Spring Is Here: A Season of Arrival, Renewal, and “I Get to Do This”
After months of shorter days, colder temperatures, and unpredictable [...]
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Women in STEM, Leadership & the Courage to Evolve
March | International Women’s Day Reflection
March is a powerful month of reflection, celebration, and recommitment. Each year, International Women’s Day invites us to recognize not only how far women have come but how we choose to lead, lift, and create opportunity for those rising behind us.
This month began for me at Western University, returning to the place where my own journey in science and movement truly began. I had the honour of participating in Western’s STEMposium a day focused on women in STEM, exploring careers, confidence, and choice. Standing on that panel felt both grounding and full circle. It reminded me that careers are rarely built in straight lines they are built through curiosity, courage, and the willingness to evolve.
Grounded in Science, Guided by Purpose
My career began deeply rooted in science, anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, through my education in physiotherapy and movement science. What fascinated me early on was how the human body adapts, heals, and performs when movement is applied intentionally While my initial passion was to serve the injured and critically ill as a physiotherapist, my curiosity expanded beyond the clinical environment. I saw a gap between healthcare and fitness, two worlds that should work together more intentionally and I built my career at the intersection of both.
Over the past 40+ years, I’ve worked as a practitioner, educator, leader, and advocate, helping elevate standards, professionalize fitness, and position movement as a critical part of healthcare. I didn’t follow a predefined path. I followed my values, my curiosity, and the impact I wanted to make
Careers Are Choices Not Checklists
Students often ask whether they should pursue graduate school, industry, or something else entirely. My answer is rarely about titles. It’s about alignment.
I encourage three reflections:
- What energizes you: deep learning or hands-on application?
- Where do you want to have impact: research, practice, leadership, innovation?
- What skills do you want to build in the next five years?
If clarity doesn’t come immediately, I share Stephen Covey’s reminder to begin with the end in mind. When you envision how you want to serve the world, who you want to help and what problems you want to solve, your decisions become intentional, not reactive.
There is no single “right” path. Most careers are nonlinear. What matters is staying curious, building transferable skills, and giving yourself permission to pivot.
Leadership Modeled: Women Who Build What Doesn’t Yet Exist
One of the most powerful validations of women’s leadership is seeing women build careers that are true to their strengths not templates.
A prime example is this month’s podcast episode, A MO’ment with MO with guest, Michele Colwell, Executive Vice President at GoodLife Fitness. Early in her career, Michele recognized an unmet need and went on to create and launch GoodLife’s Personal Training department, a move that didn’t just grow the business, but reshaped how personal training was valued and delivered across the industry. That moment matters.
It reinforces what I’ve seen throughout my career: women don’t just lead teams they lead innovation. They see what’s missing, ask better questions, and build what doesn’t exist yet. Michele’s journey is proof that when women lead authentically, businesses don’t just grow they evolve.
Confidence Follows Courage Not the Other Way Around
I’m often asked if I’ve ever felt underqualified. The answer is yes, many times! I’ve learned that feeling underqualified is often a signal of growth. Instead of treating it as doubt, I treat it as data. What do I need to learn? Who can I learn from?
Confidence doesn’t come before competence. It comes from building it. And one of the most common patterns I see, especially among women, is waiting to feel “ready” before stepping forward. Growth happens when we step forward anyway.
Learning, Leadership & Bringing Other Women With You
This belief that leadership grows stronger when shared is why I continue to prioritize spaces designed by women, for women, grounded in learning and leadership.
Each year, I am proud to attend the All Women L.E.A.D. event held in London, ON and I intentionally bring other women with me. Leadership isn’t meant to be experienced alone. All Women L.E.A.D. embodies what I believe in most: lifelong learning, courageous leadership, shared wisdom, and collective growth. When women gather in rooms designed to challenge and support them, confidence grows, ideas sharpen, and possibilities expand. Just like STEM, leadership is a discipline and the more we practice it together, the stronger we become.
International Women’s Day: Giving So Others Can Gain
International Women’s Day reminds us that leadership is not about climbing alone. It’s about creating space, opening doors, and using influence to lift others. When women lead with intention, when we bring others into learning spaces, and when we use our platforms to amplify voices beyond our own, we don’t lose power, we multiply it. That is how we build stronger businesses, stronger leaders and a future where women in STEM and leadership don’t just participate, they shape what comes next.
