A Big, Swift, Kick in the Butt

Dear Persuader,

Ever since I can remember, starting from when I was a young boy, I’ve struggled with my weight. I was stuck in a body that didn’t represent my mind’s view of myself, but did represent a weakness I had in relation to food.

It always brought to mind the Andrew Carnegie quote, “People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.” I knew that this struggle was holding me back from total mastery and it frustrated me to no end.

Those of you who have seen my physical transformation in the couple of years know that I have finally found my motivation.  And I’ll tell you this: not only have I succeeded in making my body healthier, my entire life is exploding with new passion and new ventures and I no longer have that stuck energy holding me back.

I’m by no means all the way there. However, I’m so much closer than ever before. I probably still have 60 more pounds to go but having lost 127 so far, that’s a very significant step in the right direction.

What was my big, swift kick in the butt? Well, the doctors had sentenced me to death. They told me that I had become diabetic. In fact, I had almost died from a diabetic coma. They told me that I was going to be on insulin for the rest of my life and that was that. I was having to inject myself many times a day with insulin as well as taking prescription medicine orally in order to combat this. Now, 127 pounds later, I’m off the insulin, no more prescriptions, the doctor says I’m the poster child in their office for how to deal with this issue successfully.

I had several triggers. First: the doctor told me I would never get off of it and that made me mad. I told him that nobody sentences me to death. He said, ‘can’t’ and ‘die’ and that enraged me.  Secondly: I wanted to see my children grow up, spend a long life with my family, continue to do my work in the world. For a long time that hadn’t been enough to shock me out of my really destructive behavior, but with that first trigger—the anger—the second became an extraordinarily important factor. I realized my mortality and that I was putting myself into an early grave one French fry, one slice of pizza, one pint of ice cream, one candy bar at a time.

Another thing that really resonated with me is the weight loss coach said to me, “If I ate as many carbs a day as you did I would quickly need insulin too. I’d be as big as you. The body cannot process that much. It simply can’t do it. So either you’re going to figure this out and make a change or you’re going to die from it. The choice is yours. You’re going to think that it’s normal to be on insulin and/or you’re going to die, OR you’re going to change. What are you going to do here?”

That was it.  I said, ‘What do I need to do? How do I solve this issue?” And I realized that I had to start eating protein. Even though I had been pretty much a vegetarian my whole life I made a commitment to eat protein and decrease carbs. I stopped eating prepared foods, fast food and started eating right.

I’m by no means perfect and I have other issues that I struggle with all the time. But I’m determined to continue on to overcome all of my challenges. I hope I make it but I’ll tell you what, even if I stay where I’m at, that’s a hell of a success story.

Is a desire and willingness to do something enough? Nope. An intense desire to live, and live without discomfort or disease, was important. But for me I needed to get angry.

What is your trigger for change? What are your stuck points? Where do you need to push the energy through to open up channels?  Are you on the cusp of greatness in persuasion, the precipice of incredible wealth or path to optimal health? What do you need to finally realize you have wings that will enable you to soar to greatness?

This was a big swift kick in my butt and with any luck I can serve in that same capacity for those reading this message. Where do you need a big, fat kick in the butt? Or is it more that you need a big, swift kick in your fat butt? If that’s the case, get off of it, that’s step number one. Step number two, change.

Let’s work together to clear those stuck points.

Kenrick E. Cleveland

PS… Just a reminder that I’m currently accepting new coaching students!  It is currently more affordable than ever so be sure and contact my assistant Kim for details.  Kim@maxpersuasion.com