A Success Story DOESN’T have to wait until the END of your journey!
Right now, I want you to stop what you’re doing and really think about what I’m going to tell you today. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you probably have seen me post some of my favorite success stories. If not, I’m sure you’ve seen my story or the stories of countless other people who have lost weight, changed their bodies, packed on muscle…whatever your goal may be. And WOW, some of them are pretty darn inspiring, right? Seeing someone go from point A to point B is enough to make anyone want to get to work! So what about you? Have you written your success story yet? If you’re sitting there shaking your head, WHY HAVEN’T YOU?! Why haven’t you started putting the pen to paper or your face in a YouTube video or even fingers to the keyboard to share your success story? So your assignment tonight is this: Write your success story! Write it to share the success you’ve had up to this point! I don’t care if you’re on day 15 or day 500. The fact is, if you’ve been working hard and giving yourself the effort it takes to change, you’re already making progress! You may not have hit your “ultimate goal,” but you’re already successful! Don’t you see it?!
So many of us believe that we have to hit our “ultimate goal” before we can write our success story. Wrong! If I had waited until I had hit my ultimate goal…I wouldn’t have written mine yet! And as you see, my success story is right here on my blog. Our successes as people trying to live a healthier, more active lifestyle…they’re about SO MUCH MORE than just pounds or inches! So for those of you who are saying, “I can’t write a success story yet…I haven’t lost any weight!” here is what I want you to do. Stop thinking about pounds! Stop right now! Your success story doesn’t have to be about how many inches you’ve lost on your thighs, how many pounds you’ve lost in your first five days or even how many calories you’ve eaten in the last week. I mean, if you have victories in that area, GREAT! Celebrate them even if you’re not “all the way there” yet! But for those of you who haven’t seen changes in your weight yet, give us a success story about everything else that goes along with living healthy! I know that if you are drinking Shakeology regularly, even in your first few days you probably saw an increase in energy, a reduction of cravings for bad foods, you found a super easy and delicious way to get your fruit & veggie nutrients, your digestion is improving, your skin looks better, your hair is growing faster…any number of things can happen in the first few days! So write about that! If you just started a new workout program, write about how the endorphins are taking over your life! Write about how your mental focus has improved, your stress level has decreased, your energy has increased…write about how your muscles are sore because you’re using muscles you forgot you even had! Write about the changes you are seeing even in these early stages!
The smallest victories are usually the ones that mean the most, and yet they are the ones that most frequently go overlooked. The small victories; the conquering of your daily bad habits and the process of turning them into past-tense items…those are HUGE! Those are the true key to your success because not until you conquer the little things can you take on the big ones! In fact, those big successes are really just made up of all the small ones, right? You can’t lose 100 lbs without first losing 5 lbs! You can’t give up eating junk food without first deciding to stop eating it for one week. You can’t reduce your cravings without finding something to replace them! See what I mean? Stop thinking of your small victories as insignificant and “I’m not there yet.” Think of them as necessary steps. Realize how STRONG you have to be just to get where you are RIGHT NOW! There is a reason many who start pursuing their dream of a healthier life don’t succeed, and that is because they give up too early! But you’re not going to give up YOUR dream too early, right? You’re starting to realize that even right now, at five days in…or three months in…or four years in…even though you may not be at your goal YET, all of the steps you have taken so far are the most important victories of them all, and by celebrating those victories by writing your success story RIGHT NOW, you WILL get to where you want to be!
Writing your story is going to really open your eyes. It’s going to pour fuel on your fire and make it burn longer, brighter and hotter than before. It is going to make you look at how far you’ve already come and make you want to keep going. By writing the story of your success so far, you also allow yourself to take an honest look at your progress and its speed. When you do this, you are given a HUGE advantage! When you regularly step back and look at your progress, you are given the opportunity to look at your goals and reevaluate them. And when you look at them as a success story, you’re not criticizing yourself, you are keeping it positive and motivating! Think about just this past month: Did you give 100%? If you did, GREAT JOB. I’m already proud of you, regardless of your measurements. But by pushing as hard as you could, eating super healthy, drinking your Shakeology, not missing a workout and drinking plenty of water…did you see the progress you thought you’d see If the answer is yes, then great, keep doing what you’re doing because it’s working! If the answer is no, you’re NOT a “failure!” (That is, unless you gave up, in which case, you just have to get up and start over!) If you didn’t see the results you wanted or thought you would, this is the time to reevaluate your goal! Maybe realize that your body responds more slowly than you thought it would, and you push your goal date back to a reachable time. Maybe realize that you weren’t eating enough or even working out TOO much. As long as you had some kind of success, you’re on the right track, but by visiting your success story regularly, you have the opportunity to “tweak” your goals and adjust them as necessary! Now let’s say that this month you only gave 50% effort. Are you happy with 50% of the results? If the answer is yes, then maybe this is the speed you should be going in the first place! If the answer is no, then maybe you should formulate a plan to give 100%. See? By regularly writing and revisiting your success story, you are given this golden opportunity to reevaluate your goals!
