I've really grown from my coaching sesions with Mario.  He has helped me to dig deep and uncover the things that have been holding me back for so long.  I feel a new sense of freedom and motivation to reach my goals and I am excited to see what the next chapter brings.  I've learned to love myself unconditionally, to let go of the negative, and to live in the moment.  This has truly started me on a new path and has helped me to find my passion again in my life.

Working with Mario was a wonderful experience.  Mario has a knack for paying attention to detail and remembering things about the people he works with.  I really enjoyed learning from him as he walked me through some different meditation practices.  I really enjoyed his style of meditations-they were intriguing and relaxing.  I felt like he helped me feel present and focus deeply.  I am excited for the many clients Mario will continue to work with in the future- he will help many people I am sure of it.

Mario has been a great coach over the past few months.  He is someone you can speak openly to and share ideas about faith, family, and business.  Not only does he provide positive feedback to what I have going on, he also shares his personal similar situations.  It makes me happy to know Mario is out there making the world a better place by spreading love and positivity.  He helped me recognize that growing my real estate business is important, but my kids are more important.  I have connected with my three little ones more in the past 2 months than I had.  He also inspired me to start a dads group which he agreed to be a part of on Facebook to keep his positivity going. (Texas Dad Alliance).

When I first started the coaching sessions, my life was overwhelming.  I was going to school full time, working part-time, and a full-time mother.  I was neglecting myself and my priorities were off.  Once the sessions began, i was reminded how putting myself first is important at times.  I rearranged some of my issues that were put on the back burner.  I was told about breathing exercises, financial advice, and the importance of healthy choices.  Yes, I would definitely recommend coaching.  It is something that everyone needs once in awhile to get back on the right track

At first I was not too sure what I was signed up for, but I wanted a change in my life.  I was seeking motivations to start a better life style, find more time to rest, be active, healthy, motivated to work out and be social.  During the first sessions I immediately felt like it was almost like a therapy session.  I was able to speak out and be asked questions that I probably would not ask myself but would never really given myself the answer I did not want to hear.  I was able to be really honest.

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My sessions made me aware of my core values and how in my perception, I felt like were my core values but in the long run or in our conversations can also be viewed as core values I also want to achieve and want to maintain.

During my sessions i was able to be made aware of the conversations I have with my children and really having in depth conversations with them especially with my older son J. who is going to be 17.  When my son and I spoke about my core values at first he was confused but in the midst of this I was able to realize the different perspective of my core values that only is what i value, but it is also what I am trying to achieve.

Before I started working with Mario, I was burnt out from a meaningless job, overweight, running on little to no sleep, struggling with my marriage, and not really improving my life.  I was barely surviving!  Didn't really have a direction or goal to head towards. 

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Our meeting was a chance encounter and not in person at first.  We were on a Facebook community group online that consisted of individuals that had completed Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University with Maddy and John Sculley at City Church.  We both completed the course university at different times but were on the group as we were alumni.

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Mario reach out to the group.  The goals and qualifications were brief, but I put my name in the hat.  He reached out to me shortly afterwards when we began our conversations.

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As he described it, our time together was to be nine hours in total spread out between five sessions.  While those nine hours did fly by, they have changed my perspective and outlook on life significantly in the most positive way possible.

The first two meetings were done virtually.  We tried to meet a couple times during the week, and because of work conflicts, we just could not do it.  I decided to push myself and told Mario to meet online at 7 am on a Saturday.  That was a wake-up call, for the both of us!  It was very nice meeting him for the first time.  It was very early in the day but we learnered a lot from each other.  Lived in the same area, both had two kids, a wife, and an extremely busy daily schedule.  He gave me an initial self-evaluation on different aspects of my life.  

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After that, and the following meeting, we just had some honest, but brutal, conversations on myself, my life, my family, and how I deal with life.  I, personally, can attest that Mario knows what he is doing!  Not only was he able to articulate the lessons he had in mind for my situation but he was able to tell it in a way that I, myself, understood.  That is KEY in any coaching situation.  Even though we come from two different family backgrounds, Mario was able to make me see the light!

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There is very little that Mario does not know when it comes to improving one's life.  Whether it is fitness, marriage, health, or just general life progressions, Mario has done his research and readings to back up every single thing he says.  His words are the swords he uses to fight with.  He gives it his all!

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I personally would recommend Mario to anyone who is looking to better themselves.  If you're tired of the same ole' rut excuse in life, or are seeking for a greater meaning, Mario's your guy.  

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I will be forever grateful for what Mario has done for me!

I would highly recommend working with Mario!  Before we started our sessions together, I was feeling overwhelmed and anxious.  I felt I wasn't measuring up and I just couldn't get ahead.  As a result of our work together I feel much more calm and have been more loving and compassionate towards myself.  We had great conversations that flowed easily.  Mario was able to point out many ways in which I was already excelling which eased my anxiety.  We were also able to pinpoint my values and what really matters to me.  This exercise showed me that I was putting a very high priority on things that weren't truly part of my values system.  Mario is very easy to talk to; he is always positive and very encouraging.  During our sessions we did several guided meditations and he provided many resources for me to consider between sessions.  He always came prepared with topics to discuss based on homework or previous sessions.  I am very pleased with my experience.

