Bernie Borges [00:00:00]:
Hello, my midlife friend. This is Bernie Borges, your host of the Midlife Fulfill podcast, and this is episode 171, a takeaway episode from 170, my conversation with Danielle Davening Lamont. On takeaway episodes, you know the drill. I summarize the previous episode, and then I hone in on one key takeaway that I want to emphasize to you. And then, I issue you a challenge to consider on the topic. So let me begin by reintroducing you to Danielle Davening Limon and summarize our Danielle is a friend and colleague. She is a wicked talented designer. She’s a brand strategist.
Bernie Borges [00:00:42]:
She’s a UX designer. I’ve worked with Danielle for about a dozen years now on many digital marketing projects, including websites, including the midlifefulfill.com website. Now I started coaching Danielle several months ago focused on her career. She has been an independent freelancer for as long as I’ve known her, but she’s never been comfortable at networking. She viewed networking and engaging on social media in general as self promotional. So we embarked on this journey starting with the principles in my Midlife career reboot workbook, which she helped design. Now we rewrote her LinkedIn profile, which we collaborated on, and it gave her a better representation of her, both in terms of her experience and her expertise, as well as who she is holistically. Now this exercise gave her a confidence boost, a big confidence boost.
Bernie Borges [00:01:36]:
Then at some point in our conversation, she was dealing with a health issue. It wasn’t serious, but it was nonetheless a health issue. And we expanded our conversation to health and fitness. And if you know me, you know that I’m big on fitness, especially for those of us over 40 and beyond. Now, it turns out that Danielle had not been routinely exercising recently. Although, she used to go to the gym, but she hadn’t been going to the gym regularly for quite a while. So this led us to a conversation about making a fitness routine a priority. Danielle initially said that she hadn’t been exercising routinely because she didn’t have time.
Bernie Borges [00:02:18]:
Imagine that. You know, when someone says that they don’t have time for exercise, I attempt to unpack that. Because I recognize that some people’s lives may be so demanding that making time for exercise could seem impossible. Look, everyone’s circumstances are unique. No question about it. I don’t suggest that there is any one size fits all way to make time for exercise. Now in Danielle’s case, I made 2 simple suggestions that she was willing to try. 1 was to get up a little bit earlier in the morning to exercise.
Bernie Borges [00:02:56]:
And the other, this may sound simple, but it’s huge. The other was committing to making exercise the priority in that early part of her day. In other words, I challenged Danielle to not allow herself to get sucked into her workday by checking email or doing anything work related, because once that happens, it’s game over. So I challenged her to begin her day with exercise. Danielle embraced this challenge, and what she discovered is that she looks forward to getting the exercise, quote, unquote, out of the way first thing in the morning because she likes how she feels afterwards. Hey. I can relate. She likes that she has better focus, more energy, more creativity by starting her day with exercise.
Bernie Borges [00:03:48]:
Again, I can relate. Danielle also moved her weights into her office so that during her work day, she could see them. And when she finds a minute here and there, she could do a little bit of weight lifting exercising. She says she likes the way her body feels, as well as just her overall mind, her mental state when she’s exercising regularly. She says that she feels the difference, especially on a day when she doesn’t work out at all. That’s when she really feels the difference. She doesn’t like that feeling when she doesn’t work out. So the takeaway that I want to share with you is not about the importance of a fitness routine.
Bernie Borges [00:04:28]:
Maybe that surprises you. And, yes, a fitness routine is very important. The takeaway that I want you to consider is the impact of an accountability partner. In Danielle’s case, my role became one of a life coach. And along with that came the accountability aspect. You see, we began the coaching program focused on her career, and then we made measurable progress on that within just a couple of months. Then the coaching relationship evolved into a life coach relationship. Danielle shared something very meaningful in episode 170.
Bernie Borges [00:05:08]:
She said that she didn’t know that she needed a life coach. It’s not what she would have considered a priority prior to this experience. After working with my guidance, first by helping her understand that she would be depriving people if she didn’t make herself available through networking, and this benefits her business as well as the people that she serves through her business. But even bigger than this is the physical and mental health that Daniella is experiencing now by having a committed fitness routine. Again, she feels much better about herself in so many ways. She now realizes how important her fitness routine is for how she just shows up in work and in life. During our podcast recording, I mentioned that I’ve noticed a giant boost in her confidence, and it’s just so heartwarming to see that. I told her that it was visible to me.
Bernie Borges [00:06:07]:
I could literally see it in her face, and she can feel it. Danielle says that she now realizes that most hurdles or challenges that she faces are surmountable. She actually embraces them now with excitement to deal with them. In other words, Danielle is now comfortable with being uncomfortable, and she had never experienced that before. So this is my challenge to you, my friend. Where in your life do you stay in your comfort zone? You know, Danielle authentically acknowledged that if she had career experienced this life coaching experience, she would have stayed in the same comfort zone that she had been in for the past 20 years. She said that she would have sought to stay in this comfort zone probably for the next 20 years. But now she’s excited about the possibilities of the future.
Bernie Borges [00:06:58]:
She has renewed energy and a mindset and a confidence about these possibilities. So I’ll wrap up on this point, my friend. If you’re in a comfort zone, consider that you’re holding yourself back. This is like putting yourself in a box and staying there because you think it’s safe there. Getting outside your comfort zone incrementally, not in an unreasonable or crazy way, but getting outside your comfort zone can be one of the greatest gifts that you give to yourself. Take an action step to get outside your comfort zone. Your future self will thank you for it. Hey.
Bernie Borges [00:07:38]:
I wanna thank Danielle Devonning Lamone for joining me on episode 170. And I wanna remind you that you can watch my video recording with Danielle on episode 170 on the Midlife Fulfilled YouTube channel. It’s linked up in the show notes page, of course. Hey. My next guest episode features Alan Meissner. Coincidentally, Alan is a fitness coach for people over 40. Now he wasn’t always fit, so you’re gonna hear his perspective as a fitness coach and his commitment to fitness and why it matters so much. Hey.
Bernie Borges [00:08:13]:
Don’t miss this episode. And, hey, if you’re a new listener, welcome. And I invite you to hit the subscribe button on your podcast player so that you don’t miss this next episode as well as future episodes. You know what time it is my midlife friend. It’s that time when I remind you that if you’re 80% fulfilled, you’re doing great. And if you wanna know how I know this, you guessed it, download my scorecard. I’ll see you on episode 172. I’ll see you then.
