Let's face it, we all want our cake and eat it too! Wouldn't you agree?
No Pain, No Gain I came from a professional sporting background and an attitude of 'No Pain, No Gain' and give it 'All or Nothing'. In my world if you were serious about achieving anything, sacrifice was the only way to go! As a personal trainer, I would train my clients to an 'inch of their lives' and berate them for even looking at a chocolate bar or glass of wine! They would tell me to "get a life" and I would make them run up the stairs another 10 times - "ha, that'll show 'em!" For some unexplainable reason, they stopped coming, they cancelled regularly and got injured frequently. I would think to myself; "how could so many people be so soft?" Boy, was I a moron!
Whilst it is true that if you are to achieve anything worthwhile in this world it will take consistent effort over a period of time and an attitude that 'I will dance until it rains'. I have learned that it is also very true that you don't have to be a professional athlete nor give up all the things you love to get what you want - you just need to subscribe to that scary 'm' word - mmmmmoderation... aaaaggh!!
You Can Eat Chocolate Drink Alcohol and be Lean & Healthy! Most people say that the only reason my book was a best seller is because I sucked them in with the title! I don't get what their issue is!! Only kidding! Do you believe that it is true for you that you can eat chocolate (or other indulgence), drink alcohol (or other beveridge) and be lean and healthy? Many people don't believe that they can, so let's do a little survey...could you please answer these two questions:
Do you know anyone who is lean and healthy?
Have you ever seen them or heard that they eat chocolate (or other indulgence) and drink alcohol (or other beveridge)?
I rest my case! If other people can do it then surely so can you.
All Food is Great I am a true believer that all food is great. Of course some foods we should eat more of and some foods less, but all play an important part in a healthy, long term eating plan (the key phrase here is 'long term'). You may be asking; "So, are you saying that ice cream, chips, pizza and coca cola is great?" Yes, I am! "Then are you saying that big macs and chickens nuggets are also great?" Yes, I am. "Surely, you are not saying that brussell sprouts are great!?" Yes, I am!! I am saying that all foods are great.
The problem that comes with labeling foods, is that we also label ourselves if we eat that food. For example; if you say that dim sims are 'junk' and you then proceed to eat them, then you are also labeling yourself as 'junk'. This is just not true. At the end of the day, the moderate amount of indulgence you eat will have minimal impact on your long term health unless you make it an issue. How much time do we invest in berating ourselves because we ate a bit of chocolate, or ice cream or maybe we drank a bit too much? We spend countless hours feeling guilty about 'so-called' small indescretions and then either cleanse oursleves with a 50 km run and no food for 3 days or we respond by going on to eat another 3 cheese cakes, 5 litres of ice cream and 14 pizzas!!!
Cut it out!! Stop punishing yourself! Cease the self destruction! Understand that you like every other person on this planet is human and none of us are perfect. Enjoy indulgence! Enjoy the taste, the sensation, the freedom and the choice. Then enjoy the choice of getting back to your healthy eating plan - the one that you love, the one that you can maintain, the one that supplies you with all the energy and nutrients you need for good health and the one that includes eating stuff you really enjoy! Doesn't that sound better than sacrifice, starvation and nutritional suicide?
If you are still in the starvation and deprivation mindset about being lean and healthy then you will need to change the way you think or you will ride that rollercoaster of frustration and suffering for the rest of your life! Does this sound full on? Good! The sooner you are open to a different way of thinking the sooner you will have the health, happiness and prosperity you have always wanted.
This is just the reason why I wrote "Eat Chocolate, Drink Alcohol and be Lean & Healthy". I wanted to help people see that creating enjoyable, healthy and maintainable long term eating habits is not as hard as everybody makes it out to be. Yes it will take some time, yes it will also take creating some simple habits and yes it will take a slight shift in thinking. Would it be worth it if it could change your life for the better forever?
