024: The Army, Austin and Alcohol Part 1

Why I left active duty, moved to Austin Texas and gave up alcohol.

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Transcript

That is what keeps me up at night. So although I have so much gratitude for one path that I was on and I didn't hate it, it's like that's not my number one. That was my number two I was negotiating with myself and my future. It's just important I think to remember that you don't have to negotiate with anybody

Hello, my friends and welcome to the fatale podcast. The question is how can badass women leaders lose stubborn fat, feel amazing in their clothes and never say no to Bikini again? All without giving up their Fast and Furious lifestyle that they work so hard for? That is the question and this podcast is the answer. I'm your host Natalie Hayes online fitness coach, US Army captain and formally overweight healthy eater. Because I've struggled with weight my entire life. I've lived through just about every face you can imagine, from running every day and emptying my wallet on organic food to Bikini competitions and having tuck were all but chained to my wrist to trying to lose weight while traveling around the world on army orders. The difference between me and every other coach is I understand that different phases of life require different fitness approaches. I'm so passionate about helping women feel their best that I've spent the past decade learning everything there is to know about permanent weight loss in women leaders. The information on this podcast is going to give you the tools you need to lose the weight you've always wanted without feeling hungry, helpless or alone in this process. This podcast is going to help you feel connected to other remarkable leaders and reassure you that your fitness and life goals are indeed possible for you. It's time to get after the body and life of your dreams. And put so much on the line that your neck self is forced to come out.

Hello, my friends, and thank you so much for tuning into the fit to lead podcast. We are here for season two, season two a fifth lead every day. I'm growing and becoming more dialed in on how I want to serve the world what I want to provide to the world and I feel so clear on that right now. And I'm so excited to every week provide you guys a podcast that will help you women leaders get closer to the life of their dreams. So

today, I wanted to just take some time, do my due diligence and catch you guys up on my life and kind of walk you through some decisions that I made in hopes that it might help you become clearer on your life decisions. Or just maybe let you know that you're not alone. If you're feeling like you're not sure what to do next. Or if you are wanting to completely change directions in your life because that is okay. It's all okay. It's just life and we are just living.

So we're gonna talk today about why I moved to Austin, Texas and why I'm giving up alcohol, why I'm leaving the military full time.

And why I almost signed up for 20 years of active duty so I made my decision.

We'll discuss the ins and outs of what led to these big decisions.

We'll discuss the ins and outs of what led to these big life decisions. And I'm going to offer you ladies a special surprise at the end. So be sure to listen all the way through for the details. Okay. Okay, so let's just do a little background. Just a little quick background on my army story. So

just really quick. I was in ROTC, I went through ROTC commissioned into the Indiana National Guard in 2013.

So I've been doing this for

eight years. I've been commissioned for eight years, man.

Okay, so half of that. I've been active duty. So the first four years, I just was a traditional guard soldier. I did like one weekend, a month reserve time. And then in 2017, I started just getting really, really invested in

my army duties. It was so much more interested in that than I was in my social work jobs that

I was doing full time. So I decided to go in all in on the army. And ever since then, I've been on different sets of orders doing different things but always

in somewhat of a leadership role always in an Intel somewhat planning role.

And I've always I've always been challenged, I've never felt comfortable.

And I was having fun most of the time,

I would say overall, met the best people

that I've known. So far, a lot of my best friends, I've traveled the world.

So I've been so blessed to have lived this life so far. And the Army has helped me had a lot of different experiences that I never would have had without it. So

I have been I was in Germany from the start of 2020, February 2020, what a great time to take a trip abroad, am I right? One month out from the shutdown of the world. And man, that was

such an interesting time in life, I want to say it was a tough time, but

I was able to dive so deep into my business and fit to lead. And that's when I started this podcast.

So I look at 2020, as it was a blessing for me. And I know I say that.

Just very, like introspectively

wasn't a blessing for everybody. And I can understand that.

So 2020 Man, I just spent.

So I got to Germany in fall of 2020. And

I have to say

so I got to Germany in fall of 2020. And what an interesting time to move to a foreign country, right? Right before the pandemic, it was certainly unique, a unique experience

in the way that I just fully immerse myself in work, and I fully immerse myself in building

just putting helpful content out on the internet to be honest, just for no other reason than I loved it, I had no intentions of starting my business back up, back then I had no intentions of really starting this podcast for the longest time. But I just really wanted to put helpful fitness content out there because I just loved it. Like I it was just something I like couldn't not talk about. It just shaped my life and shaped every day in my life.

And I just it's just like a gift, I guess you could say, Oh, just a passion on my heart that I have to, to

just help as many people with fitness as possible.

So I started doing that in the beginning of fall of 2020. And of course, I started working in this new role, I have to say every time I've not, you know, in the past four years, I've taken on a role, at least my full time one it's never existed before. Like, I was stepping into a position in a battalion in Germany that never it didn't exist before. So there wasn't like a standard operating procedure for me to fall in on I was just creating things from scratch.

I don't need to like get into the details of what that was. Like, it wouldn't really make sense unless you were there anyway. But it was just a lot of like, really critical thinking really like hard pitches to my bosses and just like a lot of tough work for the first year. But I loved it.

