One of the TV shows that has become a staple in our home is The Biggest Loser (I’m assuming that unless you’ve been in a cave for the past decade and just come out today, you at least have an awareness of this show). It’s a terrific show on so many levels. It’s drama filled (I usually end up in tears about a half dozen times each season). It shows you both ends of the human condition–when we are at our worst and when we are at our best. It demonstrates the power of coaching. And, it’s family friendly. It’s uplifting and inspiring. All good stuff.
Last night marked the start of a new season of the show. This season, the theme focuses on excuses. Apparently, all of this season’s contestants were chosen because they have pretty big excuses they are making for how they ended up so dramatically overweight and unhealthy. Personally, I think that probably every season of this show could probably have had the same theme, but I’m glad they are highlighting it this time around.
What has happened to these contestants is that they have given up. It started with an excuse, but now it’s become a way of thinking and behaving. They have become victims of own life. And they feel helpless to do anything about it.
What is powerful about The Biggest Loser is that as you watch it, you realize that the process of successful weight loss (transformation) for these people is as much about changing their mindsets and beliefs about themselves as it is about exercise and diet. The trainers immediately go to work on the contestants trying to figure out where their victim mindsets reside so they can call them out and start to reprogram that thinking. Once they crack the code on the mindset, the rest of the puzzle generally falls into place.
The Biggest Loser is a great example for how coaching and development works. At the foundation is this truth: if you get the mindset right, great results will follow. Faulty mindsets can undermine the best training efforts in the world. If you have an employee with great talent who’s under-performing, start with their mindset. Invite them to live up their potential. Find out what’s holding them back and help them reshape how they think about their work.
Changing mindsets changes lives.
Great post Jason…the show is inspirational, and the new theme can certainly be universally applied!
Great post my friend !! It's a stance that we all should take.
Great post! Isn't it amazing how one little excuse can grow and we can let it gain so much power over us? The thing is, only WE can give the power over. Only we can allow ourselves to be victimized. You've provided a great reminder here with a culturally relevant example that can remind us again every week! Thanks for that!