010 - Believing What You Can't See With Paralympian Tanner Gers

"The biggest tragedy in my life wasn't that I lost my sight. The biggest tragedy is that I didn't live my life, before I lost my sight, like I do today. Today I see my blindness as a gift . . ."  -Tanner Gers

This episode of Influence introduces the incredible story of Tanner Gers. At age 21, Tanner was in a horrible car accident that left him blind in both eyes. Instead of giving up, Tanner took flight, finishing his degree and eventually representing the United States as a Paralympic athlete. Today, Tanner is a power-house entrepreneur with a variety of businesses centered around coaching, health, and fitness. Just listening to Tanner will inspire you to stand up, get over yourself, and do something fantastic with your life.

In this episode we are going to talk about:

• The accident that cost Tanner his vision and how he was able to overcome such adversity.
• How Tanner was able to "get back up", finish his degree, and become paralympic gold medalist.
• The power of belief and how Tanner was able to save his own life.
• How to take control of your life and find greatness within you.
• How to view obstacles as "gifts" that can propel your life to new heights.

"Everyday is a lot easier when you know it could always be worse"  -Tanner Gers

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MEET TANNER GERS

Tanner Gers (pronounced Gears) is a published author, professional speaker, US Paralympian, founder of ABSolutely Lean, and host of The Athlete Summit. Tanner’s big mission in life is to help people across the world achieve their potential with his gift for cultivating confidence, determination, and the will to achieve greatness in life, regardless of circumstance. Oh yeah. He’s also totally blind.

In 2004, Tanner experienced a horrible auto accident that left him in a coma and destroyed his ability to see. Tanner was determined to not be defined by his disability or let that prevent him from living his dreams. Tanner is an individual that embodies the idea that anyone can do anything they set their mind to and does this every day by helping others achieve their full potential.

In 2010, Tanner started training and coaching developmental athletes in various sports, including volleyball, baseball, football and cross country. After having the honor and the privilege to represent the United States at the 2012 Games in London, Tanner’s focus on optimal athletic performance began to shift toward optimal health.

While having tremendous success with his 1-on-1 clients, Tanner felt he could do more with his story and began his public speaking career. Quickly becoming an accomplished speaker, Tanner delivers keynotes for schools, colleges, non-profits, and corporate events across the country in addition to presentations on exercise, nutrition, and health.

Motivated to help individuals worldwide, Tanner launched www.ABSolutelyLean.com and published two books, “Becoming ABSolutely Lean: The First Steps to Optimal Health, Hormones and Achieving a Lean Body,” and “ABSolutely Lean Fast Food: The Fat Loss Guide in a Fast Food Life” and released his bodyweight fitness program, ABSolutely Lean System Fitness. Today, Tanner still consults, trains and designs customized programs for women, men and youth in health, body composition, fitness and athletic performance through www.ABSolutelyLean.com.

"I decided that I wanted to be the fastest blind dude"  -Tanner Gers

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STAY IN TOUCH WITH TANNER

Websites:www.ABSolutelyLean.com
Twitter: @tannergers
Facebook: Tanner Gers

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Thank you for listening to our show. Take a minute to join the discussion on our Influencers Facebook group and if there is someone you know that should be featured on our show, please reach out to me for details and a free signed copy of the Laws of Influence. Don’t forget to subscribe to our show and please come back next week for more Influence with Brad Harker.