Two photos of me, taken about 12 years apart. They have two things in common. They're both me. And in both of them I'm wearing Adidas Superstars.
That's pretty much where the similarities end.
The man on the left
The man on the left is obese, sick and deeply unhappy. Around that time I weighed about 18 stone and had health problems that got in the way of my life every single day.
He was scared to let you see who he was. He was scared to let you in. He was afraid of rejection, and of not being good enough. The weight was the part you could see. The fear was the part he worked hard to hide.
The man on the right
The man on the right feels at least 20 years younger and is comfortable in his own skin.
He still wants you to like him. He's human. But he accepts that not everyone will, and he's fine with that.
He knows who he is. He's honest about who he is, flaws included. And he doesn't need your approval, because he's finally found his own. Most of the time, anyway.
I lost the weight and got my health back by learning about juicing and nutrition. That's a story I've told plenty of times, and I wrote about the low point in And then I got sick. But looking at these two photos side by side, what strikes me most is how differently those two men stand.
I was my own first client
When people ask me what business I'm in, the short answer is change. Whatever part of life needs to move forward, whether that's business, relationships or health, it starts with a decision to change yourself.
I guess you could say I was my own first client.
Not only has my own life changed beyond measure, I've been lucky enough to help countless others move their lives forward too. As a speaker, coach and author, I've used my own story to encourage change in other people. Because a story like this one does something a list of tips never can. It shows someone that it's possible for a person like them.
Never underestimate the ripple effect of what you do. The man on the left had no idea that one day his story would help someone else take their first step.
I wrote more about that in What ripples do you create?. You rarely get to see where your ripples end up. Every so often, someone tells you, and it makes all the hard bits worthwhile.
And if you've got your own before and after, in business or in life, I'd love to see it. Send it my way.
