Impact & Leadership

Lizzie Velasquez: How to Make the World a Kinder Place

January 9, 2018

Hi! I'm Marie

You have gifts to share with the world and my job is to help you get them out there.

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Have you ever worked so hard to improve a part of your life, only to have it all come crashing down in a matter of seconds?

It happened to today’s guest, the ever inspiring Lizzie Velasquez, who was born with a rare syndrome that prevents her from gaining weight. As you can imagine, growing up was not easy for her, but she made friends and engaged in activities, to the point where her illness and appearance didn’t define her.

Until one day, she stumbled across a viral video called, “The Ugliest Woman Alive.” It was about her.

Think about that. Imagine that happening in your life now, never mind in high school. “I felt like I had worked so hard to get my confidence up to a certain level,” she said, “and then all of a sudden, within 2.5 seconds it was just gone.”

Despite enduring enough bullying to last several lifetimes, today Lizzie is a world-renowned speaker, 3-time published author, an anti-bullying activist, the subject of a documentary called A Brave Heart and a YouTube star.

In this episode she opens up about what it really means to be such a public face for kindness, including:

  • The must-hear story of how she rose above shame and publicly acknowledged her depression, even while a movie was being made about her life.
  • Why posting vulnerable YouTube videos has become her favorite thing to do.
  • Why the words bully and victim don’t mean what you think they mean.
  • How Lizzie gets almost entirely positive comments on YouTube (hint: it’s about giving what you want to receive).

The world doesn’t need you to change yourself to be more normal. What the world needs is people who truly embrace differences, physical and otherwise. @littlelizziev via @marieforleo

Now, I’d love to hear from you.

Which insight or takeaway is most relevant to your life right now and why?

Remember, share as much detail as possible in your reply. Thousands of incredible souls come here each week for insight and inspiration, and your story may help someone else have a meaningful breakthrough.

Important: share your thoughts and ideas directly in the comments. Links to other posts, videos, etc. will be removed.

Lizzie, more than anyone else I’ve ever met, walks her talk. If you implement just one piece of her approach to radical kindness you can, quite literally, change the world.

Thank you, as always, for being here and sharing your voice, thoughts, questions and support.

If anyone you know — family, friends, students, daughters, sons or anyone else struggles with bullying, please share this episode. It could be a lifesaver.

With Great Love,

XO

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