Goodbye 2013-Hello 2014

LOOKING BACK

It was a pretty good year.....the most significant thing that happened this year was turning 50...

Fifty...?????

Fifty...man just the sound of it. It's a good time to take stock , look back but most importantly look forward.

Fifty......hmmm. on the plus side , life is good I am doing what I want , when I want and how I want.

On the other hand, there is a sense of time flying by, and as someone who was 90 once said after 45 "Every fifteen minutes it's breakfast" you get facebook friend requests from people you haven't seen in twenty years and when you see pictures of them a thought runs through your head "How the Hell did they get so goddamn old?", never realizing that they are probably thinking the same thing about you. I've been incredibly fortunate life wise. stable relationship for over twenty years, friends that aren't friends but are family, a mid life career that shows no signs of slowing down, and best of all no debt.

And yet there is a sense of wanting to accomplish so much more, wondering how much time is left on the clock, and what can be done before we shuffle off to either play a harp or shovel coal.[really hope it's the former] Life has been really good to me for the first fifty-I've worn many hats and had some amazing adventures, come through it all unscathed, wiser, world wearier, and sense of humour intact[ the most powerful weapon in my or anyone's arsenal] But ten or eleven years ago if you'd told me I'd be working and working very successfully as a Personal Trainer and coach ? Laughable. Nuts. Crazy talk. And yet here I am, working harder than ever, in a career I was born to do. And lucky enough to have the luxury of turning work down, never less than fully involved and most days running around like a nine year old after a shot of espresso and extra helping of Frosted Flakes. Lack of energy has never been an issue. I can still swing, squat, and dead better than a lot of people half my age.

What's left to accomplish? Much. A good Tactical Strength and Conditioning Division where I work. More teaching and trying to raise standards in this Wild West Business I'm in. More travel for pleasure. And above all else , more learning about well , just everything. For 2014 I want more balance and focus. Quality over quantity. Good education, receiving and giving. More time to paint my stupid pictures. Listen to more music. Read more and not just for work. Finish my TSAC cert. Increase my private business. And live my life either as an example or a warning. Your pick. Above all else I am beginning to realize how short all of it is , and after fifty how much bullshit and drama does not matter. And what matters is greater than before.

So bring on 2014, I really do think the best is yet to come , I've thought that every year and whatever challenges lie ahead are to be met with courage, optimism and compassion. So Here's to you 2014,Daddy is ready.

Intervention seminar with Dan John

This past Friday I had the privilege of attending a day long seminar by one of the heavyweights in the Fitness/Strength and Conditioning fields , Dan John...The man is a legendary name and has been in the field before there ever was a field. It was an amazing experience to listen to him talk about his mission , his life and the thing that struck me the most was first and most important to me; he was very, very funny....if your funny I'm going to listen to you. For the first three hours or so he talked about 'Reasonableness'[ apparently the title of the new book he's writing]his life, how it was important to always 'mine' your life and see if its all where it should be.. I am paraphrasing him I am sure, but he said a few times that the exercise stuff was small compared to the bigger picture...that if your life wasn't balanced with family, friends, good literature etc. something was missing.. 'What are your givens?' 'What is your WHY?' Listen to me, any Strength and Conditioning Coach that quotes Nietzche, Socrates, and Frankl is going to get my attention... 'Do you have a list of your ten favourite books? Your ten favourite movies? it matters.He said again and again 'This is the important stuff'...Later in the afternoon we got into exercise, programming and movements , but that first part of the morning really resonated with me. I thought about it a lot and realized I liked him because I agreed with him.Your always going to pay attention to someone whose likes and passions run in synch with your own.But why does this stuff matter to a Strength and Conditioning Coach????

Here's a shot of of one my bookcases in the living room of my Apartment:

on that shelf you'll find the usual suspects 'The Iliad','The Divine Comedy' Histories of Greek and Roman Civilization, the Histories of the Aztecs,Mayans,and Incas, Essays of Michel De Montaigne,Complete Works of Shakespeare,Complete works of Dickens,Volumes of the most famous works by Balzac,Voltaire,Flaubert, and more..below that are my artbooks some of which I've had since I was a boy.'Art Treasures of the Vatican' a lot on modern Mexican painting, Volumes on Renaissance Painting,Fra Angelico,Fra Filippo Lippi, Titian Veronese..... Complete Paintings of National Gallery of Art in Washington way too many books on Salvador Dali and Jasper Johns, and on and on..here's the second bookcase:

Second bookcase contains 'Utopia' by Thomas More,Plutarchs essays, 'On Man and the Universe' by Aristotle,Outline of History by HG Wells, and below that more on Mexican and South American Modern painting, complete works of Da Vinci and Michelangelo etc.I've read all of them , a lot of them more than once.Oh yeah I have scads of strength and conditioning books , but I keep those in the study aka the bedroom where I can work if I need to be away from my Peruvian in laws while they are watching 'Novelas'

SO WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH YOU BEING A TRAINER/COACH/INSTRUCTOR?????