This letter will serve as my testimonial over my time spent in the nurse coaching program with Mario Flores-Portillo BSN, RN.  I was going through a very stressful time before I began working with Mario.  I had just been diagnosed earlier this year with ADHD and bipolar mood disorder and I was struggling to learn how to live with those diagnoses in a healthier way.  I had spent most of my life struggling with attention, focus, and mood swings.  I had already been receiving therapy with a psychologist and medication through a nurse practitioner when I began meeting with Mario.  I feel my therapy and meds have helped significantly, but Mario filled a missing spot when he reminded me about my spiritual side.  I was not only struggling as a parent, but also as a student, wife, believer, and veteran.

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Mario positively impacted my life in more than one way during our sessions!  Mario made sure to be attentive and considerate of my comfortability throughout each session.  His attention to my comfort was extremely HUGE for me because i struggle with some trauma history.  He was an active listener and he proved it with comments and questions after I would speak.  I felt heard and I felt understood during every single session.  I truly enjoyed my coaching experience with Mario and I was excited for each session.

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I enjoyed that Mario had a sense of humor throughout the sessions and that he knew exactly when to be serious when the conversation called for it.  I think it's important that i state that Mario being a veteran was extremely helpful for me.  He understood things about me that only another veteran would understand.  He would point out our similarities and it helped me not feel so alone as a veteran.  I felt like I could trust him more because he understood what a civilian could never understand.  

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The biggest takeaways I have from these coaching sessions is that Mario reminded me that the "quality" of my supporters is much more important than the "quantity" of my supporters.  I learned that I have a handful of amazing people who love me and would never turn me away when I need help.  I learned that I was giving too much of myself to people who weren't "quality" support for me.  After learning this from Mario, I began reaching out to ONLY my handful of trusted supporters and I realized instantly that I was setting myself up for failure by looking to anyone but them for support.  

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Since meeting with Mario, I have learned many important tools I learned that my self-awareness and self-love are extremely important.  I will keep in min "PAW" when I am in a moment of stress.  1. Pause 2. Awareness. and 3. Will Power.  I love this one because it's a reminder that I am in control of my mind and body, and I can come up with a plan to help myself.

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Mario taught me that boundaries are a must, and they are beneficial to anyone and everyone.  If done right, boundaries can save people a lot of discomfort and stress.  I leaned that I need to enforce my boundaries more often so that I can take better care of myself.  Self-care will in turn help me take care of those I love and those who support me.  I learned that there are people who listen and willing to help.  I learned to slow down and breathe so that I can assess myself and my situation in a healthier way.

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I would recommend Mario to any person who feels they are not living life to their fullest potential.  I would recommend veterans, friends, family to work with Coach Mario any day!  I truly can't say enough positive things about my experience.  I feel blessed.  I feel like Mario bumped me back on track to take care of myself and my needs.  Mario and I very briefly discussed nutrition, diet, and exercise during my sessions.  However, I feel like I lacked nothing during my sessions.  I felt completely understood in that I am not ready to lose weight or better my physical health because my mind needs some serious love and attention.  I have been overwhelmed by weight loss and physical appearance and I have had enough with the ads on weight loss.  I need to focus on my mind and spirit so my body will have proper guidance and support. 

I'm more aware of how much your mind and spiritual life bring to the table for overall well-being.  In our first session, Mario told me he felt my missing puzzle piece was my spiritual side.  He was right!  I had been ignoring that side of me because of grief.  However, he showed me that I can honor others I have lost by living life doing the positive things they taught me.  I believe now more than ever, that getting healthier is no just about losing weight, counting calories, or trying every workout/program out there.  I believe that quality support, self-love, self-awareness, and centering my mind, body, and soul will lead me to a healthier life and body.

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Since meeting Mario, I have accomplished a few things: I joined Orangetheory because their classes help me get the exercise that I need by having a quick changing workout routine, so my ADHD won't let me get bored.  I have burned over 2000 calories across four classes since I started.  I am eating less during stressful times when I would normally binge eat.  I have increased my self-awareness so that I can ask myself, "What is bothering me right now?"  I am focusing more of my energy on my "Quality" supporters.  I'm building BOUNDARIES to protect my mental peace and keep my sanity.  I am reading the bible and studying it so that I can fuel my spirit!  I have gone headfirst into volunteering, and I want to share what I have learned because it truly helped me get back on track.

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I thank this amazing nurse coach program for existing and thank Mario for working with me.  I have a newfound gratitude for each day that I am blessed to be alive.  I know what I need to be healthy and I feel more prepared to take life on after my experience with Mario and this program.  Thank you again.