A Post on Fitness Professional Mindset By Pat Rigsby
I wonder if most fitness professionals really know what they want.
Dan Kennedy talks about being certain that you don’t create a success that you hate.
Do you know what you want?
When I first began coaching baseball I dreamed of winning 30 games in a season and earning $30,000 a year. Considering that the team I was taking over had never won more than 19 games in a season and the job paid $3000 – those seemed like success to me.
We eventually won as many as 48 games in a season and averaged well over 30 wins for my time as a coach – and during my last couple of years I even earned a bit more than $30,000.
But what I never considered was that being a small college baseball coach meant more time fundraising than on baseball fundamentals and hundreds of hours riding on vans and eating at McDonalds because our budget didn’t allow for anything else.
And I never considered that being a college baseball coach meant being the worst kind of employee – the kind that works for someone that doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing.
I recall during my final year as a coach thinking that if the job that I had was vacant, I’d not even consider applying.
And to think that being a college baseball coach was my ‘dream job.’
After I left coaching and moved into the fitness industry, initially I thought that I’d love to own my own studio – or maybe a few. But over time I found that training clients for fat loss did not give me the same thrill that training athletes had provided.
I did find that I loved the business side of fitness and for quite some time thought that Nick and I would open a chain of gyms throughout our region.
We pursued this for a while, with a training company in one town and a gym 90 minutes away. We looked at real estate, met with investors and even worked with a franchisor about securing the rights to all of Kentucky.
But as time passed, a few things happened:
- We realized that having to borrow enough money to open the gyms would leave us without a significant profit for quite a while.
- Dealing with developers and investors left some of our decisions and potential for success in others’ hands.
- Running back and forth between Elizabethtown and Owensboro 2-3 times per week wasn’t allowing me to enjoy time with my family.
- We recognized that finding, training and managing employees is a battle that is ongoing and dozens of gyms meant hundreds of employees.
None of these things were the type of success that I wanted.
During this same period, we started to do business coaching, consulting and offer products to fitness professionals.
Not too long after, we acquired ownership in the IYCA.
Things started to feel right.
I can’t say that I love doing products – I much prefer coaching programs, live events and Mastermind Groups. Products are a necessary and valuable component of what we do – but I love interacting with people.
Now we’re Co-Owners in over a dozen businesses and I’m happier than I’ve ever been.
- I get to coach motivated people in something I’ve grown to be very passionate about…business.
- I get to work in the areas of our businesses that I’m best suited to work.
- I’m home most of the time. Sure, I travel some, but I’m home more than 95% of people I know and I work from home 90% of the time.
- I’ve come full circle and get to work in athletic development through the IYCA, Athletic Revolution and several other yet-to-be-announced projects– the area of this industry that attracted me in the first place.
- My wife Holly works at home as well and I get to play a part in helping her do what she loves.
- We’ve launched a franchise that I truly believe will span the globe, help hundreds of fitness professionals realize their career dreams and help hundreds of thousands of young people.
So I finally have a pretty good idea of what I want.
- I want to be home more often than not so I can enjoy time with Holly & Tyler.
- I want to work primarily with entrepreneurs.
- I want to focus on business development and athletic development. I could spend all day in these areas and never feel like it’s been work.
- I want to coach or partner with like-minded entrepreneurs to help them achieve their goals.
- I want to personally own at least one facility as I never want to be just a ‘theory’ guy.
- I want to leave a legacy and create something that lives on.
Oh, and I want a beach house;)
I’m not telling you all this because I think you need to be anything like me. Far from it. The things that Holly wants her career are different than mine. I’m certain that the things that Grasso, Boyle, Cosgrove and Labadie all want differ from my list.
The key is discovering what you want your Fitness Professional success to look like.
It’s been a slow process for me and it continues to evolve day by day – but I love what I’m doing now and financially things have never been better for me or our businesses in spite of the economic issues we’ve heard so much about.
So think about what parts of your career / business that you love.
Think about the parts you don’t.
Think about what’s important to you.
Think about where you want to be a year from now. 3, 5, even 10 years from now.
Then start moving that direction.
It’s not an overnight process. If you want more freedom, start creating systems and eventually hire help.
If you want to own a facility, start saving some money, writing a business plan and looking at locations.
If you want to train only athletes – at least start training an athlete.
But you can think bigger than that if you want.
If you want to become a famous speaker – start speaking to someone. Anyone.
If you want to write a book – start with a sentence.
If you want to move, they have big green signs that will direct you out of town…
Because – at least I believe – that it’s never a finished product. Your want will always be changing…and so will your circumstances. But if you’re moving in the direction that you want, I suspect you’ll be pretty darn happy. And you may get farther than you ever expected.
Dedicated to your success,
Pat Rigsby
Pat Rigsby is a Co-Owner of the International Youth Conditioning Association & the youth fitness franchise Athletic Revolution as well as a fitness industry consultant serving thousands of personal trainers and fitness entrepreneurs. Sign up for his fitness business free newsletter to discover proven marketing, sales and business strategies, along with blog updates, news, and more! While you’re at it, follow him on Twitter.
