The Context of Integration

For the past 6 years, this blog has served as a fabulous landing place to share on a variety of topics and learnings. 

Photo Credit, From the Hip Photo, March 2017

Photo Credit, From the Hip Photo, March 2017

At each bend and turn my journey of life takes, I see how my writing here also mirrors wherever I am and paints the color of my perspective in those moments in time.  For years I have shared my own personal take on what topics that are most current for me and how my business and life intersect and the tools in relationship to my own experiences. 

Another one of those "life curves" is here and this time it's My curves that are really taking shape and allowing for the baby growing inside of me to evolve. My husband and I will be expecting our first born in mid July of this year.  What a journey it had been the past 5+  months! My experience of being pregnant has naturally brought up all kinds of feelings and thoughts, and what I really want to share here is the transformational minded thoughts and ideas I am experiencing while moving towards this life change.   

Of course, being pregnant is literally a change in and of itself. Beyond the physical change, is the real life practicality of how to plan accordingly and weave together all that life is offering up.

Some of the topics I will be sharing with you over the coming weeks are how the future of work, which is NOW, by the way the future is here ;-) allows for a totally new take on the working dynamics for co parenting and what's possible.  The societal pressures and models out there leave something to be desired, at least for me, and I've found my current position on the topic to be "make it up", create a way, a new method and then see if it works! Of course I am more than likely not creating something that has never been done, but thinking outside the traditional lines is what is most important to me. 

I plan to share with you over the coming weeks how I am personally approaching moving towards motherhood and also prioritizing and choosing all the things that really matter to me.

Tony Robbins and others talk about ideas like "integration" instead of balance, for people like myself that are deeply passionate about their work and friendships, then it becomes less about choosing and more about integrating.  I often hear people say is "I don't act that way at work" or "in my personal life", statements like this rattle me! It is impossible to fragment yourself in that way, sure we can all perform certain tasks or deliver on objectives but who we are, all bleeds together, you are a whole person everywhere you go and if "part of you" is not at the party, well, everyone including you is suffering.

As I like to say, "who you are at the kitchen table is who you are at work"... my kitchen table is about to be set for 3, and I am anticipating the adventure of how that will propel me to be even better and have more to offer in every area of my life. 

Stay tuned, my next blog will be about  how the future of work mentality is helping me create my future work routine.


Lindsey Rainwater, also known as Lindsey RainH2O, is a sought-after business consultant, leadership coach, writer and presenter to the fitness and wellness industry. For more information about Rainwater, follow her on Twitter@LindseyRainH2O

IHRSA 2017 Recap

Another IHRSA Annual Conference and Trade show has come to a close and it was by far one of the best show's I have ever attended!

Two weeks ago I shared with you about what I was looking forward to regarding the show and the ILC experience being my number one driver around my anticipation of the show.   I will tell you, the ILC experience was by far one of the best investments I have ever made!  If you have not looked into this lovely opportunity, I would highly recommend it.  Not only is it an elevated way of attending the show, having access to the keynote speakers but also having a quiet place to sit in the ILC lounge was a huge plus as well.  Especially being 5 months pregnant, having a meeting place to sit for a few minutes and then re-join the show, was a fabulous bonus!  

The trade show floor was buzzing, the energy as always is so high and positive and the education sessions were so very insightful.  I really enjoyed the Women's Leaderships Summit event, both empowering and inspiring with female leaders from all over the globe.  Another highlight was that my friend Bryan O'Rourke was welcomed to the IHRSA Board of Directors, a very exciting accomplishment for him,  IHRSA is lucky to have him.  An event I have now come to look forward to is the annual Augie's Quest Bash to defeat ALS, and this year was beyond exciting where over 3 million dollars was raised at the event to apply towards research to find a cure!  Two and a half years ago my father passed away from ALS and being able to put my energy towards this important cuase means a great deal to me. 

Outside of all the other excitment that came with this year, I am beyond grateful that I was recognized as a IHRSA Rising Star and was able to share in this video.  Please check out the video and share if you'd like. 

As always IHRSA is such an enjoyable event, seeing people that you only get to see once a year is such a pleasure!  

What about you? What are some of your favorite IHRSA moments this year? Please do share, I would love to hear what the show meant to you! 


