Magnificent Living Magazine by Kristie Kennedy

Content 04

You’re Speaking My Life Language

Are You Too Stressed to Be Blessed?

Less is More

Mirror Reflection

Google + Should You Be There?

The Do’s and Don’ts of Event Planning

Beautiful Black Man

Top Ten Ways He Makes My Heart Melt With Thanks

Crystal Morrissey

Dr. Asha Fields Brewer

Jayne Rowe Lincoln

Toni Zasa

Andrea Lindal

Carolyn Horne Robbins

Kristie Kennedy Ward

Lamont and Kristie Ward

Today is the Day!

Fitness Feature Interview with Laticia “Action” Jackson

Lamont and Kristie Ward

This Month

January 2015

WELCOME

Letter from the Editor At the beginning of 2014 I started the year off with a crystal clear vision of what I expected to manifest and nothing less. As a result of unyielding faith in God and the future ahead many of my deepest desires where placed in the palm of my hands.

vember 29, 2014 I married the man who held the key to my heart. This will undoubtedly be the overshadowing highlight of this year. I am beyond blessed with the honor of continuing my days as Mrs. Kristie Kennedy Ward.

For six years I suffered long with fibroid tumors and had surgery in February which set the tone for all that was to come. After my body healed, I had more energy than I ever had in my entire life. The joy of being able to walk up a flight of stairs without feeling completely winded was amazing. I began working out to build my core muscles and increase physical endurance. There were times I found myself overwhelmed to the point of tears because I had never pushed myself to that degree.

Whew! So here we are in the month of December and my cup is running over! Recently, I was consulting with a woman who stated her ideal weight was 135. I asked, “Can you honestly see yourself 50 pounds lighter?” In reply, “I can’t see it happening.” This is sadly one of the key reasons countless individuals remain stagnant year after year. We were created to evolve continually. Our growth can be impeded by people, places, perceptions and prizes unless we work diligently to see our goals actualized.

During the course of the first 6 months and while recovering from major surgery I had a dynamic web team in California building my new website www.kristiekennedy.com which was launched in June. I obtained another life coaching certification and traveled several times throughout the United States. Multiple articles and featured interviews were published including countless other victories too numerous to name. My humility was tested on various levels as I served under antagonist leaders. I read a quote the other day that said, “Mean people are so yesterday.” Around August, I began to declare that I would finish the year strong. I was afforded an opportunity to serve as a medical esthetician and skin care expert. This was one of my main objectives to continue the work of empowering women. Last but certainly, not least the beauty of a lifelong dream finally came true. On No-

In order to experience unfathomable change in your life, it will require that you relinquish any form of fear that is holding your magnificence hostage. As we prepare to turnover a new leaf, I encourage you throughout the coming days and weeks to reach for more, expect, expand and explore! Dare to BELIEVE YOU CAN ACHIEVE ANYTHING in 2015!

Magnificently Yours, Kristie Kennedy

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You’re Speaking My Life Language During my mid-twenties, I spent two years living and working in Jerusalem, Israel. My Hebrew language skills were conversant at best—good enough to order coffee, take a taxi or ask directions. I worked in an English-speaking office, publishing an English-language magazine. But after work each day, when I walked outside those office doors, my environmental”soundtrack” switched abruptly from English to Hebrew. Teenagers argued on the bus ride home—in Hebrew. TV news echoed from my neighbor’s open window—in Hebrew. Pop lyrics rang through my favorite restaurant—in Hebrew. I understood small bits of these “soundtrack” conversations, but most of the language surrounding me became a sort of hum, lost in the background. One summer afternoon, I was sitting outside in my private garden. It wasn’t a particularly quiet environment; my neighborhood was always bustling, full of young families enroute to nearby parks, shops and synagogues. But all of a sudden, my ears perked up, catching an entirely unexpected sound: I heard a distinctly English-speaking crowd, singing ”Happy Birthday!” just beyond the treeline that bordered my backyard. My emotional reaction was intense and overwhelming, a catch in my throat that couldn’t decide between laughter or tears. That first song lasted less than ten seconds—and had the story ended there, I would have been entirely satisfied. But instead, my unexpected gift kept giving: The group sang “Happy Birthday” THREE MORE TIMES (presumably to celebrate multiple birthdays), ending their final iteration with, “You look like a monkey, and you smell like one too!” That night I went to sleep smiling. I smiled so deeply and for so long, I’m convinced my face still displays traces of a grin that never quite wore off.

