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We were lucky enough to have two conversations with fitness coach, Lisa Perry of Shore Bells. This podcast is our second conversation. Getting to know her, we spoke the same health-focused language, and because we are all coaches, we connected over our philosophies and our identities. She is so passionate about what she does and this comes through in our conversations. Just by listening, we’re sure you’re going to be inspired to up your health game.
Here’s the transcript. Edited for clarity.
Debbie
We’re interviewing today, someone I’ve known for a really long time, Lisa Perry of Shore Bells. We’re so happy to have you here, Lisa. And she’s had such a great story that we talked with her about last week. And we were like, we have to get her on the podcast, because she’s got a story our listeners have to hear. We are so happy to have you here and let our listeners hear all about you and what’s going on and your business and how you can help others.
Lisa 00:26
Thank you for inviting me on, it’s very exciting to talk about this stuff, I’m very jazzed about it.
Debbie 00:31
So, what’s fascinating about your story, is the fact that you were conforming, for the first half of your life, you were conforming, doing what you thought other people wanted you to do what you think you should do. And then you broke out of that, and started doing what you wanted to do, and found out that what you were doing and what you wanted to do, you were actually really good at. And now you’ve kind of taken it on and inspiring others through their own transformations.
Wendy 01:02
One of the things that really sparked my interest in our conversation last week was this idea that you had an inner athlete that you had never really tapped into. And you found that and it really lit you up. And I think most of us in the second half of our life are, especially in transition, whatever that transition might be, you know, empty nesters, divorce, retirement, moving–any of those things, we’re trying to find what lights us up.
Lisa 01:38
In this process from the old me of doing what was maybe expected, I thought was expected, of me as a woman or whatever, versus doing what I wanted to do. Along with that, and kind of in the same arc was me kind of not liking my body, feeling like I never could be the ideal physique, or whatever it is, body weight, body type, this thing, and kind of being unhappy with what I was doing gave me license to just be okay with being happy with my body. I didn’t like my body. I felt very uncomfortable. I just always felt very misplaced, and just generally disconnected. And as I began to explore things my body could do. So, the transition from old to new, had a section in the middle where I was kind of exploring, and I got into yoga a little bit. That made me be like, “Oh, my body can do cool things. Like, maybe I don’t hate it so much, maybe my body is okay. And you know, maybe what these other people think about my body or what I think it should be like, maybe I don’t need to listen to that. And just see my body can do.” And it gave me more confidence. And then, you know, by the time I finally started strength training, as an extension of trying to chase this physique ideal, right? I had had the baby, I breastfed, and then I gained some weight. And, you know, just wasn’t feeling good about myself in many ways. And I wasn’t liking my career. And it was like, I hit that point where I think a lot of people get to, in their 40s, or whatever your middle age, where they’re like, you know, “something’s gotta give.” I don’t know what that something was. But in the transition to chasing this weight loss goal, which became something I don’t even care about anymore, so much. It was more like the body type. I discovered that, “Oh, I’m good at strength training,” and “oh, maybe I don’t hate my body.” And, “oh, hey, my body can do all this cool stuff.” So it was like, I not only liberated myself from a career path I didn’t like, but also just from kind of I transitions from, you know, the extension of that unhappiness was like unhappiness with my body. And then I was able to transition to where I was like, “wow, I love and respect my body, and my body kicks ass. And hey, I want to kick more ass with this body.” And, what, if it doesn’t look like what Instagram, or this magazine, or whatever, says it should look like. Screw those things, because it’s strong and can do a lot of stuff. And it’s carrying me through life. And you know, I’m loving my life now. I took all this time, and here I am, like, I’m loving my life. So, I think learning to find something about your body. I think for us, we grew up in the age of Jordash jeans and whatnot came out when we, for me, late in elementary school. And it was kind of like, you know, I really never experienced as a kid, like any kind of joy in my own body. And that wasn’t something I even thought was even possible. I was happy hating myself, I guess, because I didn’t know any better. And so, to have transitions now, through strength training, to loving my body… And you know, are there things about it that I wish were different? Yeah, of course. But I’m not miserable over it now. Because now I’m like, you know what,I can go rip 350 pounds off the ground, doing a deadlift. So do I care that I have a stretch mark? No, I don’t care. You know, what’s funny is, this is kind of interesting. I was laughing about this. It’s like, I finally got a physique where I can wear a two piece bathing suit and feel like, “Yeah, I’m rocking it.” But now I have stretch marks and saggy skin! It’s cool. I still wear it.
