“You’re going into surgery right now. Put your things in this plastic bag.”

And she walked off.

I was still numb from the shock.

I hardly ever got sick, and had never had surgery.

This was not the way my Christmas vacation was supposed to begin…

Yesterday I was at Disneyland!

No Time To Lose

I called my dad and told him I was going in for surgery, right that instant. I told him I was fine and would be ok, but He wasn’t buying it.

He was on the next plane out so he would be there as soon as I was sent home.

They took me upstairs and injected some anesthetic.

For about 10 seconds, I felt extremely calm…then I passed out.

When I awoke, I was groggy, and confused before I remembered where I was.

Oh, right: I’d been sliced open, my appendix was gone and my clothes were somewhere in a plastic bag.

The Surgery is a Success

They told me the surgery went smoothly, and that it was a good thing I had come in when I did – any longer and it may have ended my life.

Then … the bad news.

Only liquids for a week

No strenuous physical activities for at least a month

I mentioned to my surgeon I was in the middle of an important workout routine, involving lifting heavy weights.

He was unsympathetic: “Not anymore.”

Frustration

I used to think the hardest part of weight training was the grueling workouts…but I was wrong.

The hardest part about weight training is wishing you could lift weights but not being able to.

Lifting weights, yoga and running are a big part of my life – but I never realized how much they meant to me until they were gone.

Once I lost them though, every day I felt a feeling of anxiousness to get back in the gym.

I thought of all the times I had complained about going – and how often I had skipped a workout.

I wished I could have had all those days back.

My First Day Back

When I was finally cleared to workout again, I entered the gym relief, happiness – and newfound motivation to make up for lost time and to get more serious about the things I wanted.

I entered with a promise to myself to be excellent.

And I was.

Excellence

I tackled my workouts with more motivation than ever before.

I ate perfectly.

I slept perfectly

I never missed a workout

I was incredibly strict – and it was the happiest I have ever been weight training.

I looked forward to it every day – I was thankful just to be back in the gym.

I made more progress working out in those six months than in the three years prior.

Stop Taking Things For Granted

My biggest lesson from that was experience was this:

Taking things for granted has stopped me from achieving my goals more than the breaks that never came.

All those years I could have worked out, I could have had laser focus – but I didn’t. I procrastinated,

I wasted time and then only when I lost what I had taken for granted the whole time did I wake up and get serious.

I didn’t need a big break – I just needed to take the chance I already had right in front of me.

Take today’s lesson as a starting point – and stop taking something for granted in your life today.

Appreciate it.

Take advantage of the moments and opportunities in your life right now.

Remember – YOU Are The “Something” You’ve Been Waiting For. You don’t have to wait anymore.

Take Action Today

You don’t have to go it alone. If you like what you’ve seen so far, and want to make the most out of your life, take a moment to read the details about my course The Action Solution and see if it’s something you’d be interested in. It is the result of decades of experience, and hundreds of hours of working with real people – just like you.

Additional Resources

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