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In episode 2,270 of The Almost Daily Podcast, I’m talking about something I keep relearning in different areas of life.

When in doubt, simplify.

I have spent a lot of time experimenting with podcasts, formats, ideas, and different ways to organize everything under Your Level Fitness. Some of those experiments worked really well. Others changed, evolved, or eventually disappeared. But that process helped me get much clearer about what the podcast network is actually supposed to do.

I now have the podcasts organized into three main categories.

The first group includes the frequently released shows that reinforce the bigger Your Level Fitness message. These are the podcasts where I talk regularly about building a forever active lifestyle, appreciating yourself from the inside/out, trusting yourself, and applying those ideas to health, fitness, personal development, and everyday life.

The second group is made up of problem-solving podcasts. These take the YLF approach and apply it to a specific obstacle or question. Some of these may have ten episodes. Others may eventually have dozens. The goal is not to keep producing episodes forever just because the feed exists. The goal is to create a useful resource around a specific problem.

The third group includes conversation and interview podcasts. These are the shows where I bring other people into the conversation, cohost with someone, or create space for people to share their experiences and perspectives.

A number of the problem-solving podcasts are already being built now and will begin releasing publicly starting January 1, 2027.

I also talk about why experimentation should not automatically be labeled as failure. A lot of what we call failing is simply the process of figuring things out. You try something, learn from it, adjust, and keep moving.

That same approach applies far beyond podcasting.

Make a decision about the direction you want to go. Stay connected to what you actually think and feel. Give yourself room to adjust. And most importantly, learn to trust yourself.

You do not need to have every answer before you start.

Sometimes you just need to keep experimenting until things become clear.

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Episode Description

I used to roll my eyes a little at awareness days.

A lot of the time, it can feel like people post statistics, share something for a day, and then everyone moves on. But I have started looking at awareness days differently.

Sometimes an awareness day is the first reason someone gives themselves to talk publicly about something that matters to them. It can be the push to share an experience, tell a story, or bring attention to something they have lived with personally.

In this episode, I talk about Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day, why I have changed the way I think about awareness days, and why I believe you do not have to wait for a designated day or month to talk about something that matters to you.

I also reflect on my dad's experience with ALS and why I know ALS awareness is something I will continue talking about in the future.

Your story does not have to be perfectly packaged. You also do not have to share anything you are uncomfortable sharing. But if there is something meaningful to you that you want people to understand, you are allowed to talk about it now.

Social media gives us the ability to share experiences in ways that can help other people feel seen, understood, or less alone. It can also help us process and make sense of our own experiences.

If something matters to you, you do not need to wait for an awareness day to start talking about it.

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It is important to have a plan.

But that does not mean there is one set path for where you are going.

In this episode of The Almost Daily Podcast, episode 2,268, I talk about why having direction matters while also accepting that life is rarely linear.

This podcast itself is a perfect example.

It started as a way for me to share thoughts around eating and exercise, mostly for clients.

I said I would never do interviews.

Then I started doing interviews.

I spent months testing things before I ever really put the podcast out into the world.

And now here we are, more than two thousand episodes later.

That is how life tends to work.

You make a plan.

You move forward.

You take a step back.

You move sideways.

You get stuck.

Then you adjust.

And eventually, you figure out what the next step looks like.

I also talk about why fitness can be such a useful place to practice this.

You learn how to trust yourself.

You learn how to build consistency as a skill.

You learn how to keep moving without seeing immediate results.

And eventually, you start realizing that those same skills can carry into other areas of your life.

You also do not have to do everything on your own.

We all need help at different points.

That does not take anything away from what you have accomplished.

So make the plan.

Do the research.

Take the work seriously.

But do not take yourself so seriously that you cannot laugh when things go sideways.

And do not get so attached to the original path that you miss the one you are creating along the way.

Look back five years.

Is your life exactly what you thought it would be?

Probably not.

That does not mean you are lost.

It means you are still figuring it out.

And you will keep figuring it out.

I think I have finally built the free version of what I have been trying to create for years.

Something simple.

Something you can use on your own.

And something that can help you work through the softer side of life without always feeling like there is another shoe about to drop.

In this episode of The Almost Daily Podcast, I talk about how the Your Level Fitness podcast network and the journal prompts are starting to work together as a system.

The goal has always been bigger than fitness.

Yes, I want you to build your forever active lifestyle. But I also want you to feel more comfortable in your own skin, trust yourself more, calm the mental tug of war, and feel more at ease with who you are.

That is where the podcasts come in.

I now have a growing library of shows that cover different areas, including fitness, cerebral palsy, men’s mental and emotional health, mindset, and everyday life. Some have new episodes Monday through Friday. Some are weekly. Some are active with less predictable schedules. And some are archived.

Not every podcast is going to be for every person.

But I believe each one can be useful for somebody.

Then there are the journal prompts.

Those have evolved quite a bit over the last couple of years, and I think I have finally landed on a structure that is simple enough to use consistently while still helping you connect with yourself.

When you combine the podcasts with the journal prompts, you can start working through these ideas on your own.

You can listen to the reinforcement.

You can write through what applies to you.

You can slow things down.

You can start building more trust in yourself.

And you can figure out how all of this fits into your life at your level.

None of this replaces having a productive relationship with a therapist when you need one.