And, you know, I just know that, like, I always thought that I wanted to.

So, throughout that time, a lot of leaders, of course, I'm surrounded by, you know, these active duty officers, these active duty leaders, and they have always asked me, you know, why don't you just put in your pocket to go off duty, like you're basically active duty, I was a reservist on active duty orders for four years. Like why? Why don't you just do the full thing. So

you know, that started to sound really good to me because of the retirement that I would get at us like around 60 or 65, or whatever it is, but my thought was, well, I could go active duty for the next. I don't know 20 years. No 40 3040 Yeah, 20 years. And then at 60 I would get my retirement and then I could focus fully on my business.

Honestly, like that's what I thought

so of course, as I was getting into it, getting more involved here I was surrounded by

so of course, as I was getting into it getting more involved, I had a lot of mentors who asked me you know, why don't you just go active duty you're already

Basically doing it I was a reservist on active duty orders. You know, they're said, why don't you just go do the whole full thing? And of course, that's what they did. Right? So that's why they're, they're asking me that.

And you know, it's started to sound really good. You know why for one reason, because I would get my retirement about 20 years old, earlier, if I had a

active duty retirement versus a guard, retirement.

So I thought, well, I could retire like 4045

get a monthly stipend, and then I could really focus on my business, my passion of helping people. And I thought, and I wouldn't hate it, I liked the army, especially if I got into, you know, some jobs that I liked. Like, if I could choose my job, do something more interactive with people, lead teams, I enjoy doing it. So I was like, well, I could do that for the next 15 years. And then I could like really have my second career and really focus on myself and build what I want.

So I just went all in on this idea that I was gonna go active duty and, and I was gonna, kind of like surrender the next 15 years to the, to the military, do my business when I could on the side,

and then go full in when I was like, 45.

So that's what I thought, That's what I thought was realistic for me, and me and my lifestyle.

Then, May of 2021, I had just submitted this whole packet, you guys, it was a huge freakin packet, I had to like get a special physical, like, I had to go to a million different appointments, I had to get letters of recommendation. I had to, like, get so many scores on my PT tests and whatnot. Not a problem, but just a lot of shit to get together. If you've ever put together a packet, you understand that? So, so I did all that, then something just changed. Something just changed. And I think it was a mixture of different things.

But I will say that

man, I had a co worker and a friend, someone who I talked to on a regular basis at work, he passed away abruptly in May of 2021. In a car accident, and

man, he was just an awesome person. And his instagram handle was far from finished.

And thinking back on that.

Like he really had so much life in him so much to do. And he really was doing it. He was a brand new Warrant Officer at his first duty station after passing, walks and getting through school and he was doing what he really, really wanted to.

And

he just really inspired me, the way he lived and the way he interacted

with everyone was just so positive. And he was going after his dreams and hit it's like he had just gotten to the next level. But he was going full force towards what he wanted.

So I was really inspired by him and and I was of course abruptly reminded of how precious life is.

And

I was choosing to take in positive information on social media too. I was choosing to take in messages that told me

I could

run an online fitness coaching business, that there's no reason that tons of people have been successful doing this and there's no reason why I couldn't be one of those people. So

specifically, my mentors Aaron diamond and Jordan Duggar who run online fitness coaching academy. Their message just really spoke to me and they're they're my mentors now.

As well as my bosses, so I

I think it's just a mixture of like, I had a wake up call and I just realized that what I really want and I say this to my clients all the time, and it's just a great

message I think about how coaches need coaches but it's like what I really wanted was possible like I was thinking about my future and rd compromising like I was going to compromise the first half of my entire life, the prime of my life to do something that was like my second choice, not what I dreamed about. Like, I like the I love the army like

I love leading people. But I dream about running my own fitness company, my own online fitness coaching company, I dream about connecting with other people that are in the space and thinking, thinking big thinking about business thinking about fitness, like doing huge things and pushing themselves out of their comfort zone. And that is what keeps me up at night. So although I have so much gratitude for one path that I was on, and I didn't hate it, it's like, that's not my number one. That was my number two, I was negotiating with myself and my future, it's just important, I think, to remember that you don't have to negotiate with anybody what, number one, whatever is number one on your list, like it's possible for you, you just have to decide that that's what you want, and like, prioritize it and go all in on it.

So anyway, that was at the beginning of the summer 2021.

And I just decided, like,

I don't know, like, I just decided one day.

I was also chosen to be the

secretary court martial officer for my friends thinks. So I spent a lot of time I had, so basically, I had to pack up all his things in some way back to the States. And I was responsible for his affairs. So it was very, like,

intimate

act that I had to do.

So I spent a lot of time like, basically in meditation.

Like, you know, like packing is kind of a meditative, meditative.

I spend a lot of time and meditation just, I think receiving those messages. And it was just one day, like I was, I was, think driving back from his apartment after

a day of inventorying all his things, and I just decided to pull my packet to pull my active duty packet and that I was going to do exactly what I wanted. And there was nobody that was going to stop me and doing exactly what I wanted, was to move to Austin, Texas, and focus on things that made me happy.

