From Bullied & Anorexic to Healed & Purposeful: My Transformation Story (Justin Roethlingshoefer)

We have to have awareness that what is happening to us is actually happening for us. We have to realize that what's happening for us is helping us become somebody new so that we can ultimately be called out and called up into what it is already prepared for us, and so we can create a system of standards that will continue to elevate us, continue to pull us forward, and continue to pull us into who God created us to be. This is the own IT show, where we tell stories of how everyday people made ownership theirs. Hey, guys, it's so great to be with you and welcome back. So when I wanted to come in today, the biggest thing I wanted to do is just encourage you, give you some stories, give you some guidance, give you some tools, some tactics that you can implement to really help you take where you are in this moment of trials, tribulation, struggle. Find that inner strength that you need to ultimately overcome any adversity that's in your way and step into the life that you were ultimately called to. My story is one of those, as is much of ours, because you are not alone. Whatever you're going through, it's not just you you see. Coming up. Born and raised in Canada. I was the fat kid. I was the kid that was always made fun of. I was the kid that was always left out. I just happened to be a little bit athletic, and at 13, I started to train a little bit differently than I had done before. I hit a growth spurt, and over the course of that summer, I became, I think I lost 40 pounds and stepped into somebody new. Even though I had no intention of losing any weight, just stepping in as a new. As a teenager. Coming back to training camp that fall looked completely different than I ever had. And I still remember walking into the arena and the. All the parents of kids that I played with for years had all of a sudden looked at me and said, oh, my gosh, Justin, what have you done? How did you do this? You look amazing. And for the first time in my life, I was validated for how I looked. I was validated for what my exterior performance looked like. And for the first time, I experienced what fear felt like when it came to my body image, what fear felt like when it came. I had this. I had all of this clarity as to how I could help other people do it. I had all of this clarity as to how I could help other people perform at their best. I had all of this clarity as to how I could optimize the health of others. But yet I wasn't living that Same life by design. I didn't feel I was worthy of it. I didn't feel I would be validated through it. I didn't think I was worth stepping into that. My identity was that in pushing myself to the brink, my identity was that that I needed to be in pain all the time. I only felt that I was successful and it was only proof that I was successful and proof that I was good enough. If I was always working at the elite level and being so much elevated above everybody else. And it came down to an ego thing. My ego was putting me in an early grave. My ego was holding me back from realizing what God had already created for me. And at that moment I realized this isn't an athlete problem, this is a human problem. And I have to start to love myself, realize that I am worth it, realize that I am worthy and step into something different. As I stepped away from the NHL looking after my health, it's now starting to operate my body the way as I did with the rest of my athletes, was able to heal myself in less than eight months. And as I came back to this, I launched my fourth book. As I launched this fourth book, I took out downtown headquarters of Lululemon. As I step into Lululemon headquarters downtown, remember this is prime time. I'm so excited. This is going to be what's going to put my next stage of my career on the map. Send out emails, sent out all of these invites to people to come show up. 7:00 clock on Saturday night, Lululemon headquarters downtown New York City. I brought in sponsors. I had chairs all set up. I had food in the back. I had somebody coming to open for me. Had a videographer, a photographer. 6:30 rolls around, nobody's there. 6:45 rolls around, nobody's there. 7:00', clock, nobody's there. 7:30, nobody's there. I look at everybody and I've got tears in my eyes, an absolute brick in my stomach. And I said, hey, you know what? I think it's time we start. The videographer looked at me like I was crazy. He's like, we're still doing this. I said, yes, we're doing this and I'm going to do it as if the room is full. 60 minutes later, as I closed it, I looked at the videographer. I said, at some point the room is going to be full. It's going to be a best selling book and we're going to be making an impact worldwide. He goes, okay, kid, can I go now? Well, fast forward to today and the book is a USA, USA Today bestseller top 50, speaking about 150 times every single year, traveling internationally. Our business and our core business is touching tens of thousands of people, helping to redeem their health and get them to a place in which they can operate at an elevated level. I tell you this story because I am you and you are, are me. You have a calling that is so great inside of you that is just begging to come out. You have a moment that you are meant to take ownership of, that you are meant to step into that is going to determine whether you're going to get closer to the outcome you determine and closer to the outcome that you desire or further away from it. The adversity that you are going through, the pain that you are going through, the suffering that you are dealing with is not happening to you, but rather happening for you. Because there's three things we need to understand. Number one, we have to have awareness. We have to have awareness that what we're going through is happening for us. We may not like it, we may not love it, it may be hard, but what's happening for us or what is happening to us is actually happening for us. We're being called out and called up because we need to become somebody else. It's a who, not a how. It's a who, not a how, that we need to become somebody new in order to go where other people can't. I who you are is perfect, but you're too great to stay where you're at. And the way in which we continue to move forward is by developing a system that is built on standards. A system that is built on standards. The habits and behaviors that you have today are simply a vote of who you want to become tomorrow. And so whatever you're going through, lean into those standards. Make sure. Make sure that they are set up to help you step into the calling that God's already prepared for you. And as you lean into that, we have to realize that we have to have a system of standards. Not just a standard, but a system of standards. Because a great system can make a good person unstoppable, where a poor system can make a great person average. And whatever you're going through, coming back to awareness, whatever you're going through is happening for you so that it can shape you to become who you need to be. Continue to test your standards because a calling that isn't tested cannot be trusted. And the system continues to work. There's going to be greater things that happen to you at every single stage. Just like I was the fat kid, just like I was the anorexic kid, just like I was the depressed kid, just like I was the cancer diagnosis kid, just like I was ultimately the kid that had nobody show up at his book launch. These things were meant to shape me. They were meant to shape me and help me understand that there's a calling on my life that I need to lean into. There is something that I need to leave behind and something that I need to overcome in order to step into somebody else that I need to be so that I can ultimately touch, relate, and be in those people's shoes that are watching me from the outside. We have to have awareness that what is happening to us is actually happening for us. We have to realize that what's happening for us is helping us become somebody new so that we can ultimately be called out and called up into what it is already prepared for us. And so we can create a system of standards that will continue to elevate us, continue to pull us forward, and continue to pull us into who God created us to be. What you're going through, your mess is your message. What you're going through, your difficulty will ultimately be your triumph. What you're going through is only temporary. It's not permanent. And the adversity that you're in, you're not going through alone. The enemy wants us to be alone when we're going through hard times, because that's the way he's able to get into our mind. You're in the right place. Stay here, be in this community. Realize that what's happening to you is actually happening for you, so you can become somebody new. Be called out and called up to your greatness to elevate your standard so that your outcomes can be different again. Guys, strength through adversity. You're not alone. Let's own it.