Ashley Johns gives a good name to Ashleys everywhere. She is one truly fierce lady from the inside out and she consciously chooses to create her very best life through setting aside time to take care of her needs, creating work that she loves, and helping others connect with their truest selves.
Biorhythms
Right now I’m in the transition period. I’ve been going to bed with my husband for so long and that’s usually later and then waking around 8am as I’m an 8-hour sleeper! By the time I go to the gym, I get home around 11am and half the day is gone. I’ve been working on slowly going to bed earlier and in turn, rising earlier so I can start and end my day in line with what most people do. It has been important for me to create boundaries with what I am doing and to separate business from personal life and goals. My daily schedule is wake up, have breakfast, and then get ready for the gym so I can take care of me first. This ensures I’m starting my day for me and not putting myself and my personal goals on the back burner. I come home, have lunch, and begin my work day. That usually involves concentrated work and mini breaks—loving on my baby boys Leo and Axel, getting outside for a nature walk, or reading for a bit—to keep me feeling creative and focused. For the evening, I really like to shoot from the hip and leave that open space for whatever feels right for me. My husband either gets off work late or gets home from the gym past 8pm so "I do what I want" (always!) until 8pm then I give the rest of the evening to us, happily. This is the time when I get goofy and playful and do little dances for and with Mark. It’s really my ultimate decompress time.
Diet
I have a trainer that adjusts my macronutrients intake, as well as my workouts, and so I follow that based on my current goals. My history with food and "dieting" was not always the healthiest and so now my main intention is to eat for my energy needs, eat whole and healthy foods, limit my alcohol and caffeine intake to once per week and pre workout for the caffeine and to do my best to control my stress levels. I have learned and come to understand that the mind, body and spirit all work together and when one is off, the other two bounce off in response to that one. Breakfast: Hot water with lemon and a solid breakfast of two eggs with ancient grains toast and some whipped cream cheese to top them off! Lunch: White rice, chicken, avocado and sriracha. This is an hour or so after my workout so I do a little fat, healthy carbohydrates, and protein, so it’s my heaviest meal really. Snacks: I love Greek yogurt lemon flavor. Dinner: Lately it's been Ashley's Nachos! I tend to get on kicks where I just eat the same thing until I need to move on to something else because it gets old. Ashley's nachos are blue corn tortilla chips, tons of veggies!!!, lean beef or shredded chicken and light mozarella with cilantro on top. So good. Drink: Water water water!!! I have a gallon I take with me to the gym and I've always said this and follow this, "I drink that gallon like it's my part time job." I also love Strawberry GT's Kombucha. Splurge: Dark chocolate with sea salt, chocolate chip cookies but cooked healthier with oat flour and less sugar. Supplements: Protein powder and multivitamins as well as a joint support tablet.
Fitness
I work out 5 days per week and am currently following my first Power Lifting Program which focuses on the three main powerlifting lifts: bench press, squats and deadlifts. I absolutely love lifting heavy and empowering myself through the iron. I look forward to every morning, accomplishing my workout fiercely and showing up for me, first thing.
Relationships
I value most the people in my life that support me, lift me up, believe in me and fill my cup. I have learned over the years and through experience that the people you have in your life are a Choice and MY choice and for me, to keep me feeling good and healthy, I approach the relationships in my life as quality over quantity. I’m okay with having one best girlfriend that I trust wholeheartedly who lives in Michigan. I believe that relationships carry weight, that there is so much meaning behind and IN that word, and it must be equally beneficial, it must be nourished and cared for. My key elements in a healthy relationship: honesty, loyalty, fun, being able to move forward together through challenges, and open communication.
Home
I love rustic, wood elements with lots of color in my office rug and all the Fierce Forward Armor on the wall in the shop keeps me feeling happy and excited. My vibe is rustic, vintage, leather, wood, color, happy, upbeat, has history to the pieces, and makes me feel creative.
Stress-Release and Centering Tools
To release stress I love foot massages from my favorite massage spot, breathing, hot showers, me time first thing in morning, listening to Les Brown each morning with my workout and wearing my Grounded Armor to remind me that I can ALWAYS come back here and to never stray too far from my roots. To get out of a bad mood or re-center, I usually call my husband or chat with him, get it all out, and then he makes me laugh. When he's not around, trying to move on quickly to focus on something else and knowing that in every moment, I have Choice. I can choose to live above the line or below the line, a reference to my Goal Coaching Certification and the work of the lovely Mrs. Jacki Carr Hynes.
Soul
Creating! Creating! Creating! I LOVE what I do and to be able to wake up and express myself through creation is something I'll always need and love in my life. I love to travel and step away from the daily. Whenever I travel and get on a plane, I immediately feel different. It's like I have new space to create something new in and to feel free. I feel freedom in adventure and that feeds my soul. Being an entrepreneur feeds my soul, seriously! It's in my blood and I will forever be grateful to be a girl boss who is Fiercing Forward for herself and to help others realize they, too, can Fierce Forward. Another thing that nourishes my soul—LAUGHING!! I love when someone makes me laugh. It's the best. I feel the most purpose when I'm sitting down with someone listening. Listening to what they want, to their personal doubts, to what they know is their truth, that they must move forward...I feel IN my element in this space, that there is room for growth and that I am there to help give her the tools to know what I already know, that she is limitless. Nothing gives me greater joy than giving back and it truly lights my heart up because it's what I am here for. You just know your purpose when you find it and I know this is mine. I am so excited that I just began a year-long journey to goal coaching. I just chatted with a friend who lives in Boulder this morning and shared with her that I just began my coaching and she said, "Ash, we talked about this in Boulder a year ago and you said you would do it and look at you go." Sometimes you forget how far you have come or the perspective outside of right here and now and when she said that, I nodded my head and smiled. It's so (I really want to insert the f –with-an-ing word here!) cool how far I have come from that day almost 7 years ago when I first realized that I had choice. Choice, that's a good word.