That's right, other than recreational swimming and skiing, I didn't do anything. I had no athletic abilities, nor I knew anything about fitness. Before ValYouBel, I worked in a very stressful environment. It took a tremendous toll on me. I recovered from cancer, suffered from chronic problems like psoriasis and arthritis. So I had constant inflammation and pain all the time. After the cancer treatment, I focused more on being more joyful at work, so I decided to change my career, environment, and moved on to a new field.

When I started to work at ValYouBel, and you have seen me then, I was heavier physically compared to now. I liked the positive and inclusive environment here, so I thought I was doing okay in health and wellness. I didn't really feel the need for any fitness or wellness to go along with the mental part. However, small indicators started to show up. For example, my knees began to hurt when I was walking up the stairs, I even fell down several times and I had constant bursitis in my hips and elbows along with psoriasis scales. I was just very good in disguising them.

About two years ago, during my routine check-up, my doctor detected an unusual proliferation in my uterus, so they wanted to remove it with the ovaries. I knew that I could not go into menopause in that condition, so I had to start eating more healthy and getting fit. The next day, I went for a walk in the forest, and it was a tempo walk. My hips and legs felt very heavy, knees hurt, and my heart rate reached over 200 beats per minute, too high for my age and condition. It was a significant sign of a poor circulatory system. And that was my wake up call. I had to do something about it, and I had to do it fast, cause the clock was ticking.

In your book 'Die Besten für den Vertrieb', there are many references to competencies of high performers and how essential they are for the success of the organization. I kept researching many other resources on common qualities of top performers. For example I found out that there is an interesting mental model that they adopt. Top performers do what they hate first. As a full-time employed mother of two, I understood, that my day would be swept away with other priorities. Therefore I had to make sure to finish my exercise first thing in the morning and learned to ask for help and support if necessary. Basically that was my focus. Completing that exercise and winning the morning.

But it was not easy. I knew that I needed help at that beginner's stage, so I arranged a personal trainer. First of all, I had to keep myself focused and accountable. If you workout with a trainer, that means you both must agree on a meeting time.

Having a set plan will hold you accountable to show up, making it harder to make excuses not to. The exercise time was always set early in the morning before work. Since I was not a fan of exercising in the gym, I decided to be there at 7.00 AM. It was tough for me to get up. Because your brain wants to preserve its energy with a survival drive. But there I tricked my mind; I made myself a promise. If I showed up at the gym at that ungodly hour, and still feel exhausted, I would go back home and sleep. I seriously meant that when I made that promise. When you arrive at the gym dressed and ready, you actually never go back. So I never left the gym without finishing my exercise.

Days, months, months went by, and physical change was visible. However, what more dramatic was the disappearance of the adverse effects in my uterus and inflammation of my joints. So I saved my uterus from being operated.

As you said, after setting realistic goals, I made a plan working towards my vision of treating my body better. I took small steps consistently towards achieving them. I made sure I logged my exercises with a watch, so my effort was visible with data and information. My watch was like my observant guard, and provided me constant reassurances of my progress and helped me focus on that one thing that I can accomplish each day.

With exercises, I needed to have the right quantity and quality. I call it killing two birds with one stone. So that meant when I exercised, I would not overwhelm myself and create a positive experience around it. So most of my exercises turned out to be either with friends or be present and active in nature. Additionally, rather than logging hours and hours of training, I ensured that I completed at least 30 minutes of exercise each day and had fun doing it. So at that stage, I got great help from my coach and my awesome sports community.

It is particularly important to work with a coach or a trainer who knows what he/she is doing and the necessity of small steps. What seems daunting at first is actually relatively easy and sensible, and a good trainer/coach can not only instruct you but make it fun and set you on a path that can change your routine.