I first came across Kerrie Hilton on Twitter. As I do each week, I look for inspirational stories of how others Think Huge and then share them with those who follow me on Twitter. However, how I found Kerrie’s story was different. I first saw @12monkeys had congratulated @runkerrierun for her inspirational story. As I Think People (one of the six Think Huge principals), I joined the conversation and asked @12monkeys to share her story. Kerrie then sent me a link to her blog post where I was intrigued and excited to see Kerrie living out the six Think Huge principals in her own life.
To begin, Kerrie started out with Think Vision. One can’t Think Huge unless they know exactly where they want to go. For Kerrie, she had a vision, “I decided to do something, I did it, and as a result I lost 55 lbs. and ran a marathon in 7 months. ” However, it was not always easy and there were many personal obstacles Kerrie had to overcome. Kerrie notes, “In Feb. 2009 I was an overweight stay-at-home mom that was happy, but didn’t like the direction ‘my’ life was going in. With 3 kids it’s easy to lose sight of your own needs. ”
Next, Kerrie begin to Think People. Thinking huge will get one absolutely nowhere unless they involve people in their life. For Kerrie she had support. “I started a weight loss plan with my friend Jackie’s help and started running, which isn’t something I was ever particularly good at,” Kerrie stated. In addition, Kerrie also mentioned, “I decided to run a marathon after consulting my husband, who said, “Go for it.” Without the support of my husband and oldest daughter it would not have been possible.” By having the support of those around her, Kerrie was able to put her vision into action.
As she begin to run the marathon, it became clear to Kerrie that she needed to Think Perseverance. Thinking huge is not a “name it and claim it” gospel. One will encounter trials in life and thinking huge means overcoming those obstacles. Kerrie had to do just that and recalls, “Soon, I started to feel sick and by mile 15 I was slowed almost to a walk. It felt like I was running though knee-high mud though I was pushing as hard as I could. This had never happened in training and actually 15 miles became ‘no big deal’ for me. I decided not to panic; no way would I have ‘DNF’ beside my name (the dreaded “did not finish”).”
In reflection of the race, Kerrie realized she had accomplished something incredible was able to Think Learning. One will only grow as much you are learning. For Kerrie, she mentioned, “This was more incredible than any race I’ve ever run because the training was such a sacrifice and juggling schedules with 3 kids was such a struggle. I learned that no matter how prepared you are, you have to run YOUR OWN race, or the outcome will not be what you expect.”
Throughout her entire marathon journey Kerrie, it was important for Kerrie to Think Time. Truly thinking huge means we are investing our time in the right way. Kerrie recalls, “The best part for me was looking at my picture at the end of it all. I went from a size 16 to a 6 and ran a marathon in 7 months.”
Finally, a key reason Kerrie was able to achieve her goal was because she was able to Think Passion. One needs to love whatever they are doing in life. Kerrie remembers, “It really was as easy as deciding to do something and then taking the steps to make the changes to get it done. I truly think that anyone can do whatever it is they want as long as they have a goal, motivation, and most of all, support. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things”.
What’s your Think Huge story? How have you been able to use the six Think Huge principals in your life. Shout back and leave a comment with your thoughts. I would love to hear from you.
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