Maureen (Mo) Hagan is a global fitness ambassador, recognized for her work and leadership in the fitness industry that spans almost 4 decades. She is an international award-winning fitness professional and recognized by optiMYz as Canada’s Top 10 Women of Power in 2020 and a Top 100 Health Influencer since 2018. Mo is Chief Operating Officer for canfitpro – Canada’s leading fitness education authority and the creator of canfitpro’s Women Who Influence. Mo’s passion for moving people extends beyond the fitness industry with her work as a national board member for Prescription To Get Active, a member of the optiMYz advisory board and founding board member with the Women In Fitness Association (WIFA).
I believe it is not our actual number in years that determines what we can and cannot do in life—it is our attitude that defines our success and understanding this is the true game changer.
I am celebrating my 60th birthday on December 10th and, in case you didn’t know, for 4 decades I have had the tradition of running a marathon on each decade’s birthday. I call this my “decade marathon event”. Until about 5 years ago I was an avid runner and seasonal half-marathoner. Unfortunately, I suffered a hip injury that side-lined me from running long distances and then with the pandemic I took up powerwalking with my husband and it’s been a wonderful way to workout together 5 days a week. Power walking gets me outdoors every day, and, alongside my fitness and yoga classes and indoor cycling training, power walking has been a game changer for my mental health and wellness in particular. While I switched up running to power walking, I still plan to keep my decade marathon tradition going! On December 11th, I will run 2 km, power-walk 20 km and ride (indoors on a spin bike) for 20km and aim to complete in and around the same finishing time of my last marathon (4 hours and 11 minutes). Rather than give up on decade tradition, I am adjusting my attitude to keep aligned with my vision and goals. This is me reminding myself that, attitude really is everything, and it’s foundational to your approach to living life to the fullest.
This decade, besides keeping up with my “decade marathon event”, I want to do MO’re, give back and really put action behind my attitude to go further. I hope to raise 60 VitaMeal bag donations for the NuSkin’s Nourish the Children program, a social business initiative that I have been supporting for over a decade. Each bag is $35 and will feed one child a daily highly nutritious vegetarian and non-dairy meal for 30 days. While the VitaMeal itself is very important in impacting the lives of children, the donations go beyond just the meal to impact the lives of many others. These meal donations create opportunities to improve lives through education, jobs, and teaching self-sufficiency. My goal is to sell 60 bags of VitaMeal by my birthday on December 10th!
This program is so meaningful to me because we are at a critical moment. The United Nations reports that world hunger dramatically worsened in 2020 because of the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The second UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) is to End Hunger and Achieve Food Security and Improved Nutrition. According to the UN Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021, there are 2.37 billion people worldwide who are without food or do not have a healthy balanced diet on a regular basis. Children are especially vulnerable. Children who become malnourished suffer from wasting and their growth and development are stunted. In 2019, there were 144 million children under the age of 5 were affected by stunting. This will have serious ramifications for the rest of their lives. Taking action is needed now more than ever.
Here is a video about NuSkin’s Nourish the Children program that shows how the program is creating change and a turnaround to reach Sustainability Development Goal #2:https://www.youtube.com/embed/xzmiieOxXaU?feature=oembed
Children are the future, and this is an opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the world. Small movements and collective efforts add up and will help re-direct the trajectory of the future. I know that with combined action we can make a difference.
I know I cannot do this alone and this is where I’m seeking your help. I want to thank my husband who is my biggest supporter and I’m also MO’st grateful to transformational novelist and Canada’s #WHYGUY Gerry Visca who is supporting my fundraiser. For every donation I receive, #WHYGUY will send every donor a FREE download of one of his most popular books -the audiobook: “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing!”. This was the first book written by Gerry that I ever read and OMG—a GAME CHANGER for my life! I could not go to sleep until 3 am in the morning the first time I listened to it because it was the book that helped me discover my WHY! This book is sure to give you MO’re MO’tivation to put MO’re action behind your attitude—I guarantee it!
Additionally, I will be giving special recognition to every one person who supports my fundraiser on my website and on my social media platforms.
2022 is just around the corner. Relationships are at the centre of our future. Our attitude and our relationship with ourselves – how we see ourselves at any age – is significant to building relationships with others in our communities and around the world. It’s time to dream bigger and re-imagine what our future can and will look like. Join me for “MO’s Marathon of the Decade” this December and let’s put more ACTION behind our ATTITUDE to MO’ve the world forward together!
