Meet our instructors: Steffi August

Steffi August has a course called Resilience Bootcamp on Focus Tribe Online which encourages everyone to look at challenges as opportunities. It’s fair to say that Steffi has had more than her fair share of challenges over the years but she has come through these with such positivity that anyone who hears her story feels incredible encouraged.

What’s your biggest tip to get through a challenging period in life?

My biggest tip to get through a challenging period in life is believing in yourself and reminding yourself how strong you are. My favourite quote is: “You don’t know how strong you are until being strong is the only option you have.”

Living in the moment gives you the opportunity to listen to your inner self-talk – the stories you’re telling yourself – and what thoughts trigger certain feelings. We live in the feeling of our thinking so, I find, positive affirmations are very powerful for every situation: “I’ve got this. I can do this. I’m enough.” When you believe and KNOW that EVERY challenge in life is an opportunity for something bigger, better, or totally different, whatever the universe has planned for us will work out in the end. But, it’s up to you how you think about your circumstances and how you respond to challenges in life.

What’s your biggest challenge in life right now?
What’s the positive message from this challenge?
Everything in life is a choice so you get to choose from a perspective of helplessness or a standpoint of personal power.

When women are faced with a number of decisions to make, how would you advise them towards making the correct one?

Is there a correct one? It will be the correct one if we decide it to be in this particular moment. Looking back in years to come remember, it was the right decision at the time. There is no right or wrong, it’s how we respond to it. This is the reason so many people live in the past and can’t forgive their parents or other people as to how they were treated. It was for this person at the time the right thing to do.

All my decisions are made from my gut feelings, never from my head. To have a solid foundation is to have a loving relationship with yourself. Respect yourself as a person, trust yourself, be you, and be proud of the person you are. You are ENOUGH. Never make a decision when you are an in an emotional state, always be fully present.

What are the positive and successful habits that you do first thing in the morning to ensure you have as great a day as possible?

My alarm goes off at 4.44am (I love numbers). Most of the time I wake up 4.43am just before the alarm, because my body knows it’s exercise time. It doesn’t matter what time I go to bed – to be honest I try to be in bed before midnight, but most of the time it’s just a try 😊

I always write my To Do list the night before to de-clutter my brain and I get a good 4-5 hours quality sleep. In the morning I jump out of bed, brush my teeth, put on my pre-prepared exercise gear and off I go. The night before, I check the time for sunrise and the tides to ensure I run/walk at the right time to see the sunrise. When I get home, I have breakfast, shower, do a bit of social media and then I’m ready to face any challenge coming my way.

And when you’re having a bad day, what tips do you recommend to get out of the negative spiral? It’s an interesting question, because I make sure my morning affirmation gets me pumped with positivity for the day. My morning exercise is the icing on the cake.

If you start thinking you’re going to have a bad day, check in with yourself. Stop and ask yourself what thought triggered this feeling at that particular moment? You’ll be surprised, because it’s often a thought from the past or future. So, bring yourself back into the now and your mood will change instantly. Keep living in the moment.

In 2017 you wrote the book That’s it! I’m OUT of here: Time for a change. Have you written/or are you planning to write any other books?

My story and guidelines on how to transform challenges into opportunities have been published in two amazing books. One was an International Bestseller, called Entrepreneur X-Factor and the other one, Trailblazers, was an award-winning book.

In 2010 I published my first cookbook Keep it simple – Affordable Family Meals. It’s a fantastic book that has the premise that everyone can learn how to cook.

All my books are available on my website.

So, yes the plan is to publish another book but it’s going to be something completely different. I’m going to share the love story and amazing relationship I had with my late husband, the man of my dreams. He was my soulmate. We never had an argument and although we were busy running three businesses, we still had quality time for each other. I’m going to share some of our relationship secrets that made it such a loving and caring marriage.

What plans do you have for your business in 2023?

Great question. Easy to answer. My NEW and first online program The Action Blueprint for Women Over 40 – Your Mindset Challenge has just gone live and supports women on their journey of self-discovery. It’s about finding the ULTIMATE YOU and involves understanding who you are, where you want to go and what you can accomplish. I also cover the all-important topic of how to stop living life fast and start living life deeply in a way that fills you with love, joy, passion, compassion and self-trust.

At the moment I’m also upskilling my coaching skills, to become a Professional Master Coach so that I can be the best coach possible to support my clients.

After working three years in the prisons before Covid-19, I would like to go back into this and provide my coaching program to as many incarcerated men as possible.

Recently, you embraced a new passion. Can you tell us about this?

One passion I now have evolved from the truck accident that killed my husband. Then there were the lockdowns. Going through grief and the lockdowns I started running, walking and biking a lot more – 1054km during the first lockdown! Whilst out, I started taking photos and posting them on social media and the feedback was amazing. So I took myself off to school and did a Photography course and I’ve just finished an editing course. If you had told me a year ago that I would do these courses, I would have laughed at you. Every challenge is an opportunity for something new and bigger.

After three years of just surviving, I started thriving again. I found my spark again.

What does Steffi August love to do when she’s not working?

To be honest, I actually don’t feel like I work at all. Everything I do – my coaching and massage business (for 20 years now) – is my passion. Working with people and making a difference gives me such a buzz. I take Wednesdays off to go hiking with girlfriends and we do an average 20-25km. Best decision ever. This is my relaxation and recharging time.

I also make sure I see the sunrise almost every day… it’s my healthy addiction. Relaxing in my spa is a very relaxing exercise too.

On the day of my husband’s accident, I was supposed to be the driver, but I had other commitments. Now I say: “It wasn’t my time. I’m here for a reason. I’m here to make a difference…”

It’s so important to me to live in the moment, in the now, as we don’t know what’s around the corner. Watch this space.

Categories: FTO Instructors