Last week I talked about how my journey has turned into more than what I lost I has been about what I gained too. I gained a calling (or did I discover it).

Operation Melt started as a way to share updates about my weight loss journey to help keep me accountable. Then it grew into a platform where I could tell my story in various ways including sharing some of the tips and tricks I have discovered along the way.

Once I learned that people were starting to benefit from what I was sharing it all started to change. I learned that my voice, my story and my approach are inspirational, motivational and instructional to some people to help them achieve their own goals. This is what inspired me to write my book and is what keeps me motivated to keep sharing content every day.

Calling

My calling is to help build a world where no goal ever dies of loneliness.

I almost went my whole life without even really trying to fix a problem that has annoyed and embarrassed me since I was I kid. It turns out that the solution was completely within my hands, was attainable in less than a year and was a journey that I enjoyed. Now I am living a life of fitness and confidence instead of a live of obesity and embarrassment.

This story repeats for people every day. While the goal that I achieved that started Operation Melt was getting fit it could have been anything. It could have been going to college, getting a new job, starting a business or countless other goals. It is the same challenge every day. People have goals that just stay inside their brains and die with them. They never even try to achieve them.

That is what I mean when I talk about goals dying of loneliness.

This doesn’t mean that everybody will be successful with every goal at every attempt. Failure will happen. But I believe that it is complete acceptable and admirable to try to achieve a goal and fail. That is how we learn and at least you had the courage to try. Not trying is the problem I want to solve.

I recently read the book Limitless: How to Ignore Everybody, Carve your Own Path, and Live Your Best Life by Laura Gassner Otting and it had a big impact on me. One of her key points is that we are all searching for “consonance” in our lives and careers, that feeling that what I am doing aligns with who I am. It comes down to four key components: calling, connection, contribution and control.

After reading Limitless it became clear to me why certain aspects of my career mean so much to me. Being a project manager is a direct connection to my calling. I use project management to help people achieve big professional goals that are expressed as projects. I also use mentoring to help people achieve their own personal and professional goals. I use continuous improvement and technology to help teams and companies improve their probability of being successful.

It all started becoming clear once I discovered my calling.

The Journey Continues

I could never have discovered my calling without my Operation Melt journey. But you may be asking yourself: isn’t that journey done now? I hit my 100 pounds and then 30% more. I ran my half marathon. I wrote my book. I am happy to say the answer is no.

I continue to set and work to accomplish new fitness goals daily. To be sure, I am still focused on maintaining what I accomplished and not moving backwards. But I am not just playing defense in my fitness journey, I am on full-on offense too with new goals.

This week I achieved another one of my goals. I had set a goal to be able to bench press 100 pounds by June 15. I started at just 55 pounds back in September when I set this goal. This week I was able to bench press 100 pounds for three repetition a full four weeks ahead of my goal date. I am going to keep working on being able to do more reps but I did it.

By the way I also set a personal record for squats the same day and have run more than ten miles this week too!

It is critical for me to continue moving forward in my fitness journey.

For too long in my life I have checked things off my list never to look back. That is not how I am going to operate. I am going to keep focusing on making the things that are important to me better every day. That is where my ongoing goals come into the picture.

Fitness Loft Collaboration

I have been a member of The Fitness Loft Columbus for about a year and a half now and love it. They are my go-to for any exercise that I can’t do outdoors and I have been working with a trainer, Teresa Moore, there for more than a year. They have definitely helped me take my fitness journey to the next level.

This week The Fitness Loft started helping take Operation Melt to the next level too. They officially became the first brick and mortar location to buy Operation Melt: How I Used Life-Changing Project Management to Lose Over 100 Pounds in Under a Year in their gear shop. Then they told their followers about it on social media.

It is exciting to make my first bulk sale of my book. But it is even more exciting to see my book on shelves where people can see it every day. The more people who see the book the more likely it will be able to help somebody who needs it.

Plus this is just he first of several upcoming collaborations between The Fitness Loft and Operation Melt. So stay tuned for exciting new announcements!

Operation Melt 5k

Just a reminder that the second annual Operation Melt informal 5k is coming up on 6/15. The time has move up to 9a due to some conflicts with some of the runners.

This is completely informal 5k (e.g. no medals, t-shirts, run at your own risk, etc.) that celebrates the second anniversary of kicking off my Operation Melt journey. It also celebrates fitness and accomplishing our goals. It is a small group, it is a very laid back environment to walk or run and it benefits a local non-profit, Central Community House.

Central Community House provides a number of services but has a focus on helping get families out of poverty. As somebody who grew up in poverty I can tell you that this is an absolutely worthwhile focus. Plus nothing is a bigger contributor to obesity than poverty.

Thanks for reading… check back next week for more.