I have to have those things around me.I need them like I need oxygen.After listening to Dan John I thought about my current crop of clients.. I'm one of the busier Trainers in the main Facility I train at...who do I train?Pretty diverse a Nuclear Physicist, a professor of Latin at a Private School. Self made businessman. Police officers..Border Guards..but all my clients have one thing in common. They read too. Guess what else, I have never asked a single client to ever train with me.Not once. Never. But I have discussed literature and art with them .. and yes in a Gym. Guess what else? Almost all of them are repeat long term clients. And I have never asked anyone for repeat business. Do you see where I'm going with this????I'm not trying to impress anyone. I love literature, music art etc. and I LISTEN to people who like the same. after a Training session I'll ask my clients how their week was, what did they read?What did they see, what did they listen to? And then I shut up and let them tell me as they are standing there dripping in sweat.

So here is the big takeaway for all of you aspiring Trainers- when you go into the Gym tomorrow and you are [hopefully] greeting members, ask them in the course of conversation what they have read or if they have ever heard of a certain favourite book of yours...Try it.Don't fake it,Try it. And don't thank me , thank Dan John

Are you missing this one crucial part of your Personal Training Sessions?

Every Friday night I have the same ritual....a two mile walk home [ by choice] and on the way I stop off at my favourite Wine store pick up a bottle of good quality South American red for the two of us, usually a Malbec and head home.Glass and a half then off to bed.

This week I noticed something .....It got me thinking and inspired me to write this.. Every Friday when I walk through the door of the wine store the two twenty something girls who work there look up at me AND DO NOT EVEN SAY GOOD EVENING, HELLO , or even HI.I really don't think I look scary or menacing.I tend to be a polite guy by nature.Most importantly I'm coming in to spend money.It's not like they don't know me, I was there to buy all my wine for Christmas and New Year's,gifts for my friends etc.Why did I have to acknowledge their presence first when I was coming into their establishment? I could quite have easily gone to the much cheaper Governement liquor store two blocks away... I thought about this as one of the young ladies was ringing up my order.."Oh I forgot to give you my phone number.."[ you get points for purchases and I dutifully registered my info on a previous visit-again found out by accident, no one volunteered it] without even looking directly at me she intoned

"You need to let us know that before we ring up your order".

hmmm ok.No offer to adjust , no acknowledgement of me being a loyal customer.Zip.Not even a forced smile.Much less a simple 'Thank You'.Ok maybe they think I'm a creepy lush.Or maybe they just didn't like the fact that when I walk into a place my first instinct is to say "Hi !How are you?" Nah , it's got to be the creepy lush thing.. But then again I realized that no matter where I went in this city the art of saying "Hi' when I entered a store always fell on me-the potential customer...When I was buying pants and shirts at Zara and the salesperson didn't even look up at me once,or a quick dinner the other night along the Drive was served by a twenty something waitress who I swear looked like she had a small turd just under her nose.No 'Hello','Good Evening How Are You Tonight?','Thank You', either to me or the other patrons.It's everywhere.

As I left and continued on my walk home ,bottle of Clos De Los Siete and its pleasures stuffed in my Gym bag I started thinking about my day.I had trained eight people in a row- it was my last set of sessions with three of my clients, one had a ten pack , one had five , another was doing a set of three half hours. All three of those clients went to the front desk and registered for another ten pack, another five pack, and ten more half hour sessions.I didn't even ask them to.In fact I never even brought it up with them.True story-Hey wait a minute, you've never asked anyone to renew..ever..hmmmmmmmm.Sure I'm grateful and very lucky.Just then Irealized that I never once have ever actively solicited any business, asked people to train with me,or tried to do a sales job on anyone.And I never do.When I thought some more about it out of my roster of 16 active clients at one place, nine of them are repeat-and not just once or twice.At another venue I have four clients- three of them are long term and again repeat.And at yet another venue I train at I have four more- two of them long term multiple repeat.Now I think I'm a 'good' Trainer but I will tell you unequivocally nobody can touch me when it comes to service.No one.But as I pondered this a thunderous,not even a glass of wine down my throat epiphanay bellowed right back at me ... it wasn't that I was so good at service, it was just that too many others were awful at it.Service is the gold standard that so few care about, and that those who understand ,embrace and thrive with it