Wendy 05:54
You have a wonderful story about making this transition in your life. And the word that I love and resonate so much is that you feel strong, not necessarily only in your body, but also in your conviction in your thinking and in what you can offer other people. And so you found some comfort with your own personal body. And now you can share that comfort or that transition, those ideas with other women.
Debbie 06:27
So if you would just give a quick summary of your before life, so people have context about what was going on, to shift you into this, this new, beautiful place.
Lisa 06:38
So, you know, just in a nutshell, I was raised in an environment where there were very gender specific ideals that sort of precluded me from exploring areas of myself, both interests, and physically, for a very long time. It really kind of just closed some doors there for me, that I didn’t realize were closed. And I didn’t realize you know what that meant, right? And it was many, many, many years later that I was able to shed those restrictions, almost like chains upon me. Women shouldn’t do, you know, X, Y, Z, to where I had come on my own and had achieved enough success in a career path to kind of feel emboldened to explore a little bit more, and start to cast aside or put less weight into some of these, ideals. And I think we are, as a society, beginning to look differently at them. But you know, 20-30 years ago, when we grew up, women really were, they are allowed to do certain things and not allowed to do other things. So here I am. I reached the middle part of life, having no idea that inside of me was an athlete. I mean, I just never did anything athletic at all, and was discouraged from doing so. Even though in my mind at the time, there were things I wanted to do, but I just kind of was like, oh, okay, like, I’m a girl, I can’t do that, I guess, boohoo, on to the next thing. So now, it’s like, I opened the floodgates. I went to a gym and got introduced to weight training, you know, very beginner level stuff. And the coach I worked with saw in me, whoa, this woman is strong. Hey, you need to compete. And I was like, compete in what!? I thought, you’re crazy, guy! I thought this guy had rocks in his head! Like, you know, I’m an old lady. And I’m overweight and all these things. So, none of those added up in my head to athlete, right? So, by the grace of God, this coach, really, he did what coaches do, which is they almost see the future you. Yeah, and they help you find that. And they help to shorten the path from point A to point B. And he saw this athlete in me, and encouraged me to find that athlete, and express that athletic ability. And I’m so grateful because it was life changing. You know, I went from being timid. And I knew that I kind of kicked butt at certain things, but in my body, and in the expression of myself physically, I was still kind of repressed, and this opened the door for me to feel strong in my body and wanting to use my body to do cool things and keep challenging that. And that really transformed my mindset into believing in things that I never thought possible or even available to me, accessible to me to believing really that the sky was the limit. And to kind of embody the Limitless Mindset, which was something–I always felt very limited. So this was like, a 180 for me. Like, holy crap, I can do anything I want! I really believe I can. So, what if I’m in my late 40s? And I never did this before? Who cares? Keeping up with these young people. And that was just so empowering. And through that, I lost a lot of weight and my health improved–all of my biomarkers and all that, everything improved. And I had a big WHY to keep doing it for health, to be around for my family as long as I can, to live independently as long as I can–all these things. So, you have every reason why to keep going. And then it became like, I wanted to just see what I could do. Like, I was like, let’s try the next thing. Let’s make a new goal and chase that. It’s like very exciting. So, to your point about coaching and helping others, yeah, like this coach helped me. And now, I have become a coach, and I’m helping other people. And you know, for once in my life, finally, like it took all these years into my 50s. I’m doing what I love to do physically and personally, and helping other people kind of experience that same empowerment. And it’s, it’s very exciting to me. It makes me happier than I could ever imagine being at this point. If you’d asked me 10 years ago, could this happen? I’d be like, I don’t know. Like, it seems crazy. But yeah, I’m living it. And, it’s like, hey, client, this client, you client, you person, this can happen for you, too! And it’s just having someone believe in you and help you believe in yourself, I think is absolutely important.
