Darla Henry, M.S., CPT, Baptist Health Weight Loss Program Health Educator
Have you ever thought about how some people achieve greatness? Growing up, I loved the Chicago Bulls, especially Michael Jordan. Even though I am not a huge basketball fan, Michael Jordan’s incredible leaping ability and defensive play made it exciting. Michael Jordan is listed on the NBA website as the greatest basketball player of all time, but did you know that Michael Jordan did not make his high school varsity basketball team the first time he tried out? Rather than giving up or devoting his efforts to another sport, he was motivated to prove his worth. He became the star of the junior varsity squad and trained vigorously all summer (a growth spurt helped too!). Well…all of the basketball fans out there already know how his story ended… college star of the Tar Heals before leading the Bulls to the first ever three-peat championship!
We tend to dismiss greatness with “they just have natural talent”. Although talent is definitely a factor, I believe there is something else that separates the “talented” from the “great”. I believe it is a single focus. Michael Jordan became the greatest basketball player of all time because he trained for it, he focused on it, and most importantly, he believed in his ability to achieve it…no matter what anyone else may say.
If we want to achieve our goals with health and diet, we need to have that kind of focus. We need to train for it, focus on it, and believe that we can achieve it. We do not listen to the naysayers who say that we will “just gain it back” or “go ahead and have some, you can get back on your diet tomorrow”. Think of yourself as an athlete in training. No one may believe we have the talent, saying negative things like, “you will just have to watch it for the rest of your life”, or “you will probably never be truly thin”, but we believe that we can do this, and nothing is going to stop us from achieving our dreams!
Get started with your training today with the Baptist Health Weight Loss Program. You can learn more by calling HealthLine at 1-888-227-8478.