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Communication: Mine, Yours and Ours Looking back on that afternoon, I recognize something critical to my work as a women’s life and relationship coach: Sometimes, I need to HEAR something in my own language—the language that connects to my deepest emotions, resurrects my oldest experiences, and reassures my most vulnerable, inner-child self. Other times, I need to SAY something in my own language— the language that expresses my raw authenticity, straight from the most passionate part of my soul. Sometimes, I need language to pull me out of my head, to pluck me out of my white-noise environment, awakening me to a place where I am fully conscious within my own life. As a coach, I’m trained to converse in the personal languages spoken by my clients, utilizing whichever resources make them feel closer to “home.” Sometimes I’m fluent in a client’s native language, but other times I need to pick it up as we go. In either case, when my clients and I speak the SAME language, something amazing actually “clicks”—and serious stuff begins to happen. From that place of common language, I can ask deeper and more dynamic questions. My clients can answer with greater clarity, conviction and confidence. The coaching process thrives on questions that “hit home,” and intimacy develops whenever a client says, “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” (C.S. Lewis) Got Five? Try Fifty. In 1995, Gary Chapman published his popular book The Five Love Languages. Its decades-old

message still inspires readers, helping us to communicate within our relationships. But as a coach, I’m trained to ask the BIGGER, more powerful questions... and so I ask, “Why stop at five? Why not try fifty?” According to Terri Hase, MMC (Professional Life Coach Instructor for Impact Coaching Academy), most of us speak dozens of “topical languages”— frameworks of communication, formed by our personal learning styles and life experiences. When teaching about direct communication, Terri challenges her students to quickly list every language they already speak—and no, she wasn’t referring to English, Hebrew or Gobbledygook. She tosses out examples like “I speak sister,” “I speak chef,” or “I speak manager.” By using contextual language, Terri explains, coaches can translate analogous ideas into relatable “points of connection,” keeping clients focused, motivated and inspired. Because I’m a sucker for list-making, (shouldn’t it be an Olympic sport?) I got excited about Terri’s exercise. Per her suggestion, I wrote for five minutes. When I finally put my pencil down, I was humbled by the strong-yet-simple statements staring back at me. Here are a few highlights from my five-minute list: I speak woman. I speak wife. I speak child. I speak childless. I speak color and images and art. I speak words and paper and ink. I speak family and friendship and community. I speak independence, codependence and God-dependence. I speak self-employment, self-esteem and self-expression. I speak addiction, relapse and recovery. I speak stressed out, overworked and under-appreciated. I speak fear and faith and flexibility. I speak courage, authenticity and transparency. I speak hope-lost, hope-in-process and hope-restored. I speak “life-interrupted,” and I speak “life goes on.”

