Many of you have heard me say that I am on a mission to rid the world of obesity, one person at a time. I think there are many of us who would like nothing more than to see each and every one of our friends and loved ones live very long, healthy lives.  We’ve all heard about financial freedom, but I say it’s time we talk about HEALTH freedom.

You can help those you love find real freedom through healthy living.  There is no better way to stay motivated than by supporting others. Below are a few tools that can be used as we seek to help others find freedom.

Train those around you.  Think back to the very beginning of your journey.  Did you know what you were doing?  I mean, you knew what your end goal was, but did you know HOW you were going to get there?  There was probably a learning curve. Maybe you even had a mentor who helped point you in the right direction. When we start living a healthy lifestyle, it's so important to share our knowledge with others, especially with those we love.  We need to build a strong foundation at home, at work, and with our social networks.  This doesn’t always have to come in the form of verbal communication; actions often speak louder than words.

Understand real freedom.  Oftentimes, people think they don’t deserve to be healthy; that they don’t deserve that freedom.  This makes no sense to me.   I want the people I care about to be free.  I don’t want them to be tied up in guilt.  Let’s face it: Many of the reasons we become overweight are due to depression and/or addiction.  Typically, we have issues forgiving ourselves.  Since we have issues forgiving ourselves, we stress about it, which hinders our entire journey.  As you work on your journey, take notes to share with others.  Each journey and person is different, but we can still share our experiences.  Tell your loved ones that you don’t want them to be shackled by worry.  You don’t want them to be tripped up with resentment.  You don’t want them to be consumed with the expectations of others.  You want them to know what freedom is like and experience life to its fullest.  These are all burdens I have carried, and I see it as a gift now to pass on the knowledge I have received.

There is only one way to be free: Teach the truth.  A life built on the truth is one filled with happiness, joy and purpose.  If you share your knowledge you could be sparing those you care about the headaches and heartaches that you learned the hard way.  As part of this journey, we do lots of soul searching.  Searching for answers, searching for the ''reason'' we needed to be on this journey to begin with.  Searching our souls is a healthy action.  Since I've started this journey, my eyes have been opened to what life should really be about.  I believe we will all come out stronger people if we put in the time and effort to seek freedom.
 
For many of the people in your life, you may be the only one who can help.  This means that you'd better know your stuff!  This should be great motivation for you to keep growing.  Helping another person find the same freedom that you have found is possibly the greatest reward of this journey. I challenge you to help others.  Help them find that freedom they deserve.
 
Do you share your story with others in an effort to help them?  Have you mentored anybody from fat to fit? What was that process like for you?