Time for another round in the series designed to help you get to know me better!

Kaci’s Currents are mini recap posts designed to give you a glimpse into what’s flowing through my life at the present time and the impact it’s having.

So, you wanna know what’s making waves in my world, see what’s splashing around in my head, and read what’s rockin’ my boat right now?

You’ve come to the right place.

So grab your Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini and let’s dive in!

Current Reads:
Start With Why by Simon Sinek
“People don’t buy what you do; they buy WHY you do it…what you do simply proves what you believe.”

Whether or not you recognize yourself to be someone in a leadership role, chances are that you are a leader in some aspect of your life. It might not be at work, but perhaps at home, church, a social setting, the gym, etc., I’m willing to bet that even if you don’t know it, someone considers you a leader in some way. If you’re committed to the highest level of personal growth, you likely do already consider yourself a leader, or at least desire to be a leader in at least one area of your life. Start With Why is a great read for anyone looking to take their leadership skills, as well as their own personal satisfaction with what they are passionate about, to the next level.

Whether you know it or not, all of us are salesman in one form or another, even if we are not in “sales,” even if it is only psychologically speaking. There’s wealth of information in this book with regard to this, specifically as it pertains to finding clarity of purpose, how to approach “marketing” what you believe/why you believe it, and inspiring others to “buy into” vision and purpose. Check out the Ted video here for a quickie lowdown on what the book is about. His ideas are something that resonated with me from the first time I heard him speak, and I wish I had not waited so long to buy his book. I’m trying to better understand my own “why” so that I can truly bring it to life in such a way that truly inspires others. This falls in line with what I mentioned in last month’s Current Work here.

Food Freedom Forever by Melissa Hartwig
Another read in conjunction with the Whole 30. I definitely recommend this book to anybody who is struggling with behavioral patterns with food, cravings, etc. Also, as a resource for someone looking to follow a reset diet/elimination protocol plan, but who may not be quite ready to dive into something as strict as the Whole 30 protocol.

As of mentioned before, I do almost all my “reading” via Audible books. I love that both of these are read by the author.

Current Health:
The flu. Yep, it happened a couple of weeks back. Even though this year’s vaccine has not been a good match for preventing the strain that’s going around, I definitely feel as though the flu vaccine helped me to recover more quickly.

Please, please, please… If you have not gotten your flu shot yet, get it ASAP! (Unless of course, you’re a fan of not being able to breathe, excruciating headaches, fever induced loopiness, and generally feeling like crap. All I can say is thank goodness for a job that includes sick days as part of our benefits… Also for TheraFlu! That stuff was a lifesaver when it came to treating symptoms.

Current Nutrition:
I finished up the Whole 30 at the beginning of this month. You can read more about some of the reasons why I did the program here. The re-introduction phase has been interesting to say the least. Still working on what things work well for me physically and psychologically, and will continue to share more once I am able to offer more insight.

Overall, I have come out of the experience as a huge fan of the program and would recommended it to just about anyone for a variety of reasons (a topic for some other posts). To be honest though, I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t get more clarity on what may be the cause of the lifelong battle I’ve faced with chronic fatigue/idiopathic hypersomnia, but I know that the Lord is still working with me here. I still think it is possible that there is a dietary component/food sensitivity or allergy that is involved with the symptoms. I decided that the next step to take was ordering the Pinner Test*. I’ve seen a bit about this test on different blogs, but put off trying it myself until now due to cost. I got to the point where I tried as much as I could without spending money. With no answers, I came to the realization that it was remarkably silly not to try something because of cost if it truly could offer me some answers. How foolish would I feel if I waited months or years, finally gave in, and got insight that I could’ve had now! At this time, my results are still pending. I’ll keep y’all posted.

*This test is basically a blood test that you perform at home. You order it online and then it shipped to your door. All you have to do is prick your finger and place a few drops of your blood on the collection pad, then send that back to them in a pre-addressed envelope. You have the choice of getting your results sent to you via regular mail or email, as well as additional nutrition coaching to help you with your results should you need it.

Current Spiritual:
Grateful to say that the Lord gave me the boldness and direction that I was praying for during my church‘s fast/the Whole 30. I could not have completed those 30 days and maintain compliance had it not been for tying the health purposes into my spiritual needs. God definitely came through on my behalf in many of the ways I hoped for, but also in some that I did not even expect (see below).

Current Work:
I was asked to share my ideas for an employee wellness program at work as this is something I am deeply passionate about (and may or may not be bugging my administrators about on a routine basis). This month, I had a very successful meeting with some of the highest ranking administrative peeps in my organization. I know that my speaking ability was in no part to credit for the success, and I totally relied on the Lord to do the speaking for me and to move the hearts and minds of those that I shared my ideas with. Not to say that experience isn’t also vital when it comes to refining my skills in speaking and sharing. Especially when it comes to vulnerable topics and things that are close to my heart, I overthink things and simply just need more practice. That’s such a difficult space to be in, isn’t it? Knowing that you have to push yourself into a place of discomfort in order to grow is one thing, but to then actually follow through on it…yikes! It’s the only way to grow, but most of us are not willing to actually do this to ourselves. I have found that if I want to be consistent with this process, I can’t rely on others to push me. I have to also push myself.

Also in work related news, I was asked to submit a grant proposal (something I have absolutely zero experience with by the way) with very little notice and recently found out that it was accepted. The Lord definitely came through for me here as well. Short story of what happened… One of my administrators called me right before the end of my morning clinic block a few weeks ago to ask if I could come up with a one page proposal to secure a grant for $50,000 in the area of cardiovascular disease intervention. Uhhh…sure!!? Somehow I was able to pull together some ideas into a plan over my lunch break and in-between seeing patients that afternoon, and had it ready by the deadline… the end of the day!! I’m not someone who works well on things like this under pressure, so I know that the Lord had His hand on it to see it through.

The other blessing here is that this means that I will be participating in implementing the CVD intervention program that I proposed with my patients… meaning that I will able to do more of the behavioral/health/nutrition/lifestyle intervention coaching that I love, while still meeting the requirements of my NHSC contract (seeing family practice / primary care medicine patients). How amazing is that!? God literally created a way for me where there formerly wasn’t one. He created a way for me to get to do more of what I want to be doing in the exact setting that I am needing to be in. This was one of the exact things I had been praying for during the fast. Can’t tell me that it was coincidence. It is also, proof that if you work your butt off for the right reasons (i.e. to serve and help others) you will be blessed for it.

Current Exercise:
Due to the aforementioned flu and trying not to over-do it, I have been somewhat   slacking more relaxed in this department this month. Doing a lot of walking instead of my usual lifting, but was able to do some of the beta testing workouts for #FastPhysique (an upcoming program by Jill Coleman). You still have time to jump on the exclusive (free!) workouts via the beta testing program. If you’re interested, you can sign up and get the details (updated link: here).

|Kaci
Reader questions:
Have you ever heard of/taken the pinner test?
Are there any other similar tests that you’ve tried and recommend?
Are you reading any good books at the moment? If so, what are they?