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Thanks for the awesome encouragement bro, I appreciate you!
There is true power in these words Pat. I was up all night last night because I’ve been struck with what I want my success to look like.
I’ve started writing my plans, contacting necessary people that can help me and bought a new business name.
All because I want my success to look the way I want it to look.
Everything that I have done along the way is to be used as a stepping stone that got me to the next level of where I’m truly supposed to be.
Thank you for this timely post.
Terrific as always Pat. This is something I have been thinking about recently too – now that I am two years into this not-so-new Total Female Hockey business. You are right about it being a process. One thing I know for sure is that you always need to follow your gut and your heart and make sure you are doing what you love so that you can get all the things you want out of life. Great stuff!
Kim
Thanks Pat.
So Simple – yet exactly what I needed to hear.
Awesome stuff Pat! This is a scary scenario as it’s sometimes very, very tough doing what you want, and you gotta run your biz like you don’t need the money.
But, stick to your guns and things will go your way if you push for them to happen.
I love this post and it took me years and years of tough times and investing in my education to finally start crafting the life I’ve always wanted.
The BIGGEST help was constant investment in my education and being in Mastermind groups.
I had opportunity to snag a second location and I knew it could make me more money but would a headache, I’m NOT into headaches anymore, had enough of them to last a lifetime.
I wanted to spend my time on one gym, and have more free time not less of it, wanted more time at the beach and time to go surfing, hang with friends and be a kid again so to speak.
Thanks for a great post and always great resources bro, much respect!
–Z–
PS: Beach Houses and Beach Towns are F**ing shaweeeeeet
Pat, this is an excellent post. It’s inspiring and I like that you’re sharing more of your own personal experiences as of late.
Not only your triumphs but your struggles as well and what you did to overcome those struggles.
Thanks,
Kevin Yates
http://functionaltrainingcoach.com
Pat,
Very strong words man and a great post!
I had a conversation with a good friend the other day who had run into some personal and business problems as of late. One thing he said to me that has been replaying over and over again in my head is, “Tyler, you run your business the way YOU want to run it.” That truly meant a lot. Along the past 18 months I have made a shit ton of connections in my network but have also managed to create plenty of enemies. Something that in the past would bother me as I tried to be “friends” with too many people.
I now have fewer “friends” in my circle, but I KNOW what I want, run my business the way I want, get to do what I love and work side by side with my bro Rob everyday.
Headaches do happen but as long as you stick to your plan and take action on creating what you want those headaches will go away. And it helps to have create people in your network and it starts with expanding your network by seeking advice.
The best thing I have done for myself and truly enjoy doing is investing in my business and my education. Masterminding, attending seminars, talking weekly to others in the industry, visiting gyms and facilities of leaders in our industry has only made everything I do so much better. Just learning from others and taking a few things from their experiences to better sculpt the business and life that you want!
Great post Pat! Thanks again!
Tyler
Powerful words Pat!
Trying to break free of your comfort zone and follow your true passion is definitely a challenge, especially when you have a family that depends on you.
But having the freedom to do what you love while being in control of your time allows you to spend more time with the people that matter.
The timing will never be perfect to take action but as Theodore Roosevelt once said ” Do what you can, with what you have, where you are…”
Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks for the great post! Your words and those in your community truly inspire me to push through the many obstacles that show up on a daily basis. Thank you for your commitment to those who are committed to helping others.
Powerful.Thanks so much for everything.
Thanks for your wonderful attitude to life
Great post. It made me reflect and help paint a clearer picture of how the journey can be.
Don’t let anything/anybody stop us from acheiving success in the fitness industry!
I’m going to go and make my list
Thanks for another great post!
Pat,
Thank you for all the great emails to help us reach our dreams and goals. You have helped me so much. I realize I need to write down the things that I really want. I have been approached about subleasing some space in a facility to do my boot camps. I value your opinion so could you please let me know if this will be a good move for my business?
Sharon
Pat Rigsby has written a lot of great posts lately, but this is his best.
Hey Sharon – I need more info to give you a solid response…give me the details;)
Jimmy – this was probably my favorite post to write in a long, long time;) It’s fun doing what we do isn’t it?
Yes, it is, Patrick, yes it is.
And my story is similar to yours. It hasn’t always been this way. It’s a journey, no doubt.
Awesome post Pat! Getting clear about your intentions and what exactly you want is the ultimate happiness principle. Success is just getting what you want, but *HAPPINESS* is wanting and liking what you get.
I wonder if most fitness professionals really know what they want.
Dan Kennedy talks about being certain that you don’t create a success that you hate.
Do you know what you want?
When I first began coaching baseball I dreamed of winning 30 games in a season and earning $30,000 a year. Considering that the team I was [...]