Ep 277 Laken Summerville: Creating your Strongest Story
Feb 1, 2025
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In this enlightening discussion, Laken Summerville, a mindset performance specialist and former CrossFit athlete, shares her journey from burnout to empowerment. She emphasizes the importance of unlearning self-judgment to cultivate genuine self-love. The conversation highlights the pressures women face in caregiving roles and the necessity of prioritizing self-care. Laken also explains how anticipation drives motivation and the significance of actionable steps in overcoming self-limiting beliefs, reinforcing the idea that small successes can lead to transformative changes.
The speaker emphasizes the transformational journey from a competitive athlete to coaching, highlighting the integration of mindset and holistic health practices.
A significant focus on sustainable health and wellness emerged, showcasing the shift away from competitive fitness towards long-term lifestyle changes during the pandemic.
The importance of actionable steps in personal development is underscored, advocating for smaller, manageable goals to build self-awareness and counteract limiting beliefs.
Deep dives
The Journey into Health and Fitness Coaching
The speaker describes their entry into health and fitness coaching, emphasizing a personal journey that led them from being a competitive athlete to a coach. Initially focused on traditional fitness and competitive running, they experienced burnout and shifted towards CrossFit, which reignited their competitive spirit through varied workouts that challenged both mental and physical limits. This change occurred after a friend invited them to try CrossFit, leading them to uncover a passion for coaching part-time while maintaining a corporate job. Over time, they recognized that despite their fitness efforts, diet played a crucial role, prompting a deeper dive into nutrition education and coaching.
Transition to a Holistic Approach
During the pandemic, the speaker transitioned towards holistic health and functional wellness while reassessing their lifestyle and previous injuries from competition. This reflection illuminated the importance of longevity and sustainable health, moving away from a focus solely on competitive fitness or physical strength. The experience highlighted how the pandemic forced many, including the speaker, to confront issues of mental health and well-being, leading them to integrate mindset coaching into their practice. They increasingly prioritized teaching clients about the value of sustainable health habits over competitive goals, recognizing that long-term wellness requires a broader perspective.
Mindset's Role in Coaching
The speaker emphasizes the critical role of mindset in successful health and fitness coaching, particularly during challenging times. Their experience during the pandemic made them realize clients faced deeper issues beyond mere nutrition and exercise, requiring a more comprehensive approach that included addressing mental health. This revelation led to an interest in motivational coaching, neurolinguistic programming, and the specific language clients use to describe their challenges. The aim was to help clients shift their perspectives, ultimately fostering self-awareness and the capacity for more intentional decision-making.
Self-Compassion vs. Complacency
The complexity of self-compassion is explored, particularly how it can sometimes lead to complacency rather than genuine growth. While many seek self-compassion as a salve for self-judgment, it can inadvertently encourage negative habits if misapplied, such as overindulgence or avoiding personal accountability. The speaker highlights the importance of discernment in recognizing the difference between being kind to oneself and allowing for excuses not to progress. They stress that true self-compassion also involves making choices that align with one's goals and values, promoting self-improvement without succumbing to harmful behaviors.
Transformational Impact Through Evidence and Action
The discussion revolves around taking actionable steps as the key to overcoming limiting beliefs and building momentum in personal development. The speaker advocates for smaller, manageable goals instead of overwhelming ambitions, allowing clients to create evidence of their achievements to counteract self-doubt. This approach acknowledges that sustained change comes not from grand gestures but from consistent, thoughtful actions that lead to significant progress over time. They stress that the journey towards transformation lies in recognizing small victories and using them to foster motivation for further growth.
Laken Summerville is a mindset performance specialist at Greenlight Personal Training and Rejuvenating Health in Ashburn.
From her experience as a top tier Crossfit Athlete and coaching high performers, her insights on changing your internal story, and specific practices to enhance your mental performance is truly powerful.