#weeklyencouragement

Dec 28, 2018
4 min

Goals for the New Year + 19 Ways to Make 2019 Your Most Amazing Year Yet!

Points to Ponder: 1. What excites you? What scares you? 2. What goals have you set in the past? What were the results? 3. How has working toward a goal resulted in personal growth and/or understanding (regardless of whether or not the goal was met)? 4. How has the support of others helped you in achieving past goals? And how have you felt "unsupported" in the past? 5. What are your goals for 2019? Setting goals can be difficult. And certainly taking the steps (and hurdling th

Dec 16, 2018
4 min

Top 10 Reasons to iGnite the Week Before Christmas

Point to Ponder: Why should you iGnite this week? Last Wednesday through Friday I was in San Diego. I flew back for our annual Christmas party. You got it! It was a jammie party, that we’ll also have in Austin this Tuesday evening (Austin family, be sure to RSVP). While the trip was short it was full and very sweet. My flight got in too late Friday night to see the kiddos, so when we awoke Saturday morning we laid low and hung out in our pj's until noon, before heading out f

Dec 9, 2018
3 min

Distracted by Things That Do Not Matter

Point to Ponder: What things distract you from living out your priorities? Did you know the average person can’t go 10 minutes without checking their mobile device, and the average person spends 2 hours a day on social media AND for the younger generation who has grown up using a device, they will end up spending over 7 years of their life on social media! That is CRAZY!!! I’m embarrassed because shamefully I fall in that category and I don’t want to be! I’m sure we’d all agr

Dec 2, 2018
2 min

How We End Determines the Strength of Our Beginning

Point to Ponder: Do you consider your health as the best possible gift to give? "In a crowded, busy holiday season, it’s common for people to feel weighed down by family relationships, financial pressure, regret, or failure. Often, people feel overwhelmed by things God never intended for them to carry. His solution is simple: Let go of the baggage and travel light. December is a natural time to reflect on the past year—where you’ve been, where you are now, and where you’d lik

Nov 26, 2018
3 min

Merry and Bright or Puffy and Tight?

Point to Ponder: Are you feeling the holiday fluff and puff? Confession: I treated myself to a new pair of Lululemon shorts, just tried them on and they are tight. Yep, my butt and inner thighs have expanded, however rather than take the shorts back or change into something more flattering and comfortable, I’ve decided to keep it real, continue to wear them and do what I know works: hydrate, increase my protein, decrease my carbs and exercise. If you’re reading this and have

Nov 18, 2018
4 min

20 Thankful Thoughts

Point to Ponder: Do you find it difficult to be grateful? I am a terrible receiver! While I have grown into being able to receive a generous compliment with a "Thank you" and accept help, when it comes to opening gifts and hand-written notes, I struggle. It sometimes takes me months to open and read cards, as I find it to be an extremely sentimental process. The time, thoughtfulness and love that is poured into a gift or card are overwhelming and humbling. When opening or r

Nov 12, 2018
4 min

And Then Some: A Veteran's Day Tribute

Point to Ponder: Do you look for ways to serve and be in gratitude towards others, or do you expect for others to serve you and be in gratitude of you? Yesterday I drove from Tulsa to Austin by myself. It’s a seven hour drive that is by and large an easy one, and while I love having my kids with me, I also love having the time to myself: a time to be with my thoughts, to listen to whatever I want and not be interrupted with restroom requests. This trip was particularly good b

Nov 4, 2018
4 min

Proactively Approach the Holidays with Grit, Grateful & Like a Honey Badger

Point to Ponder: Do you proactively and strategically approach the holiday season or do you let the holiday season dictate you, your goals and your health? Joy! The season of gratitude is here and we know what’s coming: family, friends, food, fun, football, parties, emotions running high, sugar, more sugar and runny noses. It’s also the season of fluctuating temperatures, sleep deprivation, allergies, congestion, the cold and flu…which all lead to distractions. I promise I’m

Oct 28, 2018
4 min

Transformational Tools for Your Toolbox

Point to Ponder: How often do you make assumptions and take things personally? Last week and upon focusing on integrity I had a several interesting conversations with friends about being impeccable with our word--specifically how we speak to ourselves and having our yes mean yes and no mean no. These conversations led to one of my favorite transformational books, The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz, as being impeccable with your word is the first of four agreements. In th

