Knowing Yourself and Recognizing Patterns
This episode of the Unreal Results podcast is an impromptu podcast episode where Anna dives into how knowing herself and paying attention to her patterns of behavior help her to actually recognize subtle signs of feeling tired, a feeling that is very difficult for her to sense, interoceptively.
One of the signs for her is she starts searching flights to Hawaii. 😂 Which is an action that spurred this reflection along with thinking about her personal (and professional) development over the last 10-15 years, getting to know herself better.
In the episode Anna shares how assessing her Clifton Strengths lead to some reflections on not only how the feeling relates to recognizing being tired, but how it is also woven into how she practices as an athletic trainer and sports healthcare educator.
To learn more about the Maestro Mafia and Shanté Cofield: https://themovementmaestro.com/
To learn more about Allegra Stein and using the Clifton Strengths: https://www.instagram.com/allegrasteincoaching/
https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths
Considering the viscera as a source of musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction is a great way to ensure a more true whole body approach to care, however it can be a bit overwhelming on where to start, which is exactly why I created the Visceral Referral Cheat Sheet. This FREE download will help you to learn the most common visceral referral patterns affecting the musculoskeletal system. Download it at www.unrealresultspod.com
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[00:00:00] Hey there, and welcome to another episode of the Unreal Results Podcast. I just got down working out and like. as I was walking back to my car, I was just thinking about how I'm feeling this week or the last few weeks actually. And um, it made me laugh because so often I call my sister
[00:01:00] and I say, Hey, I'm thinking about going to Hawaii tomorrow.
[00:01:06] And she always laughs cuz she's like, you are wild that you would just. Book a flight to Hawaii immediately and go and, um, that's one. I love being like that. Um, I'm not a big planner. I like to just take things day by day and like, it's the beauty of being single and financially independent and owning your own business is if I decide I want to go to Hawaii tomorrow, I can go to Hawaii tomorrow.
[00:01:38] Um, but I was thinking about. Why I feel that way and like what makes me want to go to Hawaii? Part of it is I have FOMO because, um, it's humpback breeding season in Maui. I love whale watching. My whale watching friends are already there. They've been there for two weeks
[00:02:00] and seeing all their videos and things just has me feeling some sort of way like I'm missing out.
[00:02:07] But then also, um, What it is, is I start looking up flights like that. It's almost like I am fantasizing about having nothing to do and not. Just having nothing to do, but permission to do nothing and just to be on vacation. So, I mean, that's the biggest thing, like when I'm in Hawaii, like it's permission just to go lay by the ocean and read a book or go swimming or you know, explore different things and like just do stuff I enjoy and.
[00:02:56] It made me sort of laugh because looking
[00:03:00] back on the moments that I tend to start searching for flights is like when I'm tired. When I am tired from all the travel to my clients, which is ironic that then I like, feel like I wanna travel somewhere. You'd think I'm just sick of being on the plane, which happens.
[00:03:21] But it's just again, like it's, it represents. A timeout and um, a decompression. And, um, there's something about the island besides the feeling of not having to, you know, work that just is very refilling for me. However, um, I was thinking about it and I laughed because when I moved to San Diego, um, How many years ago was it now?
[00:03:58] Uh, perhaps
[00:04:00] six. A little over six years ago. The end of 2016, I moved to San Diego. Part of the reason I did that is because when I wasn't traveling, um, I just found that I would rather be somewhere else than Arizona and you know, like I wanted to be. By the beach. I wanted to be back in California. I just wanted to feel that
[00:04:34] regeneration, that recovery, that rest, that being by the ocean gives to me. But then also I think too, that looking back on it now, I realize like part of the reason was I was really tired. I. If you think I travel a lot now, you should have heard what my schedule was back then.
[00:04:59] You know,
[00:05:00] being tired is relative, right? Like you, your body, your nervous system is just wired. Just keep going. And so sometimes when you're tired, especially if you've been tired for a really long time, it's hard to recognize that you're tired. Um, there's two feelings in my body. I have a really hard time recognizing that's being tired and being hungry, and.
[00:05:26] That lack of interoception, that lack of like body awareness is sort of like what sometimes gets me in trouble. But the, the reason I have a hard time being like recognizing when I'm tired is because I've just, my whole life just been going, going, going, going, going and like doing as much as possible and like taking care of everybody else before I take care of myself, which is one of the.
[00:05:51] Adjustments I made after, uh, losing my mom, right? And so, um, it is constantly a journey
[00:06:00] though. It is constantly something that I, um, easily let go of. And I, I, you know, especially like I am, I am a relater. I love building relationships with my clients, um, to feel like family. And when your clients feel like family, you.
[00:06:21] Start making sacrifices for them that maybe you shouldn't be. , because it feels good, because it, it speaks to that relationship piece, right? But at the same time, , it just makes me easily go back into that mode of putting others first besides me. So, I don't even recognize that I'm tired half the time.
