Chalene Johnson's Blog, page 123

You’re Ready for a Push! Get Moving!

What does it mean to be pushed?  When I was a little girl, I went to a swimming pool with a high diving platform with a friend and her mom.  All three of us climbed to the top of the platform.  Both my friend and her mom immediately dove into the water, while I just stood there staring down nervous and scared.  Before I could muster up the courage to jump at all, they climbed up the platform to jump again.  Then, my friend coached me to the end of the platform.  “Don’t look down,” she said.  And ever so gently, she gave me the smallest push from behind. 

As I fell through the air, I was freaking out… and I was mad!  I can’t believe she just PUSHED me!  But when I hit the water, and the bubbles were all around me, I realized it was kind of fun!  After that first push, I climbed back up the platform and jumped 100 times more. 

Sometimes all we need is a small push – a vote of confidence from an important person in our lives.  Or we just need to hear the right message at the right time.  Well, listen up: You’re ready to be pushed!

 

You’re Ready for a Push

So many of you reading this article are ready to be pushed.  Oftentimes, someone standing close to you or behind you is telling you in one way or another that you’re ready for more. 

It’s not at all uncommon to be angry at this person or feel defensive.  However, sometimes you need to listen to the people around you that truly care for you, want the best for you and want to see you reach your full potential.  You need to listen to those people and the voice inside your head that push you toward greater things.

Deep down, you may realize you can do more, but you make excuses or blame others for reasons why you’re not moving forward and taking action.  However, excuses don’t move you forward.  Excuses just excuse you from taking responsibility.  You and only you are responsible for your progress in reaching your goals and going after the life you want. 

 

It Doesn’t Have to be Perfect

So many people remain in stagnation because they’re waiting for perfect circumstances.  Don’t let this be you! Don’t NOT move out of fear that you might not do it right the first time…just MOVE!

Instead of making excuses, take responsibility and take action!  You are fully capable of making a plan and following it.  It may not be perfect, but at least you’re moving!  You may take some steps out of order, but taking ANY steps will keep you moving forward and growing.

 

Take Action!

Thinking is not moving.  You must take action.  You must DO.   Make an appointment; schedule a phone call; sign up for a class; do what you need to do to keep moving toward your goal.  

But remember, thinking is not action. Thinking on paper and making a plan is your first action step, but after that, you need to move.

Listen to the important people in your life and the voice inside your head that’s telling you to do more.  Allow yourself to be pushed.  Don’t worry about doing everything perfectly.  Just follow your plan, and DO.  Success is closer than you think!  All you have to do is continually move forward and keep shuffling your feet.

Why Everyone Needs Therapy

I’m going to get on my soapbox about therapy for a few minutes…  I don’t understand why therapy has such a stigma attached to it.  So many people avoid it because they think therapy is only for people with major problems.  I’m here to tell you it’s not.  Everyone needs a therapist, and here’s why…

 

You Need a Safe Place to Vent

For starters, why weigh down the people you care about most with your problems and every day stressors?  Therapy is a great place to air these things out and sort through everyday hurdles.  A therapist can act as a sounding board and eliminate unnecessary stress from your relationships. 

 

Even if you only see a therapist once or twice a year, like an annual check-up, it can be tremendously helpful to get an outside point of view on anything that bugs you.  And, it keeps you from dumping these things on the important people in your life.

 

Therapy Speeds up Your Success

Furthermore, if you have big goals, and you want to make things happen, your need to get yourself into therapy.  The most common reason why people fail to reach their Push Goal is because they keep hitting a roadblock.  A roadblock is something that stops you dead in your tracks – it’s like hitting the same brick wall over and over again.  You might be making progress toward reaching your goals and creating the life you deserve, then, a roadblock comes up, and it sends you right back to the start.

 

Roadblocks have an emotional root, and they are often a result of experiencing the following before the age of 18:

Divorce
Neglect by a caregiver
Abuse – physical, mental, sexual abuse, verbal abuse
Death of a parent or sibling
Addictive care giver
Abandonment
Emotionally disconnected parent(s)
Bullying
Volatile/unsafe/unstable environment
Extreme poverty
Parent(s) with mental health issues
Traumatic or violent attack

 

Unfortunately, experiencing one or more of the circumstances listed above is incredibly common.  You can actually consider yourself lucky if you haven’t experienced one of these in some way or other.