This month, my invitation is simple:
Stay curious. Stay grounded in science. Lead with courage. And wherever you rise bring other women with you.
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Smart Training for Heart Health and Longevity with Sue Staresinic | A Mo’ment with Mo
Mo Hagan and Sue Staresinic, physiotherapist and GoodLife Fitness [...]
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MO’ment of Arrival: Why I Created the 2026 Workbook
As we move into 2026, I found myself returning to one question again and again:
What does it actually mean to arrive?
Not arrive as an ending. Not arrive because everything is finished or figured out. But arrive in the deeper sense. Arriving in yourself. In your strength. In your readiness.
That question became the foundation for my 2026 Workbook, “MO’ment of Arrival: From Awakening to Abundance in the Year of the Horse.”
This workbook is not about hustle, reinvention, or pushing harder. It’s about recognition. About acknowledging the growth you’ve already lived through and choosing to move forward with intention rather than urgency.
Inside the workbook, we move through four core themes:
Arrival
Recognizing that you are no longer preparing for life. You’re standing in it.
Alignment
Ensuring that what you do, how you live, and what you value are moving in the same direction.
Authenticity
Letting go of identities, expectations, and roles that no longer fit who you are becoming.
Abundance
Stepping into a state of grounded confidence, clarity, and trust rather than constant striving.
The Year of the Horse brings an energy of freedom, momentum, and instinctual movement. The Horse doesn’t rush, and it doesn’t hesitate. It moves when alignment is felt. That energy is woven throughout this workbook as both a theme and a guide.
This workbook is designed to be used slowly. You can move through it over days, weeks, or return to it throughout the year. There is no finish line. Only presence.
If you’ve been feeling that quiet sense that you’re ready to stand in what you’ve built, this workbook was created for you.
The 2026 Workbook is available now HERE, and I’m honoured to share this journey with you.
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ABUNDANCE: The MO’ment You Arrive
Abundance is not something you chase. It’s something you step into. For many of us, abundance has been understood as accumulation; having more success, more recognition, more certainty, more proof. But real abundance isn’t louder or heavier. It’s steadier. Quieter. More embodied. Abundance is a state; the moment you recognize that your energy, experience, values, and capacity are finally moving in the same direction. And when you step into that state, something powerful happens. You arrive.
What Abundance Really Is
Abundance is not about having everything figured out. It’s about knowing you have enough wisdom, enough strength, and enough judgement to move forward with intention. Abundance feels like being grounded rather than urgent, clear instead of always questioning, and making choices out of freedom rather than obligation—it’s the internal shift from constantly pursuing to simply being present.
In this January series, we’ve moved through:
Awakening — becoming aware of what’s no longer working
Alignment — choosing consistency between values, body, and direction
Authenticity — releasing old identities to live more truthfully
Abundance is what becomes possible because of that work. It’s not the reward but rather the result.
Stepping Into Abundance:
In my own journey through 2025, abundance didn’t arrive through adding more. It came through judgement. Through letting go. Through trusting my body, my timing, and my experience. Abundance showed up as clarity in my decisions, energy that felt steady rather than frantic, and confidence rooted in lived experience instead of validation.
For me, stepping into abundance means I’m no longer striving or proving myself but instead settling into who I am. Growth isn’t something I’m constantly reaching for; it’s part of my everyday experience. Abundance isn’t about getting more or going bigger, it’s about feeling truly aligned and whole inside.
When Abundance Becomes Arrival
Arrival is the moment you intentionally embrace where you are, without waiting for permission, holding out for perfection, or downplaying the progress you’ve made. Arrival is the moment you say, “This is mine to stand in, I trust what I’ve built, and I am ready for what’s next.” Arrival doesn’t require certainty. It requires presence. As we move into 2026, the Year of the Horse, this distinction matters. The Horse symbolizes freedom, stamina, momentum, and instinctual power. It moves forward with clarity and trust.
Practical Steps to Embrace Abundance
If you’re ready to step into abundance and truly claim your arrival, try this mindful sequence for embracing abundance:
| Step | Reflection Prompt |
| Pause | Before moving forward, take a moment to breathe and settle yourself in the present. |
| Reflect | What experiences, lessons, and inner shifts have prepared you for this moment? |
| Integrate | Which boundaries, practices, or rhythms support your energy and alignment? |
| Visualize | How does abundance feel in your body—calm, energized, spacious, or steady? |
| Claim | What would change if you stopped waiting and chose to fully arrive now? |
Let each step be intentional. Pause to honor your growth, reflect on what brought you here, integrate supportive practices, visualize how abundance feels, and finally, claim your place right now, not someday.
