Jillian Michaels Reveals What Scares Her the Most as She Gets Older and How She Teaches Her Daughter to Be Strong

Fitness guru covers Health magazine

By Kendall Fisher Oct 11, 2016 9:33 PMTags
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Jillian Michaels might be one of the strongest women in Hollywood, but even she admits to being scared as she gets older.

The 42-year-old has no fears when it comes to pushing her body to its limits and has always tested the boundaries when it comes to her fitness. However, she's not as willing to test her fears like she once would have.

"Anything that involves confidence, self-worth and body image, you just don't care anymore," she says of getting older, talking with Health magazine as their November cover girl. "But anything that involves mortality? Yeah. I used to ride motorcycles all the time, but now, because of my kids—you know. It's such an interesting age, after 40. You're better than you've ever been because you're stronger, you're smarter, you're more confident and—arguably, because you care more—you're more fit. But you feel like you're holding up the world, and if you go down, it all goes down. I feel like Atlas, and that scares me."

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Jillian Michaels' Inspiring Quotes

Still, she knows she's endured so much to achieve the life she wants, and that's a quality she hopes to instill in her kids, too.

For example, when her daughter, Lukensia Michaels Rhoades, was afraid to go to her first day of school, Jillian put things in perspective.

"I was like, 'Let's look back on your life.' She's Haitian, so I said, 'You lived through one of the most intense natural disasters on the planet. And on top of that, you had to wait two years for Mommy and I to find you. You are the strongest kid. You've been through all this, and you think you can't handle your first day of school in Malibu?'" Jillian recalled.

She continued, "I also told her, 'I get it—you're scared. It's gonna be uncomfortable, honey, but I promise you: There will be good in with the bad, and that's what you're gonna focus on. There's probably gonna be one kid you don't like or who won't like you, but a lot of people are awesome, and I bet you'll make a bunch of friends.'"

Low and behold, Jillian revealed, "She went to school and came home happy, happy, happy, and it was awesome."

The advice she gave her young daughter is advice she'd still give anyone at any age, especially when it comes to goals

"Gradually, you'll define yourself by how you've achieved [your goals]," she explained. "Conversely, I've taken some of the worst hits, where I feel like I'm in the ring with Muhammad Ali. And I've taken a lot of punches, but I'm still standing. Even if you face a setback, you'll see that if you can tolerate this, you can tolerate more of it."

Read Jillian's full interview with Health magazine here.