ing and empowering—when you hear it, when you speak it, and especially when you share it. (2) You’ve probably already got more language power than you realize. Want to test that theory? Try Terri’s exercise for yourself. I think you’ll be impressed with the results. Grab a pen, paper and your sense of adventure. Don’t do it tomorrow—do it right now. Start by listing your top five life languages, the ones you speak most comfortably and fluently. Easy peasy, right? Now go for ten, then twenty, then fifty! Get creative, get curious and get gutsy. I know you can do it—and you know it, too. If you need a brainstorm boost, try to recall everything you’ve said and done this past week: what you’ve read, where you’ve gone, whom you’ve met, what you’ve created. Need to energize a few more ideas? Try humming that stuckin-your-head single from Snap! (1989): “Quality / I possess something / I’m fresh / When my voice goes through the rest / I’ve got the power!” In Closing... A long time has passed since I lived in Jerusalem. In retrospect, I did a LOT of “growing up” during those two years: I started making decisions with intention (versus by default), and I finally learned to recognize and value my own inner voice. But WHO KNEW my voice was so MULTI-LINGUAL?! I’m excited to collect even more life languages, globalizing my vocabulary along the way. As a woman, I’m grateful to know my own voice. As a coach, I’m privileged to help my clients discover and use their own voices, too. I’m honored to engage in these powerful conversations—because if I’ve learned one thing about life and relationships, it all comes down to this:

Life Languages: “I’ve Got the Power”

Even one word (in any language) can make a world of difference.

So, what’s the two-part lesson that connects my Jerusalem story and Terri’s exercise? It’s pretty straightforward: (1) Personal language is excit-

Crystal Morrissey Women’s Life and Relationship Coach crystalmor@mac.com

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Are You Too Stressed to Be Blessed? As Millennial Women, we are always on the go and making moves. We convince 24-hours to yield 36 hours’ worth of results. We balance roles in the church, in the home, on the job, and in the community; and we somehow manage to squeeze in an entrepreneurial project at lunch! To the outsider, it appears we have it all together. However, on the inside, we are fighting off anxiety and a complete breakdown. Why is success such a struggle? Are we too stressed to be blessed? Martha can relate perfectly to the plight of the Millennial Woman. Jesus came to visit her and her sister after their brother Lazarus passed away. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and everyone joined in on the celebration, except Martha. Martha made her place in the kitchen, preparing hors d’oeuvres for the masses that now gathered in her living room. Even though Martha had just witnessed a miracle and was in the presence of Jesus Himself, she chose to keep working. Martha became so stressed that she called out Mary for not helping, and she even called out Jesus for not calling out Mary! Jesus stated that Martha was “anxious and troubled” (Luke 10:41). He saw that she was stressing about work, and it was impeding upon her ability to serve

from her spirit. After all, God’s equation for success includes both natural prosperity and spiritual prosperity. (3 John 1:2, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth”). Furthermore, these two elements of godly success are linked by an important factor---good health. This leads us to why success is so difficult for Millennial Women. We are not able to balance spiritual success, natural success, and good health. God promises not to put more on us than we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), and to some, success is unbearable. To be a business owner, but fill our temple with fast food, is not success. To be a stellar mom, but never engage in physical activity, is not success. To be a church leader, but get only two hours of sleep per night, is not success. To achieve anything, yet neglect our temple, is not success. Martha’s story is a reminder that good intentions plus hard work can still cause us to miss our blessing. Avoid being a “Millennial Martha,” by taking on these “Six Health Tips Women on the Go”: M- Make time to eat. Skipping meals slows down your metabolism and makes you less efficient overall. Eat five to six times per day, including snacks and meals.

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A- Add activity to your daily routine. You may not make it to the gym, but you can get a workout in the workplace. Try exercises such as calf raises or crunches when you are seated, and side-leg raises and squats when you are standing. R- Respect your rest. Lack of rest leads to decreased productivity and poor mental and physical health. Strive for seven to nine hours of sleep most nights of the week. T- Time for self. If you keep giving to others throughout the day, you leave yourself at risk for drain and fatal exhaustion. Retreat for at least 10 minutes per day, and just focus on you. H- Hydration. Water is essential for life. Juices, sodas, and water flavorings do not have the same health properties as water itself. Aim for 64 ounces of unadulterated water every day. A- Always pray. We know that when we make God a priority in our life, He blesses immeasurably (Matthew 6:33). Stay in conversation with God, and He will continue to guide you towards success. Dr. Asha Fields Brewer Speaker, Writer, Radio Personality www.doctorasha.com