Closing Thoughts
Abundance becomes real when your life aligns with who you are, and you claim it in the present MO’ment. Not someday or later, but now by standing fully where you are instead of striving for the next level.
What’s Next?
Did you enjoy this series? Stay tuned! I have a special additional resource to AMPLIFY and put into practice all that you have learned through this series so you can move into 2026 with intention, presence, and courage.
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AUTHENTICITY: Owning Who You’ve Become (and Who You’re Becoming)
There comes a point in every meaningful journey where growth demands more than effort. It demands honesty. Authenticity isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about removing what no longer fits.
In 2025, I learned this lesson in my body as much as in my work. Training for and competing in HYROX wasn’t just a physical challenge; it was a personal reckoning. It required me to stop hiding behind what was comfortable, familiar, or expected, and instead ask a deeper question: “What does it look like to fully show up as myself, strong, capable, evolving without apology?”
Authenticity, I’ve learned, is not passive. It’s an active choice, made daily. Authenticity Is embodied. We often talk about authenticity as a mindset, but the truth is this, your body knows long before your mind does. When I committed to a bold physical goal in 2025, I couldn’t negotiate with excuses. My training demanded presence, discipline, and integrity. I had to meet myself honestly on tired days, uncomfortable days, and days when fear whispered that maybe this wasn’t for me… or that I was too old to be here. And yet, every time I showed up anyway, something shifted. I wasn’t proving anything. I was remembering who I was.
This is the same process many of us experience in our careers, relationships, and leadership. Authenticity asks us to align our actions with our values even when it feels vulnerable.
Letting Go of Old Labels
One of the quietest and bravest challenges of growth is releasing identities that once served us well. In 2025, I began a slow, intentional evolution in my career. Not a dramatic leap, but a thoughtful recalibration. I questioned roles, responsibilities, and expectations I had carried for years. I asked myself:
Where am I saying yes out of habit instead of alignment?
Where am I shrinking to maintain comfort?
What truth is asking to be expressed next?
Then, in the first weekend of January, I took this reflection out of my head and into action.
I cleaned out my offices. I threw out decades of training manuals, choreography notes, and DVDs from my years as a Les Mills National Trainer and instructor. Over 20 years of work. Over 20 years of identity. It was emotional. It was uncomfortable. And it was deeply clarifying.
That chapter shaped me. It built my confidence, my discipline, and my leadership. But it is longer who I am becoming. Holding onto it out of nostalgia or loyalty was quietly limiting the space needed for what’s coming next. Letting go wasn’t about disrespecting my past. It was about honouring it and then releasing it. That is authenticity.
The Energy of the Horse
As we move into 2026, the Year of the Horse, this energy becomes even more potent. The Horse symbolizes freedom, strength, momentum, and honest expression. It invites us to move forward unburdened by what we have outgrown.
Authenticity doesn’t ask us to run faster. It asks us to run lighter. Authenticity Is Not Perfection. And please know that authenticity does not mean having it all figured out. It means speaking your truth while still learning, leading while still evolving, and taking action even when the path isn’t fully mapped out for you.
In my own journey, authenticity has looked like saying: “I don’t have all the answers, but I trust myself to find them.” That trust is earned through experience, reflection, and the willingness to listen to your body, your intuition, and your values.
A Reflection for You
As we continue this January series and prepare for the year ahead, I invite you to pause and reflect:
- Where in your life are you being asked to show up more honestly?
- What version of yourself is ready to be released?
- What truth feels a little uncomfortable but deeply right?
Authenticity is not the loudest voice in the room. It is the clearest one. And when you choose it, you create space for alignment, abundance, and arrival.
Closing Thought:
Authenticity isn’t something you find. It’s something you practice one brave choice at a time. And the more you practice it, the more unstoppable your journey becomes.
What’s Coming Next
In Blog 4, we’ll bring everything together through the lens of ABUNDANCE, not as “more,” but as enough, aligned, and expansive. We’ll explore how authenticity creates momentum, and how to MO’ve into 2026 with confidence, freedom, and purpose.