Wendy 11:41
That’s the definition of a coach, right?
Debbie 11:43
You know, Lisa, it’s funny, because when I first moved back to New Jersey, 15 years ago, 16 years ago, we connected at one point, I think through the Holistic Moms or something. I remember connecting with you. I think it was right when your son was born, right around that time. And you’re right, you were kind of timid. You were actually the girl I remembered in high school who was kind of quiet, you know, you weren’t in athletics or anything, you know, you weren’t a jock. That wasn’t even part of your identity.
Lisa 12:12
And I wasn’t even a dabbler.
Debbie 12:15
Not even a dabbler! Exactly. So that was the person when I met you 15 years ago, or whatever it was, you were who I remembered you to be. And then years later, when I connected with you again, after you had started this training, I was like, she is completely different! She is a new person, like this is completely different. This was even before you started your business, but I think you’d started training. And it was amazing to see that transformation. So, when I saw you started your own business, I was like, yes, she has done it!
Lisa 12:47
It’s exciting to feel like you’ve broken free and and, you know, release the chains, if you will.
Debbie 12:54
Yes, exactly! Exactly. And the fact that you’ve taken on this identity that you never had before, and your identity now is an athlete, “I’m an athlete,” which, if your past self could see you, you would be in complete disbelief. You’d be like, “no way that is totally not me–that’s in some parallel universe, it doesn’t exist.”
Lisa 13:17
And even within that, it’s like, I went from being like, oh, I can sort of be a pretend athlete in the beginning to being what was actually the other me, is kind of more like the pretend version. And the athlete is the real version that was underlying it the whole time, right? That just needed to get cut loose. So, it’s almost like I’ve been reborn into who I should have originally been in the first place, which is amazing, you know, and you could, focus on regret, and oh, I wish, and too bad, and blah, blah, blah. But that doesn’t serve me at all. I’m just so happy now. You know, I’m just focusing from this point forward, like how much more butt can I kick? Yeah, between now and however long I’m lucky enough to stay on this earth? I think to help other people realize, because a lot of my clients will express some interests like, “Oh, I wish I could do that.” And when I’ve asked the question, “Yeah, well, why can’t you?” “Oh, my, um,” laundry list of reasons, most often, “I’m too old. I never did this before.” And I’m like, “Hey, look at me. I started in my late 40s. And look, and just five, six years, I mean, I’ve extended to like a nationally competitive athletic level, will that be you?” It could be, maybe, maybe not, but why not explore it? I mean, why not at least give it a chance? Then within that, find something that empowers you that you enjoy, because within athletics or fitness, there’s so many avenues and ways to achieve fitness and strength. Somewhere in there, there is something that everyone can find some interest in.
Wendy 15:03
When I talked with my husband, who’s also a personal trainer, he talks a lot about ,and Debbie, and I talk about this with our clients, is that we want to be strong. For what reason? What’s the underlying reason? You want to be able to get up off the floor when you’re playing with your kids or grandkids. You want to be able to stack that quart of wood in the winter. You want to be able to garden without hurting your back, right? So, you want to be able to do stuff for a really long time.
