Daily Thought for Change

"Each brick represents a skill or action. You must lay EVERY brick to complete the bridge and reach your destination.
Often, people lay a few bricks and, seeing no immediate progress, abandon the bridge to start anew elsewhere. This results in multiple incomplete bridges and no path to success."

Today I want to talk about crackers.

I’m a trained nutritionist, and I love talking about food.

But today isn’t about food.

For a while, I noticed my hunger was all over the place. I blamed it on my workload, the winter here in South Africa, maybe some “supplement deficiency”...
Until I ran some numbers and realized - I wasn’t eating enough of one essential nutrient: Omega-6 fats.
So I picked up some seed crackers.

A day later?

    No more crazy hunger.
    Focus back to top-notch.
    Energy stable.
    Mood stable (so stable, it feels weird).
    Even lost some weight - because I wasn’t eating mindlessly.

And here’s where it gets bigger than crackers.

In life and business, sometimes the real problem isn’t that complicated.
You’re not broken.
You’re just missing one key piece.
Finding it, though, is a challenge.

Getting the right feedback.
Asking for outside eyes.
Learning from people who’ve done it already.
It speeds up the search.

One thing.
Be ready to bruise your ego.

"In a famous study, researchers asked homeowners to place a small, polite sign in their window that said, “Be a safe driver.” Most agreed. A few weeks later, those same people were asked to put a huge, ugly billboard on their lawn promoting safe driving — and 76% said yes, compared to only 17% of people who hadn’t been asked before. Why? That tiny first action shifted how they saw themselves — they started to believe they were “the kind of person who cares about safe driving.” Small behaviors change self-image, and changed self-image leads to bigger behaviors. It’s called the “foot-in-the-door effect,” and it’s one of the most powerful ways to create real, lasting change."

Yesterday, I sent a simple visual in my cold emails, helping leaders to see why we should work together:

Behavior → Culture → Business Outcomes

It’s the oldest formula in the world.
It’s how people change. It’s how companies transform.
It’s how we change the world.

Change what you do → Change who you are → Change your life

It’s that simple.
It’s also that hard.

To make lasting change - in yourself, in your company - you have to change daily actions first.
Consistency creates identity. Identity changes reality.
It starts small.
One choice. One behavior. One moment at a time.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the kind of person I want to become more of.
I want to be kinder. More honest. More generous. More others-focused. Because that's the world I want to live in.
Kind. Honest. Generous. Thoughtful.

And the only way to get there?
Not by wishing, or thinking about it hard and long.
Not by waiting for it to happen with time.
By doing.

So I asked ChatGPT (as one routinely does these days 😄):
"Can you design a 30-day program for me?
Daily reminders at 5am.
Help me practice kindness, honesty, generosity, and otherness every day."

Because if there’s one thing the gym taught me early in life —
No reps, no gainz. 💪

It’s the same everywhere, life or business.
You know a person is kind because they act kindly.
Actions build character - not intentions.

When it comes to companies, the same rule applies.


    "The core of an organization’s culture comprises: (1) shared assumptions, (2) shared values, (3) a common understanding about 'how and why things are done around here,' and (4) artifacts such as dress and customs. It complements an organization’s mission. But it relies on measurement and appropriate action."
Win from Within: Build Organizational Culture for Competitive Advantage.


You don't build culture by writing values on walls.
You build it through what people actually do.

Daily.
Together.
Relentlessly & especially when it's a hard choice.

Behavior → Culture → Business Outcomes.

It all starts there.
It always has.

🛠️ Suggested Exercise:

"30 Days of Reps to Become More... [insert your thing]" Challenge
→ Choose one behavior you want to see more in your company or yourself.
→ Commit to practicing it daily for 30 days.
→ Reflect weekly: How are you changing? How are others noticing?

Behavior first. Culture next. Results forever.


Coach Angela,
Helping Your Best Grow One Rep At a Time

Change often feels heavy.
A new city. A new job. A new routine.
It’s easy to fall into, “Ugh, now I have to start over,” or “What if I lose all the good stuff I had?”

But here’s a question I ask myself often:

What if it’s fun?
Or even - What if it’s better?

"Pretty soon you're seeking that distress state as a form of curiosity. As an exploration of who you are and what you're capable of. It becomes its own form of reward. One you control. If you encounter and practice this enough, it gradually supersedes the rewards of the overall goal you’re pursuing.

That’s how you make hard stuff “easy”. You internalize the process. And it is what “it’s all in your head” and “it’s about the journey, not the destination” are truly about." ~ Andrew Huberman

When you ask that, something powerful happens in your brain:

• Your focus shifts to what’s possible, not what’s missing.

• You get back into control mode, not stuck in survival mode, victim, powerless mode.

• You start moving, not overthinking.

I saw a post by neuroscientist Andrew Huberman this morning.
He explained how shifting your inner game - your self-talk, your perspective - can make hard effort feel like a reward.

That’s not woo-woo. That’s science.

And it reminded me, that, we have so much power and freedom over how we experience daily life and where we end up going.

So if you’re in a transition right now (if not you'll be soon)

Ask yourself,

What if it’s not the end?
What if it’s the beginning of the best chapter of your life?

Angela
Helping You Start Loving Change

"In Give and Take, Adam Grant tells the story of call center employees on the edge of burnout—until one small shift changed everything. After meeting just one student whose scholarship was funded by their work, their motivation soared. With no change in hours or pay, their performance doubled. Why? Because they saw the meaning in what they did.

When people connect their work to real impact, they don’t burn out—they light up."

Lately, people have been telling me:

“You should have more fun.”
“Go out more.”
“Maybe you’ll get lucky if you just relax.”

I get it. They mean well.
But let me tell you something I’ve learned from watching the greats and walking the path towards meaning.

