I received an email last week from one of our clients, Steve Macioci – owner of CrossFit Ignite in Park Ridge, NJ – that made a deep impression on me. I asked him if I could share it in a blog post so maybe some of you can benefit from his learnings and growth. I was going to give you just the cliff notes (because it’s long), but then I concluded that it’s too good to delete any of it out.
You can run a gym, but until you find WHY you’ve chosen specifically that line of business, and lean into it as hard as you can, it will just be a business.
As you’ll see from what he shared, Steve has discovered his why and he is in the verge of changing countless (more) lives because of it.
From Steve…
While sitting in the [Hubster] Gathering a month or so ago taking it all in, I got overwhelmed with an idea. One thing about me is this… I can seem impulsive, but it’s not so much impulsive… rather more in tune. I literally get a rumbling inside my chest, inside my person and I just know.
Well, I had an image of me setting out to create a plan to host some sort of mental therapy for athletes. I kinda brushed it off as a caffeinated daydream a bit, but I wrote it down.
The thing is I truly believe that mental health is true health. I have seen too many people obsess about fitness and be so damaged in their hearts and brains. So many people start so strong then just give up over the first hiccup in the road, or people just blame everything around them for “failure”. It bothers me. It bothers me beyond the normal person annoyance.
I am passionate about helping people. I am passionate about taking them to the next level… not only in fitness, but in life. When I coach a class I spend time on mindset and setting goals in the workout and perseverance throughout the session, etc., etc.
Honestly, my goal with people is to help them achieve the ultimate health in Mind, Body, and Soul. One standing alone is unstable, all three solid is power! I just happen to use fitness as the tool. I couldn’t care less if someone can ever do a pull-up. I care more about them smiling seeing what they are worth and leaving confident in who they truly are in their hearts.
Well, as the weekend went on I kept thinking more and more about it. A lot of stuff we went over directed me back to that idea. Your leadership section of the weekend was a big part in that. You and I have the same ethos.
Fast forward to when I got home. I looked over all my notes and started to clean the clutter and re-write stuff to make sense of it all and start attacking my goals.
I wake up every day at 3:50am and dedicate my first hour or so of my day to meditation, movement, journaling, affirmation, and reading. This is my best time of day where I find the most clarity.
Through this I started writing down all my ideas and all my goals from the gathering. There were a lot of loose ends and I kept daydreaming about speaking to people about their lives.
I was kinda ignoring it till I read something about VISUALIZATION. This was the game changer for me.
The first day I tried it I sat and just started thinking about my perfect day and blah, blah, trying to control it then it came to me. I heard that voice. “Embrace your daydreams.” “Daydreams are your heart, passions, desires.”
Here is the thing. Because I’ve lived my life with ADHD, I have been told that “daydreaming” is my “weakness”. I catch myself speaking out loud to imagined scenarios in my car and I stop myself because “it’s not normal, my meds should help with that.” It’s been my “issue” my whole life so to speak.
Well, the next day I sat and just said I’m not stopping this… I’m following my mind this time, f-ck everyone.
Low and behold my mind went straight to my gym… as vivid as a movie. In it, I’m hosting a goal setting workshop. I’m standing in front of everyone. I see exactly who I want there and where I want them sitting. I’m literally on my feet in my room walking around eyes closed speaking out loud teaching and motivating. I am going through the dictation of how to breakdown your goals to small tangible bites. I go through this for a half an hour!!
But then the magic happened.
In the end, I closed with how without a goal you have no WHY. Without your WHY you will never really know what you desire. None of this was written out I just started to talk about self worth and self discipline and how discipline breeds confidence and confidence breeds motivation and motivation breeds action which breeds more self discipline and more confidence which then breeds more motivation the even more action… and so on and so forth.
I started to cry (surprise surprise). Without my self discipline, without the 321Go road map I created with you all I would have never found my why.
I have been going through my workshop for the last two weeks. I have a complete drawn out written out plan and presentation. I started 30 minute goal setting sessions where I get inside my athletes heads while we sit 1-on-1 in my office and have implemented it already. The few people I’ve just grabbed and booked time with as practice have all emailed me or texted me that they were blown away with how in tune I was with their hearts and how they have changed as people from sitting with me even just once.
I have the confidence now to the point I KNOW there is no one better suited to follow this path because I have a gift. I am excited to get this moving and I can’t wait for the workshop. I plan on doing it hopefully in late February. I have turned my Sunday emails into blog posts (click here to see) and the feedback has been overwhelming.
Where this is heading I’m not sure BUT I know it’s going to work out well.
I am so thankful for 321Go. I have been part of other groups and it’s been all business and that is fine. But the heart in 321Go is something I haven’t seen in business before, well ever. The compassion you and Clay and everyone shows is so sincere and real. You guys have changed the game when it comes to cooperate business. There is a human aspect that is relevant. It’s not bullshit. It’s a place I find confidence now. It has become a place where I can learn and where I am not judged, but embraced. Let’s be honest, you guys make me feel cool. That is the f-cking best feeling (that no one likes to admit). I thank you all 100-fold beyond what I could ever repay. I have no idea why this email became so long and took this path but I like to just vomit and see what happens.
Well, there is my epiphany and I wake up excited and certain and motivated. I can’t wait till the next Hubster Gathering to show everyone what it’s become.
Steve
We couldn’t be more proud of this guy for following his heart and his dreams. Big things are ahead for him.