I wanted to jump start this blog by telling you about one of the most amazing life design stories I’ve ever been honored to be part of. This is my very brief version of an incredible woman’s story. I met Angela last summer and have been following her journey ever since.
Our paths crossed in Lake Tahoe where Brooke Castillo had given her first intensive five-day weight loss workshop. I was training with Brooke at the time and was there to observe and do a little coaching. 
I first coached Angela while she was on the treadmill, obviously not overjoyed about being in a gym. Exercise, in Angela’s opinion, was supposed to bestow certain benefits (like added energy, euphoria, and weight loss) upon its participants… benefits that Angela had never received whenever she’d given it a try. And since working out didn’t “work” for Angela, she had no interest in any type of physical fitness activities.
If you’ve read Brooke’s book (If I Am So Smart, Why Can’t I Lose Weight?), you already figured out that Angela’s exercise philosophy qualified her as a “taker”… in the sense that she expected to take the expected benefits of exercise.
Angela has a doctorate degree and is a brilliant, articulate woman. Being labeled a “taker” did not set well with her, so she set out to prove her diagnosis wrong.
Well, she couldn’t prove it wrong, but did she ever CHANGE IT! Angela soon grasped the concept that exercising for benefits is very different from the gift of exercise. Within a month of returning home from Lake Tahoe, Angela made a commitment to herself that she would give her body the gift of exercise every day. She decided that her body was deserving of this gift and she was giving with no expectation of benefits. Here we are eight months post-Tahoe and Angela has been faithful to that commitment. Pretty amazing, isn’t it?
Actually, we didn’t even get to the amazing part yet!
Sunday afternoon (May 18, 2008), I received an email from Angela stating that she had just completed her first triathlon. Yes, I did say triathlon! Angela swam, biked and ran for two hours and nineteen minutes straight... beating her personal goal by eleven minutes!
Last Fall, Angela began running, biking and swimming -- and in case I forgot to mention, she had never ridden a bike before in her life!
You can read about Angela’s inspiring story on her website and blog. But the main reason I wanted to introduce her to you is because I believe that Angela’s story could very well be YOUR story.
YOU can change your attitude toward exercise.
YOU can learn how to do activities you’ve never done before.
YOU can commit to giving your body the gift of exercise.
And, YOU can achieve great things!
Last year at this time, Angela had no way of knowing the personal joy and fulfillment she’d be basking in today. She didn’t have to know. She just created it. You can too!
