What are you [really] good at?

{source}

Have you ever had a moment of realization that made you think, "I really need to work on that" [if you haven't, you're probably not human!]? Let's face it... we're not as perfect as we may want to be... we may fall short of a few career or personal skills, which some label weaknesses. One lesson I learned not too long ago is to stop harping on trying to fix those weaknesses. Instead, put that energy into STRENGTHS and work on sharpening those skills that we are really good at!

Strengths are not just something we're naturally good at... we refer to that as our talents. In fact, talents become our strengths when we develop them. Finding your strengths can be a delicate task that you may need some direction with. Luckily, there are assessments that exist out there to help narrow down your true strengths. A few of which may be Gallup's Strength Finder or The Marcus Buckingham Company's StandOut Assessment.

Once you get an idea what your strengths are, there is so much to unlock... what direction in your career you might take, what types of team members you might compliment (or that might compliment you), how you might make the biggest impact... just to name a few.

Personally, I've completed both the Strengths Finder and the StandOut Assessments. They both computed very similar types of strengths, and actually reinforce some of the things I thrive off of at this point in my life. Some of the keywords my assessments revealed are:

- Problem-Solving
- Good judgment
- Sincere enthusiasm
- Accountable
- Protective

Reviewing these results has given me a bit of a push to pursue some things to new levels, one of which is my coaching business. There's nothing better than helping PEOPLE... helping others become their best and pursue their own strengths! Needless to say, tapping into some of my strengths brings me a sense of joy and realization that I'm headed in the right direction. Rather than beating myself up because I'm not this or that, I'm able to focus on what I'm good at and create whatever it is that I want to create for myself.

What might be some of your strengths that come top of mind?

June Gloom

It is no joke when I say- June was a tough month for this household! Nebraska Huskers reported back for workouts the first of June... Nebraska coaches hosted Friday Night Lights every Friday eve which had coaches at the school until 10-11pm... Then it was right back to campus first thing Saturday morning for them to host recruits and how em' how the Huskers roll. It was a rough one on the Hubs... which translated to a rough one for myself and my LO.

We were only able to enjoy breakfast together as a family on Sunday mornings. When the Hubs got off from work, baby would be showered and in bed majority of the time. Yes, we've had minimal time with Coach Hubs in the midst of the season and well after, but June felt like a super long month without him around much.

Though being a coach has many rewards, there are also quite a bit of substantial sacrifices that come with the job. One of which is the lack of time available to be a family. This is a HUGE one for us, as it may be with other coach's wives! I miss having the Hubs around the house, or just going to dinner with him to catch up on life. I especially miss him when I witness so many different milestones and moments I am SO blessed to have with baby.

As I embrace these rough patches as a coach's wife and mommy, I can't help but think about how it must be to be a coach working towards work-life balance... working hard (and some!) for the love of the game, but also spending some good QT with the family and oneself. This article that was posted on Football Scoop put it into perspective in such a clear cut way for me. [It could have been because they compared the coach's life to a consultant's life- my kinda' language!]. They discussed a study that was conducted comparing the number of hours of work and actual productivity. Turns out that you don't have to put in 23482734 hours of work just to be productive... you can work less hours IF you learn to manage your time and utilize the minutes in a day to accomplish meaningful tasks. High pressure (indeed)... high rewards!

Needless to say, June is over and we're working on life in July. I refuse to let this month be as rough, especially since we have the weekends with Hubs around! These sacrifices that WE make helps us become stronger and closer. I, myself, definitely feel even more blessed to be where I am and be who I'm with. I appreciate our time together even more, and cherish all the memories we make together as if time is at a standstill.

Live Together

Things have been quite busy over herrrrr. BUT I do have a few things I want to chat about which will make for great posts. One of which is totally top of mind for me...

If you haven't been on social media or don't watch the insanely scary news, there have been quite some monumental historical happs out in our world...

Political scandal

Rape victims

Shootings of innocent people

Retaliation against law enforcement

It makes me so sad. Sad that we are not only suffering from international terrorists, but now we are hurting our own people. We are turning against ourselves. To be in a country where it's home of the free does not give the right to society to do as they please, without any respect, without any compassion, without any love for one another.

This is NOT the world I am proud to have my child (or other children) grow up in. In the midst of all this chaos, I am trying to dig deep myself to find the silver lining. Personally, it's taking quite some energy (who doesn't go stir crazy with their own thoughts when thinking about the what if's)... but the silver lining for me has been looking at all of this as a wake up call.

Instead of taking some common sense for granted, I want to TEACH. I want to teach our children more about diversity and love. I want to teach them that there are no color differences when we look at others. I want to teach respect is a necessity, just as much as it is earned. I want to teach them about unconditional love and forgiveness. As much as I will teach my child, I also will re-teach myself.

I have nothing but the utmost love for you all, and if anyone ever wants to chat about reactions, feelings, or just thoughts about how this violence, I urge you to lean on others... and you certainly always have my open ears to listen!

How are you feeling with all of this?

America

Today we celebrate Independence Day... land of the brave... home of the free...