 

 Even if you think you’ve dealt with these issues and put them in your past, they can still greatly affect your level and rate of success in reaching your goals.  The only way to deal with roadblocks once and for all and truly overcome them is by facing them head on with professional help.

 

EMDR Therapy

I highly recommend EMDR therapy– Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.  It allows you to correct self-limiting thoughts more quickly than regular talk therapy, and it enables you to eliminate roadblocks for good.  On top of this, it focuses on changing your thought process and there’s minimal talking, so you don’t have to feel weird about kicking up old dirt and emotions with a complete stranger.  You just DEAL with it and move on!

 

Get Serious

If you’re serious about your goals and creating the life you want, you need to get serious about investing time in yourself.  Take action!  Don’t jeopardize your relationships.  Deal with past experiences, change your self-limiting thoughts, and overcome the roadblocks you face.  Everyone has something they need to deal with to become better, and therapy is the tool that will propel you forward.

Lose Weight with Your SmartPhone – Part Two

The tools and resources available via your smartphone are incredible!  Not only can you use it to organize your entire life, but you can also use it to lose and maintain weight.  Last week, I posted five of my top ten tips to lose weight using your smartphone.  If you missed it, be sure to catch up here.  Now, here are tips six through ten.

 

6. Create motivational slideshows with Slidz.

Slidz is one of my favorite apps!  It’s a really cool and different way to motivate yourself to get through workouts when you’re just not feeling it.  Slidz allows you to synch photos with your playlist on your smartphone.

 

Use this app to help you on your fitness journey by collecting motivational photos, before and after photos, motivational phrases, etc. on your phone. Then, synch these images to your favorite workout playlist. 

 

When you’re struggling through your last few minutes on the treadmill or your last few reps lifting weights, and your head just isn’t in it, play your slideshow.  There’s no way you’re quitting when you have a series of motivational photos playing to your favorite songs.  Works every time!

 

7. Use hashtags to connect with people of interest on Instagram.

You can find people on Instagram that share your interests and motivate you with their posts via hashtags.  Just run a search using a hashtag like #workout or #healthy, and you will find users that post photos of this kind. (To search, click “Profile” and “Search Instagram.”)

 

In addition to searching with hashtags, you can also use them on your own photos to help others find you.  This will connect you with a community of people that share similar interests.

 

8. Use alarms on your phone to set daily healthy reminders.

Set an alarm on your phone to remind you to drink water, work out, track your calories, go to bed, etc.  Whatever healthy habit you’re trying to form that you have difficulty with, set an alarm for it on your phone.  These reminders will keep you on the right track.

 

9. Set a date for your health goals and use a countdown calendar app.

Dates keep us accountable and give us something to work toward.  Set deadlines for things that will motivate you to reach your health and weight loss goals, such as a wedding, high school reunion, or a vacation.  Then, download one of the many countdown calendar apps available for your smartphone to remind you what you are working towards and provide extra motivation to get there.

 

10-Use your phone to take photos of your food.

When I was a personal trainer, I had my clients keep a food journal.  They wrote down what they ate, but oftentimes, they would greatly underestimate their portion size or disregard it all together.  It’s so easy to forget how much you’ve consumed over the course of the day.  Taking pictures on your phone is a great reminder because you can see exactly how much you’ve eaten.  A photo provides an accurate record of what you’ve consumed and can keep you in check.

Lose Weight with Your SmartPhone – Part One

Everyone knows I’m a smartphone fanatic and addict.  With all of the technology and applications out there, it’s amazing what you can do to better organize your life and reach your goals just by using your phone.  Typically, I share ways to use your phone to keep your to-do list and be more productive, but today I want to share with you five of my top ten ways to lose weight and maintain healthy results using your smartphone.  (Be on the lookout for tips six through ten next week!)  Think about it: you look at your phone all day anyways… why not use it to empower your weight loss journey and maintain good health?  Start using your phone to reach your health and fitness goals today!

 

1. Take pictures on your phone to track your progress.

Almost every phone has a feature that allows you to take photos.  Use it to take a before picture as you begin your weight loss journey as well as to track your progress along the way.  These pictures are worth a thousand words.  Pictures tell a story that can’t be told by the scale, and they’re a great way to see your progress, keep yourself accountable, and stay motivated.