1. Mastery isn’t magic. It’s reps.

You don’t become a world-class athlete, writer, leader or entrepreneur because you’re lucky. Won't you agree? You get there because you choose to show up. Again and again. You choose to get undeniably great by putting in draconian effort.

I get jealous in the best kind of way when I see people being exceptional.
When someone speaks and the room goes silent.
When someone builds a product that helps millions.
When someone masters their craft.

I get chills and goosebumps!

And what I’ve seen - and heard from those I admire, from research on peak performance and skill acquisition – is this:
No reps = no mastery.
No shortcuts.

Just time, tension, tiny improvements, deliberate practice.

When you see someone being great - there are countless hours of work put in the shadow.

This is what lights me up.
Not passive “happiness,” but the thrill of progress.
Of doing meaningful work. Of serving.
Of getting better. Sharper. More useful to others.

2. Happiness looks different for different people.

What brings me joy?

➤ Getting better at what I do.
➤ Seeing it impact more people.
➤ Spending time with a few people who matter.
➤ Feeling useful.

Service, mastery, and meaningful impact.
That’s what I optimize for.
That’s what fuels me.

That's my drive!

3. Rest? Yes. But not the kind you're sold into.

I sleep 8 hours a night. I take breaks. I hike mountains weekly.
But I don’t plan my recovery around Friday nights or lazy Sundays just because “everyone does it.”

Rest is biological. Weekends are a societal invention, boundaries to be re-evaluated.
And I believe there’s a different kind of rest that comes from living in alignment with your purpose. (Adam Grant's research seems to agree)
Working on something your soul believes in is more energizing than lying on a couch or "having fun"

I don’t live for the ordinary.

And that's what my calendar shows.

I’m here to serve.
To grow. To do great work. To challenge others to become their best.

Ask yourself this today, dear reader:

Is your daily life designed around what truly fulfills you?
Or are you following someone else's template for happiness?

What drives you?

With love & fire,
Angela
Helping You Stay the Course🧭

💬 P.S. Drop your thoughts in the comments. Let’s learn and grow together.

Nudge - don’t push. Step - don't leap.

Helping people change what they do? That’s my thing.

Behavior change isn’t small.
When you change behavior - you change everything else:
Better results. Better habits. Better teams. Better business. Better people.

I’ve been reading another book on change—about turnarounds and transformations.

One thing I loved in it:
It wasn’t about changing minds or fixing beliefs, fixing people.
It was about nudges.
Tiny adjustments that make the right behavior easier. It changed entire organizations without draconian overhauls.

Nudges work because they respect the brain.

Your brain’s main job?
Save energy.
It’s not looking for deep thinking or moral debates, or the biggest change out there.
Your brain wants default settings.
Low effort. Clear path.

Nudges provide that.
They make the desired action easy enough to just happen. No change of beliefs or person required.

There’s a model supported by research that talks to that by Dr. BJ Fogg:

Behavior = Motivation × Ability × Prompt

Nudges increase ability (make it simpler).
They also act as prompts (reminders to act).
So you get more action… with a lot less push.

I’m seeing this in my own work all the time. I stopped trying to change people - I started helping them make new behavior easy. When you change what you do, overtime, YOU change.

I'm working on my sales and offers and I caught myself thinking, perhaps I'm asking too much too fast?
Buy in. Go deep. Decide fast. But maybe, instead of asking for commitment, I could make it easier to take one small step towards the solution?

Lower the lift.
Remove friction.
Let momentum do the work.

When we try to change what we do, or what others do, it’s useful to ask not how do I make them change their mind, or who they are, but how can I make the decision/action I want easy and simple for them?

Coach Angela,

Today marks 100🥳 (It was my #EntrepreneurMarathon)

100 days of waking up before 5am.
100 days of choosing what matters most:
my work, my health, my people.

I’m not there yet.

But I’ve learned something important:
When you show up, things shift, you grow… and are we EVER there?
You grow. You see what’s holding you back.
And you get to choose—
Work through it?
Or run away and chase “greener grasses”?

Day 100 also marks book #30.
I aimed for 33.
Didn’t hit it.
But I showed to myself—
I can learn fast - IF I make the time for it (calendar).

🎯 I thought I’d have big projects out by now, business-wise.
Instead? I’ve had real conversations.
I listened more.
Refined my offer.
Learned what people actually want. Further than ever - and yet not there :)

🥳I built a website I love. (Working with others)
Check it out here.

The coolest thing—
I built my own way of helping people change.
A method that works, I got it from 17 years of working and thinking, 17 years of learning.
Years of work. One clear system.
Feels good.

100 days. Some lessons that I hope to never forget:

💥 Most things don’t matter. Learn what matters to YOU.
🛑 Saying NO is a life-changer. Don’t waste time on things that you won’t remember in 100 days :)
🌱 No reps, no gainz. Effort is everything. Don’t get frustrated - put more, better reps in. Nothing great is EVER easy. Adjust expectations.
📅 If you want a masterpiece tomorrow—master today. There’s no later in growth.
🛠️Stay true to yourself. Build with others.
🤍 Lift others as you rise. Kindness first.

Building awesome things that matter with people you like is the best fun of all!

Bad days will come.
Life throws curveballs.
Sometimes, you’ve got to fix the plumbing instead of painting the masterpiece.
That’s life.
But when the sun’s out?
Build.
Use it for what matters the most.

The biggest downer - regret, that you haven’t lived your days true to what matters to you.

And if you want joy, clarity, freedom?
Know what you want.
Then work on it.
Even if it takes 10 years—
It’ll be the best ride of your life!

Let’s grow. Together.

Angela
Helping Your Best Stay in Growth 🌱