The Results are in!

Since it’s Chinese New Year, it’s been kind of crazy the last few days and I just couldn’t find the time to write this blog…I’M SORRY

I’ve gotten quite a few emails from you asking for the final results for the 10 in 20…people want to know if I did or did I not reach my goal to lose 10 lb in 20 days.

The answer… An resounding YES!!!

Saturday morning I got on the scale and voila! I weighed 158.6 lb which means that in 20 days, I lost 10.2 lbs! Not too shabby.

The best part about this whole thing is that I was able to shave off my beard. It actually feels kind of weird not having a beard now.

For the last few days, I’m back on the maintenance phase.  All I need to do is to maintain my new weight for awhile to allow my body to get used to it, then I will attack again and try to lose some more weight! I don’t know when that will happen but hopefully it won’t take as long as it did the last time! Actually, I have a feeling it will happen when my wife gets tired of my beard, like she did the last time.

I can’t really say it was an easy project but it really was kind of a fun project, especially with all the encouragement I’ve gotten from you.  The truth is that I’ve never attempted anything like this in the past and I really didn’t know if I would be able to pull it off.

Think about it: I’ve been been going on diets for about 4 years and I was stuck at the same place for more than 1 year but for some unknown reason (well, actually… we know the reason….it’s because my wife called me fat), I decided to attempt to lose 10 lbs in 20 days.  It was an ambitious goal.  To be honest with you, had I not been blogging my progress everyday and sharing it with you so that you could help keep me accountable, there is a very good chance I would’ve given up half way through. So once again, I want to thank you for helping me in this journey!

I also would like you to think about your own dream – Something you’ve always wanted to do, something that’s beyond your comfort zone, something that feels larger than life, something you’re afraid to chase after because you’re not sure you can pull it off……something Jim Collins called the BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOAL in his New York Times bestseller “Built to Last”.

It’s a dream so large and seemingly so overwhelming, you are afraid to even think about it.  Yet every time you do, your heart quickens and you feels a burst of excitement and energy just thinking about it. It’s this dream that never truly goes away and it continues to tug at your heartstrings and stir you emotionally… THAT my friend, is your big hairy audacious goal.

I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about because we all have one of those!!!

For me, it’s to finish off my 50 lbs weight loss project.

For you, it may be to start exercising regularly once again so you can feel active and productive again.  It may be that you want to go back to school and finish that last course and get your degree.  It may be you want to rebuild your relationship with your teenage daughter.  You may want to quit smoking.  You may want to get your cholesterol under control.  You may just want to get out of pain and live a normal life again.

Truth is, this dream by definition is too big and too difficult (think about it, it’s supposed to be big and hairy and audacious), but whatever your BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOAL is… it’s time for you to start going hard after it!!!

It will take time.  It will take effort.  It will take sacrifices – But you will be better off because you’ve given it your best shot and you chased hard after your dream.

I learned this lesson from one of my coaches.  He pushed me to chase after the sun so that if I happened to fall short and I failed to reach to sun, at least one day I will wake up and realize I’ve reached the star.

Too many people are not finding fulfillment in life not because they set a dream that’s too big for them to accomplish but rather because they set a dream too SMALL and they accomplished it too easily.

Life is not supposed to be easy and it is definitely not fair.  At the same time, you are resilient, you are resourceful, and you have amazing abilities that are currently dormant within you just waiting to be released.  Many of you are like eagles longing to soar through the sky, but your wings have been clipped by the constant pain and fatigue, and you’ve been grounded by your life’s circumstances.  Today, I’d like to encourage and challenge you not to settle and compromise and to not allow any circumstances to take over your life.

It is true that not everyone will achieve their drea, but although happiness can be the result of obtaining your goal, true joy only comes from walking through the process and knowing that you gave it your all.

I encourage you to share your dream with this community, so that we can cheer you on, and offer support and help anyway we can.  Nothing worthwhile is life is worth doing alone and we will be more than honored to walk though this journey with you