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  You can’t imagine how many people come up to me on a daily basis, discouraged and overwhelmed, and tell me they “can’t lose weight.” They are misinformed. Every human being can lose weight—it’s part of our genetic makeup. The key is addressing how they’re going about it. When I ask them questions, it becomes clear to me that they aren’t educated about the scientific facts of weight loss and so aren’t able to take effective action.

  They don’t know how many calories to eat, how many calories they are burning, how various foods affect their natural metabolism, and so on. After I teach them Weight Loss 101, they are able to make the proper food and exercise choices so that the weight falls off. This information is out there, however, and they could have saved themselves years of struggle and heartache had they bothered to look for it.

  I can hear some of you right now: I’ve bought book after book, followed fad diet after fad diet, and still not gotten results or “right” information?! If you’re thinking that, you bring up a great point. There’s so much conflicting info out there, how do you know which sources to trust?

  Seek out information from reliable sources that have a proven track record. And always look for evidence, facts, and testimonials that back up and validate the credibility of that information.

  For example, if I want to learn about snowboarding, I’m first going to see if Shaun White has a book, video game, DVD, or podcast on the topic. Considering that he is an Olympic gold medalist in the sport, I feel that qualifies him as one of the foremost experts. Same with Roger Federer and tennis, Meryl Streep and acting, Suze Orman and money. In other words, don’t take diet advice from your brother-in-law, for God’s sake! Unless of course he’s a registered dietitian or a certified fitness trainer. By seeking out knowledge from the foremost authority on the topic, someone who delivers tangible results consistently, you buy yourself huge peace of mind.

  Sometimes you might find more than one authority offering “more than one way to skin a cat.” That’s another reason that being well versed in a subject is critical. You want to ingest all the information you can, apply it to your unique personality, and then pick the course of action that is right for you.

  In most cases, the path to knowledge is fairly well established and straightforward, whether it’s medicine, law, or snowboarding; but in certain instances, as with weight loss, you will come across shysters. And where you find half-truths and misinformation, you will always find greed. If something sounds too good to be true, IT IS! Use your common sense, and trust your gut to weed out bullshit. We all know that you can’t eat anything you want and lose weight, there’s no miracle pill that replaces exercise, and you can’t just take the stairs. Don’t look for shortcuts. Be prepared to put in the time and work. Ninety-nine percent of the time we allow ourselves to be misled because someone has played upon our apathy, but they can sell you a crock only if you’re willing to buy it.

  Having the proper knowledge before taking action is a critical factor in whether you succeed or fail. It doesn’t matter how you get the information—from a person, book, Internet, DVD, radio, or podcast. The answers are out there. Seek them out, and then use them as tools to improve the effectiveness of your choices and the quality of your life.

  TAKE A HISTORY LESSON

  Sometimes we can overlook the importance of knowing the history of whatever business, craft, or endeavor we want to master. Are there experts that you can study? Are there statistics and trends you can track? Have there been changes over time that you should be aware of? Every generation builds upon the knowledge of the last, and the more you know about what’s transpired in the past, the more equipped you are to kick butt in the present and be an innovator in the future.

  For a very clear example, let’s look at the world of astronomy. (I’m not sure you want to go out and become a physicist or cosmologist, but bear with me, you’ll see where I’m going.) For hundreds of years people believed the earth was the center of everything. Then Copernicus came along in the sixteenth century and posited the heliocentric model of the universe, in which we revolved around the sun, not the other way around. After that, somewhere around 1610, Galileo came along, built the first telescope—minor accomplishment—and corroborated Copernicus’s theory. But he made one small change: the sun was the center of our solar system, he said, but not our universe. Then Kepler came up with the laws of planetary motion, which he based on the observations made by astronomers who’d come before him. A century later Sir Isaac Newton built on that to arrive at his theory of gravitation. Then Einstein shook that theory up with his work on relativity. Then Stephen Hawking came on the scene with his groundbreaking studies of the big bang and black holes. Today theoretical physicists are pondering a “theory of everything,” or an ultimate explanation of nature, or reality, studying new and exciting fields like string theory and membrane theory.

  I’m not trying to give you a headache with all this physics talk; I’m trying to illustrate how a field evolves over time, and each new development is made possible by the study of what came before. Yes, starting your own clothing business (to take just one example) isn’t exactly discovering the keys to the universe. But the same principles apply. If I hadn’t studied what came before me in the field of nutrition and dietary science, I never could have written Master Your Metabolism. (But having a world-class endocrinologist and medical researcher as writing partners didn’t hurt either!) So take note: if you want to rise to the top of your field, study it so that you can expand, revise, and innovate!

  SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME

  Having a mentor can save you a lot of time and accelerate your success. In most things we undertake, there’s no guidebook telling us what to study, what to master, and in what order. If we are new to something, figuring out what skills to hone and what action to take can be a difficult task. As you start out, there’s nothing wrong with asking for help and guidance from those wiser than you. I guarantee you that a lot of the most powerful, successful people you can think of did so, too.

  I’ll tell you a personal story. My business partner, Giancarlo Chersich (affectionately known as G.C.), and I met and connected with Suze Orman through a speaking engagement she and I were signed up for in 2008. Although the event ended up never happening, G.C. and I were fortunate enough to have Suze and her partner, K.T., take us under their wings. Suze counseled us on all kinds of amazingly useful things, from working with QVC to protecting ourselves legally. She warned us that as I got more high profile, litigious people would “inevitably” look to make a quick buck by filing lawsuits against our company. She advised us to get something called an “errors and omissions” insurance policy to cover legal costs in the event of such a lawsuit, and to make sure we were indemnified with all our partners (meaning they would cover our legal costs).

  Sure enough, eighteen months later we found ourselves in a baseless lawsuit, and her advice turned out to be incredibly useful and prophetic. Suze counsels us to this day, thank God, and even advised me on the best time of year to release this book you are currently reading. Finding a good mentor is not easy, so let’s go over a few strategies to help you find your match.

  What do you need? What kind of guidance do you want? Do you need advice, introductions, and networking help? Or do you want someone who can listen and be neutral and helpful when times are trying? If you narrow your focus, it will be easier to find someone who can help you in the way you need it most.

  Make a list. With the above in mind, identify experts that have the qualities you are looking for. It’s important here to keep an open mind and consider a wide range of people. Someone you may not have originally thought of could turn out to be exactly the mentor you need. He or she may be able to help you in ways you hadn’t expected, or in ways you didn’t think you needed. Mentors come in many forms. Your immediate circle of friends and family is the place to start your search, and from there you can move on to teachers and coworkers. If you belong to any groups, what about looking to the group’s lea
der? Do you have a spiritual guide in your life? Really think about everyone among your acquaintances, since it’s always easier to approach someone you know than someone you don’t, although don’t rule out the idea of contacting strangers out of the blue. This brings me to my next point.

  Decide on your approach. Have a game plan in place and a script ready before you ask a person to mentor you. If you don’t already know them, start by learning a little about them so you get an idea of how you can put your best foot forward and be taken the most seriously. Think about how you are going to contact them: by phone, e-mail, written letter, a lunch, a meeting, and so on. Explain why you’ve chosen the person, and what type of advice you’re looking for. If the person is not able to help you, don’t be discouraged. Ask for suggestions of other people who might, or just thank the person for their time and move on. Above all stay positive and open. The right person will come when the time is right.

  Aspire to be the person you admire. The people you most look up to may be inaccessible to you for one reason or another. I realized pretty early on in my career that Oprah was probably too busy to take a reality-show fitness trainer under her wing. So maybe I couldn’t have coffee with her—but I could study her and learn from her by learning about her. Studying the life stories and trajectories of people who have achieved things you want is a very powerful educational tool, not to be underestimated. Aspiration is elusive without role models. Master chess players are famous for studying historical matches between old masters until they are cross-eyed, comparing moves they might have made and identifying mistakes.

  Don’t limit yourself to just one role model. Times change, and individual circumstances or random acts of serendipity must be taken into account. I’ve studied the careers of fitness gurus, self-help masters, brand builders, journalists, and pop culture messengers—everyone from Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons to Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Anthony Robbins, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Barbara Walters. The list goes on. All of these people have achieved goals that I aspire to, and reading up on them has guided and inspired me again and again. How did they get their start? How did they build their success? What was their trajectory? That helped me know what steps to put first in my process and which to leave out entirely.

  This technique, by the way, applies to anything you choose to pursue, whether it’s in your career or your personal life. Let’s say your goal is to lose weight. Look to people you know who have been successful. Maybe you know a colleague who has recently lost fifty pounds. Ask questions about their process, what worked for them, how they got through the plateaus, how often they exercised, what kinds of exercises were most effective, what foods they avoided, and so on.

  SPREAD YOUR BETS

  As you gain knowledge in your area, remember that your objective is not just to amass information, but to wrangle it all into some sort of system that will help you move toward your goal. When you study those who have been successful, pay particular attention to the order of events as they happened. Martha Stewart worked at Family Circle magazine, one of the most successful magazines in its category, for five years before starting her own magazine, Martha Stewart Living. No doubt her five years there taught her much that helped her make Martha Stewart Living a huge success. I’ve chosen to follow that model in my own career as well. A couple of years ago I was given the opportunity to start my own magazine, but with Martha Stewart’s trajectory in mind, I decided to pass. Instead, I accepted an offer to be a contributing editor to Self, the most successful women’s health magazine on the market today. I realized that it would probably be better in the long run to align myself with a top “book” in my field, learn from the best, and then strike out on my own when the time was right.

