10 Steps to Becoming Fearless

Fear and Fearlessness

By Michelle Aguilar, Season Six winner of The Biggest Loser

I have lived so much of my life right smack in the middle of these two words. They are both powerful given the right scenario and in the same light can be major road blocks for your life and mine. So how can we keep the balance? Well we are going to explore 10 steps that will give you the necessary tools to do just that. My recent journey through The Biggest Loser magnified my fears to a point of having to face them head on and no longer leave them in the dark corner. Its my hope that each of you will find the strength to take a deeper look at your own fears and face them as well...

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2. Identify "Trouble Zones"

We all have triggers in our life that can serve to remind us of our fears and failures. The best thing to do is to Identify them right away. Keeping in mind that you may not be able to avoid them all together, but you can choose how you react in the moment. Not to mention we show more strength when we are able to press through rather than falling apart. For instance at The Biggest Loser gym I knew that it was a “trigger” for me when we had to do incline training. I would start to panic just thinking about it, not to mention I would burst into tears almost immediately as the work out began. I had to change my attitude about the machine so that it did not lead me to falling apart at the mere thought of it. And ultimately I came to see that it wasn't the machines fault and was actually beneficial to my training. Can you see areas in your life that are Triggers and can you make a course correction today?

3. Goal Setting

It’s important to set realistic goals whether it’s your career or in weight loss, it is a vital tool. Getting all your ideas out of your head and on to paper via a journal or whatever tech tool you love will bring about a peace to what is sure to be a chaotic issue in your life. Don't forget to also set some goals for your fears that you want to overcome and or areas that are holding you back in life. When you are able to more clearly see what you hope to achieve overtime and you have an opportunity to evaluate all of your life's ups and downs along the way. Getting to the finale was a huge goal of mine, but I also set short term goals to keep me motivated. So don’t forget to give time parameters, you don't want it to seem endless.

7. Forgiveness Factor

It makes me sad to hear reports of people who give up after a set back. Set-backs like fear are a part of life. We all face the reality of making a mistake, but its how we respond to the mistake that sets us apart and on a path to a full and fearless life. Is it lunch time and you have already blown your diet, or are your waiting for the new year to change your life and start fresh? I want to charge you with the mind set of starting now, right now and to do that you have to forgive. It’s more likely that you can forgive a perfect stranger before you can forgive yourself. My life after The Biggest Loser is all about forgiving me, I make poor choices all the time, but I choose not let a bad moment, become a bad day, week or 6 years. This should not be done mindlessly, but with the intention of moving forward and making changes in the future.