How do you know when you are successful?

I figured "I'll know i'm doing something right when people start coming up to me and noticing the weight loss"

Well that day is past, as many, many people have approached me and mentioned that they noticed, and asked "What are you doing to lose all that weight?"

But i have a new measure of success today!!! People have been coming up to me lately, and saying "Hey guess what? I tried what you told me, and now i'm down X number of pounds" One of the people is my mother, and that makes me very happy!

There is an important lesson in this for me, and that is that we all have power and influence. Even little ol' me. People notice how we live, good or bad, and get influenced by it. Over the 14 years that i was stuffing my face with whatever i wanted, including alcohol and even drugs in the early years, people noticed and justified their behavior to themselves based on what i was doing. People that i care about, like my friends and family, were negatively influenced by me. People undoubtedly said to themselves "If Ryan can eat all food/drink all that beer, and he is still standing, than it must be OK" I know i have done this while observing others.

Now, people are saying "If Ryan can get such great results by eating fruits and vegetables, so can i"

I hope everyone who reads this understands how big of a role they play in other people's lives. We all feed off each other. Be the light in your group. Yes, i am talking about you.