Real Stories, Real Success:
How a Cancer Diagnosis Inspired a Fuller Life

 

Donna Loeffler’s journey with the John Maxwell Team began with her breast cancer diagnosis in 2014.

During her recovery period, she did a lot of reading, and she found John Maxwell’s book Intentional Living.  The book was eye-opening for her, helping her see that she had some negative thinking patterns. Donna realized that there was a lot she wanted to change in her life.

After reading the book, she committed to making her life more positive.

Donna discovered the John Maxwell Team online, and she decided to join when she realized that what she needed most was a supportive community of like-minded people who were working towards the same goals. “I made the decision to join the JMT and have never looked back.”

Donna embraced John’s teachings from the start and worked on herself first.  Donna’s background is in medicine. She had little business experience before joining the Team, so she had to learn about starting and growing a business from the ground up.

“One thing that I have overcome,” Donna says, “is the self-limiting belief that I would not be ‘good’ at business. Operating a business is something that can be learned, and I have diligently applied the training I’ve received through the JMT to growing my coaching and speaking business.”

Now she uses her coaching training to work with cancer patients.  She admits it’s a heavy topic to tackle, but states, “What cancer patients really need is to be lifted up.”

She is using John’s teachings, including Intentional Living and The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth to develop a wellness program for cancer patients.  Her goal is to help these people embrace the fact that they don’t know how much time is left (because, truly, none of us know) and use that idea to live their lives to the fullest.

She wants these people to know, “They can not just survive, but they can thrive, and they can be better than before they had cancer!”

Another limiting belief Donna has worked to overcome is the fear of public speaking. As she continues to secure and hold speaking engagements, she is becoming more and more confident in her speaking ability.

“I am a breast cancer survivor and warrior, and, because of my speaker training with the JMT, I had the courage to apply to become an Educational Ambassador with Bright Pink, a national nonprofit that teaches wellness and prevention of breast and ovarian cancer to young women. This has opened up opportunities for me to speak, and soon I will speak to my largest group yet, a group of 250 women.”

“I have perfectionist tendencies,” Donna says, “and if I was completely on my own, I doubt I would ever have even started.”