This will be the first of a few blogs about the 2011 Beachbody Summit. The Summit took place June 16-19, in Los Angeles. I will do a fully summary later, but I wanted to write specifically about the initial General Session and one of the presentations.

As anyone who knows me is aware, I love being a Beachbody Coach. I love their products, whether P90X, Insanity, Shakeology, or Hip Hop Abs (no matter how ridiculous I look doing that last one!) Having been a Coach for over three years, I have watched the company, particularly the Coaching network, evolve and change. Some changes maybe weren’t ideal, in my opinion, but I knew the company was always trying to do what was right. Rarely are corporations truly committed to doing the right thing. Beachbody’s core purpose is:

Helping people achieve their goals and lead healthy, fulfilling lives.

I love that statement. I know when I read it, that I have the pleasure of working for a company that’s not solely focused on the bottom line. Yes, they want to make money, but they are more driven to make money doing the right things. I find that to be rare, remarkable, and very personally gratifying.

So, you are wondering, what does that have to do with this post? What does all that have to do with this urgent need to write? Well, Jeff Hill, a new executive with Beachbody, opened Summit with a discussion about how anyone can tell if a company truly has the necessary tools to succeed, both in the short term and the long term. He discussed the four attributes that, in his opinion, a company needed to be positioned to reach its objectives. Given that one of Beachbody’s objectives is to end the trend of obesity in this country, this seemed like pretty big stuff to me.

I mean, we aren’t talking about “becoming profitable” (they did that over a decade ago) or about reaching a certain gross profit threshold. No. This company wants, believes, and ultimately will become an agent for positive change in this country. Will Beachbody, by itself, end the trend of obesity? Probably not, but I know with complete certainty that Beachbody will be a part, perhaps a significant part, of that worthy and lofty objective. Pretty cool stuff, I think.

Back to the talk though… Mr. Hill started by saying that if a company has true passion, it then has the tools required to accomplish anything. He called these things “the 4 L’s”. They are: Live, Love Learn, and Legacy.

Live

Prior to Beachbody, his career path began in corporate america, moved into executive leadership development, and eventually took him to an executive position at a network marketing company. While he initially resisted getting into network marketing (who doesn’t???), he ultimately could not refuse the offer and admitted to being intrigued by the challenge the last position presented. He quickly learned that, while generally being viewed in a negative light, network marketing offered anyone a chance to accomplish anything. To him, that’s what “live” meant.

Network marketing enables people to help others; to help them make positive changes in their lives. This, in turn, enables the network marketer to transform his or her life. Anyone can create and enjoy financial prosperity. It isn’t easy. It doesn’t happen for everyone. But, for those that take to heart the possibilities that exist, learn their craft, and truly work their business, massive life change becomes reality. And, that chance exist is much greater likelihood with network marketing than in the traditional corporate (or probably non-corporate) job. Plus, those changes can mean anything to anyone. While one person may desire to be a millionaire, for someone else it could simply mean being debt-free. Network marketing can help people truly live, how they want to live, potentially for the first time in their life.

Love

Loving is simple, yet few people truly engage in it beyond their immediate family. Jeff spoke about how loving just means learning to love and care about others. Showing them true emotion. Letting them know they matter and are important. We all should cheer for the successes and failures of others.

In a business sense, “love” means two things. One, network marketers must love their company and products. For me, this is like breathing; I just cannot help myself to love Beachbody’s products. P90X literally changed my life. The physical transformation was wonderful (and necessary), but the life changes that have accompanied that are even more profound. Having that same devotion to products like Insanity, Shakeology, RevAbs, and so on was just as natural.

Just as critical, but from a different perspective, the company must love its customers. Given Beachbody’s core purpose, no debate about this one either. a 30-day return ANY product for ANY reason and receive a full refund? Check. Have phenomenal customer service? Check. Create products that have the power to complete alter the course for peoples’ lives forever??? Check. No one can deny that, while Beachbody of course wants to make a profit, it wants to make that profit the right way. (I love that too!)

Learn

Unlike Live and Love, this one requires almost nothing. Just learn and grow, unlimitedly. Always have an insatiable thirst for knowledge and information. Use that knowledge to improve all areas of one’s life. I can’t help but do this. I need to be the best that I can. To settle for less will leave me with regret and guilt; things I’d rather do without.

Plus, as a parent, I have a responsibility greater than myself. I have two little minds to nurture and prepare for when I am gone. I want to give my two amazing kids as many tools for life as I can and the best way to accomplish this is being the best example that I can. While I know I can tell them to eat healthy or love to learn, the lesson will be lifelong if they observe me doing these things everyday. When my son asks whether he can race with me someday, I know I am on the right track!

Legacy

While Live, Love, and Learn are obviously critical, this one ultimately matters most. To create a legacy, one must recognize that “it” is not about them. “It” is about others, about paying it forward, about being that catalyst for positive change in someone’s life, even if that catalyst is just a sliver of change. Leaving a legacy means building that foundation that leads to a better life and place, in all parts of life, physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, and so on. When I am gone, I want my kids to not only be the best that they can, but I want to leave them with a better place than what I was given by my parents.

To me, this stretches from the specific, local, or personal, like their home or education, to the board or general, like the world or our environment. Will I have left my children a legacy if I do not do all that I can to help them be all that they can be? Will I have left a legacy if they cannot experience some of the natural world in the same clean and pristine way that I did as a child with my parents? I would say no.

Knowing, accepting, and appreciating one’s place in the “grand scheme of things” requires a great level of humility. We all want to believe that we are the center of our little universe. But, the truth is, we aren’t. I am a minuscule speck of energy, spinning wildly through the cosmos. I am not critical; I do not truly matter. When I pass, the world will actually continue to rotate; nothing will change.

But, I do believe that my actions matter. What I do, has the potential to change the world by changing the course of someone’s life. I do believe that I can have a tiny, yet important, impact all with whom I come into contact. In those moments, I have a responsibility to be all that I can. From the moment I get to have with my kids (please let that moment last for decades!) to the blink-of-an-eye nanosecond moment I have with someone I pass on the street. Maybe a smile at that person will give them just a touch more positive energy and improve his or her day. It is my duty, at a minimum, to attempt to do these things, to attempt to do all that I can, and to attempt to be all that I can. A duty I happily and willingly accept!