Competition

I recently shared my strengths according to Gallup Strengths Finder and am still digging into that theme a bit. I loved learning my too strengths, but I was also fascinated to learn my bottom ones also. Competition is the second to the bottom strength! This means competition is pretty irrelevant to me and my life.

Competition is very low in my skill set personally and professionally. That is not a good thing or a bad thing, it just reinforces my top strengths. I highly recommend taking the strengths finder test if your curious how it impacts your personal and business life.

I did some digging on competition and found some fascinating thing. Harvard business review says this about competition-

While it can sometimes be productive, too often it is actually destructive to your overall goals. That’s why people who don’t have as much of a heart to compete have advantages in life and the opportunity to be more successful.

Non competing individuals are more motivated than most of the people around them.

Here is why:

They aren’t as ego-driven.
People who compete often do so in large part to satisfy their egos. If you don’t have the heart to compete, then most likely you don’t have a big ego.

They’re less stressed.
Competition in life adds a lot of unneeded frustration. If you’re not obsessed with competing, you’re largely free of that stress. That frustration is an almost overwhelmingly negative influence on your sense of self.

They’re calmer.
A sense of calm comes over those who don’t endlessly think about how they’re going to get ahead in races of all kinds.

They wish success on others.
The person who doesn’t obsess about competition often wants others to find success as well as themselves. What’s so great about that is how success begets success.

They believe success can be shared.
Competitions are almost always win-lose situations. People who don’t want competition in their lives tend to believe in win-win scenarios. Instead of looking for ways they can outsmart their opponent, they search for methods to team up with them and overcome whatever obstacle that they face together instead of apart. By doing that, they double the chance for success.

They have inner peace.
Obsession is unhealthy, whereas peace is just around the corner once you remove competition from the equation. By focusing on improving yourself instead of beating others, you are well on your way to the inner peace everyone craves, even if some of them don’t know it.

I’m telling you, learning about your strengths can lead to so much understanding in your relationships and professional life. I am so grateful I know these things about myself because I am able to see that I am unique and while others around me may be fed by competition I don’t have to try to fit in. I can be me and I can support them as they are then. Cool, huh?

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Let’s Get Personal

I realized once again today that in this great cyber world it’s hard to really know someone. We see their passions, perhaps perfectly curated food or vacation photos, and we see snippets of the person that they are, but can we really know someone and their quirks through an online platform?

Clearly, I love yoga, natural options like essential oils, inspirational events and situations, brain injuries and much more.

Let’s get a little bit personal for a bit.


I have a love affair with smashed-nosed dogs (pugs, Boston’s, bulldogs, boxers). I can’t help myself.

It hurts my heart to see others not valued for who they are, especially those with disabilities.

My favorite color is any shade of orange, I’ve even had an orange car! (I had a VW beetle with three little kids—what was I thinking?)

I collect crystals and if you came to my house, you’d find them everywhere (even in most of the window sills). My sweet little granddaughter Carrie’s her own all around and it warms my heart.

I can’t stand unloading the dishwasher but I love cleaning the kitchen floor.

Walking is how I manage pain, stress and general life stuff. I average around 23,000 steps a day.

I technically have four paid jobs that I juggle each day (I teach yoga and adaptive yoga, I teach wellness and essential oil education, I am a provider for my daughter with special needs, I take care of my mom’s billing business, and I am always a mom to my girl. And, I am the best unpaid MayMay to some sweet littles!

Being outside is imperative to my health. I walk outside 99.9% of the days. I can’t do frigid wind chill, but I am up for bundling up any time to walk. It’s where I connect. Nature feeds me and it’s also where I have learned to listen.

About 18 years ago I decided that I was so done being overweight so I changed my habits, starting walking and eating better, healed my inner world and lost all the weight. At one point I weighed 100 pounds more than I do now.

I believe we are all here to make the world better and kinder. So simple.

I also love teaching others to find their values and principles to navigating life. When I am living in these values I am aligned and in the flow. When I venture away from these I find myself lost and struggling.

Here are my top ten values:

1. Faith (in my purpose, in other people, in life)
2. Service (to do something without personal gain)
3. Kindness (simple…just be kind)
4. Acceptance (for everything)
5. Diligence (don’t half ass things or put things off)
6. Action (this is always necessary for success)
7. Awareness (be awake to life’s simplest things)
8. Belief (a deep knowing which is empowering)
9. Fulfillment (each choice is to support the good)
10. Love (act in alignment with my heart)

I also love learning about my strengths so that I can be my best. Have you taken the Clifton Strength Finder test?

Here are my top 5 strengths and how they show up in my life! I found it FASCINATING and can see how they all have influenced my business and personal decisions.

  1. Belief—I have certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values my life purpose has emerged. I can see now how this #1 also played a negative role in my marriage. I was unable to bend when I needed to and see someone else’s perspective. My work HAS to be meaningful or I either.
  2. Responsibility—If I say I am going to do something, I will do it. I am commuted to values like honesty and loyalty. Sometimes this strength gets in the way of my ability to relax because I feel so much responsibility for getting things accomplished.
  3. Connectedness—I have faith in the connectedness of all things. I am able to link people and lessons and experiences and outcomes. I am not a big believer in coincidence as I believe everything that happens has a reason. This has served me well in my own personal struggles as well as my business.
  4. Discipline — I enjoy order and thrive when things are such. I love routine and predictability. When my kids were little I even color coded legos…a tad extreme I get it, but I thrive when things are in order. I also am very disciplined with my body and workouts. I hold myself to a super high standard of keeping my word to myself. Uummm, see responsibility above.
  5. Focus— They say people with this strength can take directions, take action and follow through. I definitely thrive when I have accomplished what I set out to do. In fact, prioritizing what needs to be done and doing it first has been a stickler in many of my relationships where someone else may prefer to play first then check off the list.

Crazy how they are all interwoven for me! My main domain is in the executing realm so basically I get stuff done and believe strongly in living that way. Can you see how that May negatively influence a relationship? Over the years I have learned to channel these more into the business world and I am able to deliver my beliefs in a softer more palatable way for others.

Wanna know my bottom two? Individualization which basically means that I am unable to pick our unique things about people because I believe so strongly in we are all equal. There is that belief thing again. The next to bottom strength is competition. It means nothing to me. I could literally care less if I am first or better.

I think it is so cool to sit with yourself and learn about YOU. For decades I didn’t like who I was so even the willingness to look inward was terrifying. No more!

Now, it’s YOUR turn!

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