We Only Regret The Chances We Didn't Take

It’s been a couple of months since my last blog post. I emerged myself in an 8 week program that consumed every free moment I had left. It was very eye opening and not only did I learn a tremendous amount about my own business, but I re-learned how to make my priorities just that. My priorities.

I strive to follow my Core Values:

1. Stay true to yourself, your integrity, and the responsibility you have for your health.
2. Have only good days and great days- We believe everyday on this earth is a good day, what you do with it after that will make it a great day! Have fun, sense of humor, and an attitude of gratitude.
3. Constantly learn, always improve- We believe for one to improve they need to be coachable, honor progression, principles and technique. Always be a student.
4. Get your mind right, take action - We believe leading by example and taking action on how we want to live our lives.
5. Embrace change, get comfortable with being uncomfortable- We believe in order to accomplish the above we need to be open to change and step outside of our comfort zone.

I’ve always lived my life with appreciation of life itself and that each day on this earth is a gift. I will always remember where I came from and the teachings that mom instilled in me at an early age. I’ve learned through her that even though you may follow your passion, there will be hard work, there will be sacrifice and there will be personal struggle.

The Core Values I’ve set helps me stay on track but I’ve realized I have neglected myself and the responsibility I have for my health. Now this doesn’t mean I’m slacking in my workouts or eating junk all the time. This has more to do with having a day or two off each week to completely decompress and focus on things with my family, at home and to be able to take a break from “work.” I’ve basically worked 7 days a week for the majority of the 10 years since I began coaching in conjunction with Costco. It’s my own fault because I actually like it. One of my mentors, Todd Durkin always talks about having a Mellow Yellow day and making sure you have that time to re-energize. I’ve always marked in my calendar but I could never make it stick or it would only be  half of a Mellow Yellow day.

This program made me re-evaluate my Core Values in a different light. I had to get my mind right and take action on actually having a day off. I had to embrace change and get comfortable with being uncomfortable with not working 24/7. Then and only then would I be able to stay true to myself and the responsibility of my health.

In order to do all of this something else needed to be re-evaluated. Our Program Model. We’ve been using the same business platform for nearly 5 years that we modeled from our previous mentors. We learned an enormous amount about the fitness business and we will forever be grateful for all of the knowledge bombs they continued to deliver. It was a great beginning, but it no longer serves our mission and where we want to go as a company and more importantly, as a family. It has been in transition for a few months already, but Finally Fit has officially stepped away from the “unlimited” group exercise platform. We feel there are plenty of generalized “unlimited” fitness studios in Albuquerque and we are stepping away from that focusing and specializing solely on QUALITY Private and Semi-Private Custom Fitness and Nutrition Programming and Coaching. We do want to grow as a business however, we have no desire to have an overload of clients in our studio looking for a quick fix, nor do we want to lower our prices just to get massive amounts of people in here. It doesn’t do anything for our margins but it also doesn’t create value. We want to help those committed to themselves and ready to invest in the long term with their health and fitness and only if we make a good fit for each other because we are only accepting a handful at a time.

I was reminded that we have to create the life that we want and not to wait for it to come to you. Or in my case, not to get so wrapped up in work that it starts to pass you by. So, now, I have 2 full days off each week to refocus, re-energize, reevaluate, play and whatever else it is that people do on their days off. In the beginning, I must admit it felt weird and I made my way to the office a few times to work on something. I had to fight my way out when Joey said, “Remember why you’re taking these days off.” This is week 4 and it feels phenomenal! Let’s just say I’m excited about working (yes, always working) on our home with the new changes coming up.

I will leave you with this thought-
For many years I had a client, Victor. He became more than just a client but a huge influence in my life over the years. His picture with his wife and myself hangs in Finally Fit. He always had knowledge bombs and words of wisdom to share from his own personal life to his entrepreneurial endeavors. He was a man of integrity, respect, and of course humor. He even made our business cards from his company Cottonwood Printing. When I was in the process of opening Finally Fit nearly 5 years ago, he told me a story of his friend.

For many years, his friend dreamed of retiring and opening up a bait shop. He worked his entire life and when the time came to finally retire, he did it! He got everything ready to open up his bait shop and had his grand opening. The next day, he died.

That story alone gave me to courage to open up Finally Fit. And it gives me the courage or getting comfortable being uncomfortable, to re-evaluate the direction we want to go, even if that means taking a couple of days “off.” I never really had a fear of failure and have been willing to try almost anything. It was Victor though, who really challenged me to take the leap. Soon after Finally Fit opened, Victor became sick and passed away last year. His words of wisdom and funny stories will always be cherished.

Visions change, dreams change, perspectives change and life changes. That story from Victor doesn’t have the same meaning today as it did 5 years ago. Today, to me, it simply means, enjoy each day to the fullest.
 

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