[00:06:42] Um, it, this year has been really interesting because it's the first football season. I haven't traveled every week, um, since, I don't even know when I, I honestly don't know the last year that I
[00:07:00] haven't had a client every week of football season traveling somewhere specifically to the East coast. And even more than one, right?
[00:07:07] So previous, in the last couple years, I've been traveling four to five times a week during football season and only being home like one, you know, basically two days a week. So this season was the first time that I recognized like how much energy I had. Really appreciated how tired I was in the past
[00:07:30] I do know in the past, at the end of football season, it was like, this is the time I like, got to catch up on my sleep and took vacation and doing all the things. So I think I am feeling that pattern right now as football season's ending. I'm recording this the Wednesday before the Super Bowl and, um, But also, like I said, I was just so used to this l you know, it becomes your new level of normal.
[00:07:56] And so I just didn't even recognize it.
[00:08:00] And I will say in the last couple years of travel, I did better at taking care of myself, better at keeping up with lymph massage, better at keeping up with working out, going on walks, really. , keeping boundaries for when I was home, not scheduling a ton of clients when I was home, like actually taking those two days off and not doing anything.
[00:08:23] Um, but this year, this past Christmas, it w it, it like blew my mind because I, I can't remember having that much energy at Christmas to hang out with my family and like really be present in many, many years. So in one sense it feels odd to me that I am still feeling like the pull to Hawaii to do nothing.
[00:08:48] But that is because I've been working really hard on my business, right? I've been creating a lot of content, you know, the podcasts. Are great. I'm
[00:09:00] loving them, but it, as everyone told me, it takes way longer to edit them than I would really probably like. Um, and eventually I'll, I'll hire somebody to do it for me.
[00:09:11] But, you know, for right now, the beginning, you know, you're, you're in the weeds, you're figuring it all out. You're, doing all the things. I'm doing more YouTube videos. I'm just trying to put more content out there on. Social media, doing more emails. I'm in a growth phase, right? I'm trying to get more people into my sphere and um, so I've been, even though I am not traveling, I've been working a lot.
[00:09:38] And then I also, like, it's important to realize like the way my brain works, just this creativity, this content creation, the constant thinking, the constant thinking, and the constant being creative, is tiring. And because it's not travel and because it's not physically
[00:10:00] demanding, like seeing patients all day, I sometimes forget I need breaks from, plus, I love it.
[00:10:06] Like I love what I do. And so it's really easy when I'm at home to just be working every day, all. So I have to consciously think, like, or consciously, like, carve out time to take care of myself consciously, like stop working. And because my schedule has been more sporadic, with travel, it's just been harder to, to have like a, like a strict thing, you know, that that's the way it goes.
[00:10:36] Like when you get busier, it's easier to like keep on stuff. So anyways, um, This was not the podcast. I was like thinking I would be doing. I was just like having this thought after I worked out of the gym and I was like, I need to share this because this is something that everybody falls into this trap, especially all of us who are athletic
[00:11:00] trainers, physical therapists, chiropractors, people who are taking care of other people.
[00:11:03] We easily get in this trap, putting others first, not taking care of ourselves, not taking time off, not appreciating how much effort. , it goes into patient care, how much energy, how much energy it takes to be creative, that kind of thing. Um, you know, the other thing too is like you can't disregard like the need to work to create money, right?
[00:11:27] To create income. Um, this is why I do all the social media stuff. It's why I do all the content creation. Besides, I, I enjoy it. Um, it's a way to create a revenue stream that doesn't rely on the athletes because what I've found in the past is though they love me and care about me and, um, want to support me.
[00:11:55] I can't count on their income because they are, things come up in their
[00:12:00] lives and sometimes even though they're planning to use me every week, forever, they don't, and sometimes they get hurt and they have to do rehab with the team. Sometimes they just get burnt out on doing rehab. Sometimes they. Have kids or get in relationships and have family, um, obligations that limits their time that they can take care of their selves, just, just like regular, regular humans, right?
[00:12:31] And so I've learned that in order to keep me happy working with those clients who I love and I love doing that, I had to have another. stream of income to support myself because relying on them was, um, not steady as well as it was, um, emotionally draining
[00:13:00] because you get so connected with somebody, you feel like your family and then all of a sudden they're sort of out of your life again.
[00:13:09] and it doesn't mean that they don't love me and appreciate me and still think of me as family, but it's sort of like for me, all of a sudden it's like, oh, okay, my best friend, my brother, and not here for me anymore. So it's, it's an interesting. It's an interesting thing and so I've, I've realized that for me to not resent them, um, and not be resentful of my job, if this makes sense, is I need to rely upon myself to make money regardless of the income I get from them.
