Be Specific

I was sitting down with my daughter while she was watching television. I really do not watch too much television, however on this night I tuned in. My daughter turned to a program that had Jillian Michaels; I guess it is a new program beyond Biggest Loser. In this program, she takes on a family and spends a week with them. I am still no fan of in your face, tough love to gain results. A few things about this episode stuck out in my mind.

I have mentioned that in order to achieve the extraordinary, we need to have a huge why. I believe that if you want to make enormous changes in your life, you need to have a powerful why that you can draw upon during difficult and challenging times. Brian Tracy teaches that if you want to be successful in something, or more specifically a self-made millionaire, you need to become someone completely different.

During this episode, Jillian Michaels obviously chose a family that could succeed. In her interviews, Jillian refers to a why as being specific. She believes that in order for people to make the changes necessary for large weight loss, they must be very specific. Why are you losing weight? In this episode, the family has a pending wedding six weeks after Jillian’s visit. This wedding is the family’s why and a powerful why that propelled them to continue succeeding after Jillian left.

I am absolutely convinced that in order to achieve great things in our lives we do need a powerful why. Being specific with this why is more powerful. It is what will give you a call to action.


“Why would you choose this, when you can have success.” ---Jillian Michaels

"Fitness to me isn't about a crunch or a push up, it's about taking your power back." ---Jillian Michaels

"When you've eaten too much and you can't write it down,
And you feel like the biggest failure in town.
When you want to give up just because you gave in,
and forget all about being healthy and thin.
So What! You went over your points a bit,
It's your next move that counts...So don't you quit!
It's a moment of truth, it's an attitude change.
It's learning the skills to get back in your range.
It's telling yourself, "You've done great up till now.
You can take on this challenge and beat it somehow."
It's part of your journey toward reaching your goal.
You're still gonna make it, just stay in control.
To stumble and fall is not a disgrace,
If you summon the will to get back in the race.
But, often the struggler's, when loosing their grip,
Just throw in the towel and continue to slip.
And learn too late when the damage is done,
that the race wasn't over...they still could have won.
Lifestyle change can be awkward and slow,
but facing each challenge will help you grow.
Success is failure turned inside out,
the silver tint in a cloud of doubt.
When you're pushing to the brink, just refuse to submit,
If you bite it, you write it....But don't you quit!" ---Author Unknown