Below is an email I recieved from someone I have never met:
"Andrew, I googled your name wondering if you have written another book and discovered your email address. Your book has had a profound effect on my life. My 14 year old son bought the book for me for Christmas as he was concerned about my weight. Ironically he bought it from the Margaret River Chocolate Factory while we were on holiday. It has changed my life - I stopped weighing myself after I had lost 25 kgs from 110kgs and use my belt and watch band to gauge my progress. My whole family has embraced GI and your holistic approach towards life - exercise, nutrition etc. I push your book to everyone who asks how I did it.Thank you." Greg
What if the ideas and concepts I am talking about could do the same for you?
My book is available through my site www.andrewjobling.com.au
I know it has been a while since I have entered a post, but I wanted to get some value from Yair's story in my previous post because it is very inspiring. I would encourage you to read it if you haven't and then come and hear Yair speak on May 21. Check my previous post to get the details for this event.
Yair is a man with great resilience - he is, in fact, resilient by the very nature of his approach to life and challenges.
Many people are experiencing challenging times right now - there is a recession, jobs security is non existent, superannuation is in the toilet, stress level are through the roof, divorce is at its highest rate and we are more overweight and less well than ever. So, you would think that we really need to focus on being resilient....
Or do we? I have an my own opinion about resilience and since this is my blog you are going to hear it!
I believe if we focus on the need to be resilient then we are creating even more stress for ourselves! Let me explain what I mean; If I am saying to myself that "I must be resilient", then obviously in the front of my mind I am thinking about challenging times. I am thinking about all the bad things that are currently happening to me, around me and all the things that might happen to me if I am not resilient. Therefore I am putting even more pressure on myself to "Be Resilient"!
If you read my previous post about Yair Kellner, you will know that what we think about we get. If we focus on challenging times, if we focus on financial downturn, if we focus on poor health or bad relationships then that is exactly what we will get. Yuck, who wants that?
The people that seem to thrive, at all times, irrespective of circumstances are the type of people, like Yair, who are resilient by nature.
Resilient By Nature I know you are wondering what the difference is between 'focusing on being resilient' and being 'resilient by nature', so I will tell you. The difference is what you are focusing on and what is in the front of your mind. Those that are 'resilient by nature' are thinking about creating a desirable outcome, and the fact that there maybe challenging times is irrelevant. Those who are 'resilient by nature' never count the cost, they never worry about the sacrifice, they do the rights things all of the time because they have a goal and a burning desire to turn that goal into a successful reality.
Successful people are only interested in is doing the things that will take them closer to their goal - if a challenge appears they negotiate it quickly and find a solution effectively and keep moving forward. They have eyes only for what they want and they automatically become 'resilient by nature'.
Have you ever set your mind so firmly on something that the work to achieve it didn't feel like work at all? My mum had her eyes so firmly fixed on survival that any pain or discomfort was irrelevant to her - she was 'resilient by nature'. What about a child that wants a lollipop? There is no obstacle that will stop them until mum or dad has bought if for them - they are 'resilient by nature'.
The prestige car industry is in all sorts of trouble at the moment - or is it? Is it the industry or is it that the individual car companies are focusing on different things. The real estate industry is in ruins at the moment - or is it? Why is that some prestige car companies and some real estate businesses are experiencing growth in an 'economic crisis'? Are they immune? Do they have an extraordinary product? Do they have better customer service? Well maybe a little of each, but it is certainly not the difference between significant growth and devastating losses. The difference is that the companies that are growing are 'resilient by nature'. That is they are not focusing on the need to be resilient, they are focusing on growth. Every company, every small business and every individual is getting exactly what he/she/they are focusing on.
You can be resilient by nature by simply by fixing your vision firmly on what it is you want and then taking positive action and simple steps towards its attainment. Keep going, keep 'Dancing Until It Rains' and you will, irrespective of the circumstances, get what you want.
Challenging times create opportunities for abundance It is a great desire of mine to help individuals and companies understand that this is an amazing time of opportunity. To look at the challenges that are confronting us, when overcome lead to a place of incredible success and abundance. Please visit my website to see how I can help you take your current circumstances, no matter how bad they seem, and turn them in to the greatest time of your life.
There is a quote that I read in the shower everyday. Why is it in the shower you may ask? Why Not? It is actually stuck on the shower recess so I can't miss it and it reads;
"Watch your thoughts; they become your words.Watch your words; they become your actions. Watch your actions; they become your habits. Watch your habits; they become your character. Watch your character; for it will become your destiny" What could you create in your life if you could take control of the way you think?
