Despite what people may think… winning a title is not what defines a champion, nor does it define the person who wins it.  In 2012 and 2013, I won the WBFF Bikini Diva Championship; I have won many titles in the past 10 years,but that is not

what makes me a champion today and is not what defines me as an individual. What made me a champion and what makes any athlete… Lou Ferrigno, Jay Cutler, Monica Brant, Nicole Wilkins, Andreia Brazierand many others a champion is not the title, the trophies or the ribbons. It is the mindset we adopted long before those titles were ever won. What made us who we are were the choices and sacrifices that we made in order to win.

2008 Fitness America Champion

We all have a champion inside of us… yep, EVERY SINGLE ONE of YOU have the ability to be a champ at something. What stops most people is the fear of failure and lack of belief in their ability to achieve.“If I had the time or money”, “If I didn’t have kids”, “If I wasn’t married”, “If, if, if”. Champions don’t set limits, they don’t have “What if’s”; they have an “I will find a way”, mentality and THAT is how they get to the top. Now, here they are, here you are,  here I am at the top of our game what now? I will warn you… it can get lonely up here. Just because you make it does not mean you will have company waiting. Your strength will be used a lot because it’s not always what you think it will be.

Everyone has struggles, pressures and doubts; nobody is immune. In fact, those at the top often have more struggles, more things to overcome and a lot more to live up to now that they are a mentor to others m

odeling after them. For me, the word champion does not always mean first place, in fact achampion can be dead last. Being a champion is a feeling that comes from within… it is the fee

ling of doing yourpersonal best; that in itself is winning. Maybe you sacrificed several weeks of having a social life, maybe all you ate for 6 months was fish, chicken and veggies when all you wanted was a Snickers bar, maybe you did something that everyone else thought was crazy and because of that you proved something to yourself… that you COULD do it. THAT defines the champion.

Winning does not define you, the process it took to win defines you; it is what tells your story, what creates your victory. A champion is a person who makes the decision to do what it takes to achieve a goal, a person who stays focused, determined and whose transformation or story motivates or inspires other’s to do their personal best at something or to become a better person Now…

Where is that champion in you?