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ALIGNMENT: When What You Do, How You Live, and Who You’re Becoming Finally Match
Alignment isn’t about doing more. It’s about moving in the same direction as your values on purpose. After Arrival, there’s often a quiet moment that most people rush past. This is a pause where the external milestones have been met, but an internal question lingers: “Now that I’m here… does this still fit?”
In 2025, I arrived in many ways. I crossed a physical finish line that once felt impossible. I moved through fear, doubt, and the stories we tell ourselves about age, limits, and timing. Training for and completing HYROX Toronto wasn’t just a physical goal — it was a declaration. A reminder that strength is built through commitment, not convenience.
What surprised me most wasn’t the race itself. It was what came next. Reaching a milestone without alignment can feel disorienting. You arrive but instead of clarity, there’s a restlessness. Energy doesn’t settle. Momentum feels forced. When you feel this way, it’s often a signal that motivation alone isn’t enough anymore.
Alignment matters more than motivation because motivation burns quickly. Conversely, alignment sustains. Alignment isn’t something you think your way into. It’s something you feel your way into — in your body, your energy, and your choices. In my work as a physiotherapist, movement specialist, leader, and advocate, I have seen this pattern repeatedly. When the body becomes misaligned, compensation shows up as pain, fatigue, or injury. The same is true in our lives and in our careers. When we’re out of alignment, the signals are there: burnout, irritability, low-grade anxiety, or a quiet, persistent knowing that something needs to shift.
Over the final six months of 2025, I began listening more closely to those signals. I slowed down; not to stop, but to recalibrate. I stopped asking, “What’s next?” and started asking, “What’s true now?” and “What’s best for me at this stage?” .I gave myself permission to move forward with trust, without having all the answers or needing to justify every decision.
That’s alignment — coherence between body, energy, values, and direction. Interestingly, my HYROX training mirrored this process exactly. Progress didn’t come from pushing harder every day. It came from structure, pacing, recovery, and intentional effort. Training taught me when to push and when to pull back. This was a lesson that translated directly into my career evolution and leadership choices.
In this season, alignment has meant honouring my physical strength and my need for recovery. It’s meant letting go of roles, timelines, and expectations that once made sense, but no longer fit who I’m becoming. By creating space, I’m allowing a new chapter of leadership to emerge, one rooted in influence, advocacy, and meaningful impact rather than constant execution.
As we move into the Year of the Horse, the invitation is momentum, stamina, and forward movement. But the Horse doesn’t run wildly. Its power comes from alignment in the body, breath, and brain working together. This is when instinct is guided by intention.
What is one of the clearest signs alignment is present? Energy returns. Not the frantic, adrenaline-fueled kind, but the steady, grounded energy that sustains you. As I step into 2026, I feel aligned not because everything is decided, but because my values, actions, and direction are moving together.
Alignment doesn’t require certainty. It requires honesty that is practiced daily. So, as you move into this year, pause and reflect:
1. Where are you forcing momentum instead of creating alignment?
2. What strengthens you — and what quietly drains you?
3. What does aligned effort feel like in your body and your work?
Alignment is the bridge between who you’ve been and who you’re becoming. And when you cross it, movement stops feeling heavy and starts to feel powerful.
Coming Up Next: AUTHENTICITY
When alignment is in place, authenticity becomes unavoidable. Once your values and actions are aligned, you can no longer perform versions of yourself that no longer fit. In the next blog, we’ll explore what it really means to show up as yourself especially while evolving publicly, leading visibly, and choosing truth over approval. Because authenticity isn’t about being fearless; it’s about being real, even as you grow.
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ARRIVAL: You’re Not Becoming, You’re Claiming
There is a MO’ment in life when you realize you are no longer preparing, pushing, or proving. You’re no longer chasing a future version of yourself. You’ve arrived.
Arrival isn’t loud. It doesn’t show up with fireworks or finish lines. It’s quieter than that — the deep exhale after years of effort. It’s the grounded knowing that you’re standing in a version of yourself you once imagined, not because everything is finished, but because something essential has settled.
As we step into 2026 — the Year of the Horse — the energy is one of momentum, courage, and forward movement. The Horse moves with instinct and trust. Once it commits, it doesn’t hesitate. It runs because it knows where it’s going. This isn’t frantic motion; it’s aligned momentum, driven by clarity rather than chaos.
Arrival is often misunderstood as an ending — a destination or a pause from striving. But true arrival is different. Arrival is when your internal world begins to match your external life. When your values, choices, body, and work move in the same direction. It’s when you stop trying to outrun fear and learn how to MO’ve with it.
