When I go into a Competition, My Goal is to Win.
Often though, I am faced with the Reality that I may not be the Fastest, Strongest, or Smartest.
There is Nothing Wrong with Losing if you put 100% of your Effort into it.
As US Long-Distance Runner Steve Prefontaine once put it...
"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift."
I can Happily Accept a Loss, and even be Mentally Prepared for it (A Stoic Technique to Accept What is Outside Our Control), as Long as I do Everything in my Power to Be My Best.
What I may lack in Skill, I know that I make up for
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In Tenacity
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In Persistence
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In the Willingness to Push My Body to Natural Extremes to Show What "We" as Humans are Capable Of
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In the Audacity to Show Up
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In the Desire to Change the World
Which is what I did.
My Goal was to show what "We" can Accomplish when We come together.
If I Won, I planned to Create a Giant Positive Impact on the World.
However, I knew there were Factors that were Completely Outside my Control that could lead to a Loss.
I could Not "Make" People Vote for Me.
I could Not Prevent People from Lying to Me About Voting for Me.
I could Not Prevent the Cheating that Did Occur.
I could Not Force the Organization Running the Event to Do "Anything" About the Cheating - Despite Notifying them Multiple Times about the Threats in Multiple Rounds and Being Ignored.
(I further received Emails from other Competitors who were Threatened and Lost to Cheating Competitors in the same manner, all of which went Ignored by the Overseeing Committee, meaning Cheating was Widespread and Dismissed as Acceptable)
Despite All These Things Outside my Control, it Does Not Mean I was Powerless.
I Knew what "Was" in My Power.
I put in Every Effort to Continue Forward and Gain Support.
Indeed, I received Thousands of Votes, and some people were "So" Dedicated to the Cause that they Voted "EVERY" Day.
I Pushed Forward through Multiple Rounds of the Competition, beating what I've discovered to be Hundreds of Competitors.
I Finished in 2nd Place in my Group Overall.
But, more than that, I made Not One, but "Two" Commitments to Guarantee We Impacted the World through this Competition.
I made my Radical Generosity Guarantee and then further made my Amplified Radical Generosity Guarantee.
In the Competition, whenever someone made a "Hero Vote" (Optional Paid Votes), a portion of their Payment went to the B+ Foundation which helps Kids Fight Cancer.
Some of my Supporters were "Incredibly" Generous and made these Hero Votes.
I received 970 Hero Votes through the Competition!
Some of my Large Supporters in these Efforts that I'd like to Thank Include:
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Britt (My Aunt)
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Caprice (My Mom)
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Richard (Founder of Forever Homes for Foster Kids)
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Dina
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Jarrett
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Tracie
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Isreal
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Dario
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Sandy
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Patty
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Tina
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Nicole
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Rebecca
You all are Heros, Never Forget that.
As a part of the Radical Generosity Guarantee, I did a Matching Donation for Every Hero Vote Received.
I rounded up though.
So $1,000 "More" was Donated to the B+ Foundation, in the name of our Inspirational Founder for Change The World, Scott.
However, with the Amplified Radical Generosity Guarantee, we "Further" committed to Improving the World by Progressing Regenerative Projects.
That Impact was Amazing!
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58 Baby Corals were Planted, which completed 3 Coral Stars that Support Marine Life & Tourism, and Further Provided Employment for Victims of Sex Trafficking
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365 Square Meters of Microhabitats were Protected which provides Enough Land for over 200 Critically Endangered Pseudophilautus Amboli (Baby Frogs) and over 80 Critically Endangered Buceros Bicornis (Baby Birds)
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197 kg of Plastic were Collected from our Oceans, which is Equivalent to 10,000 Plastic Bottles
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117 Mangrove Trees were Planted which can Reverse 146,000 Miles Worth of Carbon Emissions
This is the Kind of Change we can Create when we work together!
This is how We Change The World!
All of this was Accomplished by a Small Group of People in a Very Small Amount of Time!
On Our "First" Major Impact Project!
Imagine how much "More" We "Can" Accomplish by Continuing to Work Toward These Goals?
In the Future, we will be incorporating More Impact Projects into Our Work at Change The World Fitness and The Leadership Guide.
Further, We will Create a "World Changer Team" of Individuals Committed to making a Positive Impact on the World and Developing a Pro Team from those Individuals!
Together, we will Show Everyone that We Can Change The World!
Now, I will leave this with my Final Thoughts about the Mr. Health and Fitness Competition...
I've been asked by a few people about my Experience through the Competition, and if I plan to Compete Again in the Future.
It is a Yearly Competition, so in theory, I could Compete Again.
I have taken a Lot of Time to Really Think about this before I wrote out everything here...
When I signed up to be a "Potential" Competitor, I Honestly had "No" Idea what the Competition was, so I Did Not Know What to Expect.
Overall, I have had a Mixed Bag of Feelings.
I will say that the Impact We have Created has been Spectacular!
Truly, it is a Testament to the Power of Unity!
I also Love that we were able to do so much good in the Fight Against Cancer.
There have been Many People in my Life who have been Impacted by Cancer.
My Friend and Brother Scott lost his battle to Inoperable Brain Cancer.
My Grandfather is currently battling Cancer.
I have had many Friends who have had battles with Cancer.