Yair Kellner - His thoughts saved him Yair Kellner is a good friend of mine with a story that is quite extreme. I want to tell his story because sometimes it is good to go to extremes to really make a point. Yair is one of those rare people that loves to push his mind and body to the limit. His passion is cheating death which he did so beautifully only a few weeks ago in Alaska.
By day, the mild mannered Yair teaches up-and-coming trainers and educators in Melbourne, Australia, which is how I met him. He seemed to be normal enough, that is until he told me about the race he was planning on doing.
The race is called the 'Iditarod Trail Invitational' and is a 567km bike ride across the mountains and through the glaciers, snow drifts, rugged terrain and punishing weather conditions of Alaska. The temperature ranges from 5 - 45 degrees celsius below zero with a wind chill that makes life in these conditions challenging to say the least. Whilst it is supposed to be a bike race, the reality is that it requires pushing a heavy bike, laden with supplies through often knee deep snow for over half of the race!
The rules are pretty simple. There are 12 checkpoints that must be passed through before anyone can finish the race and no external assistance is permitted. That is pretty much it! There are general directions, but no predetermined course and you have to carry your own food, supplies, clothes and protection from the punishing conditions. There are two opportunities for food drops on the course.
Yair basically had to navigate his own way from the beginning to the end, through each checkpoint, resting only when he needed for 567km in extreme conditions! Oh, and the other minor detail was the risk of a nearby volcano erupting at any time just to add a bit of spice to the adventure! I can actually think of better ways to spend my time; sitting in a hot spa drinking a cocktail is one, lying on a warm tropical beach is another! But this event is something that excited Yair! Yes, he is officially a lunatic - but a lunatic that I respect very much!
On Sunday March 1, 2009 at 2pm 45 competitors, including Yair Kellner set off on the 'Iditarod Trail Invitational'. Just over half of the starters actually finished. The actual start time of the race was a deliberate challenge for the competitors to have to navigate at night. This is not a down town city with street lights on every corner - it is dark! Yair, the crazy man, decided to really get into it and went non stop for the next 17 hours straight, navigating over lake and river systems at night in temperatures of 45 degrees below! This is no small feat - in fact during that first night 8 of the competitors had to drop out because of the conditions. Some of them had their eyes frozen! Whilst the physical preparation needed for this race was crucial, Yair states that the key is the mental preparation. You may have heard me talk about this before!
Yair arrived at the first checkpoint, slept for 2 hours, ate a lot of food and then set off again for another long 14.5 hour straight effort until he got to the second checkpoint where he had a good rest and feed. This good feed included 2 litres of coffee! This is not something that I would recommend you try to get through a tough day at the office!
He left this checkpoint at 10:30am on a beautiful sunny day and rode & pushed his bike, with another competitor until 6pm where they stopped to rest. At 7am the next day Yair set off again and not far after starting he came across another competitor vomiting in the snow. Yair stopped to help and discovered that this man's food had caused his sickness and so Yair selflessly offered most of his food knowing that when he got to the next checkpoint there would be a food drop. The sick man gratefully accepted.
The Wrong Turn Not long after this the weather started to take a turn for the worse and for a reason that he himself doesn't quite understand Yair took a wrong turn. He ended up in a forest and eventually arrived at the side of a mountain. Something just didn't feel right to him, his intuition told him that he was off the track, but he kept going down a steep slope. At the bottom he noticed a trail, which later he found out was that of someone who had got lost on a snow mobile and had to be rescued. He knew because of his navigation skills that he was in the right general direction, but he was in a canyon. It would be possible to keep going the way he was, but very difficult and so he decided the best thing to do would be to turn back. Sure, he would lose some time, but it was the best long term move - especially as he had given away most of his food to the ill man earlier in the day.
A Deadly Dip As Yair was heading back over an ice bridge, it collapsed and he and his bike fell through the ice and into a creek. Now this may not sound like that big a deal to you, but the next few minutes and the decisions that Yair made were the difference between his life and death. The water was so cold that if he didn't get out within a minute of two, his muscles would have seized to the point where he would have been unable to grip anything to pull himself out.
