Who doesn’t love accountability? Well, at first thought, probably no one! The thoughts that run through my head are “I have to tell someone my secrets” or “I don’t want to have to answer to anyone else!” You might even be thinking, “I’m successful, I don’t need to be accountable. I’m accountable to myself.” Well, if the concept of accountability isn’t your favorite thought, then let’s explore the idea further.
I was on an airplane traveling to a speaking engagement a while back. While on a plane, I like to relax or read my current book or periodical. I left my book in the overhead bin because I wanted to relax. For some reason, I opened the seatback pocket and pulled out a magazine. I read about a high school runner who eclipsed the 4-minute mark for his mile and won the race that day. For a world class runner, that is a big deal – but for a high school runner, that’s amazing! But when you look a little further, you see that the second place runner also broke the 4-minute barrier too! When the winner was asked how he did it, he said, “Well, I was being pushed every step of the race. When I thought about pacing, there he was – right behind me. I would have never achieved this had it not been for my competition.” When the 2nd place finisher was asked how it felt to lose the race but break that milestone, he said, “I never could have done it had I not been chasing my opponent with everything that I had. I wanted to slow the pace, but he kept me accountable and I just ran!”
Accountable means “being responsible for some action.” Being accountable means to take responsibility for your actions; or equally responsible for your inaction. And let’s face it; it’s usually your inaction that keeps you from your dreams and goals!
The second place finisher may not have gotten the gold medal but he got something even more incredible – the achievement that most runners never see – a sub 4-minute mile! Who cares if you win or lose if you are that successful? I can’t sit here and say that if I had 10-million dollars that I would regret not making eleven!
Another situation can be seen on The Biggest Loser during my season of Second Chances. I had accountability out the wah-zoo! When people ask me how I lost 239 pounds in 210 days, I always cite the accountability factor. First, there was Rudy. He lost 234 pounds and 52.94% of his body weight. I beat him by losing 239 pounds and 55.58% of my body weight. When asked how I did it, my quote on the finale show was, “I’ve spent most of my time trying to catch up to this guy <pointing to Rudy>!” In fact, it is touted as the greatest race in the history of The Biggest Loser. On any other season except season 7 and 8, Rudy would have won – just like that 2nd place finisher in the mile. However, we needed each other to keep us accountable in order to accomplish what we did.
You see, accountability is not a bad thing; it’s the thing that will get you what you want the most – success! You need someone pushing you or you’ll never go as far.
In the Journey Training, we help people set goals and visualize dreams. Then they meet people in their own class to help them achieve those dreams – but only if they’re willing to be accountable! Remember, accountability = responsibility. That means that not being accountable = victim mentality! As for me, I welcome accountability – will you?
If there is one thing I’ve learned from sports, it’s that you don’t have to be the best to win. Let me give you some examples.
On my high school football team, I didn’t “fit” my position. I was 5’11” tall and weighed 165 pounds my senior year – and I was the Strong Tackle. The head coach told the offensive line coach over and over not to start me, but coach Epps saw that what I lacked in size, I made up in heart. He fought for me to keep my position. Going against 250-300 pound defensive linemen wasn’t easy, but I found a way around it. After analyzing the situation, I thought, “Well, if they aren’t on their feet, they can’t make a tackle!” so when we ran the ball, I’d just take out their legs. It hurt when all that weight would crash down on top of me, and my hurt shoulders still feel it when I’m in the gym today, but they made very few tackles! When we passed the ball, I remembered Newton’s Law of Motion: An object in motion tends to stay in motion. I’d just let them decide which way they wanted to go, then I’d get underneath them and encourage them to go there! I’d use their weight against them! Success!
In wrestling, being just over the line of heavyweight proved tough! My opponents were MUCH bigger than I was! So I just began by trying not to get pinned. Then I tried to take every advantage I could! But I must say that using my teeth when an opponent flipped me onto my back and I couldn’t breathe wasn’t such a prudent decision – I ended up disqualified that day! However, I did take advantage of the referee’s whistle on the match next to ours! When he blew the whistle and my opponent on top thought it was ours, I turned and tackled him to take a 1 point lead with 5 seconds left! I had beaten a man almost twice my size!
I also played basketball when I was younger. I was never fast or tall, so how would I be able to score points? Well, with a basketball goal in our driveway and two older sisters who were good at it, I learned to shoot from the outside! I could swish a shot before the defender could get close enough to block it!
Then there was baseball. I was a little overweight and very slow. If hit the ball in the infield, how would I ever get to 1st base? So I worked on placing my hits and would punch it just over their heads into the outfield! At least I got to first! Now second was a different story.
My point is that you don’t have to be the best at what you do, but you do have to be a problem solver. Analyze the situation (look), Figure out solutions and multiply them what works), and determine what to get rid of what doesn’t work).
The next time you are up against some odds, follow those three steps! Analyze and try, multiply what works, and stop what doesn’t work. Even if you don’t become an expert at it, you will become better than you were before, which in any sense spells SUCCESS!
