What makes some people successful when losing weight while others struggle? You can have everything in place - a healthy eating plan, a person you find motivating, a personal trainer for gym and yet still struggle to lose weight.

I believe there are ten steps to success which I discuss in my motivational talk "The Ten Steps to Success.'' The second step to success is "You can't change, what you don't acknowledge."

Here is a list of things that need to be acknowledged to lose weight successfully.

• You are eating either too much and / or choosing the wrong foods
• You have to sacrifice eating something nice now for feeling really great about yourself later
• There is never a perfect time to start.
• Everything you need is within you!

When you are trying to lose weight you may have 1001 excuses for why you are not losing but until you acknowledge the four points I have listed above, no matter what eating plan you go or what programme you attend you will not be successful.

If you want to empower yourself you need to believe that you can do it. So often we look at outside sources for our inspiration and motivation. What we need to realize is that the power to change comes from within.

Even though you may believe in yourself, you may need a spark to ignite the motivation and inspiration within you to achieve your goals and dreams.

It was with this in mind that I created "Soul Snacks" - a pack 45 cards containing inspirational and motivational quotations. To read more.