Welcome to Mottovation Monday

Hi there! I wanted to take a quick second to introduce myself formally. This is the first column of a weekly journey that you and I are going to be on together, so I thought we could start by you getting to know me, and then as the weeks progress, I can hear more about you. Cool?

My name is Stacey Griffith (begin Googling now), and I have been motivating and inspiring people of all ages for oh… the last 3 decades (I know, I look so young). I’m a senior master SOULCYCLE instructor and author of the book “Two Turns from Zero,” which comes out in February 2017.

I teamed up with the superstars at Motto to bring you a weekly column here. Every Monday, we’ll meet here on time.com/motto to go over things that will help you prepare to have the best week, week after week after week. We’re going to start a community of kick butt, motivated followers who keep in touch with each other through social media (use #mottovationmonday) and meet here every week. We’ll explore topics like how to wake up motivated, nailing your energy for a special event, handling a crisis with grace and acceptance, beating vacation blues and carrying summer energy into fall.

I think if we all agree to start every Monday with the idea that we get seven brand new days (#7brandnewdays), we can kick Monday down with a vengeance. We’ll organize our thoughts, strategize our game plan, prep the days with intention, factor in fitness, nutrition and awareness goals. I think we’re going to be golden as a group! We are stronger together than we are alone!

Through my journey as a fitness instructor I have found that what makes me successful as a teacher is the motivation that surrounds my classes. I believe that I can teach you to be your best — no matter your age or fitness level. As your teacher, I am your biggest fan.

My story begins as a super athlete in high school. I spent my 4 years swimming, diving, playing basketball and softball. If it weren’t for sports I don’t think I would have been into school at all. I was never an academic —the only classes I loved were writing, physical education and arts and crafts.

College was always just a pipe dream, so when I tore my ACL in my senior year of high school, I ended up dropping out and finishing in an adult school extension program. It took me 5 years to graduate high school — that’s how much I hated it. Suffice to say, I took the long way to success, but I got here kicking and screaming, and now I’m the best at what I do, because I found my passion and I stuck to it!

The one thing I never stopped doing was staying active. I always had fitness as my baseline, and it’s carried me this far. It’s crazy to imagine that for 30 years the whole “fitness” way of life has been my career and lifestyle. Eleven years ago when I was asked to move to New York from California to open up a new fitness studio called SOULCYCLE, I never imagined I would be embarking on a mission to help create the world’s most popular indoor cycling phenomenon.

Now don’t get me wrong, I haven’t been perfect. I battled many wild addictions along the way (we’ll talk more about that in future columns), but now for almost 10 years I’ve been on a clean and charged path to wellness and success. It is through those dark times, however, that I learned the art of balance, strength, honesty, courage and trust — things I think I can share with you to help you, motivate you and lift you into a new energy vortex. Sound good?

So I hope that we can agree to meet here on Motto every Monday and take our motivation on the road and into our lives! Use the hashtag #mottovationmonday to get started, and let’s make magic happen.

Stacey Griffith is a senior master instructor at SoulCycle. Stacey’s motivational coaching style combines a passion for dance, athleticism and mind-blowing music—all set to the beat of her voice. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.