The Biggest Loser

- by Matt Leedham

Last week, the live finale of The Biggest Loser was on NBC and I just couldn’t change the channel. In fact, whenever it’s on, I just seem to get sucked in. It got me thinking…

I think the program “The Biggest Loser” is popular because obesity is an issue that far too many people face in America. Many viewers can connect and relate to the competitors on the show. However, while my weight fluctuates daily, weekly, and monthly too, the real reason I watch the biggest loser is for the mental victories.

Without exception, the contestants on the show, and those that are currently overweight, are dealing with mental and emotional obstacles that seem overwhelming. What makes the show so interesting to me is the break-through moments, the awakenings, the paradigm shifts in the minds of those battling with a variety of tragedies and insecurities. Let’s face it, Jillian and Bob aren’t the world’s best trainers. They are very good trainers, but they are even better therapists. They help people reconstruct their perception of themselves and the world around them.

Rising to the Top
The show starts with many competitors, but only a handful seem to rise to the top. What separates them from the pack?

They have a purpose. They are fighting for something bigger than themselves. They are fighting for their families, for their children, and for their friends. They realize that they’ve made some mistakes and they owe more to the loved ones in their lives. They have a purpose…a reason to live and survive and contribute. They realize that the world is a better place with them in it. They realize that they have something to offer. They are now aware that they matter.

Are you struggling with a goal? Something you know you need to address but can't seem to get it done? Shift your perspective. Change your context. Start with why. Find your purpose for that goal and focus on that. Be relentless.

Give it up!

- by Jaime Willis

It is easier to break a bad habit today than tomorrow.

- Yiddish Proverb

We've talked a lot about setting goals and achieving your dreams. But sometimes, this means giving up. Not that kind of giving up! I mean give up your bad habits! Successful people don't have a lot of bad habits, because those unfruitful behaviors only drain their energy and reduce their ability to achieve.

Let's look at some common New Year's Resolutions and see what I mean.

You want to lose weight in 2011? You are probably going to have to give up junk food, late night snacking, heaping scoops of sugar in your coffee, and/or your drive-through "cooking."

You want to travel in 2011? You are probably going to have to give up random days off of work so you have enough vacation time to go on a trip and impulse shopping for yet another purse you don't need as that money should be saved for your travel.

You want to get healthy in 2011? Stop smoking.

You want to have time to work on a new hobby in 2011? You are probably going to have to stop saying "Yes" when anyone asks you to help out so you have some time for yourself and your own goals.

You want to accomplish more in 2011? You may have to give up some sleep & get up earlier or stop procrastinating and start working.

Bad habits sneak up on us all through-out the year. You may have started out 2010 strong, with the best of intentions, but a little slip-up here and a little compromise there and next thing you know your gym regimen is history and your bad eating habits have creeped back in your life.

Make sure your bad habits are NOT invited to come with you into 2011. Start now -- make a goal to give up your bad habit, and make a plan for how you are going to do that. Line up your support network now and make sure everyone knows what you are giving up.

You can do it! Give it up!

TGIF Interview with Anthony Fasano

Happy Friday, everyone! Welcome to our new TGIF (This Goal Is Finished) campaign. Each Friday, we will feature a successful achiever and ask them 10 questions about how and why they achieved a goal in their lives. We hope you both enjoy the interview, and learn something new or inspirational to keep you moving toward achieving your own goals. Enjoy!

My name is Anthony Fasano, after 10 yearsin the corporate world as a civil engineer, I realized that I had an ability to inspire professionals and help them and their organizations grow. I decided to follow my dream and use my abilities. I mustered up every ounce of courage that I had and left my job in corporate America this past July and started my own coaching/consulting company, Powerful Purpose Associates. I now coach and speak to professionals around the world on the topics of business and career growth and development. In addition to coaching and speaking, I also write daily inspirational e-mails to professionals worldwide known as a Daily Boost from Your Professional Partner. Feel free to take advantage of the free career resources on our website at http://www.powerfulpurpose.com.

My goal was to start a coaching/consulting company without taking out a loan so I could live my passion on a daily basis.

I chose this goal, because I knew that I had a passion and desire to inspire people and help them grow, and I wanted to use it everyday. I knew that by following my passion, not only would I have the career I always dreamed about, but I would also help other professionals achieve their goals and dreams.

