Climbing your own Everest

I am shocked but delighted! When I went on my own personal voyage to climb my personal Everest, I never thought it would create such a stir and generate so much interest. 

My story is simple and sadly far too common. I am not sure when I lost it, but in my 30's, I got caught up in "life" and forgot to look after ME. Slowly I picked up a few kilograms a year, about 2-3, a year, and before I knew it I was enormous.

As a public speaker, being in the spotlight did not help much, but perhaps it was the trigger that I needed to get up off the couch and do something about it. Speaking to an audience in August last year, I was passionately encouraging them to tackle those issues in their lives that would substantially improve the quality of their lives, when the thought occurred to me. How can they believe me when my own personal Everest was so obvious and why was I not doing anything about it. That was the moment I decided that I had had enough. It was time for a change.

It was not an instantaneous success story! I have tried and failed, but every time I have gone back to my original decision, changed my plans and worked at it. 

Now just over a year later, I am 40 kilograms lighter and I can honestly say that it has changed my life.

So many of you face your own challenges and I have had so many requests to share my story, so here it is.

For many of you, weight is the challenge but I want to stress that it is not a diet that it going to change your life, but a change in your mindset. That is why I believe that the process I am going to share with you, works just as well in losing a few kilograms as much as it will assist you with your finances, relationships and whatever changes you need to bring about in your life. 

Many of you would have heard my presentation "The winner takes it all" in one of the Dykes Van Heerden Slabbert training seminars. To Louis and his team, I would like to express my appreciation for the platform and the honour of being allowed into your lives and hopefully to inspire and guide you in taking a new direction in your lives

I am not a doctor, nutritionist or exercise specialist. I am a normal person who has been able to transform my life and I trust that you will be able to do the same. So many of you have written to me in desperation, pleading for the diet and will share it with you but not now.

How can I be so cruel? The reason is this. Almost all of us want to change something in our lives, lose a few kilograms and yet very few of us are successful. Do we lack motivation? I don't think so. Do we lack will power? Perhaps. You could google diets all on your own but the chance of you being successful is minimal.

The reason is that we need to change our minds first. It has to become a life decision. A irrevocable decision that will become a guide for you, when times get tough and life overwhelms you. We all have experienced yo-yo diets. Our weight goes down and shoots up even faster. I do not want that for you.

We are going to change this one step at a time and this time, we want it to a be permanent. So be patient, and trust in the process.

The first step in the process is to clearly identify what it is you want to change. Is it your weight, your finances, your relationships. What is that one thing that if you could change it would make the most difference to your life. Don't treat this lightly. It is a serious question and one you need to consider carefully. 

Think why it is so important to you: how did you get here in the first place. How will it change my life and what will be the price of the change.

I will be sending you updates frequently or you can come to the blog at any point and reread any of the posts to keep it fresh in your mind. Lastly, I am not doing this for financial reward, but from a genuine desire to help you change your life for the better. I know the difference it has made in mine and I want that for you as well.

Remember you don't just rush out and start climbing Everest. That is a recipe for failure. Failing to plan is just as good as planning to fail. 

FIRST STEPS TO CLIMBING YOUR OWN EVEREST    

• Identify the mountain you want to climb. Is it your weight? Is it your finances or do you want to have a better relationship with your spouse, parents or children? Do you want a better job or would you like to follow your passion and just do not know how? Don't rush out and climb the first mountain you see. Be clear in your mind, which mountain you want to climb that will make the most difference in your life.
• How did you get here? Life is all about choices. Somewhere you made a choice and perhaps it has not turned out as well as you liked. Maybe you developed some bad habits and now you are struggling to change them. Perhaps you just got caught up in life and now you find yourself in a place you do not want to be. Knowing where you are now, is half the battle in finding the right path you want to be on.
• Identify those roadblocks which you may encounter on the way. You know they will be there, they always are. If you want to get somewhere and you find your way blocked, we do not give up and go somewhere else. We work out how to get around the obstacle, find another route and if needs be, blast the obstacle out of our way. What blocks do you anticipate in your path to change? Start thinking how you are going to get around or through them.
• Be clear of your destination. Do you want to climb to base camp or do you want to get to the top of the mountain. The first step in goal setting is to be specific. Know exactly where you want to go. If it is your weight, decide on a goal. It's a non debatable. We don't go on holiday to some place. We pick a destination and we head unerringly towards that. It's the same with life goals. We know where we are going to and we head there, no matter what gets in our way.

HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT IT?

I am reminded of the young college athlete who approached the best coach he knew to ask him if he would coach him. The coach agreed and asked the young man to meet him on the beach at 5.00am in the morning.

The young man was so excited. He put on his trainers and rushed to the beach the next morning, expecting a rigorous work out, the first step to his Olympic dreams. When he arrived, he was surprised when the coach took him by the hand and led him into the ocean. He did not full understand what was happening but followed the coach deeper and deeper until they were chest deep in the freezing water.

Then, without warning the coach grabbed the young man from behind, and pushed him underwater. He struggled but the coach was too strong. Just when he thought he was going t drown the coach let him surface. He started shouting out his indignation and down again he went. This time he started swallowing water and he was sure he was going to drown. Again the coach lifted his head above the water.

"What are you doing" he screamed at the coach

The coach calmly replied, "When you want to achieve your goals, as much as you want the air right now, then you are ready."

My question to you, is how much do you want this. Are you drowning? When you want to achieve your goals as much as you want to breathe, then you are ready. It's your decision and your life. Let's live it to the maximum