Cancer is becoming Far Too Common, and we Must do something about it.
So Being a Part of Something that "Is" in the Battle Against Cancer is Amazing.
Then, there was so much Support from so many individuals who were Cheering me on throughout this Competition.
Truly, the Love that these Individuals gave could be Felt, some of who I have Never had the Opportunity to Meet in Person.
It is Incredible to Experience that level of Support from All Over the World!
That is something that I will Treasure.
However, there is also a lot that occurred in this Competition that Truly Made me Question It.
The Lack of Effort made by the Organization to Stop Cheating is something that Really Irked me.
I have Reports from Multiple, Honest, Competitors who Experienced the "Exact" Same form of Cheating, and "Nothing" was done by the Organization.
The "Only" Reason I even got a Response was that I Hounded the Organization for Answers, and I only got Cookie-Cutter Responses that told me They Did Not Care about the Cheating.
When I Compete, I expect the Organizers to Create a Clean Competition.
When I "Know" that they will Not put Any Effort to Ensure a Clean Competition, truly it is a Major Deterrent.
I have Real Supporters who put Good, Hard-Earned Wages into trying to Help this Cause - They Deserve Better than this.
However, maybe I "Shouldn't" be Surprised by an Unclean Competition...
Many of the People Featured by the Organization were Unclean Themselves.
I had Multiple People talk to me about how the Organization's Featured People were Obviously Taking things like Steroids and other Unclean Substances to get their "Results".
Why should I Expect a Clean Competition, when they Highlight Unclean Individuals?
On this line, it tells me that their "Definition" of "Health & Fitness" is Completely Different from my Own.
I wrote an Entire Article about what Health & Fitness "Should" be.
What they Represent is "Everything" I Hate about the "Health & Fitness" Industry that Promotes Sickness and Bodily Abuse while Preying on Insecurities.
There is "Nothing" Health or Fit about it.
This led some of my Supporters to tell me about how Happy they were to See someone "Truly" Healthy and Fit in this Competition.
I had other Supporters tell me how they looked at other Competitors, Adherents to the "Industry Standards", and how looking at those Individuals "Literally" made them Feel Sick.
Even further than this though, the "Way" the Competition is Run is Completely Against my own Virtues.
First, it Really Is Not a "Health and Fitness" Competition - It's a Popularity Contest.
How you Looked, or how Healthy or Fit you were had "No" Bearing on your Success.
All that Mattered was Votes.
I have seen Far Too Many "Popular" People Lie, Cheat, and Push People to do "Horrifying" Things in the World.
I'm tired of "Popularity for Popularity's Sake" - It's a Broken Model that Does Not Do Anything Positive in the World.
But further than this, they Never "Show" you how many Votes You, or "Any" Competitor, have throughout the Competition.
This is essentially an Addiction Tactic used by Gambling Organizations to Psychologically Entice People to Spend Extra Money, often More than they Know is Positive for them.
It plays into what is known as the "Sunk Cost Fallacy" where the More You Spend, the More You Feel You "Must" Spend More so that Your Spending isn't "Wasted".
A Large Part of Why I Enacted the Amplified Radical Generosity Guarantee was that I wanted people to "Know" they would Create Impact, and that Every Dollar Meant Something.
I Waste Nothing, and Neither Did My Supporters.
Then, because You Can't "See" the Total Votes any Competitors have, you Never Know where you Truly Stand in the Competition Overall.
I don't like this for a few Reasons.
First, it Preys on the Hope (both of Competitors and Supporters) that if they Spend a "Little" More, then "Maybe" it will Change Everything.
That Plays into the Addiction Tactics.
Second, when Competitors can't "See" how other Competitors are Doing, it has the Potential to "Hide" Cheating.
Since We Know that there Was Cheating, and since the Organization Refused to Acknowledge it, this could be utilized to Allow them to do "Many" further Types of Unseen Cheating in the Background.
I, of course, can't say "For Sure" that the Organizers would do things like Manipulate Votes to "Handpick" Certain Competitors to get a Specific "Look", but it is also 100% Possible as well.
It is "Very" Interesting that the Finalists for this year's Competition all had a Similar Physique, despite there being "Many" Competitors who had Significantly Larger Followings and Significantly Different, and Arguably Healthier, Physiques.
Now, it is Absolutely Possible, perhaps even Likely, that I would have Never Won, Even "If" all Forms of Cheating were Prevented.
However, if I Can Not "Know" that the Competition is Clean, then It Makes Me Never want to Compete Again.
Why would I do that to Myself, and to those who Deeply Support Me, and the World?
So to answer those who have asked me if I will Compete Again, the answer is... Probably Not.
I'd have to see a "Major" Overhaul of how the System Works to Ever Support it Again.
In all Honestly, I'd Rather be a Loser who is "Truly" Healthy and Fit, than Win a Competition to "Appear" like something I'm Not.
Some things in Life are More Significant than Appearances based on a Broken and Sick Societal Idealization, and Popularity that can be Bought but Not Earned.
Truly Changing the World is More Important.
Truly Earning the Support of Real People is More Important.
Truly Being Fit is More Important.
Truly Being Healthy is More Important.
I'd Rather "Live" As Mr. Health and Fitness than be "Called" Mr. Health and Fitness.