Do you wake up every day energized and ready to get out of bed and go work on your business? I’ve never really had jobs where my excitement to go to work lasted long-term. While I’d be eager to go to work, I’d run into roadblocks that kept me from living my full potential – be that a boss, a system or resources. It dampened my flame and excitement to succeed.

 

But I don’t have that at the gym. I am my biggest limitation. Don’t have enough money to hire the amazing staff member full time? OK, I’ll figure it out. Not sure you can afford the mortgage on the new space (but you’re not able to grow any further in your current space)? OK. I’ll figure it out. Athletes dropped in large numbers for the summer and now they’re trickling back in slowly putting a hurt on the dwindling bank account? OK, I’ll figure it out.

 

I’ve had all of these things happen over the years. Each had minor turns and twists that made it a huge challenge to me, but I never stopped believing I could do what was best for my business if I could just figure out the plan. 

 

We outgrew our first building in just three months. THREE months. We knew we may eventually want to go full time at our gym, but we were a few thousand shy of doing that, and we were at capacity. I wasn’t sure how we were going to make it happen. There was a space next door that was an exact square – too small for a cheer floor but extra space nevertheless. We reached out to the landlord who, of course, wasn’t interested in a deal – and we made it happen. It required extending our lease and paying more. By the fifth month in business, we quit our jobs and went full time at our gym. Now, I was making a little less than I had been at my full-time job. It was a term I was willing to accept for a little while, but that was going to be my next challenge. 

 

Every day after that, I woke up excited. I have had hard days in the gym. I’ve had days where I really didn’t want to do something that day or wasn’t looking forward to a conversation with a parent, but I’ve never woken up feeling like I did at previous jobs – limited, restricted and tied up.

 

One of our Academy members posted a great quote the other day and mentioned that she was hopping out of bed lately ready to attack her goals. If that’s not you, I challenge you to set some huge goals for yourself. Set something that fires you up. Work hard to achieve it. Find someone who will hold you accountable and who will get you there.

 

Once you reach your goals, make it a plan to never let your staff feel the way I felt – restricted. Help them reach their personal and professional goals through your gym. When you win, everyone wins.

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