Less is

More DO NOT wait until you are in the middle of a task to decide what else you need to accomplish. The key to getting more done in less time is deciding on a specific set of tasks and sticking to them. Random thoughts of additional tasks should be added to a new list for next time. Because some tasks are just not compatible with each other, you should group tasks that can essentially be worked on simultaneously. If you have phone calls to answer you should choose tasks that can be interrupted at any moment. Avoid reading a document while talking with someone on the phone, obviously these two tasks are not compatible. Try doing one big project coupled with several ‘mini’ projects. This will allow completion of the smaller tasks to be done while waiting on items related to the larger project. Have a Dr.’s appointment? Try working on simple tasks while in the waiting room. Keep a notebook and pen with you at all times. After all, while sitting in a waiting room you tend to have many great ideas run through your mind. Jot them down for your next list. Getting more done with less time is as simple as knowing what needs to be done and when. Not everything will have the same deadline. Always refer to your ‘list’ to help you stay on task. You’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish when you begin to group similar tasks while making your to do list! Jayne Rowe Lincoln, Creative Artist and Designer jaynerowe59@gmail.com

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MirrorReflection “I’m fat”. Those two tiny words hung heavier on me than any amount of weight ever did. Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I was disgusted. And I started recalling all the other times in my life I had looked at that girl in the mirror and called her horrible names. Ugly. Fat. Stupid. Disgusting. Yes, I have said all these things to myself, more than once. I knew that I had to do something. Surely I could be pretty. I could be acceptable, if I could just lose weight. If I could step on a scale and see the number that I deemed normal, or pull on a pair of jeans that were an “acceptable” size, I could then love myself. I knew I had to try. That was over a year ago. Since then, I have lost 70 pounds. I didn’t diet. I ate healthier. Lean meat, lots of green veggies, gallons of water. I exercised. I started jogging. I did things the only way I knew how, the only way that I knew I could maintain. And I lost a lot of weight. With every pound that came off, I was ecstatic. I’d look at myself in the mirror and think, “Wow, you look amazing!” But as I dropped more and more weight, I began to get used to seeing myself smaller and it became normal. And once again, my normal didn’t seem good enough. I took up my old routine of standing in front of the mirror, picking myself apart. Arms are too fat. I hate my thighs. God, look at my stomach! I had actually convinced myself at one point that the 70 pounds I lost was a farce. Loved ones were just telling me I looked so much thinner and health-

ier to be nice. The scale had to be broken. There was no way that girl I saw in the mirror weighed that much less. There was just too much wrong with her. Slowly, I began slipping back down into that abyss. I left the house depressed almost every morning, after spending close to an hour just destroying the poor, sad girl who stared back at me from the mirror. I felt completely unwanted and I felt entirely unworthy of love. But it hit me, in the dressing room of a plus size store that I frequented. The clothes no longer fit. Not because I was too big, but because they were too big. It was true. The smallest size was now too big for my frame. There was no denying or convincing myself that I had not lost weight; I had. And like a ton of bricks hitting me, I realized that the people in my life who encouraged me, gave me their words of praise for the hard work I had done, told me I was beautiful every step of the way, they meant it. Every word, from beginning to end was sincere, regardless of my weight. Only I was so busy hating myself that I couldn’t see that I was worthy of love. It was never about the weight, it was about me. I had beaten myself down for so long that I didn’t love myself and just couldn’t believe that anyone else could either. So yes, I have lost 70 pounds. I look different than I did a year ago. I can see my collarbones. The clothes I wear are smaller. My face is thinner. But that’s just my shell. What really matters, all

