I’m sitting here watching the first half of the San Francisco/Atlanta NFC Championship football game and I find myself doing something I’ve never done before…wondering what I’d rather be doing. I started daydreaming during a FOOTBALL GAME! This is a first. I’m remembering what I have experienced in the past. I used to be a PADI Open Water Certified SCUBA Diver and dove off the coast of Galveston, TX. I loved riding roller coasters at Six Flags over Texas. I loved going to South Padre Island and swimming in the Gulf of Mexico.
I was big, but not huge. I weighed probably 220 pounds when I was doing all of that stuff at the age of 19-22. Then I started gaining more weight. Before I knew it, I was 27 and over 400 pounds. Since the age of 22, I really haven’t done anything that I would consider something I want to remember. The few times I had to fly were embarrassing because I needed seatbelt extenders. The people sitting next to me were just miserable too. I took a train trip that was just insanely uncomfortable. I was 415 pounds in 1999 and I couldn’t fit in the Amtrak bathrooms. I was with some college friends and we travelled from Dallas to Chicago, Buffalo, Toronto, New York, Niagara Falls, and back to Dallas. It was 2 weeks of hell. I went to San Francisco and Napa with my wife for our honeymoon and all I worried about was if I was going to break the bed in our bed and breakfast.
I could barely walk throughout SF and I look back on those days and think. Then I realize that there is NOTHING I can do about the past. Since all of those, and many more experiences, I’ve gone from 487 pounds to 175 pounds. Yes, I quit my job that I was miserable with. I started my own business as a Certified Personal Fitness Trainer.
Now, all I worry about is what the future holds! What held me back before was fear. I don’t know what the hell I was afraid of. Maybe failure. Maybe losing all my money (I really had none to worry about, which is a story for another day). I was afraid and I don’t know why! I took jobs beneath me because I felt I was lucky anyone would even hire me. I was limited in what I could do because of my weight. I was depressed thinking that the rest of my life would be like this. Loving life was for other people, not for me. I would blame everyone else for my problems. It was never my fault!
But, it really was my fault. I let it happen out of fear. Fear of responsibility for myself. Sure there were a lot of unfair things that would happen, but that is life. It’s how you respond to these things that define who you are. Do you get down and blame others, or do you just get to work and make it better? You fall in one of those categories. For 38 years, I was in the first one. For the last 2 years, I’ve made sure to be in the second one. It’s MY choice. It’s YOUR choice. When you complain and blame, you keep yourself from turning things around. I don’t have time for people in the first category in my life. I only have time for people who at least WANT to be in the second category. It doesn’t happen overnight, bit it does change quickly! That’s when you become successful. It’s not just money and love. It’s how you perceive yourself. It’s how you want others to see you. Quite a few people think I’m full of crap. They‘re also are miserable with their health. They’re miserable with their jobs. They’re miserable with the people they choose to have around them. They’re miserable with their lives! They also believe that they’ve done everything right and it’s everyone else’s fault they are in the position they’re in. I don’t have time for people like that anymore. If they want to change, I will help them. If they don’t want to change, They can complain to someone else!
This is what gave me the courage to start my own business, Train Me Brian http://www.trainmebrian.com, and become a Certified Personal Fitness Trainer. I would have NEVER had the guts to do that in the past. I also would have never decided to join a direct marketing group like Advocare! I would just say, “I’m not a salesperson.” Everybody is a salesperson. When you say you are not a salesperson, you’re trying to sell me on the fact that you’re not a salesperson! There, you’re now a salesperson. When you worry even the slightest about what others think, you’re a salesperson. When you try to convince someone your taste in music is better than theirs, you’re a salesperson. When you try to convince someone your football team is better, you’re a salesperson. You get it. You just don’t realize that your entire life is about sales. You just never felt like actually earning an income on sales. When what you are doing is free or making someone else money (NFL, Sony, Disney, Coke/Pepsi, MLB, NBA, your favorite college, etc.) there is no pressure on you. When you earn an income on it, your success or failure is TOTALLY dependent on YOU. There’s nobody to blame anymore! But, there is EVERYTHING to gain! Plus, I only become a member of groups I believe in. I totally believe in the Advocare products! I’ve lost weight with them. My blood work with my doctor is the best in my life. My self-confidence is the best it’s ever been.
I’m even looking into joining another direct marketing group that deals with travel! Why? Because I love to travel now! You read before how much I used to loathe it. I have a life to live now! I want to become SCUBA certified again! This time, I don’t want to just dive off the coast of Galveston, I want to dive with sharks in Mexico! I want to visit ruins of ancient civilizations! I want to see volcanos! I want to see Africa! I want to meet people from all around the world and find out what makes them tick.
In doing all of this, I want to positively effect as many lives as I can. I want to have every one of you realize what you are capable of. I want you to quit accepting things the way they are and strive to be better! I want you to love yourself! I also want to give you the tools to turn around and do the exact same thing for others in your life! Find out what others are lacking in their lives and find a way to fill that void. Do this for people in your lives already. Think about it, they’re not hard to find. They are probably in your household right now! If not there, they may be in your place of business, church, poker group, drinking buddies, school, and anywhere you are! I guarantee you that if you help someone, it will come back to you ten fold in the future!
Be the gold standard in your house and it will rub off on others, but it has to start with YOU!
Make today GREAT!
Brian Beck
Certified Personal Fitness Trainer
brian@trainmebrian.com
Train Me Brian 
God bless you Brian and keep up the mission brother! God has a plan to use you and now you will live to fulfill that plan! Awesome!
Way to take charge of your life. Nice job!