Working towards a goal can be difficult, disheartening work, especially when unexpected obstacles keep cropping up along the way. But Lisa Olona’s new book is here to help people who are feeling discouraged realise that there is no roadblock that can’t be beaten. Cross Your Creek is the book for people whose mindsets are keeping them stuck where they are. In it, Olona guides readers through a step-by-step process that will help them overcome any difficulties life throws at them, so that they can continually strive to live their happiest, most fulfilling lives.
As a Fitness Trainer and Transformation Life Coach with more than 30 years’ experience, Olona knows just how powerful the human spirit can be. And, as someone who has suffered her fair share of knock-backs, she knows that the journey to fulfilment is rarely easy. From a young age, she had to endure hardships that made her feel unworthy, and she was told she could not do the things she wanted to do because of her gender. But she had a passion for fitness and goals she wanted to achieve, and she refused to let the nay-sayers stop her.
This started her out on a trajectory that has seen her go from strength to strength in the world of wellness. She knows that, “when someone jumps from diet to diet, or exercise program to exercise program, they are simply searching for something that not only works, but that they also really enjoy”. Her Fit for Life Academy is guaranteed, so that when her clients finish their program “they are ready to coach themselves”. Olona boldly promises that anyone registering with her will never need a personal trainer again, and she has a raft of awards, multiple appearances in big-name media outlets, and countless happy clients that can back her up.
Cross Your Creek is all about undertaking difficult journeys and coming out stronger on the other side, as Olona did. It takes its name from an experience she had a few years ago, on a hike in the red mountains of Sedona, Arizona. At the start of the hike, she and the eight women she was with found that they could only reach the hiking trail if they managed to cross a large creek. The reactions of the people in the group ranged from problem-solving to anger to defeat. But eventually, despite any self-doubting thoughts, they found their way across. The creek has become a metaphor for the unexpected obstacles that seek to throw us off-course, and the approaches we take to dealing with life’s sudden difficulties.
Olona’s book will help its readers figure out what they want from life, recognise toxic patterns of behaviour in themselves and others, implement healthy thought processes, and switch from self-doubt to a champion’s mindset. It follows many of the steps that Olona herself took to get to where she is today, and offers much of the same advice she gives to her clients.