Lisa 15:39
Yeah, there’s a lot of studies that have shown that people can live very robustly into their later years, much, much farther than the standard American might think. So, if you have Old Lisa a mindset of like, “oh, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t,” your body begins to be unable. So, at some point, you may be run up with a little resistance, getting started can be hard, and having a coach is going to make the difference for you. Because they’re going to make a path, especially in the beginning, when it’s accessible, it meets you where you’re at, and you take baby steps towards starting to feel more powerful in your body, and more able because the feeling of not being able can be very crippling. And also, people don’t want to feel that. So, a coach’s job is to allow you to begin to find your own strength in a way that makes you feel empowered and good. It’s more of a “yes” environment and less of a “no” environment as you start to say, my message to anyone if you’re listening to this, number one, thank you. Number two, if you have questions in your own mind of your own ability, don’t go in alone, go and find a coach, meet, interview a couple coaches–find one that you connect with, and let them guide you until you feel empowered, where maybe you’ll train on your own, or pursue things on your own. But a coach will make the difference. I think, especially if you’re coming into this later in life, and you’re a little timid because you’re inexperienced, a coach is going to make the difference for you,
Wendy 17:21
For sure. And I wanted to go back to this idea of the Before Lisa, and then New Lisa, if you will. You’re the same amazing woman. And I wanted to make sure that for people who are in transition, I wanted to acknowledge your success that you’ve had in your business career, and your tenacity. And your drive in your business career also is paralleled to this, your new business that you’ve created. Your success there gave you a lot of gifts for who you are now. So it’s not throwing out the old. It’s really saying, “Oh, I learned so much in my first half of my life. I excelled at these things. And I can excel again, maybe in this different world.” And to not–not completely–I don’t want to say throw out the old because you’re the same You, just with a new attitude of this new thing, right?
Lisa 18:39
Yes. And, you know, as I was leaving my first career, which was engineering, heavy construction–man environment, I was determined not to fail there. And I arguably ran myself into the ground trying not to fail. But hey, I’m a driven gal. And, you know, failure is not an option, was sort of, my way of operating. So, there I am doing all these things that on the outside look good. She’s a successful engineer–all these things. And what I was really discovering, and it took me a while to really appreciate it, but I discovered that I was really good at and enjoyed mentoring people. And in that context, it was the young engineers. So both women and men, male and female engineers would come in as college students. They would intern with me, and all three of the jobs that I had there, I spent many years at each one of them. Maybe, five to 10 years each. During my tenure at each of them, I became the go to person for mentoring the young engineers, and I never asked for that position. It was like, they must have seen an ability in me. And I also didn’t mind doing it and a lot of people didn’t want to be bothered. So, maybe, it was an inherent skill that I had. I didn’t realize that I have the ability to break things down to people to a level that meets them where they’re at. And, you know, I have no idea that that would be like my learning, basically like training to be a coach. It was like I was coaching all along. I had no idea. And when I decided to switch careers, I felt like, I must be crazy. I have no experience, like I had this whole career. And I’m switching gears like a 180, to something totally different. And the more time I spent coaching, the more I realized, oh, my gosh, I have a huge skill set already, that totally applies to this. So, it was very nice to be able to find little gems from my past life that are serving me well now.
And, you know, again, no looking back with regret, because that whole career, while it may, could I go back and choose a different path, maybe I don’t know. It served me really well. And it makes me really appreciate the opportunity I have now, to do what I do. It really makes me appreciate it, that I have the chance to be where I’m at now, before it’s “too late.” I mean, I’m 53. I got a good 20 or 30 years ahead of me where I’ll be helping people and being strong and kind of experiencing our robust later years of life, and I want to share that. I want to keep doing it myself and share it with other people as long as I possibly can. Because I think it’s great. I mean, there’s nothing better than to flip the pancake from, “I’m old, and I’m declining,” to “I’m putting up a good fight.” And maybe the fight wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be. It’s awesome.
Wendy 21:45
I love that message to have it not being as hard as, as people think, because we talk about strength training can be intimidating, but you take it one bit at a time. We think we have to be overnight successes. But climbing the mountain took time, and one step after the other and different tools along the way to get to the top of the mountain. We see people at their mountain peak, and we think, “oh, you know, it’s so easy for them.” Well, I think we need to just honor where people are on the mountain and walk with them.