[00:13:51] That is always sort of like icing on the cake. That income allows me. Take more continuing education classes. It allows me to be a
[00:14:00] little bit more flexible about working with some athletes who can't afford my services. Um, sort of more doing more pro bono stuff and, and create, and having the time to create all this content to share with people, um, to then sell my education.
[00:14:16] And that's something too with the education. I don't do it just to make money. I love doing it. What I love to do, it's actually funny because I didn't realize I had this as a strength, , until a colleague pointed it out years ago. A physical therapist that I worked with at exos, you know, when I onboarded her, you know, after a while she was like, man, I'm just so amazed at how easily you assimilate information.
[00:14:43] And she's like, you. You know, concepts that are sometimes a little bit in the weeds feel really clear and practical and easy to apply. And that , That I is really what I love. And, and
[00:15:00] I shared this on my Instagram the other day. You know, I was sharing about this class I took in October, um, advanced visceral manipulation of the neck and thorax, and I learned some new techniques and they were so great.
[00:15:12] But then, you know, since that class in October, my mind's been sort of, um, thinking and I've been tinkering around with different things to be able to. You all that, those techniques, without having to rely on a practitioner, it doesn't, um, substitute them, right? They're, it's not an equal one for one, right?
[00:15:37] It's not like it's going to replace the technique and replace the need to go see someone with skilled hands and, and can do visceral manipulation, but it makes it more accessible. For clinicians to learn and understand the influence of the viscera and the nervous system on the musculoskeletal
[00:16:00] system. And then it empowers the patient and empowers the clinician to be able to treat it without always having to rely on a trained visceral manipulation or neural manipulation practitioner.
[00:16:13] And so, that. That ability, that, that ability, I have to take information and create and innovate it, like be innovative and create something new to get at the same goal, , leaning into that in these last few years, um, as I've been teaching more of the MovementREV method is actually like, I realize like my superpower and.
[00:16:42] So I gotta make time for that and realize too, like it takes a lot of energy, which is hard because that means I'm saying no to a lot of in-person clients, and that also means that I need to do a better job creating boundaries around those days too, and give myself the time off. Because,
[00:17:00] let's be honest, do I need to jump on a plane and go to Hawaii tomorrow?
[00:17:05] No. Do I want to? Yes, but why do I want to? Because I just need a break and I want nice weather and be by the ocean, but I live in San Diego and it's like 80 degrees today and the ocean, I can see it from my window. So I just need you to be better about pushing myself away from the computer, pushing myself away from the notebook, and then even also pushing myself away from the constant, like thinking about things, which is the hardest part.
[00:17:38] So anyways, hopefully, well, part of, part of what, part of actually what probably got me thinking about this too, besides me wanting to be in Hawaii today, , , I am going to WA Hawaii next week for while watching. So don't worry, I'm still getting that vacation in with the whales and my whale friends
[00:18:00] but part of what made me probably like be thinking about this a little bit deeper is just, last night on our mafia call, so I'm in the Maestro Mafia.
[00:18:11] So Shante Cofield, the movement maestro, she has a, uh, membership program called The Mafia, and it's a group of entrepreneurs, professionals in health and wellness, and we come together twice a month. And, uh, last night we had a guest speaker. Allegra Stein and she talked to us about, um, the Clifton strengths, uh, profile.
[00:18:34] So we, you know, did our assessment figure out our strengths and isn't, this is not new information to me, like the strengths that came up. I'm like, yep, I could have told you that. Which is good because that means like I have a bit of self-aware. But reading the, um, reading the little blurbs that came up based on my questions, it, it really.
[00:18:57] Hammered home some of these
[00:19:00] concepts, for me and, , just again, like highlighted like the reason why I am how I am and I work how I work, and sort of allowed me that realization today of like, hmm, I, I see why I am. Browsing flights to Hawaii today. Um, besides fomo, it's because I'm tired and I need a break. And, um, yeah, that was highlighted in my top things, which for those of you know, my top five is strategic adaptability, empathy related, and I, I dation, I'll just share, actually, I will.
[00:19:47] A couple of the sentences in each thing that, um, was thing. So the strategic that's all about like being creative and like assimilating information and being innovative, that kind of thing. Um, so
[00:20:00] one is basically talking about my talents and this is my expertise often serves as this springboard for your own and others' imaginations.
[00:20:11] So that is very accurate. And then adaptability. So that's my like go with the flow. Like literally being okay with jumping on a plane to Hawaii tomorrow or not. Right? So taking things as they come. Um, but it also is like by nature you might dread being bound to the timelines or agendas of others. That is so true.
[00:20:34] So a lot of sometimes why I sit down and do some of the work that is not creative, but needs to be done from my business is because I am like, have timelines and agendas that need to be done from a business standpoint. And that can be really draining on me. It says you continually monitor and adjust based on what's going on in the day, and I think over these last few years that I've become more aware of my habits.