Let me tell you something about your success story. Think about this: if you saw a story from your friend or family member that said, “I just started working out with Slim in 6 and drinking Shakeology, and in seven days I may have only lost a pound or two, but I feel AMAZING. I have higher energy, my cravings for late night chocolate cake are gone, my digestion is better, I sleep better at night, my hair and skin look younger and I look forward to my daily workouts!” Wouldn’t that motivate you or at least make you want to ask, “wow, how do I do what you did in just seven days?!” Wouldn’t you think, “If my friend/family member can get this excited about seven tiny days of life, then I can too!” By writing your own success story and sharing it with your friends, family, community, etc., you are showing off your journey as a real person! Many of us see success stories on infomercials and websites and think, “Yeah that’s great, and WOW would I love to have those results…but are those people really real? How do I know this isn’t fake? How do I know they actually used these products?” Your story, right now, where you stand, is how people around you are going to know that what you’re doing is WORKING. Show us your journey as a real, hard working person! Sure it’s inspiring to see someone lose 100 lbs, but it’s more REAL and inspiring to see that this person had good days and bad days! It’s more interesting to see that just because you gained four pounds in one month instead of losing seven, you’re still moving forward and seeing progress! Do you see what I’m saying? People want to hear about your successes and your struggles! By telling your success story in a way that’s real, relatable and truthful, you may not realize it, but you are inspiring SO many people! There may be someone out there right now who is exactly where you are, and they will read your story and think, “Wow, that’s me! She had the same struggles, and she’s still going! I’m not alone and I know I can do this!” or maybe “If he can stay motivated after hitting a giant plateau, then why can’t I? What’s his secret?!”
People want to hear your story RIGHT WHERE IT IS RIGHT NOW! And if you’re actively sharing your story, people are going to notice! People are going to ask what you’re doing; they’re going to ask how you stay motivated. They’re going to ask what you’re eating, what you’re drinking, what workout you’re doing, etc. And if you tell them all about how you joined this weight loss challenge and you’ve found a great workout, great support group and a single shake that gives you your daily dose of dense nutrition, you’re going to turn them on to what you’re doing, and they will probably want to join you! If you are excited about your success, no matter how big or small, people are going to want to do it with you! And guess what, if you are doing all of that, you are already doing the job of a Beachbody Coach. So why not join us?! Seriously, if you’re already doing the job, and you’re already turning people to challenge groups and products and Shakeology and helping them hit their goals and live happier, healthier lives…why not join us and turn that into a paid gig? That’s what brought me in! And you know what, it was the BEST decision I ever made. I was already telling people how I lost 40 lbs in one summer with Turbo Jam. I was already telling people how awesome the SuperGym was and how it kept me accountable. I was already telling people “You are stronger than you realize and if I can do this, you can do it and I can help you!” I was already doing the work! Signing up as a coach didn’t force me to change anything I was doing…it just gave me a paycheck! Signing up as a coach not only allowed me the opportunity to turn my success story into a career, but it has given me the opportunity to change lives, inspire others to change lives, and it has given me the tools to help our nation (and our world, for that matter) start living healthier and end the trend of obesity.
This blog isn’t about trying to get you to become a Beachbody Coach. No, that’s not my intention. I truly believe in Beachbody and their mission, products, services and people. I strongly believe that you should join me in the fight to end obesity in America (and you too, Canada!) but I know that it’s not for everyone. So please, don’t think I’m trying to pressure you into this, but I do encourage you to ask questions if you have them! Check it out! But the POINT of this blog is nothing more than your success story. As I mentioned in the very first paragraph, I’m giving you homework tonight. I want you to do this, and I want you to email me, post on my Facebook page, Tweet me, comment below…whatever! I want you to take a minute, grab your pen and paper (or your laptop) and WRITE YOUR SUCCESS STORY! Tell me what you’ve accomplished so far, whether it’s day 2 or day 2,000! Tell me how you feel, how your body feels, tell me everything you have accomplished so far! I want to hear it! Tell me your story…share your story until you can’t share anymore! You never know who is going to see it and be more inspired than they ever have before!
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