His first attempt failed as the ice kept collapsing around him. Time was running out and he not only had to get himself out, but just more importantly he had to get his bike out because it had all his supplies and protection from the cold. If he couldn't get out he would have frozen to death, but if got out and couldn't get the bike out he would have died anyway. This was serious stuff!
Yair told me that under normal conditions his bike was so heavy that he couldn't lift it on his own. In this situation, however, his thoughts and focus was only to get his bike and himself out of the creek. He kneeled down in the freezing cold water, grabbed his bike and with 'super human' strength he not only lifted it but threw it out of the water and to safety. Then he hurled himself out of the creek.
Focus on Solutions The immediate danger was over, but he was far from in the clear because he and his clothes were soaking wet in sub zero temperatures. Within a short period of time they would freeze if he didn't act swiftly. He could have panicked and worried about his dilema but again his thoughts were focused on solutions. His best chance of survival was to get out of his clothes into a dry sleeping bag as quickly as possible. He dragged his bike to solid ground, took off his clothes and quickly got into his sleeping bag - once in the sleeping bag his clothes were ice blocks, which he had to thaw.
Yair explained that mentally his world shrank. He could have thought about how cold he was and the severity of his situation, but he chose to focus only on those things that were critical to his short term survival. He focused on starting a fire and making a warm drink, which took his total and uninterupted attention for over and hour. He then focused on thawing his clothes, so one at a time he dragged an article of clothing into his sleeping bag for it to thaw! This took a few hours of his time and focus.
His focus was then shifted to how he could make the tiny amount of food he had last (after giving most of it away). He knew that it would be a day or so before the organisers of the race would realise he was missing, so he really had to mentally prepare himself fo several days of survival before he would be rescued! After a small amount of cheese he tried to sleep. The next day his focus was on continuing to dry his clothes so that he could attempt to move to a place to be rescued.
The next day he decided he had to get out of the canyon as his food supply was dangerously low and there was no way he could be found where he was. He got dressed and dragged his bike to the bottom of the mountain and prepared for a tough ascent. Tough it was - with every attempt to move himself and his bike up the slope he would fall back to where he started! It is incredible to think that in his state of mental and physical fatigue where most peoiple would have given up, Yair continued to focus his thoughts on solutions.
He took things off the bike and up the slope in different stages. Then it was just him and the bike and the only way to get it up the slope was to use the pedals as crampons or ice axes - pretty ingenious for a man in his circumstances! For the next 4 hours he edged up 500m and finally reached the top with all of his gear. Once at the top he had to push his bike through knee deep fresh snow - which was exhausting. He actually had to lift the bike out of the snow and place it to move forwards. This is how he spent the next 6 hours; frozen, tired and starving but focused on survival!
The weather started to get stormy, and so he dug a snow cave and buried himself in and out of the ferocious and freezing winds. By now Yair realised that the search party would be out looking for him and so he should be found in the next two days. So he had to keep his thoughts in his little world until then. He kept himself busy and his excitement for the next two days included; turning over every hour, drying his clothes, eating a small slice of cheese every 5 hours and singing songs to himself!
The weather finally improved so Yair moved to a place easier to be seen by air and he put some signals in the snow. Soon after he heard an aeroplane in the distance - he jumped to his feet and waved his arms frantically, but they didn't appear to notice him. As he turned back to his camp, so did the aeroplane and it was heading towards him, in fact right over the top of him as he continued to try to attract their attention. Maybe they thought he was just waving to them to be friendly as it disappeared again! But finally it re-appeared and as the plane was directly overhead something was thrown out.
In the excitement of being seen, Yair could have easily taken his eyes of the object thrown from the plane and not seen where it landed, but even in his state of hunger and fatigue his thoughts and focus were on survival as he watched the object land and went to get it. It was a note that said "stay put we are coming back with snow mobiles".