Lindsey Rainwater, also known as Lindsey RainH2O, is a sought-after business consultant, leadership coach, writer and presenter to the fitness and wellness industry. For more information about Rainwater, follow her on Twitter@LindseyRainH2O

The Three Reasons Why I Choose to Participate with the Industry Leadership Council

Last year at IHRSA (International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association) annual event, I partnered with one of the most exciting groups in our industry! I want to share with you about the Industry Leadership Council. My friend Meredith Poppler can help you learn more if you would like to join us! The picture below is of Meredith and I last year right after I joined this exciting group of people in the fitness industry.

Here are my top three reasons for being a part of the ILC.

The ILC Experience offers up an opportunity to be involved on a very granular level and participate in events you might not otherwise be able to attend. A few highlights I am looking forward to is time with the keynote speakers and networking in a more intimate environment. The trade show floor can be so busy and bustling that it can be difficult to really connect with your industry peers. The ILC experience offers up a more intimate environment to connect and meet new people.

Secondly, but not more importantly is the causes that the ILC group has taken on, most specifically the PHIT act.

The PHIT Act, which stands for Introduction to Get PHIT Personal Health Investment Today, is federal legislation that would allow any American to use pre-tax accounts like Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA) to pay for qualified fitness expenses. Currently, the IRS code only allows these accounts to be utilized for medical expenses.

Why is PHIT Important? "64% of American adults and 34% of American children suffer from overweight, obesity, and physical inactivity. These rising rates of obesity and Americans’ proclivity for inactivity are resulting in double digit annual increases in healthcare costs to the government and business". -http://www.ihrsa.org/phit

Another reason that the ILC group is so wonderful to be a part of is it can help you to identify a path around being at the show and what could be valuable as a professional in attendance. Conference and trade show settings can be so daunting if you are not sure how to best use your time, you can end up not having a clear direction and wasting your time wandering about. The ILC group offers a "path" providing an experiences like none other. Intimate roundtables with the keynote speakers and meetings keeping you informed about pressing industry news. They can also point you to some of the best education sessions to attend like my friend and colleague Bryan O'Rourke 's session, he will be presenting Thursday at 3:30pm, Poised for Expansion: The Future of the Industry - 300% Globally in 10 Years?, Room 403-B LACC, I hope to see you there!

What an exciting time to be a part of our industry, see you next week at IHRSA!


Lindsey Rainwater, also known as Lindsey RainH2O, is a sought-after business consultant, leadership coach, writer and presenter to the fitness and wellness industry. For more information about Rainwater, follow her on Twitter@LindseyRainH2O

Plan to Succeed, How to Create a Goal and Accomplish It!
Photo Credit: From the Hip, Photo of Lindsey and Jeremy Rainwater 

Photo Credit: From the Hip, Photo of Lindsey and Jeremy Rainwater 

I have officially created my blueprint for 2017 and I feel excited to share my process with you! I have followed this process for multiple years now and I can tell you that it works for me. I set the intention and then accomplish exactly what I set out to do and that feels really good! My husband and I (photo above) give ourselves at least half of a day to spread out and create both individual and collaborative items for both of us. I will say that in my experience, especially with the purchase of our new home together, it is important to not only set your intentions, but also to revisit your goals on regular basis. We spent time every month reviewing our goals and results, which gave us insight on how we needed to adjust our plan along the way, which ultimately brought us to our North Star Goals. It has been my experience that although creating the plan is GREAT, it is only half of the battle and having a way to review that plan on a regular basis is the true magic behind the art of completing what you set out to do.

Here are my three steps to creating intentions and actions for what I want to create over a twelve month period. 

Visualize! Then Write it Down

I really enjoy starting the process by imagining and visualizing where I want to go by viewing it on a calendar and also writing it out in a word cloud format. Start with a large piece of paper and write down all the things big and small that you wish to accomplish. It will look messy, it will look crazy disorganized and that is the point! Let your creativity put everything down on paper you could possibly imagine accomplishing over the course of the time you are planning for.  Once you've brainstormed to the point of not being able to think of anything else, walk away, clear your mind for a bit and then come back to complete. I find this exercise to be both liberating and fun because you can write anything down, you've not committed to anything yet, only brainstorming.  

Make a list, Check it Twice

Now that all your creative flow is out on paper and also might look super messy to you (all good), it's time to make some sense of it!  Begin by extracting the themes and creating a list. If you see on your word cloud "write book" then that would go on the list, or "family vacation" then put it on the list. Some of the items on your word cloud might not make it on the list and that's okay. The word cloud is the brainstorm this is the practical part, what do you actually want to accomplish this year?  Of what is on your word cloud what do you actually want to do and what has a serge of excitement to you? Once you have a well formed list it's time to create a plan!