About a year ago I was asked to go work part time at another gym.I do it on an on call basis ,take clients as needed, and I noticed two things-I was busy off the bat and that none of the other Trainers would speak to me at first.Yep got the 'ol stinkeye.Eventually heard through the grapevine that they were pissed off because I was getting all the business and they weren't...I just smiled and carried on doing my thing... slowly I became friends with one of the younger Trainers who kep watching what I was doing with clients-he was was always whining about not having any money,not enough clients etc.so one day after I noticed him watching me I asked him the following questions, and I quote his actual responses.

"Do you do a follow up e mail with your clients within 24 hours to see how they feel?"[ no- who has time for that?"]

Do you remember their Birthdays?["Why would I want to do that?]

'Did you ask about their kids, Grandchildren,Spouse, how is work?'[I was told to focus on the Training]

At the end of a session have you ever asked for feedback?Have you ever said "please tell me what you liked and if there is something you didn't please share it with me, I won't take it personally all of it helps me become a better Trainer"[What is this 'The Actors Studio?]

At that point I didn't even consider asking him if he gave clients his card and e mail and tell them that if they have any questions e mail and you'll do your best to answer them.Or 'Have you ever done a quick five minute demo' for someone who asked you a question?'To quote from Alec Baldwin in one of the greatest speeches of all time from 'Glengarry Glen Ross' "I'd wish you 'Good Luck' but you wouldn't know what to do with it if you had it'

Companies all over the world spend millions if not billions of dollars on ways to get people to spend more of their hard earned dollars.Canadian retailers are screaming that they are losing money to cross border shopping,yet I have NEVER seen a single one of these Canadian retailers emphasize that the one missing link in all of their endless whining and hand wringing would be to spend money on actually improving service.Not once.Is it a dirty little secret?I maintain people will spend more money if they feel valued as consumers.It inevitably comes down to service.I don't care if your selling Real Estate,Hamburgers or Personal Training ,If you worry about service, everything else will take care of itself.What drives me nuts about this whole thing is the complete and utter inability of those front line staff in almost any industry to say 'Hi''Good Evening' or 'How are you?' when someone walks into their place of business, whether it's a restaurant,Hardware store, or Gym Floor.Saying Hello and acknowledging a customer or potential client is for my money one of the most important things you can do-and its an increasing rarity today especially among the young.I notice now that when I walk through the Gym and say 'Hi' a lot of the twenty year olds stare straight ahead and ignore you.Guess what -I say 'Hi' anyway.Acknowledging someone with a simple 'Hello' goes miles.It shows the fact someone you don't know has been given the appropriate respect and appreciation for walking through your door will maybe hire you,when they could have walked through anyone else's and hired someone else.That and saying Goodbye' and Thank You whether they have purchased anything or not is so simple-and so effective.Why are so many in the service industry afraid of doing it?.

I tell my students when I teach that there would be any number of people out there who can train, this city and many others are full of them.Someone will always be better educated,know more etc.I've seen it.But there are very few who actually like dealing with the public...and that will be your greatest advantage.Of course I stress professionalism, constant learning but I owe it to them to be honest as well...'If you don't have personality or offer good service , it doesn't matter what you learn , your sunk." Someone accused me[not the only one I'm sure] of being full of myself.Goddamn right I am,I work hard learn everything I can and always keep in the forefront of my mind the value and respect I have for the people who have paid me very good money that enables me at the age of almost fifty to have a great standard of living and a job I love.. and how no matter how I feel on any given day to get out there and make everyone think that I am having the best day ever.If I don't believe that how in hell can I possibly ensure someone will reach their fitness Goals if I'm being half assed about it?Think about it. I want to see every single Canadian retailer do two things..make it mandatory for their staff to say 'Hello' or 'Good Evening' to every single person who walks through the door.That's it. It might just be a good start.