Rescued Two hours later the snow mobiles came. The rescuers expected to find Yair barely alive after 4 days lost in the snow, but he was fine and in fact offered to make them a cup of coffee! They couldn't quite believe it - as I said the man is a lunatic! He enjoyed his rescue flight over the Alaskan ranges and even though he didn't finish the race that he had started he was pretty happy with what he achieved over the last week! So the day that started lost in a snow cave ended sitting in a cafe in Anchorage, Alaska chatting about an incredible experience and planning his next flirt with death!
Control Your Thoughts This is an abbreviated, but true account of Yair's story and I have not even had to exagerate to make it sound more dramatic than it was! As I mentioned at the beginning of this post it is an extreme story but with a powerful message. You will probably never be in the same kind of life or death situation that Yair experienced in Alaska and your thoughts may not make the difference between short term life and death, but they certainly will over time.
What do you focus on? What destiny are your thoughts creating? Yair's thoughts created an inspiring story of success and achievement. Other people in the same situation may not be alive to tell the tale. Deliberately direct your thoughts to what you want and anything is possible- just as Yair's story so dramatically illustrates. Where you are today in your life and where you will be in your life is largely determined by the way you think and what you focus on.
Stop wasting time and get up and move firmly in the direction of your positive and passionate thoughts!
I would like to thank Yair for sharing his inspiring story with me and he and I would love to hear your thoughts and contributions
Keep dancing!
COME AND HEAR YAIR TELL HIS STORY AND LEARN SOME AMAZING LIFE LESSONS AT THE SAME TIME ON MAY 21.
What: Yair Kellner - Into White
When: May 21, 7:45 for an 8pm start
Where: East Melbourne Library, 122 George St
Cost: $5 (profits going to RSPCA)
Booking: Go to www.andrewjobling.com.au
The response to my first blog was underwhelming! I did, however, talk about the concept of persistence and dancing until it rains so I could hardly give up now! Looking at the positive I did get 2 comments - sure one of them was me and the other was a friend who I paid to post a comment! Every thousand mile journey begins with one step!
A Choice If I was to give you a simple choice, which would you take out of $1million or one cent that doubles every day for one month (or 31 days)? Is it a tough decision or would you go straight for the million? That was was my choice when I first heard this, but let's say you chose the one cent doubling. After 7 days your accrued total is 64 cents - happy with your choice so far? After two weeks you are up to $81.92 - would you like to change your mind and pick up the million? After 3 weeks it is looking better at $10, 485.76 but still along way from one million! On day 30 you would be at $5.36million and on day 31, $10.72million! WOW - who would of thought after the end of week one, week two and even week three that this could happen?
The Power of Compounding This is the power of a principle called compounding. This principle is working in my life and in your life right now whether you know it or not. It is either working for you or it working against you. If you deliberately decide, it will work for you and take you to a place of love, happiness, prosperity and abundance. If you ignore it and put your head in the sand it will work against you and over time take you a place that will bring pain, heartache, disease and despair. It is your choice.
I am sure you are aware of the alarming rate of disease, divorce, financial stress in this country and around the world right now. Do these people deliberately choose these situations? The answer is yes! Has that has statement has caused some anger in you? You might well be saying "I didn't choose divorce, type 2 diabetes, my financial situation..." or any other undesirable situation you may be facing right now. You are right, at the outset you didn't want these outcomes but you did choose them , because you have 100% choice about the simple daily habits you develop. It is these habits that will compound over time to create any outcome that you are experiencing.
I have been divorced and I have been through financial stress and I know that these undesirable outcomes occurred because of the bad habits I developed. I didn't deliberately choose the right daily disciplines and so by default I developed negative habits. My mum's cancer was the result of habits that she developed that compounded over many years to result in the diagnosis of her disease.
Let me say right here that I acknowledge that there are some situations that are out of your control and will lead to undesirable outcomes, but this is by far the minority. Yet most of us, most of the time will blame circumstances rather than take control of them.
Making Compounding Work For You The great news is that your outcome is in your hands. There are some simple habits that you can deliberately choose that will compound to bring you anything you want. Eating breakfast everyday is one of them. You would have to agree that eating breakfast is pretty easy to do - so why do some many people not do it? Because it is easier to not do it. Telling your partner everyday that you love them - easy to do, but easy not to do. Drinking an an extra glass of water per day is easy to do, but easy not to do. Saving money every week is easy to do, but it is easy not to do. There are millions of other choices that are easy to make, but also very easy not to make. By not making them will they kill us? Not today, but... Are there any that will cause a relationship to break up? Probably not today, but...Think long term, think about the vision for your life. How do you want to live and who do you want to positively influence?
