Written by Jason Spencer in Motivation & Change

This is a guest post from Jason Spencer of tribe.ly.

This is a great post about the powers of running in groups and the

support we now have for working out, nutrition, dieting and being healthy.

Recognize this tribe?

Do you remember when the search for a do-it-yourself exercise, nutrition plan, or health program meant heading to the local bookstore or library?

Way back in … let’s see … oh … 2004!

That was about the time I was looking to get back in shape and figure out what “healthy” looked like for myself again. I was approaching five years married, and my wife had just given birth to our second child. Many of you know this phase of life all too well, and are probably chuckling thinking back to the chaotic state you found yourself in.

Al Gore had already rolled out the internet, but it was still in its infancy. It severely lacked in community and real people gathering to talk about stuff like health and exercise. Most information stemmed out of big news and media sources. The blogosphere had not yet taken shape, and social networks were nonexistent.

Do you remember Body for Life?

I remember being excited when I stumbled upon Bill Phillips’ Body for Life book. I ended up buying the book at the bookstore, and read through it in a matter of days. The idea of transformation, a before and an after, resonated with me.

The competition component of the program seemed fun, and the community of people (through an online forum) cheering each other on to give it their best during the 12 weeks was awesome! The book essentially laid out the entire schedule of meals and exercise, so it was a do-it-yourselfer’s dream.

This was my personal first experience with a tribe of Athletes. I lost about 25 pounds in 12 weeks and carved out some really nice shape. Not bad for a busy, young dad.

Now the Body for Life program seems more corporate, and it’s probably lost a lot of the close-knit feeling it had, but back then there was an authentic part of that community that existed within the real people striving to get healthy together.

Real people. Real connection. Real stories. That’s where the magic happened with that tribe.

The Power of the Tribe

A group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader and connected to an idea.
- Definition of ‘tribe,’ according to Seth Godin

In order for change in the world to occur, it must start with one person – The Leader.
That person must have some sort of epiphany – The Idea.
In order for that idea to take root in the world, and create positive ripples in people’s lives, a group of people must gather – The Community.

One Leader + One Idea + One Community = TRIBE

This is the single most powerful formula for positive change in the world. And now this formula is exponentially more powerful than its ever been before. Here’s why:

The blog and social environments online have opened up global possibilities and reach that have never existed before in extremely inexpensive ways.

Let’s face it. In 2004, the odds that you would be reading information put out there by Matt Frazier, and connecting with a group of people who were both athletes and vegans or vegetarians, were ridiculously low. Without a big corporate budget for massive TV and offline advertising campaigns, Matt would have had very little shot at getting his information out there to the masses and attracting his tribe of people with common interests.

Fast forward just a few years later to right now … Matt is a leader with an idea to educate, support, and build a community around athletes who don’t eat meat. He started the conversation through a blog and invited people like you that share similar interests to join in. Now No Meat Athlete is a tribe of over 10,000 readers, and growing strong.

Most importantly, every day, someone new is finding help, or inspiration, or encouragement to change their life and their impact on the planet through this tribe. That is beautiful. And meaningful.

Considering where we were just eight years ago, I stand in awe of how far we’ve come as a society. Tribes now have global reach, and global impact. With that comes great responsibility.

To read more check out the full site here at No Meat Athletes