Many people don’t take before photos because they don’t want anyone else to see them.  However, most phones have an option to “hide” or “store” photos.  This way, you’ll never have to worry about anyone seeing it but you.

But wait!  Before you start snapping away, a quick tip: PLEASE don’t take your before photo in your underwear!  Do NOT take your photos in your holey “I need to replace these” bra and underwear or granny panties.  While you might not plan on showing them to anyone now, the day will come when you’re all ripped up, and you WANT to show everyone your amazing results.  Nobody wants to see those pictures if you’re wearing underwear you’ve had since high school.  Wear a bathing suit people!

 

 

2-Use Instagram as a source of motivation and accountability.

Instagram is an incredible source that can help you lose weight and maintain your results by connecting with people with similar interests.  There are so many people on Instagram that post healthy recipes, motivational sayings and photos, and track their progress.  You can also share your own photos with the Instagram community for support and accountability.  How do you find these people?  Stay tuned for Part 2 of “Lose Weight with Your Smart Phone” for ways to connect with people on Instagram who share your interest in health and fitness.

 

 

3-Use your smartphone to take a picture of the number on the scale each time you weigh yourself.

People often weigh themselves and forget that they’re making progress.  The number on the scale doesn’t always have to go down, down, down for you to be making progress.  Instead, it should be a general downward trend.  Your weight fluctuates anywhere from one to five pounds each day due to many different factors such as the amount of salt in your diet, your digestion, muscle soreness, etc.  Take a picture of the scale to remind yourself that you’re making progress and to stay motivated.

 

4-Use smartphone applications to keep track of your calories.

Studies show that people who keep track of their calories are far more successful in losing and maintaining their weight than those who don’t keep track.  Use one of the many calorie tracking apps out there to keep count of how many calories you’re consuming.

It’s like balancing your bank account… How would you know how much money you need to save or how much you can spend without knowing what’s in your bank account?  This number is important – so is the number of calories you consume. 

By entering the number of calories you consume as you go about your day and having a general idea of what you’ve consumed and how much more you can afford to eat, you will make better informed decisions.  My favorite calorie tracking app is My Fitness Pal.  Livestrong’s Calorie Tracker and Lose It are great apps to check out as well.

 

5-Use the Fit Radio app to create playlists that keep you going.

Fit Radio is a game-changer!  It’s a free application that creates killer playlists to use during your workouts.  All you have to do is select a genre, and the app will automatically create a playlist with the latest music of that kind.  The nice thing about it is all the songs on your playlist will be the same beat per minute.  This way, you can keep moving at the same pace.  If you’re looking for music to motivate you through your entire workout, you have to download Fit Radio!

 

 

*Don’t forget to check back next week for Part 2 of “Lose Weight with Your SmartPhone” for tips six through ten!

7 Tips to Stop Procrastination

Procrastination is one of the top reasons most people never accomplish the life they dream of.  How many items on your to-do list have been sitting there for way too long?  Do you have lists of things you’ll get around to later, when you have more time?  Or, do you have huge, daunting tasks that you know will propel you forward toward your goals, yet you don’t know where to start, so you keep putting them off?

 

 

Most people will never know how simple it is to master their life, simply because they’ve allowed procrastination to become a habit.  Don’t let things like a phone call, a visit from an office mate, or Facebook stop you from getting things done.  Don’t let the heaps of irrelevant tasks you’ve created for yourself stand in the way of life’s really important to-do’s.    

 

It’s the important tasks that separate an average life from a life of excellence.  You can become swift and focused!  You can break the habit of procrastination today!

 

How to Break the Habit of Procrastination

Make the following tips HABITS, and procrastination will be a thing of the past!

 

1. Set Deadlines.  Set a deadline for any and every important task.  Then, put it on your calendar and to-do list.  Break large tasks down into bite-sized pieces to make them less overwhelming and help you get the ball rolling.  Set a deadline for each bite-sized task as well.

 

2. Hold Yourself Accountable.  Create accountability to finish a task by telling others your deadline for completing it.  Making a promise to someone else makes you more likely to follow through.

 

3. Reward Yourself.  Decide on a reward for completing your important tasks.  Don’t stop working on a task until it’s complete, and when it is, reward yourself by getting up and taking a quick walk, grabbing a cup of coffee, etc.