Lisa 22:27
Right, they can start with really simple, not intimidating things. I have had clients that came to me, and their goal, expressed goal right through the door was “I just wasn’t able to get down to the floor and get up from the floor confidently, and know that I can do it.” This person I’m thinking of in particular, she was about to be a grandparent, and they were like, man, you know, I want to be able to get on the floor and play with my grandchild and then be able to get up from the floor. And you know, not need help and not feeling like “oof, maybe I could do it once a day, and then I’m done.” And this person went from not being able to get down to and up from the floor without holding on to a chair or the counter or their knee or something to be able to get up and down from the floor with ease. And that is like to me, I mean, do I like training lifting clients? I absolutely do. But this functional strength client–very rewarding to me. And then to get a message from the person, “oh, my gosh, I woke up in the middle of the night and I was able to push up on my arm and roll over without having to wake myself up and get out of bed and get back in.” She was just like, “oh my God, it’s life changing. I’m sleeping better, and I’m excited for my grandchild,” all these things. And to me, it’s really rewarding as a fellow woman, to help her in her 60s to feel like whoa, she’s got a new lease on life. I mean, she started literally, like her goal, when I say her goal is to get down to the floor and back up, that’s literally what her goal was. And I was like, Okay, let’s see where we go. And it was one session., It was very clear to me the things to work on. She went from that to lifting weights, then she’s swinging kettlebells and doing all these things like she’d never thought she could do. But it was one bit at a time, and she went from being reluctant and timid, and not sure if she liked the whole thing–strength training, or where we were going with it. Maybe after about three weeks, she was like, “wow, like, this is awesome. I feel great. My knees don’t hurt going up and down the stairs,” and all these things that is really, I feel like, like I hit the lottery, that I’m able to help people have that kind of life improvement. I mean, I’m very grateful and I’m thankful every day that I get to do this.
Debbie 24:57
Yeah, I don’t know the age range of our listeners, but I imagine, I’m thinking of my kids who are young adults, and even up to 30, or maybe even 40, people can’t even imagine not being able to get up off the floor–like that seems ridiculous. They take for granted their resilience, their agility to do things, yet, a lot of them are already on the path that’s going to get them to be having trouble from getting up off the floor. We take advantage of our youth a lot of the time and don’t take care of our bodies. And so many people who might be 30, and getting off the floor is not a big deal, but they’re sitting there eating junk food, not exercising, doing stuff that’s going to catch up to them. So I wanted to address that because it’s not like our audience or our people that we coach, are these decrepit old people, it’s even–some of them are even young in the fact that they can’t do things because of what they didn’t do, or what they did in their youth.
Lisa 26:00
And young people that maybe have had an injury because they get laid up and they don’t move and they lose some of this ability.
Debbie 26:09
Exactly. Yeah, it goes fast, it really goes fast. And it’s not only the physical that goes fast, it’s also our limiting beliefs. And that’s kind of like the basis of what we’re talking about here is that we all have these limiting beliefs, and we have to question them. We have to be curious about them. And we have to be able to say, listen, that belief is not serving me, I can do this. And it’s recognizing those limiting beliefs, which we don’t like–you were just saying you didn’t even know to question your limiting beliefs as you were growing up because nobody–you didn’t have a coach to point them out to you. So the idea of having a coach or having a message like this, if you’re just listening to our podcast, to what are your limiting beliefs? What are you holding back from that you can do? And imagine that you can even do more.
Lisa 27:02
Yeah, for me, just having that one, it was that one person. You know, to believe in me and got me to, you kind of summed it up very well, pointing out that the limiting beliefs is kind of the overarching theme, because it’s true. And when I went into that one experience at that gym, this guy made me question everything. Like, he really believed that I could do all these things. And, you know, at some point, I was like, why do I think I can’t do all this? I’m doing it.
Debbie 27:35
And you did more!