Have you ever wondered how life got so complicated? When I was young, things seemed easier. All I had to do was worry about getting my homework done, getting to football practice on time, and the girl I was dating at the time. (Alright, so the girl was a little complicated!) Have you ever thought, “Boy, life was so much simpler then, but now it’s so doggone complicated!” Well, I agree.
I speak worldwide about achieving goals, success, and living your dreams – not because I know about everything, but I do know a lot about those three things. During my season of The Biggest Loser, I lost more percentage of body weight than any other contestant in the history of NBC’s Biggest Loser. And I owe much of it to simplifying my plan.
On the Biggest Loser ranch, life once again became simple. I woke up and began my day which consisted of 3 things: keep my diet on track, get the work or the exercise in, and stay on the Biggest Loser Ranch. While I was there I had no phone calls, bills, television, internet, email, and other daily distractions we all have to deal with. My focus was completely on those three things: Diet, exercise, and staying there.
It’s funny in life how we tend to make things more complicated than we need to. The way to stay there was to lose enough weight to keep me above the yellow line. When my teammates created an alliance & threatened to vote me off, I had to get immunity. If I did that, they couldn’t vote me off. Losing the weight was the key and doing the work was the most important part, so I kept my head down and worked harder than ever! Steps 1 & 2 were that simple.
But oh the diet! So many people ask me, “What did you eat on the ranch? What was the diet like?” I’m not going to go into details here, but I will tell you it was simple. I knew what foods to eat, what foods not to eat, how to prepare them and how much to eat! But the thing that made me so successful was keeping it simple. A healthy diet doesn’t have to be complicated. It just has to work. In fact, I ate many of the same foods prepared slightly different while I was on the show! I knew that EASY does it! Complicated is just that: complicated!
Whatever you do, look for the simple way to do it. Sometimes too many details just get in the way of what we really want – success.
In life, one of two things can happen… the positive thing or the negative thing. I was talking with my pastor and his wife the other night and she said something that really shocked me. She said her daughter had moved to another school, and she was having some trouble making friends. She got up in the morning and said, “Today is going to be bad…I am going to eat lunch alone again! No one knows me here!” My pastor’s wife said “Dear, if you believe that and channel your energy to that, that is what will probably happen!” She then told her to speak out of her mouth, “Today is going to be great. I am going to make a new friend and eat lunch with someone.”
Well, she did. You see, we tend to create our worst fears. If you are afraid you are going to fail that test, you probably will…only because you believe it! Here’s another example:
As a child there was a young boy. His mother always told him, “You are very smart! But you are not mechanically inclined! Get knowledge, but forget doing things with your hands!”
The man was an incredibly smart individual, but he never did anything that took mechanical skills. You see, he was “programmed” to NOT do that! Where are you channeling your energy and beliefs? START CHANNELING THEM FOR SUCCESS! CHANGE THE CHANNEL! YOU hold the key. YOU can change your future. Channel your thoughts and beliefs to a positive, constructive, successful area! The results will surprise you!
“You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.” ~ Zig Ziglar
I’ve learned by traveling the world as a motivational speaker that you have to know where you’re going before you can get there. When I left for The Biggest Loser in 2009, I knew two things: God gave me this opportunity, and it was my responsibility to act on it.
180 pounds was my destination – quite a long road from 430 pounds! But if I never set the destination, how I would I ever get there? There are two things you must know to navigate to your destination: Where you are and where you are going. The first step is to acknowledge where you are, which we talked about in last month’s column. The second step is defining where you want to be. Only then can you “map” the road to success! I had less than 7 months to get there, so I had to devise a plan!
First, games weren’t in the plan. My job was hard work and staying on the ranch! I was going to help everyone I could while keeping my nose to the grindstone! Second, I learned about losing weight! Let me explain.
I learned that 3,500 calories equaled a pound. I made a goal of losing of 1½ pounds per day – a 5,250 calorie deficit. If I ate 2,000 calories, I would need to burn 7,250 calories per day to reach my goal. This gave me a mark to hit – a target! Some days I would fail, some days I would succeed, and other days I would exceed the mark! The show’s nutritionist Cheryl Forberg and Trainer Jillian Michaels taught me what to eat, and Bob Harper and Jillian taught me how to burn calories – SWEAT! Then I hit GO on my GPS.
When you are in debt it can seem overwhelming. I know this. We owed $62,700 of unsecured debt just a few years ago. Darci and I paid off that debt in just a few years – WITH A PLAN! At my YouTube channel, you can see the video of Darci and me seen on Joyce Meyer earlier this year describing our journey! It took a plan and self discipline to get there.
In marriage, it is wise to counsel with your fiancé and learn each other’s goals BEFORE saying I do! Then you can know where you both presently are and where you both want to go – and you can agree on plan to get there. In whatever area you are looking change – health, finances, marriage, parenting, any area – you must devise a plan. I urge you to find wisdom from good people who can help you such as your pastor, a counselor, or a trusted friend or support group. Then follow that plan to focus on the future you want, not the future you might happen upon! As Benjamin Franklin said, “If you fail to plan you are planning to fail.”
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