 

4. No Excuses!  Don’t make excuses for unproductive behavior or rationalize it – just get it done!

 

5. Take Responsibility.  Take full responsibility for completing a task on time.

 

6. Be “Now-Minded.”  Take care of important tasks immediately.  If you know it needs done, get started on it.  Don’t give yourself time to think of an excuse for why you need get back to it later.

 

7. Stay on Track.  Once you’ve started an important task, and your mind starts to wander, check in with yourself.  Ask yourself, “Is this the most productive use of my time?”

 

Brainstorm Like a Pro: 3 Simple Steps to Success

So you made your list of 10 crazy cool goals for the year and identified your Push Goal…but now what?  People often make their list of 10 and identify that one goal that can make all the others possible, but they get stuck trying to figure out where to start.  This is where Reverse Engineering comes in!  Making a brainstorm list, or doing a “brain dump,” is a huge part of this process.

 

The Beauty of a Good Brainstorm

A good brainstorm can save you hours in trying to figure out where to start.  It will help you create a plan, keep you motivated, organize your thoughts, and help you stay focused on the end result.

 

What most people don’t know is that doing a successful brainstorm is more than just making a list of to-do’s.  Follow the 3 Simple Steps to Success below for an effective brain dump that will get your Reverse Engineering process off to a great start.

 

3 Simple Steps to Success

STEP ONE: Create a Master Brain Dump – Make a brainstorm list of anything and everything you’re going to need to know, do acquire, master and so on to achieve your goal.  Don’t worry about the order in which you list these action items; just let your thoughts flow freely and write down whatever comes to mind.

 

Here’s a hint: the word “research” should appear on your list several times.  As you break down the steps to achieve your goal, there will be so many things you need to find out more about.  Research, research, research!  The more you know about your goal, the better!

 

STEP TWO: Break it Down – Break down the larger tasks on your list into smaller components.  Think bite-sized pieces!  No task should take more than 1 day MAX to complete.  The further you can break down each item, the better.  You should end up with a long list of short tasks.

 

STEP THREE: Make a Schedule – Create a realistic schedule of how long task should take to complete.  Then, set a proposed completion/execution day.

 

By following these 3 simple steps, not only will you have a better sense of where to start, but you’ll also have an action plan in place.  Start chipping away at your to-do’s, and your Push Goal will come to fruition faster than you could ever imagine!

 

 

How to Increase Your Energy and Productivity

People often wonder where I get my energy – energy for my workouts, energy to run the businesses Bret and I own, to keep up with our kids, and to find time for the things that are important to us.  The answer is not a special caffeinated beverage or some kind of pill.  If you want to have more energy and be more productive, the secret is simply creating better habits.  To increase your energy and productivity, focus on creating better habits in the five following areas…

 
5 Areas to Create Better Energy and Productivity Habits

1.) Physical Energy – Here’s a general rule of thumb: Only exercise on the days when you want to have more energy, be more productive, be in a better mood, and feel good.  Daily exercise does wonders for the body both mentally and physically.  So stop dogging your workouts!  Don’t just walk through them; put some effort into it.  A good workout will turbo-charge the rest of your day.

 

2.) Nutrition – Food is fuel.   What are you fueling your body with?  If you put junk in it, you’ll feel like crap.  If you put good quality food in your body, you’ll feel good, too. 

 

When your nutrition is poor, your emotional energy drops.  The synopses in your brain do not fire properly, and you end up feeling irritable, confused, tired, and weak.  Sound familiar?  Start making some changes to your diet!  Go for natural, whole foods, red fruits, and veggies over addictive, low quality foods like complex carbs, caffeine, sugar and fat.

 

On top of eating healthy, make sure you’re staying hydrated, too.  Water enables your body to function properly, keeps your metabolic rate steady, and prevents premature aging and chronic fatigue.  Start carrying your water bottle with you wherever you go, and drink up!

 

3.) Emotions – Emotion zaps energy.  Whether you’re happy or sad, riding on an emotional rollercoaster does a number on your energy level.  Try to keep your emotions in check and at a steady level throughout the day.  If you’re feeling stressed, take a few minutes to breathe or get up and take a quick walk around the block.  Keeping your emotions balanced out will help you sustain your energy level.

