Sometimes the fight takes a while – Kamala Harris.

Anything that is made to last will take a while to develop. As former Vice President Harris said, we may be in the fight, but it may last longer than we anticipated. The key is not to give up. These are messages that I keep hearing over and over again, and I am internalizing them. The fight is where we develop strength and the resilience to keep going.

As I tell my clients, everything takes longer than we think, but if we are consistent and don’t quit, then the small changes over time add up to the significant change we want to see. We start where we are and move little by little. I have had clients tell me they have gotten much stronger with me, and it is because I believe in steady progression, no matter the age. I am fond of telling that when you hit a milestone birthday like seventy or eighty, that means you have to work harder.

My favorite story in the Bible is the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and their forty-year journey to the Promised Land. God told them he was sending them through the wilderness because if they saw the challenges, they would want to turn back and go to Egypt. Due to their lack of faith and disobedience, the Israelites turned what was an eleven-day journey into a forty-year stint in the Wilderness before they reached the Promised Land.

That story has always resonated with me because it mirrors so much of the human experience. We leave the confinement and oppression of our past only to strike out on a journey to the next place and end up in the wilderness, which involves testing, development, hardship, discouragement, and obstacles. The question becomes: will we become like the Israelites who grumbled, complained, disobeyed, and desired to return to their place of confinement, or will we move forward with a spirit that says we can overcome the obstacles before us and enter the Promised Land?

It is tempting to give up in the wilderness because it feels like nothing will ever change. The wilderness is dull, dry, and repetitive. I can imagine marching through the desert, feeling pointless and fruitless. It all feels like a waste.

I can relate, and so I appreciated this message from Craig, who runs the Daily Prophetic.

Don’t give up in the wilderness

Be prayerful and careful before making decisions to resolve the tension you feel.

Be especially wary of forming wrong alignments to alleviate loneliness or disconnection.

There is a paradox here: While I am going to move forward and GO. I also am not going to jump at something because I am so ready to move on and have something happen. Let’s stay vigilant about not forming any more WRONG connections. I have had the same kind of wrong connections in the past ten years:  People who have taken advantage of those wanting to contribute and grow in meaningful ways. I am not giving any more time to those types of endeavors. So let’s move forward with caution.

Rebranding 2026 on Deck

These days, in the career world, we are all personal brands. Who are we, and what do we offer to add value to customers and the company?  I am primed for a personal rebrand. I am sensing a return to that flow state where kairos moments begin happening, and the only explanation for events is synchronicity. It has been a dry ten years, and I have developed resilience, confidence, and a deeper self-awareness.

I have already begun the rebranding process by first admitting my major career mistake and now by coming back from it. This is what gives authenticity and effectiveness that you can’t learn in a class. During a regret exercise, I was to come up with three regrets for 2026, and I could only come up with one because this year I have been in action. As author Daniel Pink says in his book The Power of Regret, “Regret is for thinking and thinking is for doing.”  I don’t care to dwell anymore on my career regret. Instead, I want to use it as fuel for the future, not to make the same mistakes of settling, becoming complacent, and getting stuck.

My primary goal for 2026 is to change my environment both professionally and personally.  I am open to whatever that may mean, although I already know of one significant environmental change that I am excited about.

My personal rebranding encompasses many things. I have shed the religious conditioning that has led to more liberation. I don’t feel stifled anymore, and with that, shedding also comes the opportunity to connect with people that I actually enjoy and want to cultivate relationships with, regardless of religious affiliation. It is a shame that I have neglected some of my favorite connections and relationships because I was caught up in “serving” at church. I only talk to two people from that church anymore. I recognize it now for what it is, and I have no desire to participate anymore.

I am taking time in December to really think and strategize about the next year ahead. I am even excited to do so. Reconnecting with some of my former colleagues and rediscovering people I once enjoyed has done wonders for me. I have become more energized in the last few weeks just by being exposed to their energy.

Special Shoutout to the Fitness Bros

Special shoutout to rediscovering the “fitness bros.”  It has been so refreshing to connect with men who are evolved, intelligent, passionate about something (fitness), masculine, and attractive in their own way. This has been the exact opposite of what I have experienced in the last few years, being heavily involved in church. Exposure to these men (who are married and in partnerships) has encouraged me tremendously! There is still hope out there, and I look forward to being back in an environment where there are men with healthy testosterone levels and who are evolved in their thinking. These guys have women on their podcasts, not as objects, but to talk to them about their careers and their views on training. It’s great!

The Rebrand for 2026 is going to be exciting and open new doors. One thing is for sure, I am ready for a significant change!!

Fate test 1: Say yes to something you normally would not 

I was back at Davies Symphony Hall to hear Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. I do like that symphony, especially the Spring section. Going to the symphony forced me to get out of the house and talk to different people, which I have been missing tremendously. I spoke with both of my Lyft Drivers and got their perspectives on what’s happening in San Francis

co. If you ever want to know what’s truly happening in a city, drivers and public-facing employees have a lot of the scoop because they are on the ground. One of my drivers shared that she doesn’t think San Francisco is doing as well as everyone thinks. She said from her vantage point that nightlife is dead because bars and nightclubs have become too expensive, and people are focused on saving money.

