Last week was my birthday.

Another year around the sun.

A year full of mistakes, lessons, and insights.

It was one heck of a year.

And I'm grateful for all the experiences I had.

I wouldn't trade it for any other year (even with all the ups and downs that came included).

One of my favorite parts about celebrations is the intentional slowing day of activity.

While it may SEEM like life goes faster as we get older, I hypothesize that most of us are no longer as present as we were when we were younger.

The modern human is 10x busier than a human living 50 years ago.

Does that mean we're more productive?

Not necessarily.

But it does mean we're getting busier and busier.

Part of what I'm committed to going into 2024 is reducing my busyness.

With my tendency to overwork and stay in my office for 50-60 hours a week, working through Friday evenings and full days on Saturdays, I've realized that creating space for just BEING is important.

As much as I love my work, my presence and being are just as important.

Life CAN slow down as we age.

We need to create time for it.

Lesson: What you do each day reflects your core values.

Here is your 5 Minute Friday:

How To Activate Your Core

I've written about core stability before in a prior newsletter.

And it's a healthy reminder that our core is where most of our strength originates.

A weak core = a weak body.

Most of us are sitting humans.

According to the SAID principle, we adapt to specific adaptions from imposed demands.

Sit for 8 hours a day?

Your body will start to adapt to this.

The McGill Big 3 is one of the simplest ways to activate your core effectively.

It's composed of 3 exercises that tackle your core activation in a streamlined manner.

These are:

• Curl up
• Side plant
• Bird dog

If you want to improve your core stability going into next year and create a resilient, strong body, the Big Three is how you'll do it.

Here's a great video by Squat University on how the Big 3 works:

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As a quick side note:

Dr. Kelly Starlett and his wife Juliet also shared a distillation of their top 10 habits for creating a resilient, strong body and core.

After decades of coaching and teaching as physical therapists, here's what they suggest:​

10 Fitness Success Habits

1) Move every day

2) Spend time on the ground

3) Hang from something

4) Carry something heavy

5) Squat often

6) Walk more

7) Sleep well

8) Hydrate properly

9) Eat real food

10) Manage your stress.

Six out of ten habits are directly related to movement and core activation.

Choose one habit to focus on this month and work on this for 5 minutes per day UNTIL it's part of your daily routine.

Then, layer in the next habit.

Take it one step at a time.

4 Lessons from This Year

This year taught me a lot.

Here are four lessons I learned and one action step from each that you can apply to your life:

1. (Action step): Meditate and write daily.
2. (Action step): Create time for my shopping and prep food every week (side note - delegate this in 2024 since it's not in my zone of genius or my favorite activity)
3. (Action step): Spend intentional time with mentors who inspire me.
4. (Action step): Commit to imperfect workouts even if I don't finish the entire workout.

It's been an imperfect year.

And that's the perfection in it.

I'm excited to keep learning and finishing this year strong while using these lessons to fuel my 2024 goals.

If you haven't created time for an annual reflection review - this is your opportunity to do this for yourself.

3 Steps To Drop Your Next 10 Pounds

You can drop your next 10 pounds using these three simple steps:

#1 Upgrade your nutrition environment.

Remove offending foods that are derailing your progress while adding in whole foods and high protein options

#2 Eat to 80% fullness and slow down when you eat

Leave food on your plate. And slow down while eating.

#3 Track your nutrition and hit your caloric goals five days a week

Tracking breeds awareness.

Awareness breeds change.

And you can do all of this...

Without exercise.

Without gym workouts.

Without endless cardio workouts.

The 3 steps above will easily drop your next 10 lbs if you commit to this over the next 30 days.

Yet, 9/10 won't do this because it requires an internal shift.

A decision.

And a hunger and desire to reach your goals.

If you're reading this - I believe you can do this.

Commit to one step at a time.

Nail this into place.

Then, move on to the next action step.

That's how you'll create permanent and sustainable transformation.

One day at a time.

One Quote To End Your Week Strong

2024 is right around the corner.

What's your commitment to yourself?

Will next year be the year of GROWTH for you?

Or will it be the same as this year...

The choice is yours.

You can achieve anything you set your mind to.

It can be done.

- Gabriel

Whenever you're ready, here's one way I can help:

Every week until the end of the year, you'll see our End of Year VFR Special.

If you ​apply for a coaching spot​ and qualify this week, we'll coach you for FREE until the end of this year.

(e.g., if you apply and are accepted this week, that would equal 3 weeks of free coaching with your start date for your 4-month Accelerator Program starting on Jan 1st, 2024.

We'll deduct a week from this special every week until the end of this year.

So this week is the maximum bonus week you could qualify for (3 extra WEEKS) each week after deducting one week less.

You’ll also be able to lock in our 2023 tuition before tuition rises in 2024 (due to all the incredible upgrades we’ve made over the past 12 months inside of VFR).

Spots fill up fast due to a 2-week waiting list, so your application is not guaranteed to be viewed so I’d recommend applying now even if you’re unsure when to start.

Happy holidays! :)