Hey , guys , and welcome back to another episode of your Brain's Coach podcast . My name is Angela Shurina , I'm your host , I'm your Brain's Coach , and it is my job here to bring to you all the most interesting , applicable , well-researched , cutting-edge , entertaining sometimes and definitely life-enhancing brain-body tools so you could take better control of your emotions , of your thoughts and , most importantly , actions , and also have better strategies to achieve your goals , to get closer to your goals and to create life experience that you absolutely love . Living Today is a mix of thing , guys , but the core idea is learning how to focus on progress , not perfection . I just finished another pack of corn cakes a couple of days and they're never on my weekly nutrition plan , but I get them every week at a grocery store that I go to . They are my guardrail . You know , guys , if I learned something about myself and human nature recently , working as a coach with other ambitious , goal-driven high achievers and also looking at my own experience , if I learned anything is that our best aspirations is never how we actually do things every day .
Speaker 1So you might have all these great plans and new year resolutions and thoughts like , oh , this time it's going to be different or somehow you are going to be different . New year , new you . But guess what ? Just because over December 31st , the clock changed and it's now January 1st and on the calendar it's 2025 . Just because that happened , there is absolutely nothing that changed about you . You're the same person that you were just a few days ago , as you are today , and so if you want to make progress , like with your diet , for example , or with your exercise program , you're going to take that into account . But in order to create new habits , new routines and reach new goals , you need to take you , as you are today , as you were last year , for the ride , and you know better than I do , than anyone , all your shenanigans and things that you do that do not allow you to reach your goals or to change your habits . You know yourself better than me , and so , because you do , maybe it's time to start planning for the perfect nutrition plan , perfect exercise program , perfect business plan , and instead start planning for the times when you're not going to feel your best , when you're going to get lazy , when you're going to come up with excuses and something else is going to look a lot more appealing than what's on your plan .
Speaker 1Now back to corn cakes and why I buy them every week Because , even though I always have a nutrition plan , like for every day , I have my plan with nutrients , proteins and carbohydrates and all that stuff . But I know that there are going to be days when I'm not going to feel all that motivated , or it's legitimately might be a harder day , and I just don't feel like doing everything perfect and I feel like something extra in terms of food . And so what I learned is that , as long as I allow myself to not be perfect but still have something like corn cakes , I just love how they are crunchy and they make me not hungry and also they don't have that many calories and they don't make my sleep worse . So they kind of work for the purpose that they have making me not hungry , enjoy some food and , at the same time , still keep making progress on my health , on my fitness journey . And because I know that there are going to be those days when I'm not going to be feeling like doing my plan because I know that's going to happen for sure I have this plan for when the plan fails or for when I fail the plan , and that doesn't just relate to our diet , it relates to all the other habits that you might have , or aspirations and resolutions . Let's say you want to start exercising and you have this aspiration to maybe run every day , but you're not going to feel like running every day . You didn't feel like it a year before , a year before that , and you're not going to feel that this year just because you said so .
Speaker 1So what is the plan when you fail the plan ? Maybe a walk will do , I mean if it's a five-minute walk , usually , by the way , if you do five-minute walk , you end up walking more . But what is the plan ? Maybe a walk will do , I mean if it's a five-minute walk , usually , by the way , if you do five-minute walk , you end up walking more . But what is the plan when the plan fails , if you don't feel like cold reach-outs and sending emails for four hours a day ? So how about doing two more in the next 30 minutes and maybe call it a day ? If that's all you have , it's still going to be more than nothing .
Speaker 1And yesterday I was thinking to myself well , it's January 7th and I feel like I'm already behind all of my goals , damn . But then I looked at what I did like , yeah , I did not do everything perfectly and I did not spend yet six hours on reaching out to potential clients every day that I planned to , but I did a lot more than almost any week in 2024 . Progress over perfection . And what's my plan for when I don't feel like doing my perfect plan ? If I don't feel like writing and I committed to write every day if I don't feel like writing a whole damn page , then maybe one abstract with a story , a lesson , an insight that I got that day . What is the plan for when you don't have a plan ? What will allow you to still make progress while not doing your perfect plan ?
Speaker 1And with my clients I also a lot of my clients . Maybe it's the nature of human psyche , I'm not actually sure , because most of the clients I worked with , they all say well , you know , I'm all or nothing person . I either do it perfectly or I don't do it at all . And I used to think the same thing about myself . And then I realized , you know , actually Doing a little bit better Works a lot better . And I learned this also while going through three additional certifications in coaching that having this mentality of what is the next best thing I can do , if doing a perfect thing is not an option , it's just not in me right now . So what is the next best thing ? Or even not the next best thing , but the smallest thing that will take you in the direction of your dreams , of your goals , of your aspirations ? So what is a little bit better ? What is this small step that does move you directionally where you want to go ? Whether that's your health , whether that's your business , whether that's your relationships ?
Speaker 1I guess the idea that I want you to take away from this podcast is that nobody's perfect and you're not going to be perfect ever , and so a more workable plan actually is to plan for the imperfection . So what is your plan when you fail your plan ? And if you do that , I bet you'll end up doing a lot more progress towards your aspirations and your resolutions that you did in all the previous years and your resolutions that you did in all the previous years . So , whether you're trying to work again on your nutrition habits , on your exercise habits , on your sleep habits , on your relationships and communication habits , on your business habits , your learning habits , what is a little bit better step when you fail your perfect plan ? So that's the main idea for the podcast and for me , again , to stay on my healthy eating . Horn cakes do the job . If I feel like eating a whole bunch of chocolate , I just add cocoa powder with a little bit of fake sweetener into my yogurt and that hits the spot . And if I don't feel like doing this four hours or six hours of reaching out to potential clients I'm like , well , how many can I do ? Can I do one ? So let's do that .
