I am watching the Biggest Loser finale and one of the contestants said he "was able to overcome his past, overcome the fears in his life and put my life back together. I can't believe I had the opportunity to do this." And this made me think...
The Biggest Loser not only helps people lose weight but helps them to become better people. The art of the weight lose is in the personal development of the person. How many people have we seen change not just their weight, but their lives through this show. You could argue that the reason is the exposure and offers afterward, but if they hadn't changed their view of themselves, if they hadn't learned to make goals and learned the joy of achieving them would they have ever had the strength of person to believe that they could inspire communities, create a brand, do more and give back? They certainly didn't do those things before they went to the Ranch. Many people lose weight everyday and don't become speakers and leaders. Many of the contestants that have been at the Ranch and exceeded their goals don't have stories of giving back, of making change. (And I would say they weren't on the Ranch for long). But they all have stories of how the Ranch changed their lives, not just because of weight loss, but because the goal there isn't just to lose weight, but to help people overcome their fears and limiting thoughts.
Broken people. People who are afraid to do better, people with thoughts that limit them and their world. We meet them everyday. They are family and friends and co-workers. How can they be fixed? What is the answer to helping them. They aren't always overweight or underweight, sometimes they are healthy but still broken. What do you do when you don't have the expertise of Jillian and Bob to help you overcome your limiting beliefs, fears and bad thoughts?
There are lots of answers out there, and you should look to all of them for what suits you. Some people turn to Religion or personal development. But what is the answer? Although Jillian and Bob do a great job of helping people to talk about themselves and come up with the solution to the problem that led them down the wrong path, we don't all have a Jillian or a Bob to help us with that. A sense of purpose is key and you know what? We do not get taught life skills, like goal setting, in American schools. We do not get taught that we can control our destiny in American society. We can find answers within ourselves, but who will guide us to find them?
Religion is an answer. It gives us a sense of purpose. A sense of community. Rules and regulations. Just like children we all need them to be happy, we just don't all need the same ones. Religion gives us a tool to look to when we question our challenges in life. It gives us hope that we can persevere and become successful, whatever that means to us, no matter how long it takes. Religion has a purpose beyond ritual, beyond fear, and it is helping us to help ourselves to be better people. The only thing is, the statement we started with was said by a Pastor. Evidently the "good book", whatever your "good book" is, was not enough. The leader of his community had found a new way to grow.
Personal development. What Bob and Jillian, and his community, had given him was the tools to personal development. As effective as Tony Robbins or Wayne Dyer, they had inspired him to find within himself a new truth. And we see them do it every season. Inspire people to find a new truth. Like Bob says "The only person who can stand in your way at this point in time, is you!". It is never too late to change your life.
Nobody is weak, everybody is strong. When you are failing in life you are failing yourself, the strength to ask for help will set you free. Mind is a powerful thing, you can make things happen if you want them bad enough. With discipline, strength, conditioning and commitment you can achieve. To stay where you are at is to be in a prison you constructed and you can break down. And once you are free, pay it forward.
You don't have to be on the Ranch to find this inspiration. There are programs and people out there right now looking to help you find your new truth. Your inspiration. Your Destiny.
Have you reached it yet? I don't think you have. I don't think we ever do. Because as big as we can dream, we can be. And when we get to our biggest dream, haven't we already decided that we can dream bigger? It is in our nature to try harder and do better. Once we realize that we can get to the goals we have set for ourselves, we realize we can make new goals and reach them too.
If you haven't reached your ultimate goal yet. If you haven't said "I have overcome my past. I have overcome my fears. I have overcome my limiting beliefs. My life has gone beyond my wildest dreams." Then you aren't there yet. Consider that the idea of personal development is not to get your hopes up, but to help you overcome your past, your fears, your limiting beliefs and get you to be the person that you envisioned yourself to be when you were 16. When, hopefully, your parents were still protecting you from the worst of the world. When you thought ANYTHING was possible. I am here to tell you that it is. Anything is possible, but you have to find it within yourself to dream it. And that is what personal development is all about. Finding your hopes and dreams again, un-squashing them and bringing them out and thinking about yourself not as ok but as the best person you can be.
Not only do I remember being a teenager and going through that time when all of life's possibilities lied before me, I am the mother of a teenager who dreams wonderful dreams. I know, because I have experience, that the world will try to crush them in every way possible, just like it tried to crush yours. Lucky for him he has me, I won't let the world bring me down. I will look at the world and say, you know what, I can change, my circumstance can change, I can make things happen, things don't just happen to me. I can dream, and through personal development I can dream bigger. My son will always get to be a dreamer because I am along for the ride and I know you have to always keep growing or you will sink.
So whatever your burden is, consider that through looking at yourself, which is what personal development products do, you can change the outcome. You are powerful even if you feel weak. You are creating your own destiny even now, don't you want to create the dream in your heart? You don't have to be the "biggest loser" to be happy and achieve, you just have to always be working towards the best you possible. And remember what Bob says "The only person that can stand in your way, is you."