Stories from Kristina + Breanne

  Shared by Breanne Smedley This spring, I decided I wanted to plant a garden. We planted one a few years ago at our house when we lived on Whidbey. It was fun watching all the little seeds and sprouts we planted sprout through the dirt. Then, seeing those zucchini and squash sprouts turn into plants that would take over our yard. But then there were some plants, like the bell peppers, that just died completely. Not enough water? Too much water? Planted next to plants it didn’t like? I would spend hours trying to research why. Then changing the location, soil, water amount to see if I could get it to thrive. It was always a satisfying feeling, the few times that we were able to make a dinner that we had grown or “caught” ourselves. Salmon caught by Brett in the strait of Juan de Fuca, just 5 minutes away. A salad with the kale, tomatoes, and carrots from our garden. So, this year, we are taking a stab at doing it again. We plotted out a space in the backyard that we thought had the...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley I have a little bit of an obsession with the whiteboard in our gym. It’s taller than me, wider than my outstretched arms, two-sided, and glides on wheels. During the volleyball season, almost every square inch of real estate on that board is filled. Goals, reminders, practice plans, diagrams of drills, player groupings, competition results. As a visual person, I love to see everything mapped out. It also helps to eliminate confusion and keeps our practice running faster. I can explain a drill, players can see it on the whiteboard, and watch a demonstration on the court. Then, when it comes time to execute, everyone is moving in unison. There’s no: “Oh, I thought I was supposed to go here after…” None of the infamous high school phrases, “Wait, what? I’m SO confused.” It takes a moderate amount of time to do it this way, though. And one day during this past season, my players got to the whiteboard and it was blank. It was one of those days. Practice was p...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley Whenever I am teaching something new, there is sometimes a tendency for students to be a bit skeptical. It’s something I encourage, actually. As learners, I think we should always operate with a healthy amount of skepticism. Always doing our own analysis, research, and testing. I also have realized that answering questions like: “Why do we put our hand like this when blocking, rather than like this?” with “Because I said so.” doesn’t get very far. A better approach, that I have found leads to optimal learning is to tell my students to test for themselves. Ok, block this ball with your hand parallel to the back wall. Test, see what happens. (Hint: likely the ball will be blocked out). Now, block this ball with your hand angled to the center of the court. What happens? (Hint, the ball will likely be blocked toward the court). The other day, Brett had a student who was attempting a 3 rep max (3RM) back squat in his class. Brett had already spent most of the...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley Since January, I’ve stuck to the same morning routine. Although it’s ridiculously early, it’s what sets my day in motion. 4:15am wakeup. Coffee. Meditate. Read.  Write. It’s also lead to more books read in the last 90 days than I read in the past year total. And allowed me to produce enough content to write a book. Doing the important things in the morning doesn’t leave them to the chaos of the day. Routine creates habits, which shape identity. I also feel accomplished and tend to transfer that feeling to everything else I’m doing that day. Teaching. Meetings. Working out. Spending time with Brett and Charlee. Building Mindfluent Leadership. There’s a great chance that not only does these things get done, but done with energy if I stick to my enabling morning routine. Then came this past week. Monday hit, and my phone started buzzing in the bathroom. 4:15am. “I’m so tired. I’m going to press snooze, just once.” So, I got out of bed, walked all the w...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley I woke up this morning feeling overwhelmed. The house needs to be cleaned before people come over for Easter brunch. I still need to get groceries for this week. Plan for the upcoming week at school. Volleyball is ramping up. Feeling behind my routine and goals for Mindfluent Leadership. ….and I just heard Charlee wake up.  So, no time for any of it. It happens. There’s always a lot to get done, and it seems like less and less time to do it. Then, my mind went to an ugly place for a moment. I started having thoughts of… Brett and I both work full time.  We are both head coaches.  Yet, I’m the one doing most of the childcare.  If needed, I’m the one that takes Charlee to my meetings.  To my practices, never to his.  I plan and cook all the meals and make sure we have groceries for the week.  The budget, the bills. While also trying to build a business. I was able to realize, in that moment, that I was doing the exact thi...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley This past year has easily been one of the most transformative of my life. Yes, gaining a new role as a mom and experiencing the dynamic of our family change has been significant. However, I don’t think that’s what has changed me the most. When Kristina and I set out to build Mindfluent Leadership in June of last year, our intentions were to provide transformative leadership skills to leaders in their businesses, schools, homes, and communities. We weren’t sure exactly what it would look like at the time. Courses? Workshops? Retreats? Speaking engagements? Partnerships with schools and businesses? What I can tell you for sure is that we didn’t expect to be sitting here, almost a year later, having shared nearly a combined total of 200 stories to the “world” (ie. Facebook). Stories where we are vulnerable.  Share embarrassing, hurtful, and real parts of our pasts.  Stories of our struggles, and successes.  Stories that have made those closes...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley That was my new year resolution once. I can’t remember exactly which year it was, but I do remember it didn’t happen. Which, looking back, is no surprise. Time in the day is limited, so I’m not sure how I expected to read that many books without changing where I was devoting my time. Fast forward to April of 2019 and I’m six books down this year. Which may not seem like a lot to some people. But with a schedule that includes full-time teaching, coaching, building a business, and devoting time to family…knocking out six books in four months isn’t something I ever thought I’d have time for. The challenge was simple. As a part of the 90 Day Immersion Kristina and I are in to help build our business, we were tasked with reading/processing 40-50 book pages a day. I didn’t understand that “process” part in the beginning. One of our pre-assignments was to read a book called, “The 1% Rule: How to fall in love with the process and achieve your wildest dreams” by ...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley For as long as I’ve known Brett, he’s been obsessed with fishing. When we lived on Whidbey Island, it happened almost daily. It’s hard not to when you can drive in any direction for 5 minutes and hit water. Saltwater, with the prospect of Salmon swimming just beneath the surface. He would try to get me to join in with him, and I would from time to time. From the bank, or from our 10-foot canoe where the fish would practically drag us across the straight as we tried to reel them in. I never quite got the same fever for fishing that Brett has, though. A lot of waiting.  Guessing which bait the fish would like today.  Wondering if there were actually any fish…because it’s been an hour without a bite. Sometimes, Brett goes out with fishing guides. Mostly in the ocean, where he’s had a ton of luck. There is one guide that goes out of La Push that he talks about a lot, named Randy. Brett’s told me a lot about how great of a guide Randy is.  Know...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley There was a time in my life when I would cringe at even the thought of anything lower than an A showing up on a report card. I used to run to the mailbox right around the time report cards were sent home every year. I’d quickly off the tiny strips of paper surrounding the edges. Unfold the paper, and have a feeling of contentment rush over me as I ran my eyes down the page. Straight A’s. All was right with the world. Until one time, it wasn’t. My senior year in high school, my eyes stopped short as I completed my usual report card ritual. Anatomy: A- What?! That minus would haunt me for weeks. Like a blemish I just wanted to pick.  A mark I wanted to take an eraser to and remove. I’ve come a long way since then. In fact, my high school self would be mortified to hear the standard I’m striving for in the report card of “life.” B+. Yep, B+ work now beats A+ work in my world. In most cases, I’ve found that A+ work is actually unattainable and unsustain...