But I am excited about having something available that can support people in different areas of life without requiring another program, another promise, or another thing you have to buy just to get started.

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Living with mild cerebral palsy can sometimes feel like living between two different worlds.

In the non-disabled world, people may immediately see me as disabled. They may notice the way I walk, make assumptions about what I can do, or even question whether I belong in certain spaces.

Then there is another side of the experience.

Within the disabled community, I have also had people minimize my disability or suggest that I am not disabled enough because some of the things I struggle with are not immediately obvious.

That can leave you in a strange middle ground.

In this episode of Living with Mild Cerebral Palsy, I talk openly about what that experience has felt like for me. I get into wanting to fit in sometimes, feeling guilty because other people have greater physical challenges, constantly feeling like I need to prove myself, and wondering whether the drive to keep accomplishing more can sometimes come from a lifelong fear of being behind.

I also talk about something I think is especially important.

Your experience does not have to be compared to somebody else's before it becomes valid.

Someone else having a different experience with cerebral palsy does not erase yours. Your ability to adapt does not mean things have always been easy. And appreciating what your body allows you to do does not mean you are never allowed to feel frustrated, exhausted, or weighed down by it.

Sometimes you can appreciate yourself and still wish you could blend in.

Sometimes you can be optimistic and still acknowledge that this is hard.

Sometimes simply giving yourself permission to recognize those thoughts is part of learning more about yourself.

If any part of this episode connects with you, spend a few minutes writing about your own experience. You do not need a perfect journal practice. Write a few sentences, make a list in your phone, or simply put the thoughts somewhere outside of your head.

You deserve to know how you feel about your own life.

Get the journal prompts that will help you to continue to unpack your thoughts and feelings:

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I think we are capable of changing far more than we sometimes give ourselves credit for.

That does not mean you can simply think about something, believe hard enough, and magically make it happen.

But I do think change starts with believing that another direction is possible and trusting yourself enough to begin figuring it out.

A lot of our patterns go back a long way.

We grow up around certain ways of thinking, reacting, working, resting, eating, communicating, and living. For a long time, those things can simply feel normal because they are what we know.

Then at some point, we realize there may be another way.

That is where curiosity becomes incredibly valuable.

What if you are wrong about something?

What if the way you have always handled a situation is not the only option?

What if there is another way to move forward, another way to respond, or even another way to slow down?

In this episode, I talk about why change can become both easier and harder as we get older. We have more life experience and more evidence that we can handle difficult things, but we can also become deeply attached to familiar patterns and beliefs.

I also talk about false starts, stopping and starting, and why that does not automatically mean you are incapable of changing.

Maybe you simply were not ready yet.

When you are ready, I think the first step is making the decision and declaring it to yourself. Not because saying something out loud makes it happen, but because you are acknowledging that you believe enough in yourself to take the first step.

You do not need all the answers.

You do not need every skill.

And you do not have to figure everything out alone.

You can find support, resources, people who will encourage you, and people who will help you see the blind spots you cannot always see for yourself.

You can change direction.

You can change your patterns.

And you can do it when you are actually ready to begin.

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I launched another podcast.

This one is called Living With Mild Cerebral Palsy, and unlike some of the other shows I do, I am not committing to a rigid posting schedule.

The goal is simply to have a dedicated place where I can share more of this part of my life.

Some episodes will be solo conversations where I talk through my own experiences, thoughts, frustrations, and perspectives around living with cerebral palsy. Others will feature conversations with people who have cerebral palsy and want to share their own experiences.

I also talk in this episode about how this new feed fits alongside The Cerebral Palsy Perspective Podcast, which I co-host with Chad Williams. I really like the way Chad and I approach those interviews and the way he helps people tell their stories. But coordinating three schedules can sometimes mean waiting weeks or even months to get somebody on.

This new feed gives me another place to share conversations in the meantime, especially when someone’s story or perspective connects directly to cerebral palsy.

There is already a trailer episode out, along with upcoming conversations with Zach and David, plus a solo episode where I get into my perspective on ableism within the cerebral palsy community.

I have a lot of podcast feeds already, so I do not add another one lightly.

But this is a part of my life I think is worth talking about more openly, and I wanted a space where I could do that without forcing it into a set schedule.

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Do you ever stop and think about how different life is compared with 20 or 30 years ago?

In this episode, I reflect on how quickly technology has changed the way we work, communicate, socialize, and move through everyday life.

I remember when AOL and instant messenger felt new. I remember Encarta on a CD-ROM. I remember when Facebook was still something most people in the room did not use, and when the first iPhone barely felt like a big deal.

Now everything moves in real time.

Work has changed too. Meetings are virtual. Communication is constant. Project management tools, social media, email, Slack, Teams, and everything else have made it possible to get more done from almost anywhere.

That can be incredibly useful.

It can also make it very easy to fall into the trap of thinking that every open space in your day needs to be filled with more productivity.

I also talk about how much my own work life has changed, from driving around to advertising appointments to now being able to create, communicate, record, meet, and build from home.

There is a lot of good that has come from all of this. We can stay connected with people we never would have known otherwise. We can work differently. We can access information almost instantly.

But I also think many of us are still adjusting to just how quickly everything changed.

Maybe that is worth thinking about once in a while.

Not just how technology changed your life, but whether the way you think about work, productivity, communication, and time has caught up with the world you are actually living in now.

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