It is Your Choice By focussing on what you want and by asking yourself a simple question before you make any decision you can have anything you want in your life. It is your choice by just asking yourself this question "Will the choice I make here get me closer to what I want or will it take me further away?"
Make the right choice - I dare you!
In my next blog, I want to talk about an amazing man and a very good friend of mine Yair Kellner who recently survived 5 days lost in minus 50 degree temperatures in Alaska. Many people had given up hope of seeing him alive, exept the one person that mattered - himself.
Read the article on the following link; http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25159523-29277,00.html to get an understanding of his incredible story of success against the odds. What's your problem again?
I am currently at the age of 40 plus GST as I sit here and write this!When I look back over my life to this pointI consider the many things I have achieved and haven't achieved and the things I have observed from other people. I have come to the conclusion that there is one major determining factor that separates those that succeed and those that don't. There is just one simple decision that makes the difference between having optimal health or disease, having fulfilling relationship or being isolated and alone, having financial abundance or financial stress. That is the decision to 'Dance Until It Rains'. I know you are saying; "so what does it mean?" I can tell you are intrigued and you wish that I would just get on with it. I would like to share with you a story that one of my amazing mentors shared with me that is shaping who I am becoming and what I do:
"It is a story about the Red Indians living off the land in the prairies and plains of the United States of America. it was a very challenging time. The land had suffered from drought for a long period and the tribes were suffering as a result of the lack of water, lack of vegetation and lack of food.
Across the land, and in this time of desperation, the legend grew of the tribe that could dance and make it rain.
The other tribes set the goal to make it rain. Some would dance for 20-30 minutes but stop with no success. Others would dance for hours until their feet blistered and give up. Some tribes would even dance for days on end but give in to their aching backs and the ridicule from neighbouring tribes. They would all give up disheartened and just as dry as when they started.
A decision was finally made to track down this legendary tribe and find the secret to their success. So the chiefs from all the tribes took off in search of this one tribe. When they found the tribe, they sat at the feet of its chief and pleaded; "Oh great chief, we have tried to make it rain, we are suffering, we need your help. How can you make it rain? What is your secret?"
"There is no secret,” Explained the chief, “Our method is simple - WE DANCE UNTIL IT RAINS".
In my life I have missed many opportunities to create amazing outcomes because I didn't understand the power of persistance and perserverance. why is it that most people never achieve the things they want in their lives? Is it a lack of ability? Is it a lack of knowledge or access to knowledge? Is it lack of eductaion? Is it a lack of resources, lack of family support, the weather or any of the other plethora of reasons that we use to justify our lack of results? NO, it is one thing and one thing only - it is because we give up too soon! When you begin something there are two possible outcomes; success or quit!
If I could pass on one idea to you that you could take away and apply to every one of your endeavours in life, it would be to 'Dance Until It Rains'. Stop making excuses why you can never achieve the things you want - there will never be that perfect time you are waiting for. Decide what you want, focus on it with all your heart and keep going UNTIL you get the results you want.
When I look back at my life I kick myself at opportunities I missed because I didn't learn how to 'dance'. At the age of 17 I found myself at the St Kilda Football Club, in the AFL. For 6 years I tried hard, played 24 senior games and then found out, after reading in the newspaper one Saturday morning just after the end of the season in 1987, that I had been de-listed! Did I get angry and say "F&#@* them" and have the attitude of I will 'keep dancing' until I have been accepted by another AFL club? No, I sucked my thumb for a while, got drunk and acted like a victim! 'Poor little ole me!' By the time I had matured enough to realise what I had missed, it was too late to do anything about it.
I don't want to depress you with any more of my woeful stories. All I know is that I could have done so much more with the early part of my life, but didn't because I didn't truly understand this most powerful concept. What about you? What is it that you could achieve if you just hang in their and keep going irrespective of how you feel and irrespective of circumstances?
