Reading: 3 Simple Steps to Reinventing Your Health

“Neither of my parents exercised; they were both functional alcoholics,” says Suzanne Frank, CEO of Frank Wellness Health Coaching, who had her first drink at age 10. “I don’t think of myself as an alcoholic. But I wasn’t my best self and I was just following in the footsteps of my family.” One night, after her son entered the 4th grade D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, Frank decided she had had enough and quit her bad habits. But she realized she needed to replace them with things that still helped her relax and focus. Running a marathon had been a lifelong dream. So when a friend asked her to join a Super Sprint Triathlon — her career as a 50+ triathlete was born. “It took me one year of training to run 2.2 miles,” she laughs.

Suzanne’s Top Tips for Getting Unstuck:
I think you have to be very sort of rational about it. Stop thinking that you’re stuck, and pick three things to do:
1. Something old that you did in the past, that you let go of.

2. Something intellectually challenging, and it doesn’t matter if it’s old or new.

3. Something completely new. You don’t have to do it for long, you just have to do it.

So for me, it was that I started motorcycling again in 2007. I took French 1 yet again — I’ve done that literally four or five times in my life. And I picked up belly dancing.

Doing those three things really got me unstuck, even though the only thing I still do now is motorcycle. Another thing is the way that I was able to do triathlon, is that I let go of the dream of running a marathon. I realized I was bullshitting myself when I said ‘Oh, I’m going to do a marathon someday.’ It’s like, you’re not even going for a run. But a triathlon I could do. I recognized what my strengths were – I’m a better swimmer than I am a runner. And then finally, doing something really small that can have outsized impact. Like on the first page of my phone, I had a folder of social media icons. And I moved it to the second page. And I swear, I have an extra half-hour every day now. Because it’s not RIGHT there, and I have to actually intend to swipe over to get to it.