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that ever has, is still the same. I’m still me. I still laugh at silly jokes. I still cry over those sappy holiday commercials. I still get as excited as a kid when Christmas comes around. I still love to see a smile on another person’s face and know that I put it there. I am still me, with or without the 70 pounds. I still struggle to see myself the way others see me, but I try. I encourage you to try too. Be kind to yourself. If you want to lose weight, that’s ok. It’s ok to want to be healthier. It’s ok to eat better to feel better. But please don’t allow yourself to engage in hate speech. Don’t tear yourself down while everyone who loves you just wants to lift you up. We all have people rooting for us and supporting us, if we would just get out of our own heads and recognize what others see. You’re incredible, whether you lose 100 pounds or none. You’re you and there truly is not another single person on this planet that could fill your shoes and be who you are. So yes, exercise and be healthy so you can live a long, happy life and do all the things you ever wanted to do. But if you never lose a pound, look in that mirror and tell the girl who stares back at you that she is beautiful, amazing and capable of accomplishing anything. You are NOT a number on a scale or on the inside of a pair of jeans. You are so much more and I wanted to make sure you know! Toni Zasa Women’s Confidence Coach toni.girl83@yahoo.com

Google

Should You Be There?

Google+ is one of the newer social media kids on the block and a lot of businesses are wondering if they need to play in that sandbox as well. So what is Google+ all about? Google+ is a pretty big place to network. Its platform is like a combination of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn but it’s important to understand that even though there are similarities, G+ does not work like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn and must be treated quite uniquely. G+ is comprised of ‘social layers’ that people are using every day. These layers include Gmail, Search, YouTube, Calendars, Hangout, and more. Not to mention that Google+ is driven by Google – the number 1 search engine in the world. So, should you be using Google+? According to Google, there are over

300 million active users but I think it’s important to recognize that that number could be quite skewed. Google is a pretty powerful entity to be dealing with and they have a lot of motivational behavioral power over users. Here’s my personal experience… I’ve had a personal Gmail account that I don’t use too often, for several years. I logged into it a few weeks ago and was forced to create a Google+ profile before I could access my Gmail. Now, this kind of force irritates me like crazy and made me realize the power that is Google; and how their user statistics for people actually engaged in Google+ are likely padded. Having said that, Google+ is a social media force to be reckoned with and the networking is pretty awesome. People from all over the

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Facebook is about people, LinkedIn is business networking, and Google+ is about people, topics, networking and communication – phenomenal communication. world engage with my questions, in communities and on my timeline more readily than that of Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Facebook is about people, LinkedIn is business networking, and Google+ is about people, topics, networking and communication – phenomenal communication. If you’re considering creating a Google+ page, here’s a quick overview on ‘how-to’: First, sign up for, or use your existing Gmail email account. Once you’ve set up your Gmail account, you will be prompted to then set up your G+ page, so it really is easiest to start at Gmail. You will need to be logged into your Gmail account in order to manage your Google+ page after everything is set up. Second, you will have to create a ‘personal’ page first. It’s advantageous to create your personal page fully and properly. Once you have your personal page set up, you can create your business page by hovering over the main navigation to the left of the page and then click ‘Pages’, this will bring you to a page that will allow you to ‘Create a Page’ (top right). From here you choose the category of your new business page and really just follow the instructions. Here are a few tips to help your business page get off to the right start:

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Custom design a Cover Image – like anything, you want to ensure you page looks professional and reflects your brand. On ANY part of the page, remember to use as many ‘keywords’ as possible. Don’t forget that this page will be another piece to your SEO puzzle and strategic use of keywords is truly key. In the ‘links’ area (in your about section) make sure you add all relevant links (you’ll need to ‘verify’ your business website so that Google knows your authentic. This will require your website developer’s assistance but the instructions are easy and clear). Google+ is about +1’ing, sharing and engaging and is a very active platform. Once you have your page(s) set up, just dive into the conversations, join some communities that interest you and engage, engage, engage. Their platform is truly layered and has a lot to offer, the interaction is global and the attitudes are real. I think the real question is, why wouldn’t you use G+? Andrea Lindal Lexabi Communications http://www.lexabi.com andrea@lexabi.com

The Do’s and Don’ts of

Event Planning Below are a few things that you should definitely do when it comes to event and party planning and seriously avoid doing.

