I spend a lot of time thinking about how I can use my weight loss story to help other people achieve similar success in their own lives. I am constantly trying to come up with new analogies to help people understand the mistakes they might be making in their life and what they can to do make things right again.
Today I am going to talk to you about a simple technique that I developed which has really helped put things in perspective and get every area of my life back on track -- especially my weight!
Your Life Path
It has been a few years now since I have achieved my goal of losing (over) one hundred pounds and dramatically improving my overall health and fitness. After having successfully kept the weight off for the past year or so I have been at my wits end trying to come up with an explanation as to why I succeeded where so many others have failed.
Finally the answer came to me one day when I was out on a long bike ride and suddenly came to a section of the bike path that was too muddy for my road bike to handle. I tried my best to press on but eventually I had no choice but to turn around and find a different way home.
It was at that moment in front of the bridge that it became perfectly clear to me why I became overweight in the first place: I had gone down the wrong path in my life. So what was the solution? What did I do that helped me reverse my weight problems? I turned around and I found the right path.
Imagine for a moment that there is an ideal life path for everyone and that by following this path it would lead them to all the places they were ever meant to go in their lifetime. Just like this path I had been traversing on bicycle, I believe that once upon a time there was an ideal life path I had the option of taking which would have brought me anywhere I could have ever wanted to go in life.
Sadly, like many young people today, I got distracted by the pressures and expectations of life and I wound up hitting a very abrupt dead end. I had to learn the hard way that the farther you stray from your ideal life path... the worse your life becomes. After many years of aimlessly wandering the "forest" I finally decided that enough was enough; I have to turn around and figure out how I can get back on track to become the person I was put on this earth to be.
The only problem was that it had easily been over four years since I last set foot on that path! I remember thinking, "Jeez! Is it really going to take me four years just to get back to square one?!"
Of course I knew the answer was not going to be as simple as all that. I mean, throughout the four years I spent wandering the woods I had taken several detours along the way. So I figured, "If I just spent the better part of four years getting myself lost in these godforsaken woods, it would certainly take me less time to get back where I started from just by knowing where it was I was going."
Sure enough I was right. I spent four years of my life aimlessly wandering the forest only to wind up lost and afraid. But once I decided that I was no longer going to live my life this way, everything became clear. Things like smoking cigarettes, abusing alcohol and overeating were now just stupid things that I did back when I was lost and scared in the woods. Now that I was certain about where I was heading, I could see now that these behaviors and habits were doing me no good and were only preventing me from reaching my life path.
Sitting around and wasting time was no longer an option for me. I had somewhere I needed to be and the more bad habits I could get rid of, the more room I had to pick up the good habits I had been missing out on. Running and cycling were natural choices for me because they helped me reach my path quickly and they were habits that I knew I would hold on to even after I arrived.
Were there times when I got discouraged? Absolutely! I don't care how determined or motivated you are, there will always be unforeseen challenges that will make you consider giving up. But after dedicating all the time and after seeing all the progress I had made along my journey... quitting and going back to my old ways was no longer an option for me. There was no way around it, I was going to succeed or I was going to die trying.
That is the beauty of all of this – if you can just follow this simple blueprint and apply it to your own life, I honestly believe that you will be able to accomplish anything you set your mind to. You want to lose weight? Figure out where you started to stray from your original life path and devise a plan to get back on track as soon as you can. You want to quit a bad habit? Again, figure out where you started to slip and come up with a plan to get yourself back on track as fast as you can!
It is really that simple. Once you discover when you started straying and how long it took to get where you currently are, all you have to do is turn around! It doesn't matter if you are one step in or halfway there. The moment you decide to turn back toward your ideal life path, choosing to get lost again will no longer be an option for you.
Much love and good luck!
Corey Barton
Today I am going to talk to you about a simple technique that I developed which has really helped put things in perspective and get every area of my life back on track -- especially my weight!
Your Life Path
It has been a few years now since I have achieved my goal of losing (over) one hundred pounds and dramatically improving my overall health and fitness. After having successfully kept the weight off for the past year or so I have been at my wits end trying to come up with an explanation as to why I succeeded where so many others have failed.
Finally the answer came to me one day when I was out on a long bike ride and suddenly came to a section of the bike path that was too muddy for my road bike to handle. I tried my best to press on but eventually I had no choice but to turn around and find a different way home.
It was at that moment in front of the bridge that it became perfectly clear to me why I became overweight in the first place: I had gone down the wrong path in my life. So what was the solution? What did I do that helped me reverse my weight problems? I turned around and I found the right path.
Imagine for a moment that there is an ideal life path for everyone and that by following this path it would lead them to all the places they were ever meant to go in their lifetime. Just like this path I had been traversing on bicycle, I believe that once upon a time there was an ideal life path I had the option of taking which would have brought me anywhere I could have ever wanted to go in life.
Sadly, like many young people today, I got distracted by the pressures and expectations of life and I wound up hitting a very abrupt dead end. I had to learn the hard way that the farther you stray from your ideal life path... the worse your life becomes. After many years of aimlessly wandering the "forest" I finally decided that enough was enough; I have to turn around and figure out how I can get back on track to become the person I was put on this earth to be.
The only problem was that it had easily been over four years since I last set foot on that path! I remember thinking, "Jeez! Is it really going to take me four years just to get back to square one?!"
Of course I knew the answer was not going to be as simple as all that. I mean, throughout the four years I spent wandering the woods I had taken several detours along the way. So I figured, "If I just spent the better part of four years getting myself lost in these godforsaken woods, it would certainly take me less time to get back where I started from just by knowing where it was I was going."
Sure enough I was right. I spent four years of my life aimlessly wandering the forest only to wind up lost and afraid. But once I decided that I was no longer going to live my life this way, everything became clear. Things like smoking cigarettes, abusing alcohol and overeating were now just stupid things that I did back when I was lost and scared in the woods. Now that I was certain about where I was heading, I could see now that these behaviors and habits were doing me no good and were only preventing me from reaching my life path.
Sitting around and wasting time was no longer an option for me. I had somewhere I needed to be and the more bad habits I could get rid of, the more room I had to pick up the good habits I had been missing out on. Running and cycling were natural choices for me because they helped me reach my path quickly and they were habits that I knew I would hold on to even after I arrived.
Were there times when I got discouraged? Absolutely! I don't care how determined or motivated you are, there will always be unforeseen challenges that will make you consider giving up. But after dedicating all the time and after seeing all the progress I had made along my journey... quitting and going back to my old ways was no longer an option for me. There was no way around it, I was going to succeed or I was going to die trying.
That is the beauty of all of this – if you can just follow this simple blueprint and apply it to your own life, I honestly believe that you will be able to accomplish anything you set your mind to. You want to lose weight? Figure out where you started to stray from your original life path and devise a plan to get back on track as soon as you can. You want to quit a bad habit? Again, figure out where you started to slip and come up with a plan to get yourself back on track as fast as you can!
It is really that simple. Once you discover when you started straying and how long it took to get where you currently are, all you have to do is turn around! It doesn't matter if you are one step in or halfway there. The moment you decide to turn back toward your ideal life path, choosing to get lost again will no longer be an option for you.
Much love and good luck!
Corey Barton