What I do want to do is to share a couple of stories that I hope will give you some perspective and impact you as they have me.
The first is about a man that you know well. His name is Colonel Sanders. At the age of 65 he was unemployed, broke and alone but with qualities that most people in his position would never consider. He had a recipe for chicken, he had faith, but most of all he had persistence and the courage to dance until it rains. He had no money to start a business and he didn’t have skills or the contacts to make it work.
What he did have was an idea and an impenetrable belief. He started approaching chicken fast foods stores. He offered them his recipe and asked only that they pay him a percentage of every piece of chicken that they sold using this recipe.
So off he went. Well, many people laughed in his face. They said, "Look, old man, get out of here. What are you wearing that stupid white suit for?" Did Colonel Sanders give up? Absolutely not! Instead of feeling bad about the last restaurant that had rejected his idea, he immediately started focusing on how to tell his story more effectively and get better results from the next restaurant.
How many times do you think Colonel Sanders heard no before getting the answer he wanted? He was refused 1,009 times before he heard his first yes. He spent two years driving across America in his old, beat up car, sleeping in the back seat in his rumpled white suit, getting up each day eager to share his idea with someone new.
Let’s just let that sink in a bit 1009 no’s!! How many people do you know could handle 1009 rejections? What about 10? That’s because it’s not about the rejection or bad news, it is about our response to it. Colonel Sanders was totally focussed on the result he was after, so it didn’t matter how long it took him or how many no’s he got. He 'Danced Until It Rained' and boy did it rain for KFC!
The second story is about someone you don't know, but someone is very close to my heart. My mum Sue Jobling died of cancer in late 2004. It was a devastating event that has fuelled my passion to help others prevent the same outcome.
Throughout her life she developed habits that compounded over many years and lead her to a point where in 1988 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After having the cancer removed and some post operative radio therapy she was given a clean bill of health. Yet 18 months later secondary cancer appeared in her liver. I want you to take note and learn this lesson well. She then started 'dancing' and did absolutely everything possible to beat a disease that would never rest and she achieved some amazing things in the 15 years as she fought this disease. However she lost the one thing that she so dearly wanted to keep...her life!
Why am I telling you this? My mum danced and danced and danced for 15 years. She danced long and she danced hard and she has inspired me every day of my life, but she started dancing when it was too late. TAKE NOTE - you have a choice right now to start to do the things you need to do be happy, healthy and prosperous. Start dancing now, don't wait until the choice is taken away from you.
If you are sitting there reading this and saying "she'll be right mate", then I will pray for you.
Take control of your life now. Make a decision, focus on what you want and then simply 'Dance Until It Rains'.
I would love to hear your story of how you 'danced until it rained'. Please share and have a great day
I came from a professional sporting background and an attitude of 'No Pain, No Gain' and give it 'All or Nothing'. In my world if you were serious about achieving anything, sacrifice was the only way to go! As a personal trainer, I would train my clients to an 'inch of their lives' and berate them for even looking at a chocolate bar or glass of wine! They would tell me to "get a life" and I would make them run up the stairs another 10 times - "ha, that'll show 'em!" For some unexplainable reason, they stopped coming, they cancelled regularly and got injured frequently. I would think to myself; "how could so many people be so soft?" Boy, was I a moron!
I am a true believer that all food is great. Of course some foods we should eat more of and some foods less, but all play an important part in a healthy, long term eating plan (the key phrase here is 'long term'). You may be asking; "So, are you saying that ice cream, chips, pizza and coca cola is great?" Yes, I am! "Then are you saying that big macs and chickens nuggets are also great?" Yes, I am. "Surely, you are not saying that brussell sprouts are great!?" Yes, I am!! I am saying that all foods are great.
This is just the reason why I wrote "Eat Chocolate, Drink Alcohol and be Lean & Healthy". I wanted to help people see that creating enjoyable, healthy and maintainable long term eating habits is not as hard as everybody makes it out to be. Yes it will take some time, yes it will also take creating some simple habits and yes it will take a slight shift in thinking. Would it be worth it if it could change your life for the better forever?
