For years, Sonia Turner went to bed wanting to lose weight and woke up wanting to lose weight.

“Desire wasn’t the problem. What I lacked was the belief that I really could lose weight,” recalls Sonia, a 43-year-old real estate agent from Timmins, Ontario. “I decided that before I could change my body, I had to change my way of thinking.”

In January 1997, when she weighed 285 pounds, Sonia started a scrapbook called My Dream Book. In it, she pasted images of people exercising, news stories of folks overcoming adversity, and, most significant, a photograph from her husband’s company newsletter showing a trim-looking, smiling couple at a Christmas party.

Sonia and her husband hadn’t gone to that party. “I wanted to stay home because I was embarrassed,” she says. “I cut out that picture and said, ‘Next year, we’re going.’

For several weeks, Sonia listened to motivational tapes and poured over the classic book The Power of Positive Thinking. Finally, she felt ready to address eating and exercise.

Sonia wanted a plan for life, not just a diet. She evaluated her eating habits and started making more sensible food choices. She took up walking, and as the pounds came off, she graduated to jogging. She also signed up for TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), which provides group support to its members.

By the time the holidays rolled around, Sonia had lost 135 pounds. She and her husband went to the company Christmas party and danced the night away.

Now, her sights are set even higher: She wants to run a marathon. “To be able to run is an unbelievable experience,” she says. “I just fell in love with it.”

Her dream book remains central to her motivation. Only this time, it’s packed full of pictures of runners crossing the finish line.

WINNING ACTION

Learn how to believe in yourself. Not ajl of us grow up with a positive sense of self or the belief that we can get what we really want. Sometimes, we have to learn those important lessons from others. Some of my favorite sources of motivation are Anthony Robbins’s Awaken the Giant Within, Oprah Winfrey’s Make the Connection, and Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Full Catastrophe Living. And like Sonia, we should go ahead and dream. After all, dreams do come true.

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