#80: Getting the Support You Need

"Find people who've done what you want to do and surround yourself with them." Jeff Olson

Isn't this one of the great opportunities we have via the SparkPeople site? Simply by SparkMailing we can learn specifically how others have achieved such dramatic changes in their lives. The advice is free. Are you taking advantage of it?

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." Mark Twain

On our journeys to fitness there will always be those who drag us down because what we are attempting to do is what they have either failed at or have never had the courage to try to achieve. We need not waste valuable time listening to the naysayers. Find those who build up your confidence, who are truly gung-ho with a "can do" attitude. Successful people will offer you a hand up, not a hand that will pull you down.

"Surround yourself with people of like mind and different talents and temperaments with the purpose of serving the goals of every member of the group. Associate with these people on a regular basis." Jeff Olson

SparkPeople offers exactly this, a worldwide team of members from various age groups who all share a common bond of gaining better health and weight loss. Like the handwritten pen-pals of days past, a wealth of talents await to serve the greater good of offering encouragement, inspiration and motivation. All it takes is for you to ask and to read of their successes on their blogs and posts.

"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company." George Washington

Here on SparkPeople we never are alone. Strangers quickly become friends who offer us hope and caring support, people of good quality who WANT us to succeed.

If you find yourself at a standstill and are not sure which way to turn to begin your fitness journey or if you stumble along the way, reach out to the people here on SparkPeople. Probably more so than with your own family, they will push you to believe in yourself. They will inspire you with their stories of success. They will not coddle and allow you to backslide. They will urge you on to heights of achievement you never dreamed you could reach.

All you have to do is become involved in the community. Accept advice from others and, when you have begun making strides toward your goals, offer your own advice and suggestions to those who in turn need an encouraging word.

Remember, "The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches but to reveal to him his own." Benjamin Disraeli.