A M E R I C A

the beautiful

Today I'm also celebrating the football season to come. Americans love us some football! It's kinda cray cray if you think about it. There are all types of fans out in the universe. NFL fans and college football fans (me being one of them!). People go HARD for their teams. Some invest in a man cave with their favorite team colors. Others collect memorabilia of their fave team. Some even get their team's logo tattooed on their body so they can permanently represent (to each their own, right?). I choose to keep my spirits confined to blog posts and clothing gear!

Anyhow, being a proud American myself, I can't help but get excited over some college football coming up. We are 61 days away until kick off, and I'm tickled pink!

Happy 4th errryone!

One-on-One: K. Marzorini

How many of you can recall what it was like to be a high school student? Hormones at it's finest, cheap lunches, summer beach days, and preppy spirits over sports teams. I can only imagine how much has changed in that environment... even further, how much things have morphed as a student-athlete!

I had a chance to ask a few questions to one of those lovely student-athletes who plays softball at North Torrance High School, Kyndra Marzorini (aka Toots). I wanted to hear first hand what types of things our high school student-athletes are facing in today's world.

Q // What does being a softball player mean to you?

My life revolves around softball every day... there's always something to do: pitching lessons, practice, workouts... it gives me life. Softball teaches me lessons and to have confidence on and off the field.

Q // What lessons has softball taught you about life?

That you have to put in work in order to achieve your goals... they're not just achieved magically. The only way to get better is to practice, practice, practice. You can make mistakes, but it's okay because you learn from them- mistakes only make you better!

Q // How has softball affected your studies in school?

Playing softball has made it harder to do homework. I had to figure out how to manage my time and make it work. I miss 5th period to go to games, so I have to go to class during lunch to get the work from my teacher. Since my teacher is not there to teach me, I have to learn to teach myself.

Q // What are you looking forward to the most while searching for the right college?

I want to find a college I'm comfortable going to, with a good softball program, nice coaches and great teammates!

Demands can be high even before student-athletes hit college! I'm always wondering, in what ways can we (as society) be more supporting of academics?

Do you know what today is?

**singing** "It's our anniversary... anniversary...." Today marks 14 years of a blissful journey with my life long partner. He makes me laugh. He makes me cry (in a good way more than bad). He is there to grin and bare it through all my drama. He reminds me how to remain purposeful in all situations. He supports my dreams and aspirations. He is the father to my blessing. He is my Husband.

Literally - first came love... then came marriage... then came baby in a baby carriage!

Happy anniversary to my sweetheart!

I am who I am

My little one [LO] has been keeping me quite busy these days (surprise, right?!). Not only has he been crawling, chatting, eating solids and some... but he's working on trying to figure out this whole sleep thing. Did you know there's such a thing called "Sleep Training?" Now I'm no expert, but apparently babies are born with natural sleep waves that signal when it's time to sleep. AND... get this... there are specified times when babies get those sleep waves. Can you imagine if we honored our sleep waves as adults? How about if we had 2 nap times a day- one morning nap and afternoon nap? Our days would be quite interesting and a bit more bag-less under our eyes.

After researching and reading tons of articles and books on sleep training, I was totally ready to get my LO on some sort of sleep routine. One of the many methods just had to work... there are just way too many success stories out in the universe for it to fail.

Fast forward to two weeks later... we haven't accomplished the goals I had sought out. My LO isn't napping in his crib, nor has he learned to self-soothe himself to sleep. I felt defeated... like I could never get it right for him to sleep on his own... like I am the minority parent that can't help her child get sufficient quality rest.

Took me a little while to have my aha! moment in this situation. My LO and I just don't fit in the one-size-fits-all. Trying this method, that method, the other method, or the unheard method just helped me realize that there is no better method than my very own son's method. I chose to meet him where he is at today, and help him progress in ways that he is willing to. Just because it didn't work out to nap alone doesn't mean that he failed. What I was missing were all the successes to celebrate, opposed to the weaknesses we were working so hard on improving.

If you're fixated on improving something with your LO, or even within YOURSELF, some food for thought:

// There's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all in life
This is one thing that I fall short of time and time again. I love to listen to other's people stories of life... how they got through grad school, or as a first time mommy, or how they successfully started their own business. The thing is, not everyone is the exact same person. We all have different experiences. There may be similarities across us, but I am my own author of MY story, as you are your own author of your very own life!

// Celebrate your success in every day
If you're anything like me (human!), we can easily forget that we passed a test, made a new connection, cleaned house, etc. There are so many things that I tend to get done in a day- some as routine, and others as a new adventure. Those little things I get done on a daily basis tend to get lost in the shuffle as a success because I'm so fixated on the new and challenging things throughout my days. It is totally okay and much needed to celebrate what we accomplished in a day's work!

// Focus on your strengths
I can't say this any louder and prouder! Yes, I like to learn and grow all day, every day. BUT, why must I always think about how I can improve my weaknesses? If you can flip that energy into focusing on what you're good at... and not only good at, but are passionate about --> that's where the magic happens, folks!

Don't fall into a slump because you don't think things are going as planned. Instead, celebrate the daily quick wins and recharge for what's possible!