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Not only will the winner of the Get Fit for Summer Giveaway win a trip of a lifetime to the original Golden Door (worth $9,500), he/she will also win $175 Worth of SpaWeek Gift Cards to relax body and mind at his/her choice of over 3,000 spas nationwide AND a customized health and wellness package from Jillian Michaels, including A 6-month FREE membership to Jillian’s online weight-loss and wellness program, including all of her dieting and workout tips and tools, PLUS Jillian’s bestselling book, Unlimited: How to Build an Exceptional Life.
If you’ve already entered the giveaway on SpaWeek.com (you have until June 30th) and are looking to jump start your wellness goals in the meantime, here is a sneak peak of the first few chapters of Unlimited!
In the introduction to Unlimited, Jillian immediately begins by challenging our predisposed attitudes about our own self-worth. Jillian makes the point that every day we are told to work hard and pay our dues and then only after we have sacrificed everything will our dreams come true:
We’re taught to settle, and we’re made to feel guilty if we single-mindedly go after something we want. We go on to believe that our desires are selfish. That our self-love is arrogant and pompous. All our joy and innocence are stripped away as we’re programmed like androids to live lives of servitude and “responsibility.” Too many of us buy into the idea that there are rules to how this life works, and dues that must be paid.
Jillian claims we are literally taught by society to fear our own desires and ambitions for the betterment of the masses. To march in line like robots, marinating in self-doubt and self-pity about how hopeless our lives have become. That there is no way for us to break free of the ranks and strive for our own personal happiness (whether it’s achieving our goals, mentally, physically or spiritually). Jillian explains:
This book is a manual with only one purpose: to arm you with the strategies you need to achieve anything you desire and become whoever you want to be…
With manual in hand, Jillian preps us for the journey of a lifetime by helping us tap into our life’s dreams, the change we secretly yearn for. She reassures us that yes, we are worthy of the journey:
…Every journey, no matter how huge, begins with a single step. So what is that first step in taking control of your life and beginning to live the way you are meant to live? Simple. (Notice I didn’t say easy.) Your first step is to let your imagination run wild. To live the life of your dreams, you have to know what those dreams are.
This is the fun part, where we can visualize our dreams with the new found clarity Jillian has bestowed upon us. Tapping into your desires, tucked deep down inside you really connected with me as the reader. Who is to say I can’t be what I want to be, that an extravagant goal cannot be realized with the proper skills, tools and planning? My secret, suppressed dream is to be a Victoria’s Secret swimsuit model. Even though, society makes me feel like this is an outrageous, ridiculous dream (not only because of what I look like, but because of how few woman actually achieve this goal). But, if I have the goal and I acquire the tools and hone my skills, getting to the peak of my dream won’t be easy, but it can be a simple and transparent. Get the Tools: get healthy and work on my body. Learn the skills: practice, practice. Plan: pursue my dream everyday with every fiber in my being. Simple, not easy… just like Jillian said.
With this new found excitement about my aspirations actually being possible, I still have doubts. Am I worthy of dreaming this big? Will come off as arrogant and selfish? Jillian makes a meaningful distinction between being humble and being egotistical:
I’m sure some of you are thinking, I wasn’t brought up like this. I was taught to be humble and accept my lot. Yeah? Well, so was I. Let’s be clear: wanting things and feeling worthy of a great life do not mean you think you are more deserving or better than everyone else. We are all deserving of happiness. Those of us who throw off society’s conventions to attain our goals are showing others that it’s possible for them as well. Don’t mistake healthy ego strength and prosperity for greed and ostentation.
The best advice Jillian gives in her introduction is now that you have opened your eyes to the possibilities of your dreams, you’re going to have to shift your focus onto yourself. This may be uncomfortable feeling for you, not to mention those around you. But Jillian stresses this one, final point:
…Do not compromise your happiness because of others’ lack of insight. You owe it to yourself and to the wider world to max out your potential.
Jillian opens the door and lets us know it’s time to focus on our goals. What dream is hidden deep down inside of you that you wish you had the skills and tools to bring to the surface? What would you like to achieve if you had a blueprint for success? What could you achieve if you were free of self-doubt?
The possibilities are Unlimited.
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