As we come to the end of another action-packed year, and I am also finishing an epic career chapter, I have been taking much-needed time out to “re-fire” and decide what I am going to do next. This period of reflection led me to dig up some of the notes I had written to myself early in my career, based on advice from mentors and friends.

How to lean in, own your job search and get on offense.

Last month I had the great experience of teaching the first cohort of my new course on Maven called The Breakout Leader.

I was thrilled to meet my first group of students - who came from different countries, industries, functional backgrounds and ages - and made this weekend of learning truly magical because of their own unique perspectives. One thing I hadn’t expected until we were together is how many of my students would either be “between gigs” looking for a new job, or possibly interested in making a bold move to find a new job. So it got me thinking that it would be a good time to share three myths and three lessons I’ve gleaned over the years from amazing bosses, mentors and recruiters about how to crush it with your job search.

I confess. If there was a program called Competitors Anonymous, I’d be a strong contender to be in it.

The good news is after 16 years in the sports and fitness industry where I’ve studied every aspect of athletically-minded consumers, I’ve learned that I am most certainly not alone.

OK yes – we all cringe when we see a photo that doesn’t showcase our best side, but maybe embracing that realness is the key to greater self-acceptance. And more importantly, it builds greater self-confidence to go forth and crush the opportunities in front of you because you’re not wasting precious energy worrying about the way you look. Instead, you’re throwing your effort into delivering memorable results. THAT, I believe might just be the liberating awesomeness of living life.

I constantly hear from both women and men in this stage of life that it’s “so hard” to take the risks that we really want to take when you’ve got a house, kids, college to save for and retirement to think about. But life is short - you never know how much better off you can actually be if you don’t try!

If you want to achieve a goal, you have to go all in. Committing to the end is giving yourself no way out. 

So team, here are four hard learned tips to crossing the Rubicon through rough waters.

If you haven’t picked up your copy of Bruce Springsteen’s new memoir, Born to Run, I’d say run, don’t walk, to get your hands on it. Here are my top 3 lessons learned from 15 hours spent with Bruce Springsteen.

If you’re starting out in your career, or are midway through, and are finding yourself leaning towards the easier options – you might want to start taking the tougher path. If you don’t believe me, here are three great reasons to avoid shortcuts.

It’s that time of year when we all start to buckle our seatbelt for that downward slide towards the biggest food fest of the annual American calendar. By popular request, I decided to pull together your official roadmap for this week to the ultimate Thanksgiving of badassery. It’s lots of fun, and you’ll come out the other side in as good of shape as you are today. So here goes:

I’ve seen a wide range of efforts aimed at addressing the burnout crisis. Some are effective, and some aren’t. However, I can share the three most important insights derived from decades of research and experience in human performance:

I am no stranger to the pain and embarrassment that comes with screwing up.

From falling 2 points short of passing my 12th grade piano exam (after practicing for freeken months), to being fired - not once, but twice - in my 20s... it's safe to say I have experienced plenty of defeats.

But the crazy thing about failure is, it’s actually NEEDED if you want to really grow.

Played correctly, failure can be the most epic dose of high octane fuel we need to push ourselves to the next level.

It doesn’t take much deep googling to get sucked into the entire history of the band Queen. For every one of us wanting to discover our most Extreme selves, there are amazing lessons in their legacy.

As you plough your way through your own crazy season of overwhelm, here are three Extreme Moves I’ve discovered to help you choose your own personal strategy and move from work-life balance to work-life fitness.