Going to the symphony forces me to get dressed in real clothes and see other people in their fashions. At the SF Symphony, you see all types of fashion. People in sweats and jeans, people in business casual, women in evening gowns and sparkles, and men in suits. I have been out of the loop for so long, and it is refreshing to see different scenery.

Attending the symphony allows me to be exposed to the beauty of the arts again. I have been feeling a creative itch and yearning, and I need to expose myself to different genres of music and other forms of the arts to get inspired again. Next year, I am primed to find a creative outlet and project to sink my teeth into. Writers, musicians, actors, painters, etc., all find inspiration in different places.

I have one more symphony to attend, and it’s “Beethoven’s 5th symphony,” and that will probably be it for me for a while unless they do a Mozart symphony. Honestly, I prefer campy musical theater and jazz as my cultural outlet, but it’s important to expose myself to different kinds of art, and I want to see some symphonies live.

I really appreciate and enjoy the audience’s silence while the musicians play. Symphony fans are so polite that they hold their coughs until the musicians pause to turn the pages for their music. There is also something wonderfully meditative about sitting in a beautiful concert hall, listening to old music (where does one even hear the harpsichord anymore?) and letting our thoughts wander. It’s often there where inspiration is cultivated.

Enjoying the Process

I weigh in twice a week now for consistency, and I have lost weight, but I am enjoying the process of feeling more energized and alive through better nutrition and regular exercise. I finished the Nicole Wilkins Level Up challenge, and that got me lifting heavier than I have in a while, which felt good. A lot of what I was attributing to age-related decline wasn’t age-related at all. My problem was in between the ears. I just needed a push to get going again, and I have.

Lessons from the SF 10K

I signed up for the Black Girl Run Holidays challenge, which aims to log weekly mileage for running and walking. I signed up for Level One, and my goal is 35 miles per week. My goal is to run two to three times per week and get a walk in at least once on off days.

I learned several lessons from the San Francisco 10K this past summer. First, since I am well over forty now, foam rolling and stretching are not a good idea: they are both critical to my success and to my hip flexors not feeling super sore. I have been religious about foam rolling before running, and I also stretch on off days and after my runs. That hip flexor has been quiet.

I also learned that nutrition cannot go by the wayside, and protein is critical to my success. I gained about fifteen pounds between April and September. Some of this was due to depression and the summer of the doldrums, but some of it was due to poor nutrition, which happens to many recreational runners for a few reasons.  We think we have “earned it” after running five miles. It’s much easier to justify high-calorie meals. Running and Cardio do stimulate the appetite, so we find ourselves hungrier and reaching more for carbohydrates and less protein. This was a critical mistake for me. I do better with higher protein and lower carbohydrate intake. I do not demonize carbs or follow a keto or low-carb diet, but I do know that I fare much better when I eat more protein.

The last lesson I learned is that less is more. With the addition of the two running days, that means adding one or two more days of stretching/yoga and pilates. I am cutting back on strength training to two to three times per week. I just came off the Level Up Challenge, where we lifted five days per week. I think as we get older, it’s essential to give the joints a break and work on all aspects of fitness.

It’s Raining Men!

I love Jon Hoskins running classes on Peloton. The music is always good, he is upbeat, and it makes the time fly by. I took one of his “At the Club” treadmill classes, and every single song was a banger! They reminded me of my time as an indoor cycle instructor. The energy is pumping, and it feels like a party while exercising. My favorite moment of the class was when he played “It’s Raining Men,” by The Weather Girls. This disco anthem always got classes fired up, and it was so much fun! It feels like pieces of me are starting to wake up and come alive again. While I may not be teaching classes anymore, I still love the energy of group fitness. I was also excited to see that on Thanksgiving morning, several of my favorite instructors will be team-teaching a strength training class. We used to call these party classes back in the day, and it always amped the energy way up. I plan to take the class (not live, since it’s 4:30 AM West Coast Time) because I want to experience that incredible energy once again.

One of my goals was to feel my body energized again, and it’s happening. It’s like I woke up from a deep sleep or coma. I haven’t heard “It’s Raining Men” in years, and I forgot how much fun that song is. I have also come alive in other ways. I don’t feel stifled or shackled, and I am ready to get back out in the world. One of the major issues over the last ten years is how constricted and limited my exposure to the world has become. I settled in the desert—no more of that. Rebrand and Reconnection are on deck for 2026.

What’s wrong with being Confident?

The confidence that is developed during wilderness seasons is authentic and requires resilience to persevere. In spiritual terms, the wilderness can be a place of development, testing, and even a place to retreat for solitude and strengthening. Wilderness seasons can last for years. I have been in the wilderness for at least 10 years, and I have developed genuine confidence and authenticity that can help others.

I love Demi Lovato’s song, “Confident,” where she asks, “What’s wrong with being confident?” There is nothing wrong with it, and frankly, I think authentic confidence is the biggest superpower one can have. It’s that quiet knowing that you can and you will when the moment demands it.

The official end of the Fall Push is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, but this is really the last week. Next week is all about celebrating the wins from the Fall Push and reviewing the Fall Push Action Plan.

This has been a great eleven weeks, and I am ready to celebrate!