I had the amazing privilege of travelling around the world for a year to 13 developing countries. To say it changed my worldview perspective would be a huge understatement… sort of like saying the Pope is Catholic.
What I learned is the majority of the world lives far differently than even the poorest of us reading this. There is no hope of a retirement account, no savings accounts, no ability to go out to a nice dinner on a special occasion, and certainly no ability to buy new workout shoes.
After a year away, it was easy to forget what life was like back home. Even though it was a number of years ago, I will never forget the thought I had when stepping back onto US soil for the first time…
The vast majority of people in the United States are unfit.
Once I saw this, I couldn’t unsee it. This wasn’t a judgment… it was a heart-wrenching realization.
We are voracious consumers of anything that makes us feel better.
We love the easiest road. Fast food. Avoid conflict. Say yes when we want to say no. Take the car when we could of walked. Watch TV when we could go to the gym. Be mean when we know kindness is what the other person needs.
Of course there are many who are overweight because of medical conditions, but the majority just love food and hate exercise, and have become so undisciplined feeding themselves with anything and everything but good habits.
So it is in business.
After spending many years as a consultant/coach, I’ve come to learn that most small businesses are unfit, and making excuses. They know they need to make changes, but don’t have the courage to take the leap.
And, after spending almost 2 years talking with gym owners every day, I’ve come to the sad conclusion that struggling gyms are the norm, rather than the exception. It’s sad because a struggling business affects everything – the business owner’s stress levels and health, their family relationships, their financial security, their confidence, their relationships outside the gym, their expectations of others, the list is long…
You don’t want to admit it, but maybe this sounds familiar.
You know what you need in your business. You know the weak points. Maybe it’s your website – you’ve built it yourself and you know no one can find you, but you’re still hoping it will fix itself. Maybe it’s your finances – you have no clue how to really understand your numbers, but you don’t want to admit that to anyone so you keep trying to fake it until you make it. Maybe your retention has been declining month after month, but you just keep hoping harder that things will turn around. Maybe you have no processes in place and even though you’ve heard it a million times that processes create success, you haven’t written anything down.
If some (or all) of this describes your business, you are not alone. I find myself all day long fighting to stay focused. So many things scream for my attention – emails, Facebook, my dogs, the laundry, a falling leaf outside – you name it… but the things I know I need to do to move my work forward often are the least interesting to me.
I think many gym owners can relate. The things that are hard get pushed off til tomorrow, and then tomorrow, until tomorrow never comes.
Why is this? What are we afraid of?
I
t’s time to make a change.
Today is Monday, the start of a new week. You had goals you wanted to reach this year and here we are in the middle of September already. It’s time to get off the proverbial couch and start making things happen.
I have three words for you…
Do. The. Work.
I recently heard a podcast where someone asked “How do successful people get successful?” The answer? “Wake up earlier than everyone else, stay up later than everyone else, want it more than anyone else, invest in people more than anyone else, and… just do the work.”
So, what’s “the work”?
It’s hard. It’s grinding. It’s what everyone else puts off until tomorrow. It’s those things that scare you because they are not comfortable. It’s what you’ve known you need to do for a while now.
It’s one thing today. And then one thing tomorrow. And then the next day.
Stop putting off what you know needs to be done. Find someone to hold you accountable. Put dates to those things that have been hanging out there in need-to-do land. And then stick to them.
I’m talking to me as much as I’m talking to you. No more excuses. Stop getting distracted. Close down whatever is distracting you for an hour, and get your one thing done.
Lift 10 lbs. today so that you can lift 100 lbs. 6 months from now.
In a year, we won’t even recognize ourselves, or our businesses.
Let’s do this.
If you don’t know where to turn, but are ready to make a change, we’d love to help. Click here to schedule a quick call with us.