Develop a STRATEGY for short-term, mid-term, and long-term SUCCESS!
In my unprofessional opinion, my long-term success is up to me not the statistics. While the statistics are in my favor, I AM the one who will determine which part of the statistics I will fall into. It is up to ME whether my outcome will be positive or negative. Most people who have this surgery are 100 percent committed to make the necessary permanent changes in their lives to effectively utilize the TOOL of WLS. There are some that for a variety of different reasons - who despite having good intentions - either are unable, or unwilling, to take those steps and instead fail to properly utilize the TOOL their surgeons have given them. I remember back in Junior High School a teacher of mine gave the class an assignment at the beginning of the term. Each student received $100,000 in hypothetical money and was told to "invest" it in any company they wanted to. We were given a primer on the ins and outs of the securities market and we were able to make "stock trades" as we pleased. We used a computer program to keep track of our "investments" and kept up on stock prices and news once a week in class. Some students put all their stock in companies they were familiar with like McDonalds and Nike, while others were very diligent about tapping all of their resources - researching lesser known companies with higher earnings potential, getting advice from more knowledgeable people like their teachers and parents, and they religiously monitored their progress making timely adjustments to their strategy. As you might expect, these students - the one's who took their hypothetical opportunity seriously were the ones that were enjoyed the most success at semester’s end. The approach that someone takes to weight loss surgery should be similar. Like with any important project in life, the tools or the means used to reach the goal constitute just a small portion of of what is needed to guarantee one's overall success. A lot of people go into WLS with an attitude of ”I just want to get in there and let them do the surgery on me and life will straighten itself out from there, I'll figure it out as I go.” That may work for a few, but not for most. No, you have to develop a rather complex plan for success. You need to develop a strategy for success. You need to assess what it is you are going to accomplish, get all the information you need and research your options for how you can get there, you need to implement that plan, then you need to evaluate and re-evaluate your plan constantly throughout the process, and make any necessary ADJUSTMENTS that you identify along the way. This process of providing feedback to yourself and sometimes sharing it with your support team is crucial to your continued success. With a sound strategic plan that you remain committed to, I think you can assure yourself of not only reaching but maintaining your goal as well. You can't start though until you take the first step - develop a plan - ask yourself why? how? Do your homework - research on the internet, read as much as possible, go to seminars, ask your doctor questions (better yet bring a long list of questions with you to the doctor) find out what you will need to do before and AFTER SURGERY to make this dream a reality, ASK and RECEIVE help from people just like you who have been there and are there now - people like us here on the 20's Forum and all over OH.com...and most importantly, COMMIT YOURSELF. Commit yourself to change. Commit yourself to fixing what is not working. Do some self-reflection, some soul searching and ask yourself about your current state and ask yourself: "how's that working out for me?'" Hopefully you will be able to focus in on the need to change. Commit to changing your life by changing your perspective. Most importantly: commit to taking the necessary steps to design, implement, and maintain a BETTER strategy for your life. Ready to go? Let's get started!
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You are a smart man. I'm 19 months out and yes, it takes a plan and DOING what you plan on doing. You hit the nail on the head. Thanks for sharing this. 