Do’s for Event and Party Planning: • Contact a professional catering company to handle all the food-related aspects of your party, since this leaves you free to focus on other things. • If you are planning to host your event in your home or workplace, make sure there is enough space for caterers to arrive and set everything up sufficiently. • Regardless of the size of your event or venue, it can help to make a rough timeline and turn it in to your catering company so everything runs according to plan. • Make sure you have given all the decorations and instructions to the caterers before the event so everyone remembers important aspects of the party. • Turn all final guest counts, deposits, and other important details into your vendors on time to make the planning part of your event easier.

Don’ts for Event and Party Planning: • Avoid waiting for the last minute to plan your event, this can cause you to overlook important details. • Avoid getting too involved with planning every single minute of your event, it may drive you crazy and actually take away from your guests’ enjoyment. • Avoid trying to do everything yourself, especially if you have the option of hiring a professional event planner instead. • Avoid assuming that your guests will automatically enjoy any venue you choose just because they receive free food, since choosing a space that is too small, warm, or cold will likely result in many unhappy guests.

While many people think that event and party planning is as simple as buying a cake and ordering zesty pizzas. If you truly desire to impress your guests, it will often require much more. Finally, one of the best ways to show everyone the time of their lives is to leave all food-related aspects to a professional catering company.

Carolyn Horne Robbins Special Events Planner carolynhornerobins@yahoo.com

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Beautiful Black Man Black man, Black man How I appreciate your Broad shoulder stance Black man, Black man Beneath your eyes A mystery intriguing May I take another glance? Black man, Black man In you I find comfort To wash away bouts of despair Black man, Black man The words you speak lift me Every parable life giving Black man, Black man Nothing less than definitive A pure gift possessing Both knowledge and wisdom Black man, Black man More real than a fairytale Modern day knight in tailored apparel Black man, Black man Strong yet gentle Courageous with a Velvet touch so tender Black man, Black man My heartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sweetest surprise Under heavensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; moonlight Black man, Black man Your ways simply amazing Oh, How God has graced me To be blessed by such a Beautiful Black man By Kristie Kennedy Ward

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Wedded Bliss

Top Ten Ways He Makes My Heart Melt With Thanks Recently, I read a quote that stated, “True love is not found, it’s built.” I would like to add that it is cultivated one selfless act at a time. Healthy relationships require attentiveness and generosity of spirit in order for a garden of love to flourish. I have been in a state of perpetual bliss since November 29, 2014 after marrying the man of my dreams overlooking the lake where we had our first date. We’ve both had to overcome insurmountable odds, differences of opinions until at last a permanent place for our hearts to call home is an undeniable reality. When you’ve waited for what seems like an eternity it is understandable why my pores are bursting with mounds of gratitude. There is nothing more ethereal than having your very own happily ever after. The secret to my inner glow is that I cherish every simple pleasure that most women take for granted. Pure love, not perfect love has a potency untouchable by any adversary or force. At the turning of this new leaf in life I have come to realize, I’ve encountered enough hell on earth to last a lifetime and I am ready to dwell underneath the wings of heaven’s delight. 1. Thoughtful- This can be something as small as, “How did you rest last night?” 2. Helpful-Always extending the courtesy to assist whether I ask or not. 3. Handy-Can fix almost anything broken in a matter of minutes, hardware and heartaches too. 4. Comical-I have never laughed so much in my entire life, with him I can cast my cares away. 5. Honorable-He constantly takes the highroad even if wrongfully mistreated by those he may trust and love. 6. Humble-Born to lead, a powerful, handsome and brilliant man of valor but he always considers the welfare of others.

