Every day, another headline, another health crisis, another scandal, another outrageous claim...how much do we REALLY need to see that will make us finally stand up and make a difference in our own lives?
Every "new" study hammers home the same points: Our country is too lazy, too fat, too slow, and too "dense" to figure out what we need to do. Every study confirms what we already suspected, but hoped was not true: that we are getting more overweight, more stressed, more anxious, and more desperate for help. This is referring to our health, but you can obviously see the parallels to other topics: morals, ethics, politics, work, community, crime....it is really easy to see why so many feel so helpless.
The saddest part of all is how people play on the desperation, the sadness and the fears by targeting these people with their "fix it quick" mentality and the classic "take a pill" plan. The more attempts made to improve our own situations using these methods, the deeper our self loathing becomes when we fail or stumble. Try to watch even 15 minutes of cable TV in the morning and watch the ads for all of the proof: "make extra money in minutes working at home", "get in supermodel shape in minutes with our dvd", "clean your colon and create perfect health", "what the doctors are keeping from you", "the ab device that guarantees prefect abs"...(these are all embellished claims, but parallel the actual claims I saw while documenting this blog this morning...).
Think about it for a minute: How many of these things have you fallen for? How much money have you, your friends, your family...how much has been spent trying to get the results these companies claim? How many diets have started and stopped and started again? How many fitness books and programs? And in the end, did you actually achieve what you set out to achieve? Are we really so desperate that we want to believe that some new exercise or type of juice holds all the answers to our problems; that there is some magic "move" that will unleash all of our potential? I am guessing only a small percentage of us have actually reached all of our goals...a very small percentage. A small percentage never give up, but a larger contingent is getting closer to just wanting to quit and wait for the "rescue" to arrive to save us.
The simple truth is this: we create our own success. We cannot control our environment, the market, our genetics, or our future. But we can influence our choices and our future. It may not always be what we set out to do, but in the end, most of our progress comes from getting up after being knocked down for the umpteenth time, dusting ourselves off, and getting back to work. Thousands of quotes have been attributed to this "never say die" attitude, knowing it is not going to be easy, but getting back to the fight anyway.
Not all of us are ever going to strike it rich, or make the cover of a magazine, or win the lottery. Most of us will never have the supermodel physique, or drive the super luxury car that we see and hear about...but that does not mean that we can't find some personal satisfaction in reaching our goals.
We work with our cleints regularly to help them set realistic, achievable goals. We let them know when they are close, and we let them know when they may be losing sight of what they planned. We help them redirect, and we listen when they start to question their abilities. Why? because we firmly believe that EVERYONE has the potential to do something reat, whether it is for themselves or for their family or for their community. Somewhere inside all of us is a strong, silent "superhero" that is waiting for their call to action. All of the negative ads, all of the unrealistic expectations keep this "hero" down, unable to rise up and accomplish.
We want to help you unleash your potential. We are going to be doing the same for ourselves. Let's not let 2009 knock us out of the fight. I am not ready to let someone else determine what I can or can't do (within the law, of course). We have found some exceptional tools that we are making available on our site to help you win this battle; join us and let's take the fight to the people that want us to give up...and show 'em a little attitude, American-style.