Speaker 1If I don't feel like writing , if I don't feel like doing podcasts , I give myself some grace . What if I did it for just two minutes or three minutes ? And then I kind of get excited . I'm like , well , yeah , I can do two or three minutes . That sounds easy for exercise . Yeah , I don't feel like working out every day , but I tell myself okay , if you don't want to do anything hard , just get to the gym . I don't know , go for a swim , go for a 10-minute walk while there , do a few push-ups , a few squats and you're done , get out of there in 10 minutes . And that transformed the way I make progress in all areas of my life more than any other method , just always asking myself okay , I don't feel like doing the best , the most perfect , the biggest thing , but what is the smallest step I can take right now , that's still directionally going to lead me towards where I want to go . That is the main concept of today's podcast .
Speaker 1A couple of other things that I'm often asked , whether when I'm working out or when somebody sees my pictures on social media , or when I post my meals , when people catch me talking about protein , which I'm very passionate . Question number one is all protein created equal in terms of supplements ? Especially , a lot of women want to take hydrolyzed collagen or just collagen as their protein supplement , but their goal is to build up muscle and to have this lean or toned look . So does it work the same ? Actually , when it comes to collagen , it still needs research , solid research , so that it's effective in anything . And you are much better off , especially for muscles , with whey protein supplement powder and the reason is getting a little bit geekier here because each protein , whether that's pea protein or whey protein or rice protein , has different amino acid profile , and that's what your body cares about . Do you get specific amino acids accompanied by other amino acids in specific amounts that happen to be perfectly balanced in animal-based sources like weight protein , or if you eat your chicken , fish or meat , so that perfect combination that gives everything your muscles need and your body need happen to be in animal-based protein sources . So if you go for powder , weight is still the best thing and when it comes to foods eating your fish , chicken , eggs , meats still the best way to hit your protein number in all the right ways and your body can make its own collagen from that protein that you eat . You don't need to eat collagen molecules Again , there is still research and debate going on whether that actually reaches the destination in your body anywhere , because it has to go through a digestive system Again , a little bit geekier . But if I were to recommend you any protein powder , whey is still the gold standard .
Speaker 1Another thing that people often ask me what do you do for weight training ? You have such great muscle tone , especially for a woman . Do you train a lot ? And actually my workouts , like the workouts themselves , usually don't last more than 30 minutes and not a lot of sets . But what I am a fan of and that is a research-based strategy I'm a fan of time under tension . So when somebody does a few sets , let's say , of squats or bicep curls or even the ab crunches , when somebody does that , they usually do the movement fast and then they have a rest in between sets .
Speaker 1What I do , I just do the movement for three to four minutes so I slow down the repetition , usually on the eccentric phase . So eccentric phase and when you lower down the muscle , so , for example , if you squat , then up , going up going to be concentric , going down , going to be eccentric , and so I just go really , really slow and I create pressure on my muscle for the whole duration of three , four minutes . So when people usually do 30 , 40 , maybe 50 seconds of movement and then they rest in between sets for two to three minutes , I just do continuously , usually dropping weights for three to five minutes , and I learned that from some trainers who create different workout plans based on research , and so time under tension is that thing that actually works really really well . So , no , I don't spend a lot of time in the gym , but I do know the most effective protocols for the goal that I have having the lean physique , having great muscle tone . And , yes , I do also cardio workouts , but then I also do just two types do also cardio workouts , but then I also do just two types high intensity , internal workouts that are super short , and then long cardio . That is usually for me , hiking , uphill or what else that's about it . That's my favorite type of long , steady cardio is doing hiking .
Speaker 1So , anyhow , guys , this was a mix of things that I believe can be useful on your health and fitness and also self-development , self-growth journey , especially the concept of a little bit better right , you know yourself , you know your shenanigans , you know where you fail . You will not change just because it's now 2025 and we transitioned from one calendar year to another . You will not change that fast . You will have to take yourself , as you were in 2024 , for the ride in 2025 to reach new goals , to change your habits , to grow , to improve , and so , knowing yourself , you got to have a plan for when you fail , your best plan and working , implementing this strategy of what is the next , the smallest step towards the destination where I want to go , that definitely works a lot better , based on the best coaching practices in the world , that works best for human change , than the most perfect plan with the most motivated person . Just motivation . Our moods come and go , our energy ups and flows . So what are you going to do when you don't feel like it ? That's the most important question you need to have a plan and an answer for ? For me , for my nutrition , it's corn cakes , and for you , what is that going to be for your nutrition plan , for your workout plan , for your business plan , for your relationships , for anything that you want to improve and change in 2025 ? What is the next 2025. ? What is the next ? The smallest step towards the change that you want to make ? And , besides that , choose whey protein to maximize your muscle gains and time under tension for resistance training If you want to have better muscle mass , better muscle tone and better conditioning .
Speaker 1If you love this podcast , guys , please do not forget to share it with at least one other person to spread good information around and to help all of us to do better in 2025 . Screenshot it , tell me on social media , email the podcast with the link on whatever you get your podcast , we don't run any ads , probably never going to be running any ads , so please do share , apply . If you have any questions , reach out to Angela at brainbreakthroughcoachcom . Angela at brainbreakthroughcoachcom . And until next time , be awesome and always ask yourself what is the next best thing Not perfect , but the next best that will move me in the direction of the change I desire to create . Be awesome , talk to you soon and you can change one small , better step at a time .