ST. CHARLES – Scott Schmaren was almost as wide as he was tall when he ate an entire bottle of sleeping pills, sat in his favorite chair and waited to die.

He woke up, what he imagined was hours later, as the sun slipped through his living room window. Although Schmaren can’t describe the overwhelming serenity he felt in words, he said he knew he was alive for a reason.

“So I got out of my chair,” he said.

Schmaren has come a long way from Niles, where he was known as the “fat kid of the neighborhood,” he said. In response to constant bullying and ridicule, he said he “just kept eating.”

After his incident and during the course of a few years, Schmaren shed pounds and reached his first milestone of “not being recognized as the fat guy when [he] went out in public,” he said.

Through a daily routine and the study of hypnosis, meditation, creative visualization and other modalities, Schmaren said he realized the power of the subconscious mind. He said once his perception of himself changed, he was able to lose weight and keep it off.

As he kept losing weight, Schmaren said he got to have many of the experiences he had missed while growing up – riding roller coasters at Six Flags or flying in an airplane without having to ask for a seatbelt extension. He found a way to achieve a different goal.

“I always had this little voice in my head that said I want to help people in some way, and I wanted to make a difference in this world,” Schmaren said.

Today, Schmaren, a resident of St. Charles, travels around the world for speaking engagements and conferences to share his story and help other people achieve their goals. He helps individual clients lose weight, manage stress and overcome personal obstacles by tapping into their minds.

One of his success stories is Nilsa Anderson, a professional bodybuilder. The 4-foot-10 woman had dreams of winning an International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness competition, but she said she felt like she couldn’t measure up to her competition, most of whom stood at 5-foot-9 or 5-foot-10. When she voiced her concerns and goal to a client, the client told her, “You need Scott,” she said.

Anderson said Schmaren assisted her through a process of hypnosis where he created a 20-minute recording in which he acts as the “tour guide” of the clients’ subconscious.

“I can point out things for them to see, hear, feel, maybe even smell, taste and experience, and then they make the change,” Schmaren said. “I don’t make the change; I just guide them along in the process.”

In addition to the recording, Schmaren encouraged Anderson to set goals and write in a journal every day. They created a daily routine, which included a mantra she had to repeat to herself in the mirror, and met once every six weeks.

“Inside of a week of doing all the things he was telling me to do, I was already an IFBB pro, and I had already won the show. It was just a matter of showing up, so I could hurry up and get my award,” Anderson said.

And she did. On July 17, 2013, Anderson went to a professional bodybuilding competition in Pittsburgh where she won her 55-plus age group and the two age groups below her, Schmaren said.

Schmaren’s clients are not limited to people trying to lose weight. After his tactics with his patented “Mind Performance Training” technique gained traction, his business started to expand and help individuals and organizations perform better. And he’s even helped chemo patients hoping to recover from radiation, he said.

Every client’s program is different, he said – sometimes he’s a keynote speaker, other times he will prepare a tape for hypnosis and sometimes he needs to give a follow-up.

He has co-authored a book called “Stepping Stones to Success” with three others. He is working on another book.

But the most gratifying part, he said, is seeing people make change, sometimes in unexpected ways.

A year and a half ago, Anderson opened a gym in St. Charles called Competitor’s Edge. As she expands her business for the second time and looks to build another location, Anderson said she carries the lessons she learned from Schmaren with her.

“It actually opened up a completely different way of training [my athletes] and a completely different way of motivating people,” she said. “… Talking to them about being positive and only thinking about the outcome and how it [will] affect them. If you think only positive things, those positive things are what’s going to happen to you.”

OUTBOX:

For information about Scott Schmaren or to schedule a session or speaking engagement, visit scottschmaren.com or call 847-331-5848.