In 2025, I learned this through my body. Training for and competing in HYROX Women’s Open wasn’t just a physical goal; it was a conversation with fear — fear of not being ready, not being enough, or being fully seen in the effort. Stepping into the tunnel at the start line wasn’t about proving anything to anyone else. It was about arriving in my own strength and confidence.
Before arrival shows up in our careers, leadership, or relationships, it shows up in the body. It feels like strength without rigidity, confidence without bravado, calm without complacency. Physiologically, arrival is nervous system safety — when the body stops bracing for what’s next and begins to trust what’s now. This is why movement has always been my compass. In 2025, I realized that training became less about chasing outcomes and more about presence. Breath became grounding. Recovery became an act of respect and reward.
Arrival doesn’t mean you stop striving. It means you stop abandoning yourself in the process and start being MO’re in the moment, especially when you face fear. Arrival happens the MO’ment you stop negotiating with fear, you welcome fear and start moving forward.
The Horse doesn’t wait for permission. And neither should you. You don’t need to become ready in 2026. You need to arrive in the readiness you’ve already built — through your experiences, lessons, resilience, and body of work.
This season isn’t about reinvention. It’s refinement. Arrival isn’t a transformation. It’s a homecoming.
Reflection: Where Have You Already Arrived?
Before setting new goals or mapping the year ahead, pause and reflect. Ask yourself:
- Where have I already arrived — even if I haven’t acknowledged it yet?
- What strength do I now carry that I didn’t have a year ago?
- What am I ready to claim instead of chase?
Momentum without arrival leads to burnout. Arrival becomes the foundation for powerful, sustainable movement forward. You’re not behind. You’re not late. You’ve arrived.
Next MO’ment: Alignment
Arrival creates the space for clarity. When you’ve landed in your strength and claimed your readiness, the next step is Alignment — noticing what’s possible, tuning into your potential, and stepping forward with intention. In Blog 2, we’ll explore how awareness unlocks alignment, purpose, and forward momentum for 2026.
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Bringing 2025 Full Circle and Looking Ahead
As we arrive in December, I find myself reflecting on the guiding intention that shaped my 2025 workbook: Elevating 2025—Energy, Growth, and Becoming More. When I launched this guide back in January, my message was simple yet powerful: If it is to be, it is up to me. This became my compass throughout the year, a reminder that who we become is built not in grand gestures, but in daily decisions, habits, and MO’ments rooted in purpose.
This year invited us to elevate our energy, stretch our growth, and step boldly into the process of becoming more—not because a calendar told us to, but because our potential called us forward. The workbook encouraged you to look at your life, your health, your learning, and your leadership through a lens of possibility. To choose vitality, embrace challenge, and honour the person you are becoming.
Now, as 2025 winds down, I want to remind you of something essential:
There is nothing magical about January 1st.
The magic comes from you.
You don’t need a new year to recommit to yourself. You don’t need a Monday to reset. You don’t need a resolution to give yourself permission to grow. These final days of 2025 are fertile ground—an invitation to finish the year not with pressure, but with presence.
Instead of waiting for a symbolic fresh start, ask yourself:
- How can I become more today?
- Where can I re-align my energy right now?
- What small action would move me closer to my next-level self?
This is how you close a year with intention: not by hustling to the finish line, but by choosing one aligned step at a time.
And as I look toward 2026, I feel a new chapter pulling me forward—one that will include reinvention, renewal, and redefining what “next level” means for me personally and professionally. I haven’t found my word for the year yet, but a few are whispering to me:
Reinvent. Evolve. Rise. Reimagine. Liberate. Illuminate.
Each carries the spirit of where 2025 has brought me—and where I feel called to go next.
Perhaps one of these words speaks to you too. Or perhaps your word is waiting patiently for you to slow down just long enough to hear it.
My encouragement to you is this:
- Finish 2025 with intention, curiosity, and gratitude for how far you’ve already come.
- Step into 2026 not with pressure to reinvent everything—but with the courage to reinvent what matters most.
Here’s to closing with purpose, stepping forward with clarity, and becoming MO’re—today, tomorrow, and in the year ahead.
Happy holidays, Mo
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November Reflections: Lessons from the World Series, The Miracle Morning, and a Personal Win
WOW! What an incredible World Series! And what a [...]
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