Lisa 27:36
Once your mindset changes and you go from feeling limited and you own that limiting mindset. Like you’re limiting yourself. It started with my being limited by what my parents’ messaging was. And then I took ownership of that. I started limiting myself. I hit a point of desperation, where I was like, you know, I’m either here at this gym, and I’m going to try this out. And I’m either going to give up and just be an old person and be like everyone else and say, oh, folks to get old, or like, maybe something’s gonna happen, that’ll change that, and boom, it did. I was ready to be a little bit receptive to change.
You know, maybe other people listening, you’re just like, “Damn, I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Well, you know, what? What are you doing about it? Let someone push you out of your comfort zone, and try something different that’s gonna make you feel different. And kind of, break that mindset that “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.” What if you can? You can. You can! Because I think you can. Give it a try. It’s hard, though, to break that. It’s like mental patterning. And it’s very hard. Our brains are very good. at patterning. But if you think if I can just get it to pattern this new thought of “I can,” that can be my new pattern. And for me, that’s where I’m living now. I’m just like, Yeah, I’ll try that. Why the hell not? You know? Sometimes I surprise myself. Sometimes I’m like, oh, not for me. But most of the time, I’m like, I can do this. This is great. It’s just, once you have that feeling, some people will be like, Oh, I but I just don’t like working out or whatever it is. Whatever gets you going, maybe it’s walking or whatever, once you get that feeling of like, wow, I have more in me. I’m not limited, that it becomes its own. Why? Because like, I think everyone wants to feel empowered, and hey, there’s more out there for me. I haven’t hit my peak. There’s more I can do, you know what I mean? And I think that if you can find someone who helps you feel that, like after that you’re gonna go on autopilot because you want more than that. Because no one’s gonna go “no, I want to go back to feeling like crap.”
Wendy 29:59
Right?
Lisa 30:00
But you’re gonna feel good. You’re gonna want to feel good more.
Wendy 30:04
I think you bring up an interesting point about feeling like crap. I think a lot of people walk around, not really–they don’t really realize because they’re kind of disconnected from their body. So, they don’t really realize how badly they feel. They’re just kind of dozing through the days, the moving through the days, and, to your point of harnessing someone else’s belief through a coach who sees something in you, and getting help, because doing, making change isn’t easy, right? We have to become uncomfortable. That’s what makes a muscle a muscle is stressing it. We talk so much as a society about removing stresses from our life, but the stress makes us strong. This stress makes diamonds, that’s what creates the beautiful diamond. And so we inherently don’t want to be uncomfortable. So getting either a group of people or a person together to hold each other accountable, and keep showing up really, really can shift change. So, Amen to coaching.
Lisa 31:28
Sometimes it’s just, it’s really like one person is all it takes. It could be your example, it could be like, some encouraging words you’ve shared with somebody. But what I want to say is, I want to make change, but I’m scared, what if I get hurt? The thing about putting yourself intentionally stressing yourself is like something you can do in a yoga class in with a trainer in a gym class that’s coached. And what’s going to happen is it affords you the chance to step outside of your comfort zone, but within a framework that’s safe. So you have support of other people. Maybe you’re using, in yoga, a prop or the wall or a chair. So it’s not super scary, but it’s a little bit of a toe in the water. And then you begin to be more comfortable with stressing yourself in those safe environments. And then eventually, like you feel very confident, empowered, then you feel safer out in any environment, feeling robust and willing to kind of push out of your comfort zone. So, I think those safe environments are a great place for people beginning to who are curious and want to make a shift, but they’re stuck in their head. And you want to do something different, but you just don’t know how to get started. A class can be a great way, a coach is a great way, because we all need to feel some sense of safety. We’re a little more willing to do things that are, maybe, a little scary because there’s that safety net.
Debbie 33:04
Yeah, there’s that saying that life begins at the end of your comfort zone, and that can’t be more true. I’ve experienced that so many times in my life, but it is important to have the safety net while you’re there, that while you’re leaving your comfort zone, at least you know, it’s not going to kill you or hurt you or whatever else.
