Getting started as an online influencer takes a lot of effort. At the start, there’s minimal traction, and you have to get up every day, deliver good content, and not get discouraged. Amberly Lago’s mindset was always one of resiliency. Her story saw her change and grow, explaining how to have a resilient mindset in any sort of situation. That mindset helped her change her outlook on life.
Motorcycle Accident Changes Everything
Lago’s life wasn’t bad by any stretch. She was a professional dancer and athlete, but while on her motorcycle, she got into an accident with an SUV. It left her scarred and made her have to go through 34 surgeries. At the end of it, she was faced with years of chronic pain.
Most people give up and suffer in silence. Lago wasn’t like that. Her mindset, developed from being in the fitness community for a long time, was that you had to be resilient and keep on doing what you had to. However, despite this current of positivity in her head, she was still facing a downward spiral.
Hitting Rock Bottom And Bouncing Back
Day after day, Lago would try new things to help her with the chronic pain. The disease she was suffering from, called CRPS or the “Suicide Disease,” caused constant chronic pain. Most sufferers couldn’t deal with it and decided to commit suicide instead. No matter what she did, the pain just remained there, a shadow in the corner.
In 2016, she got sober and turned her life around. She realized that no matter what pain you’re dealing with, all you really need is hope to make things happen. She started practicing daily gratitude and shifting her perspective. Instead of seeing her pain as a burden others had to help with, she looked at what she could do on her own.
Refusing To Run Away
Lago says that before the accident, she could count on herself to run away from anything she felt uncomfortable with. Running away became a significant part of her life and something she would do when things threatened to get out of control. However, the motorcycle crash made her re-evaluate her life.
Running away was no longer an option. She had to stop up to the plate and face whatever was coming. It forced her to develop new tools to cope with things outside her control. No matter where she went or how far she ran, the pain would always come with her. This also gave her valuable tools from which other people could benefit.
Building Habits That Served Her
Picking up the pieces started by developing habits that gave her a more positive outlook on life. At first, she would use alcohol to help her cope with the chronic pain that her accident had left with her, but over time, she realized this wasn’t what she wanted for her life.
Instead, she found a twelve-step program she could attend while everyone else in the household was busy. Instead of sneaking away to go drinking, she was sneaking away to go to recovery meetings. Little by little, she learned that some habits serve themselves, and others serve her.
Small Decisions Change Your Whole Life
One of the most potent lessons Lago has to share with others is how essential small decisions are to a healthy and happy life. She shifted her mindset by deciding to do something instead of just waiting for things to happen. Even so, it was an uphill struggle.
Lago notes that, while she had the tools at her fingertips, she was sometimes just not motivated enough to do anything to cause a change. She would not have the drive and resilience to work out, even though the barbells and pull-up bar were within reach of her hospital bed. Making the decision to do it anyway led to a massive change in her life.
Becoming a Motivational Speaker
Her brush with chronic pain and suffering made her realize something important. She faced a huge, insurmountable barrier to a regular life. Still, she overcame it by teaching herself lessons about how to keep a positive mindset, no matter how badly things go. This was something many other people could benefit from.
She wrote a book explaining how she built up her mindset and learned from her time in a hospital bed. It gained massive traction, partially because of how approachable her story is and partially because what she was teaching was something anyone could do.
Exploding Into Popularity
Lago’s story didn’t go unnoticed by the media. Once her book came out, she got offers from many different outlets to discuss what she faced and how she overcame it. She’s been featured in The Today Show, given a TEDx talk, and continues to be a motivational speaker, helping others understand what it means to overcome difficulty and struggle.
Her presence on social media supported her popularity. Her IG now boasts over 235K followers, and she isn’t planning on stopping anytime soon. Her content covers everything she thinks anyone needs to know about resilience in the face of overwhelming odds.
The “Never Quit” Mindset
One of the more vital messages Lago gives to her followers and those she mentors is that the “never quit” mindset is powerful. Resilience is at the core of her messaging, and being able to stick with something over the long term is difficult for most people. Yet Lago believes it’s the one thing that sets a successful person apart from one who isn’t.
Her book True Grit and Grace currently ranks in the top 1% of books on Apple’s storefront. She still appears on talk shows and podcasts to spread her message of resiliency and dedication to something she believes in. Her words are powerful, but she backs them up with action. She knows what her life could have been and what it is now, and she wants everyone to benefit from what she knows.
