Become Your Own Visionary.

I'm feeling this blog (aka mind dump) is long overdue.  Today i was deeply moved by all the experiences i am having here at this Leadership Retreat i'm at and wanted to share it all with you.  It's a long blog, i know, but I hope you stay and read.  This story gets deep and there is much for you to ponder.  This may at first sound like a story about me, but really this is about you, and YOUR vision….


Today is MY New Year.  Now I'm well aware it's not January 1st, and no i'm not starting some new diet or exercise program.  This is different.  Exactly one year ago today i took a HUGE leap of faith and decided to put myself 'out there' in ways i wasn't necessarily comfortable with.  I shared on social media the beginning of a physical transformation and career move that was incredibly scary for me to take.  I was questioned about what i wanted in my life and why i was holding myself back.  I looked my fears and blockages in the face and had to let go and trust that there would be a net.  I leaped with faith, and at the time had ZERO IDEA how impactful this would be, how many lives this would touch, how many people might become inspired by what i was doing, and how many people found me to be RELATABLE.  

2 star recognition.
Though you may just see a big smile, purple top and bracelet,
what it represents to me is so much more.

Today i get to celebrate my '2 star' achievement among some of the top leaders and trainers in my industry.  While '2 stars' may not mean anything to you, what it means to me is that i have helped many people learn about health and well-being, how to get fit, how to eat well, feel better, get off medications, and create their own successful and profitable online health and fitness businesses.  I've helped others like me gain the skills of leadership and achieve the same success i have while cultivating a team of leaders who are changing their lives and the lives of others, who are becoming financially free, getting into their best shape, believing in themselves and their dreams, setting goals and reaching them, and having opportunities to travel to new places and new heights with a sense of freedom they never had experienced before.  Truly this all happened because i messaged a girl i found on Instagram and because i wanted freedom in my life and financial recognition for what i've been doing and enjoying for years.  

~You just NEVER know where one conversation, one interaction, 

one hello, one smile, one dream, or one CHOICE will take you. ~

me & my mentor I met on Instagram

Today i sat in a group of 375 Leaders at a fully comped/earned Leadership Conference at a luxury retreat in Arizona and our Keynote Speaker, photo-journalist Dewitt Jones, talked about VISION.  He brought us back to when he was only 23 years old and how he sent a letter to National Geographic about WHY they should give him money to film a movie.  He talked himself up good in the note with the help of his two college classmates -- even mentioning his directorial Hollywood debut (of which he did not have).  When National Geographic received his letter they invited him in for a meeting and asked for him to bring his work…..of which he had none.  Within days he filmed a short 15 minute piece and showed up at the magazine HQ in Washington with the film still wet with newness (literally because let's just say he's no spring chicken and things weren't digital then) only to be told that they would only do the film with him on their terms, with their camera crew, their VISION, their direction, etc.  At the WISE ripe age of 23 he stood up, said forget it and marched out a bit defeated, BUT HE STILL HAD A VISION.  He went home only to write a letter to the President of National Geographic about his VISION and why HE should do the movie and they should let him control EVERYTHING.  His vision was clear and the President agreed to the film.  Dewitt believed in himself, and he seized his opportunity.  Soon there-after he started his award winning photo journalism career with National Geographic and shot thousands upon thousands of images, many not amazing, BUT many jaw dropping.  In his presentation he made it clear that it's not about all the many failed attempts or missed moments, it's about collecting ALL the moments and experiences…precious and not precious, whether they were what you wanted to collect and experience or not, and in that being fully present and able to find the beauty that could and will eventually arise from it all.  He spoke of breathing in fully the experience you are in, and breathing out that same experience.  He showed a series of similar photos that didn't leave much to impress, only to unveil the one in that roll of thousands that opened your eyes to beauty unparalleled.  He showed you what it meant to be in love fully with this moment and in love with what it is you are doing, and to share that same passion and spirit with the world around you.  His speech left me in puddles, tears and tears that touched me as his storytelling was captivating, adaptive, and universal.  HE is a visionary and he made me really consider -- WHAT IS MY VISION?

That's me in the sun G's photobombing Mr Banana Shirt
at our evening workout session live with the MAN, Mr. Shaun T .
There were about 200 of us coming together as a collective who LOVE health and wellbeing, supporting each other to push through that which was probably the hardest 30 minute workout of my life.  We were each other's visionaries for that 30 minutes lingering on the edge of defeat but holding one other strong in community support.

~A STORY DEWITT SHARED TODAY TOLD TO HIM BY HIS FATHER:  There were two men in mid-evil Italy both sitting and chipping stones.  A priest walks by and sees the first man hunched over, sweating, doing grueling work on the stone and he says, "young man, what are you doing?".  The hunched man replies in a worn way,  'I'm chipping at stones'.   The priest turns to the second man, also hunched over but with an energy and look quite a bit brighter and says to the man, 'Young man what are you doing?"  To which this brightened, hunched man replies with delight,  "I'm building a cathedral.  I'm building a cathedral."  

Both men were doing the same work, however one had vision, one did not.  One was building something and delightedly seizing his opportunity, the other simply suffering and labored without vision to be found.  ~

So consider…What is your VISION for YOUR LIFE?  Why do we allow ourselves to fall short of believing that our vision can be our reality?  Why do we stunt ourselves from fulfilling these things on our bucket list?  Why are we held back by our Xs, Ys, and Zs?  

"I saw an angel in the stone and carved it to set it free" - Michaelangelo 

My life is forever changed all because of what i shared at the start of this blog…that i had the gumption to reach out to some girl i didn't know on social media because i was attracted to what she was doing.  Because i seized that opportunity, because i made the choice to reach out,  my life is forever changed.  Because others have reached out to me in the same way and asked me to mentor them, their lives have changed.  And because their friends have reached out to them so they can mentor them, their friends lives have changed too.  The ripple effect is nothing short of compounding and astounding.  I'm so lucky that this opportunity fell into my lap last year, or perhaps it didn't, perhaps i seeked it out unknowingly, but the beauty lies right here for you now.  

My second BIG Milestone.
A year from now you will have wished you started today.

Those of you who know me know i am an open book.  I am happy to share with you the secrets to my success (which are not secret by any means).  I offer this for free in my coach training programs to all of my coaches who are SERIOUS about creating the life they dream of, finding freedom, traveling, and touching the lives of others.  The opportunity that lies before you can be completely life changing, but you have to want to change your life and you have to want to take YOUR bull by the horns.  In one year I was able to get out of debt, travel internationally, change the shape of my body, improve my living situation, create new freedom, meet new friends who share same interests, and became the CEO of my own organization, PLUS have taught others to do the same.  If you have followed my journey or are recently tuning in and want to learn more, please just message me.  I have my next coach training program starting at the top of the month.  I do not charge for the training, but I only mentor those who are VERY SERIOUS and DEDICATED to building their own independent health business and starting on a challenge themselves to start changing the shape of their lives.  You have to WANT to work on YOURSELF.  

~ It's said you are the sum of the 5 people you surround yourself with most.  

Does that excite you or scare you? ~

Do not let another opportunity slip by you because you put on blinders or didn't have the gumption to believe in yourself or that there is a viable solution to the challenges that plague you.  The only person who can change your life is YOU and i will give you the tools to do just that, however you must think like Dewitt Jones and become a VISIONARY.  You must seize every opportunity that attracts you and BELIEVE fully in yourself and that you will absolutely achieve everything that you put your mind too.  

I know I believe in you, but the question is, 

do you believe in you?