7. Generous-I’ve watched him give to the impoverished over and over again, he is a modern day good Samaritan. 8. Flexible- Always seeking to do what is best for the relationship, even if it means watching one more romantic love story. 9. Wise-I love picking his brain, he appears to know something about everything. 10. Diligent-I have never met anyone with such an unbreakable resolve, his work ethic surpasses them all. I’ve observed him work over 14 hour days in inclement weather while fighting sickness in his body.

My husband is a gift from above, a champion of champions and bone of my bones.

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Today is the day! Today is the Day! I marry the man of my dreams. He is the twinkle in my eyes, The joy beneath my smile, The one who catches my tears before they kiss the ground and holds the secret to turning frowns upside down. Today is the Day! We embrace a wonderful new journey of life, love and laughter To bask in our very own happily ever after. Today is the day! That vision becomes reality, To have and to hold for all eternity here and now, face to face... For this Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve quietly prayed, Today is the day! November 29, 2014 Lamont and Kristie Ward

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Fitness Feature Interview with

Laticia “Action” Jackson If you could describe yourself in one word what would it be and why? ENERGETIC!!!!! I have always been a very energetic individual who’s excited about life and all the things that are possible. Sometimes I have so much energy that I have to exercise longer in order to make myself tired. I wish I could bottle my energy up and sell it. Before selling it, I would have to place a WARNING label on the bottle. Tell us about a pivotal time in your life that catapulted you into a greater version of yourself. In 2007 I survived a domestic violence situation that could have left me either dead or bitter. I thank God neither situation occurred. Once I made it out of this situation I was determined to allow God to heal my heart and to address the internal issues that were within me. At the same time, I REFUSED to become a VICTIM. I wasn’t going to allow the ill intent of another person affect the rest of my life. As God healed me I was able to forgive my ex-husband and moved on with life. I used this situation as fuel to help me make it to the 2008 Fitness Olympia and out of this situation my women’s fitness training book entitled “I’m Not a Size Zero” was birthed. Today I am using my platform as a 2008 Fitness Olympian and Author to empower women to become fit from the inside out. This situation has left me very strong and able to withstand many situations.

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What advice would you give an individual who has continually jumped ship from their fitness regimen? How can they remain consistent until reaching their fitness goals? The first advice I would give is to determine “WHY” they keep falling off track. Is it due to a lack of motivation, support or a lack of interest? Second, I would tell them to find VALUE in WHY they want to get fit. By that I mean, are they getting fit just to fit into a particular dress, jeans or something superficial. Nine times out of ten if there isn’t lasting value such as exercising to reap health benefits and longevity to take care of their family or community, more than likely they won’t stick to the course. Lastly, I would tell them to find something that they enjoy doing. We often overcomplicate being fit. If you like to dance, dance. If you like to run, run! Whatever you do just make it FUN and just MOVE! What specific qualities should an individual look for in a personal trainer? 1. Does the trainer look the part? 2. Is he/she educated and credentialed? 3. Can he/she provide feedback from previous clients? Imagine a client is discouraged during a training session. How do you keep him motivated? As trainer it is important to know your client and what motivates them. Therefore it would depend on my client. Some of my clients need a gentle approach and some need what some of my clients call the “Sergeant” approach. I have a saying that “Can’t doesn’t live in this house, he got evicted.” That means we don’t use the word can’t! I safely push my clients and push them out of their comfort zones. If they aren’t in PAIN we keep moving. The mind is a powerful tool that tells the body how to respond. Therefore if we learn the principle to push in the gym we can use this exact principle in all situations of life. At the end of the sessions I always reinforce how far they have come and that they won the day they made the decision to take care of themselves. It is a true blessing to see individuals transform before my very eyes.

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Laticia “Action” Jackson Masters of Public Health (M.P.H.) /B.S. Exercise Science/ C.P.T. /2008 Fitness Olympian Champion / Motivational Speaker Author: “I’m Not a Size Zero-Defining Your Curves While Loving Yourself” -AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

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www.kristiekennedy.com info@kristiekennedy.com P.O. Box 6464 Tallahassee, FL 32314

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