Run with Purpose

In life we have these seasons that we don't alway recognize while we are in them, but man can we miss them when they are gone! This week on the podcast I go into some thoughts I have around seasons and what has been going on my life and what seasons may be approaching. My thoughts were a little all over the place, but hopefully, you pick up what I was putting down. Enjoy!

Sometimes it only takes a small opening for things to be blown wide open. This week on the podcast, I talk about how "giving an inch" can turn into much larger problems, if we compromise from the path we want to take. With each slight step off course, we will end up in a place that we had not imagined we would be. This doesn't always have to be negative, and hopefully, I can provide some encouragement and thoughts to help motivate you to keep fighting the good fight and staying focused on what matters.

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, but relationships can be hard. We all tend to put things on others, many times without their knowledge, and then get upset when they don't meet our expectations. Or maybe there was that situation where someone hurt you, so we play the victim card or turn to gossip to bring them down further. Then we have those relationships that blindside us and we don't know how to recover. This week on the show Kati has come back (for the fourth time!) to have this conversation about relationships. We go on a journey talking about relationships from multiple aspects. Just like every other episode she has been on, we could go on talking for hours and end up covering a handful of micro-topics within the larger. I'd love to hear, and I'm sure Kati would also, what you took away from our discussion and your input in the matter. Reach out to us on the socials to connect, but in the meantime I hope you enjoy the episode! Connect with Kati! https://www.instagram.com/kati.vanloo https://www.kativanloo.com/social-links

Have you ever read an article or watched a video and it makes you stop and think? You take the message from it and soak it in, trying to understand how you can apply it to your life. This week on the show I talk about one of those moments, well actually a few of them that happened around the same time. Josh Lynott (whom I called John early in the episode) has a project called “A Note to the Runners” and one of his videos had me thinking. Then the overall flow of leaving a note to myself and how my new habit of journalling has helped me do just that. I talk about my ideas around the notes I leave myself and how they play into a larger picture of purpose and perspective. I hope you enjoy and more importantly, get something from this episode. All the reels I mentioned in the episode are listed below. Reels: https://www.instagram.com/p/C55P59IuDD4/ https://www.instagram.com/p/C4jBb2jPNPo/ https://www.instagram.com/p/C5dSBdZuBAv/ Follow me on all the socials @Flores.Run

So this episode was supposed to come out weeks ago, but... Let me stop myself right there! This is the problem; I instantly use an excuse instead of taking ownership of poor planning, time management, etc. This week on the show, I talk about excuses. I break down some reasons why I think we make excuses and talk through some ways to combat that instinct. This episode is one of those where I'm definitely talking to myself, but I hope you also have something to walk away with. Enjoy!

We have all had those relationships where we feel like maybe we are giving a little bit more than the other, but we just don't know what we should do. Do we hold back to balance things out or do we press on and continue as everything is okay? I don't think there is a right answer to this question but maybe we need to look at the question in a different light. This week on the show my good friend Deb joins me to talk all about relationships and how we show up in them. You are getting an insight into our monthly conversations where we start with work and then quickly pivot into three different topics at once! I hope you can learn something new or at least think about your relationships in a different light after listening to this. Enjoy!

Relationships are tough! Whether we are talking about romantic relationships or not, we must do things to make them work. This week on the show, Kaela joins me in discussing how to come together in a relationship to make it work. We talk about the importance of communication, serving others and a few other aspects that we believe to be important to having strong relationships. We talk through some of our past "discussions," and hopefully, you find some humor and some nuggets of info that you can bring to your relationships. Check out the full video on Spotify and Youtube!

Sometimes life changes on us quickly and we have to adjust. That adjustment may not come as fast as we would like, but we have to continue after it, consistently to see the results in the long run. This week, Courtney joins me on the podcast to discuss her story and journey into running. We talk about identity, finding balance, relationships and a handful of other topics. Enjoy! Connect with Courtney - https://www.instagram.com/ccroadruns/

Have you ever thought about the "why" you make the decisions you do? Like where do you have your trust and focus that has you lean one way versus another when making a decision? I know I talk about it a lot on the show in regards to understanding you, but I recently heard a quote regarding faith and actions that got me thinking. This week, I talk about faith and this aspect of "it's not if you have faith, but what do you have your faith in?" This is not an episode on religion (willing to have that convo if you'd like), but really just the big picture when we think about what we have faith in. Hope you enjoy it! Connect with Flores: www.instagram.com/flores.run

We are able to accomplish more when we can get together as a group going towards a collective task or goal. Sometimes it can be tackling a large problem and other times it could be running a marathon, literally. This week on the show, Jessi joins me to talk a little bit about how running “side by side” helped build relationships and push our crazy to the limits. She is on her journey of running a marathon in all 50 states and has quite a few races under her belt. We had a great conversation about so many things! Connect with Jessi www.instagram.com/jessirunsmarathons

New year and a new word! Looking ahead at 2024, I had been pondering what my "one word" would be for the year. What word would be integral to accomplishing everything I wanted for the year. Perspective Today on the show, I go over my thoughts about perspective and how it really can be the basis for a lot of our day to day actions. When we have the right perspective, we can spend our time and energy focused on the right things, which will get us the results we set out for in the first place. Enjoy!