  Shared by Breanne Smedley About mid-way through high school volleyball season last year, my team was struggling. Skill-wise, we were not lacking. Height-wise, we were one of the tallest in the league. We had a good mix of experience, youth, and competitive fire. Yet, we were dropping sets here and there we shouldn’t have. And no amount of motivational speeches by me or my coaching staff seemed to be making any difference. It came to a head when we lost to Woodland in a league matchup. Not because they were the better team. But because we didn’t play with any sort of cohesion. Heart. Effort. The absolute worst way to lose. Over the very things that are in our control. But why? That question kept me up that night, long after the head pounding meeting with my coaching staff at Applebee’s. Trying to find a solution to that question. Jill, our JV coach mentioned the topic of trust. They don’t look like they are playing to their potential, because they don’t trust each other. “Why shou...

  Shared by Kristina Smedley “Stark Naked…” Based on the recommendations of some close friends, Sennad and I bought the book, ‘Stark Naked Metabolic Reset’ a few months before our 2016 wedding. Our friends grew up with the author, Brad Davidson, and were following his program and felt great! More energy. Less bloating. Better habits. The program was actually quite simple: Cut sugar. Drink more water and no alcohol. Eliminate common inflammatory foods. And reduce the stress put on your body through various means. After 21 days following these guidelines, I felt better than I had I ever felt. Yes, I had lost a few pounds, so my stark naked self felt pretty good. But the larger effect was on my mental space. I felt healthier and happier. I was more comfortable in my clothes and my skin. I was proud of myself for overcoming the mental hurdles that inevitably popped up. I had integrity in my commitments to myself. And I had social connections with a growing group of friends living the s...

  Shared by Kristina Smedley “Exhausted vs Inspiring…” I have noticed two pretty distinct responses from others when I share what’s going on in my life right now. “Wow, that is inspiring!” -OR- “Ugg, you must be exhausted!” It seems that they’ve either had the experience of following their dreams and understand the commitment, hard work, and pure energy gained on the journey… whatever their personal journey might be. Or they’ve sat back in life, thinking it would just be too hard or not possible. We all run into this choice at one point or another. I’ve definitely had those moments where I didn’t go for it. And I remember feeling sluggish, uninspired… exhausted. This is the exact opposite of what life is like when stepping into, what we call, our ImpactZone™. Here, there’s unlimited energy as our passions are discovered and acted on. Where are our skills and abilities are utilized and further developed. Where we have a deep and meaningful purpose. Here, life is exciting, challengin...