Calendar Calendar Calendar  

If it's not on the calendar it doesn't exist!    Once you've created your list, you must create action and intention.   A plan to literally accomplish the exciting objectives you've created for yourself. The way I do this is to put down first what is literally time sensitive. The conference that I plan on attending, the wedding that's a destination event that I want to also make a vacation.  Those are items that are set in stone on your calendar because they are literal dates.  Everything else on your list goes into your calendar as a project relative to when you want to accomplish it, or are being asked to complete.   If you want to actually start creating a blog or writing a book you have to plan time for yourself to actually do that, time for the deep work outside of meetings and other work.  The other thing you might do is create a to do list from these items that is per month.  In past years I've created a list for every month of major action steps affiliated with my projects so that  way no matter what's going on, I have a very accurate to do list that captures my large "Northstar" goals.

The wonderful thing about having a to do list in the calendar that reflects your yearly initiatives is that no matter what happens you have a path.  No matter what's going on in your life you have certain things that you've decided to do no matter what, and personally I find this to be a beautiful thing. 

I'd love to hear your process of planning,  share your ideas and ways you plan to succeed! 


Lindsey Rainwater, also known as Lindsey RainH2O, is a sought-after business consultant, leadership coach, writer and presenter to the fitness and wellness industry. For more information about Rainwater, follow her on Twitter @LindseyRainH2O

Your New Year Starts, When You Say So
Humblehoney (1).jpg

A beautiful thing happened three weeks ago, my husband and I closed on our very first purchased home! A very exciting time to say the least and one that I under estimated by way of time it takes to settle into your home vs a rental.  For anyone else that is a home owner, I am sure you can relate to all of the unanticipated "things" that come from the rental, to ownership transition.  News flash, you need a mailbox, trash cans, and on and on... :-)

The other night I was in the car with my husband and I tell him, you know, I have not written my follow on blog for goal setting and intentions, and I realized today that it's because I have not done my own intentions setting for this year! (GASP)!!! It is January freaking 26th and I have failed to create my typical visioning session that happens for me the first week of the year.  He looks at me and says, "We have had a bit going on you know", me, of course I know this, and then there is the immediate guilt and shame surrounding letting my own "process" down.  And then, it dawns on me, the most obvious thought but something I had totally overlooked.  I can pick my "start" of the "year" whenever I want, of course January is the beginning of the calendar year, but how about this year I pick February as my start! 

You see, the advice I would happily grant another would be that you don't have to wait for a calendar role over, a fresh quarter or a birthday to create a new way of being.  You can start anytime, anywhere or way you want to! I have had more than one conversation with someone wanting to start a workout plan and they want to wait until Monday, a fresh week.  My thought, so what if it's Wednesday, start! Start now! 

I write this article to share with you that I do still plan to share with you my goal planning process, and, I want to share it with you as I am creating and visioning my own 2017 plan.  And this year, my "new year" at least when it comes to this process, is starting NOW and more specifically this weekend when I have blocked off the time in my calendar.  

Another "tip" or thought that came for me when marinating on this topic is this; each of us have things we do all the time because we choose to, we workout if we have a routine around it, we do or don't drink excessive amounts of coffee.  All of your existing chosen commitments continue to role on day after day no matter when it is.  What I find enjoyable about goal setting, visioning and intention setting is that it is an act of giving myself the space to wonder and dream about what I want to do next, that is not part of my current daily commitments.  How do I want to create a plan to expand my abilites and by when.  I love Mr. Thiel's quote below, and I think that giving yourself space to dream allows for this type of plan to become reality. 

"How can you achieve your 10 year plan in the next 6 months?"

- Peter Thiel, co-founder of Paypal and Palantir

So stay tuned for my next post about my process, and in the meantime, if you have created a new plan, and already need to re-commit to it, get to it! Stay on your chosen path.  If you mess up a few days of your new workout plan, that's okay, get up and start again tomorrow! Don't throw out your whole plan over a few missed days.  

The theme of this post is to be and considerate of your process, while also staying vigilantly dedicated to what you most want, do not loose sight of your end goal! 

Cheers, and Happy New Year ;-)


Lindsey Rainwater, also known as Lindsey RainH2O, is a sought-after business consultant, leadership coach, writer and presenter to the fitness and wellness industry. For more information about Rainwater, follow her on Twitter @LindseyRainH2O