I was sitting on my couch a few years ago, and I looked at my wife and I said, “I want to become a coach.” At that point, I did not know much about executive coaching, nor did she, but she looked back at me and said, if that’s what you want to do, I will support you. I spent the next few days researching different coaching schools and the next weekend I found myself driving up to Massachusetts to start a one year program at the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching. The rest is history!

The biggest obstacle I faced was people telling me that I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.

They said I can’t:

• Leave a comfortable job with good benefits,
• Support my family with my own business,
• Find enough companies that would want to hire me,
• Start a business in this economy.

Overcoming these obstacles for me was easy; I just stayed focused on my goal and knew I WOULD ACCOMPLISH IT. The key in achieving a goal is believing you will achieve it, no matter what. I surrounded myself with positive people and read positive books and articles. I also found others that had already achieved a similar goal, asked them a lot of questions, and then followed what they did.

The key to staying motivated was surrounding myself with positive, supportive people that helped me along the way. I also read and listened to positive books and information around personal development and success.

My wife was instrumental in me achieving my goal, because even though she recently lost her job and we have two young kids, she supported me 100% the entire time. Once I had her support, I had no doubt at all that it would happen.

When I accomplished my goal, I celebrated it, I enjoyed it and then started setting new goals. We must continue to grow every day! Although I will say that I still realize the benefits of my goal each and every day as it has allowed me to do what I love to do on a daily basis and I will always remember that journey!

Don’t doubt yourself or put limits on yourself because of what others tell you. You can do anything you want to do, as long as you put your mind to it and stay focused on that goal. ANYTHING!

Currently I am working on growing my business and I have a goal of working towards more inspirational speaking and writing in the future!

10,000 Hours of Work to Succeed, 10,000 Hours of Work...

- by Jaime Willis

One of the main premises of Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, “Outliers,” is that success has much less to do with our innate skills and abilities and much more to do with hard work and practice. Gladwell goes so far as to quantify the amount of hard work required to be successful: 10,000 hours.

“The emerging picture from [research on expertise and talent] is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert—in anything.” Daniel Levitin, quoted on page 40 of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

Gladwell illustrates this principle with a 1990’s study by psychologist K. Anders Ericsson. Ericsson asked two colleagues at Berlin’s elite Academy of Music to divide the school’s violinists into three groups – the students with the potential to become world-class soloists, students who were deemed to be just “good,” and finally students who would likely never play professionally. Ericsson then asked all three groups the same question: over the course of your entire career, how many hours have you practiced? By the age of twenty, the students in the elite group had each totaled ten-thousand hours of practice. The good students had totaled about eight-thousand hours, while the poorest students had practiced just over four-thousand hours.

Think about the level of perseverance and determination that the world-class experts displayed to get ten thousand hours of practice time in. The violinists in the elite group began at age 5 (as did most students in the other two groups) practicing two or three hours per week. But by age nine, they were practicing six hours each week, eight hours a week by age twelve, sixteen hours a week by age fourteen and so on.

For a middle or high school student to spend one to two work days a week on their violin practice means they had to be dedicated. I’m sure that if we interviewed those students today, they would tell us the all the stuff they missed out on because they were focused on playing violin.

What is also interesting to note is that the study found no “naturals;” students who were elite violinists without putting in the ten thousand hours of practice.

What lessons can we learn from this?

1. There is literally NO substitute for hard work. If you want to succeed, you’d better get started logging in the time now.

2. Getting to 10,000 hours (over 3.5 years of 8-hour work days) requires determination and perseverance. You need to set your mind on the goal and attend to it with a laser-like focus. In a race 10,000 hours long, there are bound to be obstacles and challenges, set-backs and disappointments. Don’t let these be more than a temporary stumbling block in your path to success.

3. There is no doubt in my mind that world-class experts on any subject—folks who have put in the 10,000 hours of work to become successful—had help. The elite violinists likely had supportive parents, music tutors, band directors, teachers, mentors, and others all helping them along the way. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to run a marathon if no one was allowed to cheer on the runners? In your success marathon, you must build your support group – a mentor, a coach, teachers and tutors, cheerleaders—whoever you need to have the resources and assistance to make it to the finish line.

I’ll leave you with Albert Einstein’s insight on the issue: “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

Believe it! Achieve It!

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