I wanted to touch on something else you said, and I don’t want to go in a negative direction, because I want to actually eliminate this phrase that I’ve been hearing, probably, ever since I hit around 50 years old or so. I’ve heard so many people say, either “don’t get old,” or “getting old sucks.” And every time I hear someone say that, I’m thinking, “Wow, I feel great right now. I feel better than I did in my 20s. Mentally and physically.” And I’m like, Okay, I’m not old. But getting older, I’m actually feeling better. And, given these are because of a lot of the choices I’ve made, which have been to nourish my body to nourish my mind. And so, I want to move that phrase out of people’s heads. And when they think that, question, why are you saying that–because you’re not feeling good on some level. So change it. Get the phrase out of your head because you’re not going to get younger. So you might as well make the road ahead a great road because that’s what we have. One of the best things about getting older is letting go of so much of the constraints that we have socially. So much of the messages we know to ignore now or to push away because they don’t serve us. We don’t have that ability when we’re younger a lot of the time just because we don’t have the competence and the experience and the wisdom to do it–to taking advantage of the mindset that most of us get just as we get older anyway, and seizing it and grabbing on to it and getting to do really good things and fun things–things that make you strong. This is the time to do it.
Lisa 35:04
I absolutely agree with that. And I hear “oh, oh, I can’t do that, I’m old” so often. And my thing is always like, why not try? Why not try? And it’s hard; it goes back to this limiting mindset messaging that we get growing up, I think. I don’t know if men experience it as intensely as women do. There’s a lot of “women can’t” messaging, or, women need to shrink and be small. And, these kinds of things. And I think the time is turning, we’re kind of coming into our own. I see the younger generation doesn’t seem to be as limited as people of our generation felt growing up. And I want to continue to foster that. I want people to carry that torch and help so that people don’t have to feel like, oh, it took me 30,40,50 years until I felt confident enough to do my own thing, whatever that was that I felt limited from at some point. And my message also is no matter how old you are, it’s still not too late. You can still be better tomorrow than you were today. It doesn’t matter how old you are. You may have a laundry list of things that are physical ailments, or what accumulated over the years. It’s still not too late. There are still plenty of things you can do to feel better, to feel stronger. And in some cases, reverse some of those conditions. So, shut that voice off. You’re not too old. It’s not too late.
Wendy 36:44
Yeah, yeah, for sure. I think, our limiting belief on age, there’s so much messaging to it. And so to this point, we need to reframe the language that we’re using, and what we’re reading and what our feeds are, and what magazines we’re reading and who we’re connected with. That’s why coaching can be such a valuable investment. Because one of our biggest jobs is to help people think differently. It’s like, where is that talk coming from? And not even diving into it, but challenging it and saying, what would it feel like if you chose these words instead, or chose this path because all we’re doing as coaches is helping people claim their agency again. It’s helping claim our choices back instead of defaulting to the world’s expectations.
Lisa 37:49
I really embrace aging. And I truly believe every day you wake up, aging is a gift. I mean, it truly is a gift. It is like I will be happy as a clam if I can wake up one day in my 80s and be like, “Hey, I’m still here, and I’m still doing stuff.” I won’t be like, “oh, man, it sucks to get old,” I’ll be damn happy I made it to my 80s. Like, that’s what I’m shooting for. I’m shooting for living robustly and vigorously as long as I possibly can. And continuing, just encourage other people to do the same thing. Don’t give up on yourself. You are worth your own energy. It’s like, you have to just say, hey, you know what, I’m gonna go try this and find your “yes” environment. Maybe you can’t lift 50 pounds today, but maybe you can lift five, maybe you can’t walk a mile, maybe you can walk a block twice a day. Whatever it is, find your “Yes,” and just go after it. And then if you get stuck, get someone to help you–call in a coach. Don’t be shy, we’re here to help you.
