87. The cost— and payoff— of change (losing half your body-weight talk w/ Amanda Hicks, Coaches Series #9)

My friend Amanda has pink hair… and has lost (almost) half her body weight in the past 2.5 years.

After a series of “no wins” in life, she looked at the person in the mirror. Though she couldn’t blame everything going on in her life on her, she could manage the person in that mirror— and take full responsibility for them.

“I began a diet plan that month,” she told me. “And I committed to sticking to it for just 30 days.”

That was it.

A lot of times people assume we’ve got to eat the entire elephant. Or even commit to eating it.

But, as everyone also knows, “You eat an elephant one bite at a time.”

And, you can always just eat that one bite and THEN decide if you want to go for more…

🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘

She continued her journey.

Part of the “continue” meant doing a 5-K that same month. And, by “doing” I mean finishing. That is, she walked the entire thing…

Which brought another observation— sometimes you just need to commit to starting and finishing something— even if you DO walk the entire time, even if you DO go the slow way…

SLOW still gets you there, right?



🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁

The “thing” Amanda is now part of is called TRANSFORMATION— a healthy movement people undertake to move from obese to fit…

Her journey includes marathons and pole fitness, which we discuss a bit in this talk.

And it includes a brighter outlook that has affected work relationships, taken an already-good marriage to the next level, and caused to her see things differently…

“There are so many things that I just tolerated before,” she said. “I was sick and didn’t even know how good I could feel.”

In other words, she’s created a new normal, a better level of LIFE.

And—

“This has affected so much more than just the time I spent investing in myself…”



🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

I get it.

I (generally) wake up around 5:30- 6:00am, take time to exercise, then read, then write… all on my own…

… that 2-hour (or more) window always seems “selfish” when I’ve got a lot going on…

But…

I realize that—

🚀 if I don’t take that time, it just evaporates. It’s not like I use it on anything else…

🚀 What happens in that time radically affects everything else— and everyone else— in my small world.

🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌

In this talk Amanda reminded me of a few things she’s observed on her journey…

✅ Take the next best step.

A lot of life can be boiled down to that. When you aren’t sure what to do, just do a little…

… a little of the next best thing you CAN do (a la commit to a 30 day run at the diet and then agree to reevaluate after that)

✅ Surround yourself with people who are where you want to be…

No sense in taking advice from someone who’s not, right?

And, there’s no gain in being the smartest one in the room all the time…

So, find people you can help— and find people who can push you, too….

++++++++++++

Links=

Amanda’s Instagram = instagram.com/restoringthetemple2018/ 

Watch Amanda’s “transformation” testimony = https://www.facebook.com/ahicks07/videos/10100380258097275/ 

The weight loss program she mentioned = https://www.myshibboleth.com/sponsor/ahicks07/ 

Join Amanda’s 1B7 team = myoola.oolalife.com/RestoringTheTemple2018

 The Hilltop Hangout Facebook group = www.Facebook.com/groups/AndrewEJenkins 

My men’s mastermind group = www.Jenkins.tv/men