 

4.) Sleep – Not only does the correct amount of sleep boost your physical energy, but it also boosts mental ability as well.  With a good night’s sleep, your mind will be clearer.  In addition, sleep is shown to improve loss of body fat, slow the again process and speed up the healing process.  Some people need more and some need less, but shoot to get your 8 hours in each night.

 

5.) Body Language – Your body language has a huge effect on the energy you feel and the energy you project.  Think about it: when you’re slouching in your chair with a frown on your face, you don’t feel energetic.  But, when you sit up tall with your shoulders back, open your eyes, and breathe, you immediately feel more awake and alive.  Think about how you want to feel and what you want to project to others.

 

Most importantly, energy is a decision.  It all starts within your own mind.  Decide today that you have more energy!

Goal Setting Guidelines

Over the years, I’ve come across so many people that set the wrong goals.  Either the goals aren’t motivating, they don’t fit with the person’s priorities, or the person is unfulfilled once the goals are achieved because his or her life is out of balance.  The process of goal setting is incredibly powerful.  Without goals, it’s nearly impossible to create the life you want…that is unless you have extremely good luck.  So, it’s super important that you understand how to set goals that will enable you to create the life you want. 

 

But how many of us are actually formally taught a system of goal setting and mastery?  This certainly isn’t a subject covered in most schools.  I’ve spent many years reading about goal setting, attending seminars on this subject, studying people that achieve their goals, and setting and achieving many goals myself.  I want to share with you some guidelines for goal setting that will help you stay motivated, create balance in your life, and leave you feeling fulfilled once you reach them.

 

8 Goal Setting Guidelines

1. Your goals should mesh with your priorities.  Take some time to decide on your priorities in life.  What’s most important to you?  What do you refuse to compromise?  Now, ask yourself if your goals align with your priorities…ALL of them.  Each and every goal you set should align with your top priority.  If for some reason one of your goals compromises your priorities, think outside the box and find a creative way to achieve your goal while honoring what’s important to you.

 

2. Your goals should be personal and professional.  What do you want to achieve in any area of your life?  The sky’s the limit! Consider the following areas: relationships, finances, health, faith, hobbies, habits, leisure pursuits, and anything else that comes to mind.

 

3.  Your goals should take you out of your comfort zone.  Why put goals on your list that you already know are likely to happen?  Where’s the excitement in that?  Challenge yourself!  While your goals should be within the realm of possibilities, it should be an uncomfortable stretch to get there.

 

4. If you get stuck, complete this sentence… “Wouldn’t it be crazy cool if…?”  While making your list of 10 goals for the year, if you run out of ideas and need some inspiration, resort to this question.  Again, the sky’s the limit!

 

5. Write your goals in the present tense.  Write your goals in present tense as if they’ve already happened.  For example, one of mine last year was “I am a New York Times Best Selling Author.”

 

6. Include goals that push you to make a personal change.  Address personal improvement and include goals that will help you become a better you.

 

7. Include at least one financial goal.  Money gets a bad rap. But the truth of the matter is, money enables us to do the things we want to do in life and allows us to help other people.  Most everything you want in life, from having more time off to helping other people, all require money.  On top of this, financial issues are one of the top causes of personal stress.  Including at least one financial goal on your list of 10 will most likely help you accomplish most of your other goals.

 

8. List one health goal with a very specific measure.  This goal should be something that any outside person can look at and determine whether or not you succeeded.  So for example, instead of “Feel better,” a goal with measure would be “I have lost over 40 pounds and have cut my body fat in half.”

 

How to Stop Mindless Eating

When we hear the term “emotional eating,” many of us conjure up an image of an overweight woman on a couch with her cat, sobbing uncontrollably and downing a tub of Ben & Jerry’s.   While this situation certainly does exist, most of us don’t relate to it… and therefore, we don’t consider ourselves emotional eaters.  However, the fact of the matter is, random eating is a common habit that almost everyone is guilty of.  We mindlessly eat food for reasons other than hunger.  So, before we even begin, let’s refer to this habit as random or mindless eating rather than emotional eating.  With that said, we’ll discuss the reasons why we randomly eat and how to break this habit.

 

Reasons for Mindless Eating

Most of the time when we eat, it’s not to satisfy our hunger but to change the way we feel.  Oftentimes, when a person feels something undesirable, they turn to food in an attempt to eliminate that feeling.  The most common feelings or emotions that trigger random eating are stress, boredom, anger, and sadness.  Food becomes a temporary distraction. 