The things that make me happy aren't necessarily money, or financial security.

So it was just one day I drove, I was driving home from his apartment after inventory, all his things. And you know, I think, of course, like,

I was on a spiritual person, like, I know God was.

I know God was there.

Because I just knew, like to pull my packet like

I just decided that I was going to focus on that I was going to follow my dreams, like the thing that had been on my heart forever. This isn't new. But I want to help people with fitness. I've known I wanted to do this since I was so young. And I even like kind of started doing it in 2018. Maybe some of you listening were my clients back then. And then

I kind of backpedaled refocus on the army. And it's just never gone away. Like I've always done it in some way. And I just decided then to make like what was on my heart, like my god given passion.

Like its full potential, it's full energy.

So

I pulled my packet from going active duty.

And I just made plans to move to the city where I wanted to be more than anything, and that was Austin, Texas.

And, and really my plan, my plan was to like, move here, focus on my business, focus on my separate streams of income, which is fitness, which is my online fitness business, my VPN supplements, and my

it will be my drill pay when I start drilling. And then I was like, and then I can just get a bartending job or something like I really didn't care about status, or like anything like that. Like I was just wanted to make sure that I could do what I wanted to do and be where I wanted to be and put those things first and everything else would be supplementary.

So that's what I did, and ended up the universe had a better plan though, instead of bartending. I actually ended up applying for a virtual assistant to

someone on Aaron and Jordans team. So I actually am working within the company that inspired me to do

Do this in the first place. So it really is kind of like, just like a God moment, a universe moment. Like, everything about this is scary and uncomfortable for me. But

God is like pushing me to work through it. Like, I know that, because there's just there's no going backwards anymore. I've, I've just done that I've gone backwards like gone back to the high paying jobs gone back to the security. And it's just a delay. That's all it is. It's just a delay towards what I actually want. I was going to delay it for 15 years, less than six months ago, and I just said I'm not delaying it anymore. Like that. That's such a lack mindset. And something I really need to work on is having

abundant mindset with finances and like with with money and, and just like being okay,

kind of stepping out of my comfort zone here in Austin.

So anyway, I've decided to go all in you might be asking why Austin? Because I just like Austin, that's the reason.

That's it. I just like who doesn't like Austin, Texas, there's so much to do. People are nice. It's warm, it's sunny.

I love that my VPN family is here. So I can go volunteer with them. Like on Black Friday and whatnot. People are always visiting Austin. So it's like, it'll be fun for my family to come visit. It's just, it was my number one. And I just decided I was like, Yeah, I could live. I thought about if I went active duty, I was like, well, I could home set at Bragg if I want civil affairs, and then I could just live there. And that'd be fine. But that's not what I really want. I really want to live in Austin. And I really want to, like have this amazing, abundant life, surrounded by the most amazing clients, and like help them transform their lives and transform my life in the meantime. So

why Austin because it's my number one city like I like it the most. And that's why

so here I am you guys I got here two weeks ago.

I'm recording this on a Sunday. And it's been.

It's just transitions are hard. You know, like, it's, it's been amazing and exciting. And also scary. And I'm just there are new struggles to work through as with every level, but I'm excited to get through them and get through them even brighter. And just trust God in the process. Like I know, that's what's gonna get me through. It's just to show up every day put in the work and trust God. So that's what I encourage you to do. If you're going through any type of situation where if you're deciding on your future, like don't just don't play it small universe will show up for you. If you show up for yourself. I really believe that.

Hey, guys, thank you so much for tuning in. That was part one of the two part series, the army, Austin and alcohol. So tune in to the next episode, part two, to learn about why and how I give up alcohol for one year. Thank you, and we'll see in the next one. Hey, thank you so much for spending some time with me today. I understand time is your most valuable resource. So I'm so grateful you spent some time with me today. If you are a woman who's looking to lose some fat, get in better shape, there are three ways that I can help you absolutely for free today. Number one is I'd love to gift you my free ebook. This ebook is called the guide to losing your first 10 pounds and it gives you everything you need to know to just take the first couple steps towards your weight loss journey. And you can get the whole thing at Fitbit inc.com. The second way I'd love to help you for free is to gift you three fat blasting recipes per week. These are going to be easy, simple recipes you can make for the whole family that are going to taste great and allow you to reach your fat loss goals. So you can find those in our fit to lead community. The link will be in the show notes. And not only that, but you'll find like minded women in this group who you can share your wins and struggles with along this journey. Additionally, I go live in this group often to help answer any questions you may have. So it's a completely free group. Again, join at the link below for three free recipes a week. And the third way is simply to leave a rating and review on this podcast. The more five star ratings and positive reviews we get on this podcast, the more helpful guests I can get on which will help you guys increase your knowledge and be able to lose weight that much faster. Additionally, I'm doing a giveaway at the end of every month. So at the end of every month. I'm picking two winners who have left reviews and

ratings on the podcast and gifting them a $25 Starbucks gift card and honestly, not many people are leaving reviews and ratings right now so it could be the easiest cup of coffee you ever get. So please go ahead leave me a five star rating and review and I appreciate you so much and we'll talk to you soon