ever perfect 10. Think about that. Years of training for 40 seconds of perfection! How many times have you role-played the call script to deliver a perfect Discovery Call experience? How many times have you practiced your webinar or PME? Training requires repetition. How much time is your team spending training together? We recommend two hours per week for team training.

Third, successful training requires visualization. As we practice and role-play, we want to try to put ourselves as much in the real scenario as possible. The more we can replicate the real setting, the more we will build the right mental and muscle memory to be able to recreate our performance when the time comes for the real thing. When you role-play a PME, read the paperwork and imagine that you are actually talking to that person. Be empathetic by imagining this person is someone you know. Bring your role-play to life and make it real! Remember, “the way you do anything, is the way you do everything.”

If we think training is a waste of time and we can do it halfheartedly, understand that you will likely show up halfhearted when it’s real.

“Whether we have natural talent in an area, or are getting completely outside of our comfort zone, we all need to learn how to train.”

Before becoming a legend and having the Super Bowl trophy named after him, Vince Lombardi coached high school and college football for 20 years and almost gave up and went back to his former career of banking. Then he got his big chance with the Green Bay Packers. He went on to win five NFL championships, including the first two Super Bowls. He had a love for training. He delivered and expected excellence in every single practice. He lived the way he trained. He said, “Winning is not a sometime thing. You don’t win once in a while - you don’t do things right once in a while - you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.”

The way we show up for training is the way we will show up for life. Take time to study. Put in the reps, don’t cut corners.

Take role-playing seriously, use visualization, and make it real. If we train like winners, then we have already won the benefits through who we become.

By: Dr. Trevor Botts

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Publisher: Freedom Practice Coaching Editor-in-Chief: Mariza Elizondo Designer: Angel Santiago