 

Food might make you feel better while you’re eating it; however, the feeling will still be there when the food is gone.  On top of this, we have very little recollection and get nearly zero satisfaction from random eating.   Food doesn’t fix our problems…in fact, it makes them worse.

 

How to Cut it Out

So how do we put a stop to this habit?  The key is learning to identify triggers and redirecting the behavior.  But first, recognize that it’s okay to feel.  We all experience emotions.  We just have to learn how to deal with them in ways that don’t involve mindless eating… and this starts with identifying your triggers.

 

Random Eating Exercise

Use the following exercise to identify what triggers random eating for you, and determine alternate activities that can replace this habit.

 

1)Take pen to paper and brainstorm a list of common things you feel when you find yourself eating randomly.

2.) List the desired emotions or feelings you would like to feel in place of this undesirable feeling.  For example, the undesirable feeling might be boredom, stress, or sadness, and the desired feeling might be pleasure, peace, or happiness.

3.) Create a list of things that would help you achieve the desired emotion.  An example of this might be listening to calming music to achieve a feeling of peace or writing a note to someone you care about to make you feel happy.

 

By identifying your triggers and finding alternate activities to change the undesired feeling, you will keep yourself from overeating and deal with your emotions in a healthier way.

Toxic Friendships: When to Make Your Circle of Friends a Little Tighter

Whether you realize it or not, your friendships affect your level of success. The people you spend your focus and energy on influence not only who you are, but how you view yourself and also the person you will become. If you feel as if some of the people in your circle of friends are bringing you down, take some time to evaluate your relationships, step back from toxic friendships, and make your circle a little tighter.

 

Fat Free Friends

I often refer to good friends – people that lift you up, inspire you, and push you to be more – as “Fat Free Friends.” Now hold on a sec…this term has nothing to do with how much they weigh and everything to do with how they make you feel.

 

For instance, think about a fatty substance: it’s gooey and unattractive; it sticks to you, weighs you down, and makes you slow, lethargic, and unhappy. I bet just about everyone can think of a person in their life that makes them feel this way. A good friend does the opposite of these things; a good friend is essentially fat free!

Detaching Yourself from Self-Esteem Suckers

When you have big goals, dreams, and plans for your life, toxic relationships can deter your success. While you can’t choose your family, you CAN choose your friends and make decisions about who you will spend your time and energy on. If you want to stay motivated to reach your goals and stick to better habits, take a moment to think about the people you spend your time with. Will they support your or throw you off track? If the following descriptions sound all too familiar, consider making your circle of friends smaller.

 

A charity case.
Someone you feel you must impress, yet no matter what you do, you never receive their approval.
When good things happen to you, you get a strange feeling that this person is not genuinely happy for you. However, this person always seems to be around when things aren’t going so well for you.
A person that will probably never get their…uh…”stuff” together.
Someone that constantly tries to “fix” others to distract his or herself from their own problems.
A person that puts you and/or others down.
A gossiper… If they’re talking about other people behind their back, they are probably talking about you behind your back, too.

 

These kinds of people often hold us back from moving forward in our lives and becoming the person we want to be. They are comfortable where they are, and they want you to stay there with them.

 

However, if you want to move up, you have to play up. You must surround yourself with people that are on their game, people that make you feel slightly uncomfortable being complacent…people that push you to be more.

 

Disclaimer

Now, before you go making a public announcement on Facebook that you are no longer friends with someone, keep reading… You don’t have to proclaim to this person that you are no longer friends. Simply make a decision to spend less and less time with the person that is bringing you down. Get busy. You will slowly drift apart, and there will be no need for a big fallout.

 

One last thing: before you decide to end a friendship, ask yourself if you’re doing the right thing. If the person doesn’t consistently fit the description above, yet he or she made a perceived mistake in one way or another, talk it out first. Is a simple misunderstanding worth throwing away years of built up trust and loyalty? Before writing off a person for something that may be nothing more than a simple misunderstanding, try to see both sides of the situation.

 

Your Top 5

Overall, your top 5 favorite people should consist of people that bring positive energy to your life. The people in your tight group of friends should be people that share your positive nature. Keeping close people that share your ambition to live a fuller life and be the best version of yourself can only fast track your success.