Lately, I’ve felt more tension between us. I wasn’t communicating well and he wasn’t listening well. Wink! The habits and disciplines that helped us be successful had slowly started to unravel. In the moment, it wasn’t noticeable. But, when we looked back three months, it was clear we had veered off path.

The fitness journey is no different. How many times have you coasted along in your fitness journey assuming all those habits you’ve created were tightly intact just as you mastered them? Maybe you thought now that you were seeing results, you didn’t need to work as hard. Or, perhaps the subtleties of life naturally drifted you away from your intentions.

We’ve been talking a lot about confidence inside the gyms. What confidence feels like, how we build it, and how we transfer these beliefs from fitness to our everyday lives.

Repetition creates familiarity which helps the unknown become less overwhelming. The more familiar we become with our environment and our abilities, we begin to trust. Our first day at camp feels very different to our 100th. We leverage those proven experiences of success to later trust future experiences that are unknown. We develop a mindset that can see beyond what may be in front of us at that given moment. We know that we are equipped to overcome.

The first day I walked into Burn Boot Camp, I was exhausted and smelled like crusty breast milk. I was a new mom all over again. I was carrying extra baby weight and was reminded of it every time the fold of my butt cheeks would stick to the top of my legs. I was conflicted with emotion. My children gave me so much joy, yet I felt so disconnected from myself. My body quickly became a vessel for feeding, and all the hobbies and interests that once made me “me,” started to gather dust.

There are thirty of us seated in a large living room with modern art and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Santa Fe horizon. The living room belongs to Chip Conley, Founder of Modern Elder Academy (MEA), published author, and former CEO of AirBnB. He’s a hospitality guru, and so it’s only appropriate he’s hosting us so intimately in his home. Although, this was never the plan. The grand opening of the MEA Santa Fe ranch retreat center was supposed to be underway, but with a few unexpected building inspection hiccups, he was quick to improvise. Dozens of trailers were brought in adorned with luxurious hotel-grade bedding and nightstand chocolates creating an impromptu trailer park for our five-night stay. I knew our experience would be a little different, but just as special, if not more.