[00:20:58] I do. I do a better job of
[00:21:00] being like, Hmm, perhaps I am seeing signs that I'm tired and I should go to sleep earlier, or I should stop working, or I should take a day off, or I should catch a flight toHawaii. The next one, empathy. Obviously, you know, most of us know what empathy is, but you know, in terms of how it relates, sort of, uh, to this is like trusting my feelings, leading to a proper solution.
[00:21:29] So h you know, trusting my feelings, like trusting the feeling of like, I do want to get on a plane to Hawaii and like unplug. And that is not me, 100% having fomo, that's me recognizing like, hmm, I think I'm tired. And
[00:21:47] yeah, the next one. Relator. I have deep satisfaction, working hard with friends to achieve their goals or a goal. Um,
[00:22:00] reading and learning helps me add fresh ideas to my mind. Storehouse of information. And, um, I'm very thoughtful with like, gathering information before I provide my opinions, that kind of thing.
[00:22:15] And then lastly, the ideation. That is, you know, being inventive, innovative. I grow a board when I'm, uh, this most funny. You grow a board when forced to follow the same series of steps day after day. So this is really funny because. . I am so much like this that like even when I'm driving around town, if I go somewhere, I like to return to my house in a different way because I think it's boring to go the same direct, like same streets you did on the way there.
[00:22:52] This is like how much of the ideation is like very me. Yeah, it says
[00:23:00] by nature you usually find novel and fresh ways to doing things. So the other thing about that, you know, how it relates to the education is, um, when I decided to do the mentorship and when I decided to like write out my evaluation process and, and create the LTAP, so the locator test assessment protocol, I was very resistant to it because I was very like, I don't do things the same way every.
[00:23:26] I don't, I'm like, do I really do like, and, and my, my friends in business, they're like, come on Anna. You've gotta have to have a system of how you evaluate and treat. Like whether you realize it or not, you're using a system. Like just what? Write it down. And what I didn't like about that is I didn't like feeling like a system had to sort of, Lock you in a box and lock you into like a logical step-by-step approach to how to do things, because I think that's where people go wrong.
[00:23:58] And um,
[00:24:00] however, I feel like the LTAP and the way I use it, Still allows for me have a system, but to use that system to listen to the body and be creative and not have to always do the same thing on everybody. So it really allows creativity and innovation and like not to being bored within a structure.
[00:24:28] So, yeah. Anyways, that, that's sort of where some of this thinking in my head came from, was our call last night on our strengths and, um, just doing a better job of reflecting on, like, again, I'm a thinker, so it's like reflecting on like why I'm feeling a certain way. And also appreciating that over the years I have, in the last 10 years, I've really been working
[00:25:00] my actually very hard on becoming more of a feeler and paying attention to what I feel and the fact that I know I can't feel being hungry very well, and I can't feel being tired very well, but I also am paying attention enough to catch the signs.
[00:25:20] That I do when I am feeling those things is a huge accomplishment. So wrap it up. Coming at you with this impromptu podcast. Right after a workout, all red-faced got my Starbucks iced tea. And just letting you know that it is a little bit ironic that I was like, I need to take a break and stop working.
[00:25:49] And then I sat down and recorded a podcast cuz that's still working. But after this, I'm gonna shut off the podcast. I'm not gonna edit it today. I'm going to
[00:26:00] eat some food because though I don't feel hungry, I need to eat. And um, then I'm gonna go to the. And I'm gonna go into the water and freeze. So I can appreciate next week when I'm in Hawaii how much warmer the water is and uh, yeah, I'm gonna stop working and maybe even change my plans for tomorrow. I don't know. We'll see. So I hope this was helpful for you. Um, in order to notice what we need, we need to spend some time getting to know how we operate, which is like something like the Clifton Strengths or like the DISC assessment and Enneagram, whatever assessment you want to use is great.
[00:26:48] It just is a way to get to know yourself so you can understand your tendencies and. Figure out your little patterns. And then also, you know, doing
[00:27:00] the work to feel more in your body is gonna help you actually feel your feelings too. Feeling from an interoception standpoint is encompasses. Physiological feeling things right.
[00:27:14] Um, mechanical changes in the pressures in our gut and our, uh, cavities as well as chemical, um, responses. But it also has a lot to do with recognizing our feelings and recognizing these little messages from our brain, which sometimes we've spent so long suppressing like appetite and being tired that it's hard to recognize them.
[00:27:38] So you have to. Do the work to, to figure out what your patterns are around those. So that's my lesson for you. Our work is hard. Take care of yourself first. Get to know yourself. Do some work. Learning how
[00:28:00] to feel in your body physically and emotionally. Pay attention to how all of those feeling. You act on them, how you act on all those feelings so then you can recognize when they're happening and make an adjustment.
[00:28:18] That's it for today. Thank you for being here. See you on the flip side.
[00:28:26]
