Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

| Darcy Luoma, 2021

What’s It All About?

Do you want to change how you show up and impact your team? It starts with intentionality—and to bring more intentionality to your team, you need to be mentally fit! But if you’re a busy manufacturing leader, finding time to work on yourself can be a challenge. In her book Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success, Darcy Luoma shares a simple-yet powerful framework for manufacturing leaders who want to strengthen their mindset and improve how they show up for their teams.

Darcy is an author, speaking professional, and the founder and CEO of Darcy Luoma Coaching and Consulting... and she competes in triathlons, which means that when it comes to fitness, Darcy walks the walk and talks the talk! In Thoughtfully Fit, Darcy is vulnerable in sharing her own story, plus shares how she created her unique Thoughtfully Fit® approach, a dynamic and practical model for enhancing leadership capabilities and team performance.

For leaders in manufacturing — where decisions are fast, stakes are high, and teams rely on each other to stay safe and productive — this book offers practical tools to build trust, improve communication, and drive better results on the shop floor. One especially valuable part of Darcy’s Thoughtfully approach is the “Pause, Think, Act” section. This part is all about slowing down, so you can get it right when it matters the most. The repeatable steps of this model are built around six core competencies:

Stillness: Quieting the Mind
Strength: Choosing Consciously
Endurance: Overcoming Obstacles
Agility: Responding Effectively
Balance: Achieving Alignment
Flexibility: Stretching for Acceptance

Favorite Quote

“When you’re aware of your thoughts, you’re able to consciously choose how you behave.”

Biggest Takeaway

We have a natural tendency to judge others. But instead of approaching situations with judgement, we should instead think about how we show up! By approaching a situation with vulnerability and curiosity, we open the doors for deeper conversations and prove ourselves as leaders who show up with courage and compassion. Darcy’s Thoughtfully Fit approach highlights the importance for holding space to pause, reflect, and think about how we’re showing up.

Bonus Information

One story that stuck with me is about a leader who completely changed their relationship with their team by simply showing curiosity and listening. Darcy shared how this leader moved from being reactive and defensive to building trust by staying open and mindful. It’s a small shift that made a big difference — not just for the team’s morale, but for their performance. For anyone in manufacturing, this is a reminder that the best ideas often come from the people closest to the work, and it’s up to us to create an environment where they feel heard.

Hear More on the Mindfulness Manufacturing Podcast

You can also hear more from Darcy on a recent episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing. Check it out here or on your favorite podcast platform!

Mindfulness Manufacturing

Our show is about providing listeners with real stories that come from a place of experience, transparency, and authenticity. Most importantly it’s about what we learn from these stories and applying Mindfulness in our everyday work and personal lives.
Our intention is to create an environment where people can learn through open honest discussions on how we apply Mindfulness. Although our experiences and stories come from time in a manufacturing environment hence the title “Mindfulness Manufacturing”, we still see our discussions and topics relatable to any organization or profession.

In manufacturing, we’re all familiar with stress. But did you know that a lack of challenges and too much comfort can also have a negative impact on your health, mindset, and productivity? This is the core concept Paul Taylor presents in his great book Death by Comfort: How Modern Life is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It. As a former British Royal Navy crew member and a current Ph.D. candidate in applied psychology, Paul has in-depth knowledge about stress, resilience, and performance.

In this episode on stress, comfort, and psychological safety, Paul draws from his own experiences and research to delve deeper into why discomfort and challenging situations build confidence and resilience, plus shares some of his favorite methods for rethinking how you perceive stress and engage with your team.

2:20 – In manufacturing, stress can be inevitable, so you need to find the right level of stress in your environment 3:36 – You can use principles from physical fitness and apply them to stress management 7:11 – To stay healthy and keep a productive mindset, you need to balance stress and recovery 11:54 – When you practice self-efficacy and do hard tasks, it builds your confidence 16:21 – Uncomfortable yet necessary conversations play a key role in workplace environments 17:38 – To change and improve how you give feedback and have challenging conversations, use the SBI (situation-behavior-impact) model 18:36 – Use the OARS model for motivational interviewing to encourage open questions, affirmations, reflective listening, and summarizing 24:58 – Take time to understand your purpose and the impact of your work 24:58 – Don’t overlook the role of accountability in psychological safety

Connect with Paul Taylor Visit his website Listen to The Paul Taylor Podcast Buy Death by Comfort on Amazon or at your favorite bookseller Read my book report on Death by Comfort