I think people don’t understand even what coaching is, and we, as an industry, haven’t done a good job of really helping people understand how transformational it can be. And I even have clients here that keep saying, “Oh, I gotta go off on my own,” “I should just be able to do this on my own.” Don’t think like that. Maybe you have a budget, and you’re gonna get the most out of it with your coach, and then you go off on your own, but don’t feel like if you go off, like you have to go off on your own to be successful. Like you, I have a coach. I’m a coach, I could coach myself, but I have a coach because this person shortens the path from point A to point B from me, and they can see me without the lens of my own bias, you know what I mean? So, it’s like they’re able to see the future me and help me get there. Likewise, a coach can help you do that. And it’s not a question of whether or not you’re a good or a bad or capable person because you do or don’t want or need a coach. It’s choosing to have that benefit of the coach. The coach is going to be a benefit. There’s no bones about it. I would argue even someone who’s not the best coach is still going to help you more than you’ll likely be able to help yourself, right? Because they just don’t have that inherent bias that you have for yourself. So it’s like, reach out, get a helping hand, start in the class, if you need to grab a coach, whatever it might be–yoga, whatever it is, you want to do, get in touch with your body, and let your body have the chance to prove your limiting beliefs wrong, because it will, if you give it the chance. It will prove your limiting beliefs wrong because your body wants to move. As humans, our bodies, they want to adapt, they want to be challenged, they want to have those stresses placed upon our body. That’s how our body bolsters itself and becomes more robust., We’ve heard this thing, “Oh, my knee hurts. Oh, don’t use it.” No! That’s wrong! You need to use it more! To help your knees feel better. I’ve had numerous people come to me with knee problems, back problems, that after a few months are out of pain. And they’re doing these amazing things they never thought they could do–that they couldn’t have done on day one. But it’s like, the song is not over. Get out there and live. Demand more for yourself, like you would if you have a child, right? You wouldn’t let your kid just give up and throw in the towel. So, if you’re letting yourself do that, you need a coach to push you. That’s gonna make the difference. I just want everyone to feel as awesome as I do. If you need a way to get you there, come at me! And, if you’re gonna do it on your own, great, but just do it! Get off the couch, the proverbial couch, and go do something, challenge your body and challenge yourself to love your body and make it a “yes” thing. Like, what can I do? Let’s do more of that, then I can do the next thing.
Wendy 41:52
Thank you so much, Lisa, for sharing your story and your passion and your excitement for transitioning and for getting us to think differently about our body and what our capabilities are because we really are resilient creatures, and we can really do so much more than our limiting beliefs can do. So where can people find you? What’s your social media? How do you work with people?
Lisa 42:20
So my business is “Shore,” like Jersey Shore “Bells” as in barbell, kettlebell, dumbbell. So Shore Bells. You can find me on Facebook or on Instagram. I will have a website soon. And I’d love to hear from you guys. There’s lots of stuff on there. Through that you can contact me, reach out by direct message for coaching or questions. And I just love to chat. So, anybody wants to talk about feeling stuck and wants to get unstuck? Hit me up–happy to help. Very good. My pleasure.
Debbie 42:53
Yeah, I mean, Lisa, we are so like-minded. And, it’s great to talk to you about the stuff that we’ve been talking about for years. And for it to be to be said from a different voice and an in slightly different way than we’ve been saying it, and it’s all the same language. It’s all the same message. And it’s just so beautiful to hear it from you and to see you and how fabulous you feel. And look. And it’s just, it’s amazing. So I’m so glad that we found each other.
Lisa 43:23
I appreciate so much the opportunity to chat with you guys. And I echo what you said earlier, that you feel better now than you really ever did. And I feel the same way and I feel like you know, each day I can feel even better. I’m still on the up uphill. Still working my way up.
Wendy 43:45
That’s right. And that’s the mindset that we can get better and better every day. The long term.
Lisa 43:53
Thank you guys.
Debbie 43:54
You’re welcome. Have a great day. Lisa.
Lisa 43:56
You too. Bye.