As we approach the end of the year, we often take a look back and reflect on all that we did. Unfortunately, we tend to focus primarily on what we wanted to do, but didn't. Or maybe the things that we tried to do but "failed." Today on the show, I talk about reframing our mindset away from the "checklist" of the things I completed vs didn't and shifting that thought process to "What did I learn through the process." If we focus specifically on only what we completed, we are missing out on so much of our learning opportunities in the tough times. I hope you can reframe this thinking to set yourself up for a better mindset heading into 2024. Thanks for sticking around for another year of the podcast. I'll be taking a few weeks off for the holidays but will come back strong at the beginning of the year with some fresh ideas and great new (and returning) guests!

Sometimes, I like to do things a little bit differently and that is what this episode is! I've wanted to see how well ChatGPT could put together a script for an episode, so I finally tried it out. This week's shorter episode is just a script from ChatGPT about purpose and intentionality. I was going to include some personal insights and stories but I decided to leave it verbatim to see what it would output. I think it brought up some interesting thoughts that maybe I can use for inspiration for future episodes, but what did you think? Let me know your thoughts on how well it broke it down. Connect with me on the socials @Flores.Run Instagram - ⁠www.instagram.com/Flores.Run⁠ Podcast details at ⁠www.flores.run/runwithpurpose

Have you ever completed a big goal or had a long journey come to an end? How did you feel? How did others interact with you? As I neared the end of my journey, folks would ask me what was next. Once I finished the question turned to “do you feel lost?” This week on the show I break down why I think our minds go to this way of thinking and some ways we can break from that cycle. Enjoy!

Sometimes, there can be topics that we just don't bring up, as we can get a little uncomfortable. This often happens when it comes to relationships between parents and their kids. Since I don't have first-hand experience with this, I had the pleasure of having Kelli from On Our Best Behavior podcast on the show this week to talk through her story. She started a podcast with her son that has turned into an opportunity to bring up topics that range from menstrual cycles to bullying. We chat about how sometimes we need to talk it out and know that we won't always know the answers, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be curious and at least start the conversation. It's amazing how much we can learn about something with just a little bit of curiosity. I had a blast talking with Kelli and hearing her story and hopefully, you resonate with that too! Be sure to check out On Our Best Behavior wherever you listen to podcasts, but for now, enjoy this episode! Connect with Kelli - https://www.instagram.com/onour_bestbehavior/

So often, we look too far ahead at our destination or goal that we lose sight of the journey along the way. When we remove our gaze from the next step, we are more likely to stumble or even worse, start drifting or compromising when it seems to far out of reach. This week on the show, I break down a little more the idea of taking "one step at a time." I take a look back at my recent races and then apply some context in how we can apply this to all aspects of our lives. A lot of the episode is off the top of the head, so I go in a few directions, per usual, but I hope you find some takeaways in it. Enjoy! Connect with me on the socials @Flores.Run Instagram - ⁠www.instagram.com/Flores.Run⁠ Podcast details at ⁠www.flores.run/runwithpurpose

Do you ever hear a poem or a song and it just resonates with you on a deeper level? This episode came to be from exactly that. This happened to me recently from a reel on Instagram. It had my brain thinking and working it all out on a different level. Taking the thoughts from Louis the Hippe about having others define you, turned into my thoughts about why we do this, scratch that, why I do this! This week on the show, I talk about those ideas and go a little freeform from the notes to give my evening thoughts on the matter. We allow others to dictate who we are and then start living as though it’s who we had always been. We take away our definition of self for the perception of another. I’ve enjoyed these last few episodes of just off the top of my head, but don’t worry, we will get back to some formal interviews soon. Enjoy! https://www.instagram.com/louisthehippie/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CtoZ15Wrucv/

You hear it all over the place. From social media, coaches, I mean even this podcast! The idea that we need to make it happen. We need to do it! But even though it’s a simple message, it isn’t always easy. This week on the show I break down some of my thoughts regarding barriers to us being able to “do it”. This is a topic I have talked about in parts but this episodes merges them together a bit. Hope you get something from this, as I did while recording! Enjoy! Connect with me on the socials @Flores.Run Instagram - www.instagram.com/Flores.Run Podcast details at www.flores.run/runwithpurpose

You hear this from all over the place. YOLO! You only live once, so do whatever you want. Live up your best life, doing what you please. But what if we flipped it around and used that YOLO mentality to serve someone else? This week on the show, I dive into exactly that. This thought came to me during a run about what if we changed our mindset and looked first to serve others. I believe that there are simple ways to do this with what we may consider just everyday things that can actually be game-changers for someone else. I hope that you enjoy this episode and that it makes you think a little bit and challenges you to get out of your comfort zone! Connect with me on the socials @Flores.Run Instagram - www.instagram.com/Flores.Run Podcast details at www.flores.run/runwithpurpose

Back at it! This week on the show, I catch up on how the summer has been going and all the moving around we have been doing (literally to Chicagoland). More importantly, I talk about the idea of bringing it back to the basics. So often we do nothing at all because we overwhelm ourselves before giving ourselves a shot. We can easily get caught up in what everyone else thinks or how everyone else will react that we just end up not acting at all. Sometimes we have to just bring it back to basics, take one step at a time and just move forward. This rang true for me as I wanted to get to recording for the last few weeks but just kept providing excuses for myself until I realized, "wait a second, I'm doing exactly what this episode is supposed to be about!" So there ya have it, I'm glad to be back and I hope you enjoy the episode! Connect with me on the socials @Flores.Run Instagram - www.instagram.com/Flores.Run Podcast details at www.flores.run/runwithpurpose