  Now, an important caveat. For many reasons, don’t limit yourself to following a single model. You have to be able to stay current and forward thinking as the world changes. This is a fluid universe, and you must always be ready to revise your knowledge and adapt your game plan. In my magazine example, I’m realizing now that in today’s environmental, economic, and technological climate, more and more of us are seeking information and entertainment online, and the paper magazine is becoming a dinosaur. Declining ad revenue is forcing many magazines to fold. So a Jillian Michaels magazine may not be in my future after all. Times have changed since Martha’s success, and I’m respecting that, adapting accordingly, and currently choosing instead to focus on my website content at JillianMichaels.com.

  Learning everything you can about your field is absolutely key as a first step to achieving what you want. When you are informed, you have the ability to act powerfully, in a way that effects true, lasting change. Without knowledge, you will fail over and over because your actions will lack merit. So your next step is pretty simple: you gotta practice. Practicing means applying what you learn. If you want to lose weight, you have to practice weight-loss behaviors. You have to practice healthy cooking and working out in order to enhance your effectiveness at those things. If you want to be at the top of your professional field, you have to practice the relevant skills. Practice does make perfect, but only if you are practicing the right things in the right way.

  PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

  I bet you’re thinking, Practice. That’s obvious. I’ll skim this part. Think again. This section is a long one, for good reason. There are many pivotal components to this concept, so buck up and pay attention. The traditional assumption is that we are born with certain talents or a lack thereof, and that brands us for life. This is simply not true. No characteristic of the brain or body constrains us from reaching almost any level of achievement. This is why practice is so important.

  Say you want to go back to school—you should practice test taking and writing skills. Say you want to become more assertive at your current job; you need to practice communication and cooperation skills. It seems obvious, but there’s a catch: putting in hours of plain old hard work like your grandmother told you to isn’t going to cut it. It might make you okay, maybe even good, but it won’t make you great.

  Greatness requires a much more specific kind of work—what we’ll call target practice.

  Target practice means taking action to work SMARTER as well as harder in pursuit of your goals. I also refer to this work as specific practice. But before we get into all that, let’s establish exactly what you’re going to focus your energy on. What is it that you are practicing?

  Are you wondering what the hell I’m talking about? Maybe you’re thinking, Easy. I want to practice tennis so I can improve my game. Okay, that’s true, but what aspects of your game are you going to put your energy into? More specifically, what aspects of the game do you have the power to improve? It’s no good worrying about who your opponent is going to be, or whether they will be better, stronger, or faster than you. But you can focus on your serve, your backhand, and your net play, thus being proactive and making yourself stronger for any opponent who might come along.

  So when looking at what to practice, you have to focus your efforts on things you have the power to change and improve. Often we think that the outside world has to change before we can. If only I had a better boss … If only I had my degree … If only there were more job opportunities, then I’d have a better career. If only I were thin, then I would fall in love. If only there were a gym closer to my house, I’d work out more. If only, if only, if only …

  This reactive mode of thinking will get you nowhere fast. Reactive people focus on other people and on external circumstances over which they have no control. This is fruitless and serves only to drain your valuable energy and contribute to feelings of hopelessness, inadequacy, and victimization. Without a proactive focus, you will find yourself in that dreaded loop where you continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. If something truly is out of your control, no matter how hard or how smart you work, the likelihood is that it will remain unchangeable by you.

  The real path to success lies in knowing how to change yourself from the ins
ide out. What can you work on right now to make your situation better? Can you be more patient, determined, creative, positive, knowledgeable, or flexible? By using a proactive focus, you direct your energies toward practicing the things you can change, which will help you gain control of most situations and, ultimately, your life.

  For example, suppose you want to lose weight, but your family is always eating junk food around you. What should you do? You can try talking to your family and getting them to change their eating habits. But what if they don’t? Even if they do, how will you control your coworkers who are eating crap around you, or the strangers at restaurants who sit next to you? You really can’t. The solution is to focus on you. Create different active-family quality times that aren’t about food, like challenging each other to Wii tennis every night instead of watching TV. At work, try bringing in healthy snacks for your coworkers, and instead of happy hour start a walking group and see who joins. If people don’t get on your bandwagon, set healthy boundaries and continue to perfect the things you can control, as that will set you up for success.

  It’s not what happens to you, but your response to what happens to you, that makes or breaks you in this life. By changing your responses, you change the end result. Don’t spend your life reacting to the emotional lives and behavior of others, thereby allowing their weaknesses to control you. Instead focus on your own actions and values. That is where true freedom and accomplishment lie.