Oct 21, 2018
7 min

Integrity- Living In or Out

Point to Ponder: Are you living in integrity? How good are you to your word? I know this is a heavy question however I’m bringing it up because integrity is one of iGnite’s four core values and “Act with Integrity” is one of our 21 fundamentals. Integrity can mean slightly different things to everyone, but for iGnite it means to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to doing the right thing in every action we take and in every decision we make, even when no one is looking. It

Oct 14, 2018
2 min

We Are Family

Despite founding and creating iGnite and having a very clear vision and mission, I am the worst at accurately describing who we are. For over simplification purposes I can say we are a holistic women’s fitness community, but in my opinion that doesn’t come close to describing us. For years I lamented over an "elevator pitch" (you know, the one I'm supposed to be able to say in 30 seconds or less), but have been wildly unsuccessful at creating one. Fortunately we've been able

Oct 7, 2018
3 min

Why Having Fun is Non-Negotiable

Point to Ponder: Are you laughing and having enough fun? Personally, I don’t think there’s anything better than laughing and having fun. Maybe it’s because my mom was and still is the best at it! She taught my sister and I how to laugh at everything, especially ourselves. As a single mom I know she had plenty to cry about, but we never saw anything beyond a mother who was full of joy, laughter and always smiling. Later in life she let us know about the days when she was so do

Sep 30, 2018
5 min

What's Up With the Butterfly?

Point to Ponder: What is the most challenging area in your life you need to grow in? As we all learned in elementary school, before a caterpillar can become a butterfly it first starts as an egg, which grows into a robust worm, (a.k.a., caterpillar) eats everything in sight, spins itself into a cocoon and then emerges as a butterfly. But, what I bet you didn’t know is the unpleasant process that takes place inside the cocoon. The caterpillar first digests itself, releasing en

Sep 23, 2018
3 min

Let's Hear Your Honk

Point to Ponder: Who can benefit from a honkin’? You or someone you know?? If you’re like me, starting a project is much easier than finishing. According to Russell, my husband, I’m an 85%’er, meaning I complete about 85% of whatever I’m doing and then move on to something new. I do not at all consider myself to have an attention issue, rather I enjoy the challenge, excitement and joy that comes from starting. Maybe it’s hereditary, because my father is the exact same, but no

Sep 17, 2018
3 min

Retrain Your Brain and...CRUSH IT!

Point to Ponder: Within your iGnite experience, what limiting thoughts do you have? Last week while attending an iGnite Austin class (Total Body Training) I noticed that 2 year member, Carolyn Meakin was "crushin' it"! This was not an isolated incident with Carolyn or any of our amazing members, as "crushin' it" in life and in class is ongoing and reoccurring, but for Carolyn, her all-in commitment to herself (through iGnite) has been obvious, as every time I see her in pers

Sep 16, 2018
3 min

Retrain Your Brain and...CRUSH IT!

Sep 9, 2018
3 min

Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life

Point to Ponder: What negative, unhealthy and unproductive thoughts do you have? The sermon I listened to this morning focused on creating new mental pathways for our unhealthy, unproductive and untrue thoughts. Our pastor referenced two quotes, “Your life is always moving in the direction of your strongest thought" (positive or negative), and “What comes into your mind comes out in your life”. I have heard this before and know it to be true, but being reminded of it is alway

Sep 3, 2018
3 min

Choose Challenge Over Comfort

Point to Ponder: How often do you choose challenge over comfort? The growth process is one of those things most all of us do not enjoy being in the middle of, because in order for growth to occur, there has to be friction, challenge and discomfort. However, something I know we all agree on is while the growth process sucks, in order to maximize our growth we must not only endure difficulty and pain, we must “embrace the suck”, because the fruit from the struggle is undeniably

Sep 3, 2018
3 min

Choose Challenge Over Comfort

Aug 26, 2018
5 min

The Power of We

Point to Ponder: Where in your life do you need to the “Power of We?” Last week while putting myself through a HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout that San Diego Leader Rory Smith sent me, I not only struggled to finish each round of exercises, I also struggled to stay motivated. Despite being able to turn off my brain by having a dry erase board listing each exercices, a great playlist and a timer telling me when to start/stop, I had to take multiple breaks and w