We are here, in 2019. Wow, can you believe it? Another year gone and a new one ahead. I want to encourage you to do something that maybe very different and very scary for you, as you head into 2019. I want to suggest that you believe more, expect more and dream more about what is possible for you this year. I want to ask that you let go of the past, the mistakes, the failures and the poor choices. I want to propose that you take the lid of your brain and… Think Big!
There is a good chance, you may have already switched off and decided this blog is not one to take too seriously. You may be already thinking that your circumstances are worse than most, and that thinking big is not an option for you. You could possibly be already thinking that you’ve tried thinking big before and not achieved even close to what you imagined. It is highly probable you are already thinking I am a lunatic and should take this blog and put it somewhere the sun doesn’t shine. What I truly hope you are already doing is thinking, ‘Sure, why not think big? Why not me, and why not this year?’
If I could wave a magic wand and you could have, be or do anything you want by the end of the year, what would you choose? Would you choose to have a published book, when you haven’t even started? Would you choose to be able to afford a deposit on a new home and the monthly repayments to cover it, when the bank account is currently empty? Would you choose to relocate to a new country when you have no job or support there? Would you choose a happy and blissful family situation, when currently it is in turmoil? Would you choose to lose over 30kg, be feeling amazing and off all medication, when you are obese, on the verge of a stroke and told you are on medication forever?
Remind me to tell you about Paul, ok? But, before I do I want to ask you this; depending on what seemingly unattainable or impossible wish you just thought of, what evidence do you actually have to prove you can’t achieve it without my magic wand? You could throw me a raft of excuses, justifications and past experiences that you believe are the obstacles to your achievement, but would they truly hold up in a court of law? I am guessing, if you are anything like me, they would not and you would be laughed out of the court room. So then, if there is no substantial evidence to prove beyond any shadow of doubt that you can’t achieve your big hairy and audacious goal, then it must be possible, right? If it is possible, would you be willing to get started on a day-by-day and step-by-step process to make it an exciting and massive reality? Do you know that it takes just as much effort to expect amazing success, as it does to expect disappointing mediocrity? I know which I would prefer, and I know what Paul preferred also.
Impossible really means… I’M Possible
Audrey Hepburn said, ‘Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!’ It can be very intimidating to be looking at; the top of a mountain and thinking about reaching it, a million dollars and thinking about owning it, a lean and healthy body when you have over 30kg to lose and many other aspirations which may seem impossible. Until you realise that; one step, one dollar, one gram and one day at a time, anything can be done, and as Audrey so rightly says, I’m possible, as are you!
Paul approached me early in 2018. He was at 125kg, on the verge of a stroke and on blood pressure and cholesterol medication he would be on forever, or so he was told. As he had watched another lady, I was working with shed unwanted fat, and look healthier, he said, ‘I’ll have what she’s having!’ I asked him what he wanted to achieve, and he was very nervous and cautious in his response. ‘I would love to get to 115kg, maybe 110kg and just feel a little better.’ I asked him what his ideal weight would be, if he believed anything was possible. He said, ‘I would love to get to 90kg, but there’s no way that could happen, so I would be happy with 115kg.’ You see, Paul had joined a gym and struggled, stretched and strained to get close to 115kg, but, was unable to maintain it. So, for him, anything better than that just didn’t seem possible.
I looked at him and said, ‘why don’t we aim to get you under 100kg?’ He looked at me like I was crazy. He didn’t, for one second, believe it was possible. ‘Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been under 100kg?’ I didn’t know, and I didn’t care. All I knew was that, if he was open to follow a plan and focus one day, one step and one kilogram at a time, anything was possible. So, he just trusted me, and he committed himself. Well, he quickly got to 115kg and was feeling better. He still didn’t believe he would get under 100kg, so I just kept encouraging him to continue doing what he was doing. He did, and soon he was under 110kg, then 105kg and then the I’m possible happened, yes, in July 2018 he sent me a test message that he was at 99.2kg, So then I asked him, ‘how are you feeling about getting below 90kg now?’ he replied, ‘I believe it’s possible and that I should have been thinking bigger when I started.’
Well, just before Christmas, 2018, Paul was at 91kg and dropping. But the fact that he had lost over 30kg is not why this is such a cool story. He was told he would be on blood pressure and cholesterol medication forever, but after his doctor had seen what he had achieved, checked his bloods, he halved Paul’s blood pressure medication and took him totally off his cholesterol meds. But that’s still not the best part of the story. The most satisfying part for me, and incredible for Paul, is that he can now do things with his grandchildren that he could never do. He achieved massive results and he even he surprised himself, simply by trusting, committing and taking it one day at a time.
Paul could have been thinking much bigger than he was, I can be thinking much bigger than I probably am and you definitely can be thinking bigger than you currently are. You see, incredible achievement in 2019, will not be about how much you can try to do in the first two weeks of the year. It will be very much about what you can focus on, commit to and build on, one day at a time. You are at the start of the year, and, have many days to go. So, think big now, set yourself a hairy and audacious goal, find a coach, mentor or partner and then get started and don’t give up until it’s a reality. Make 2019 the year that you, not only achieve great things, but you build the belief in yourself that thinking big is just what you do. Have an incredible 2019.