Yesterday morning, November 5th, 2015, I set off to St. Louis MO to attend the kick off event:
It was an 8.5 hour drive from the twin cities to St. Louis, MO. I have a sanity limit on road trips as I am sure you all do. 6 hours is usually the time when I start looking at the clock every 3 minutes, checking the mileage to see how far I have driven and just start going insane!
But, the thing that got me through the trip was the app called the Podcast addict. I downloaded podcasts from the James Altucher Show, Entrepreneur on Fire, NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me & This American Life, Hardcore History and Physique Science Radio. Listening to hours of these podcasts I learned James Logan is trying to sue all podcasters for infringing on a patent he made in 1996 or some such thing. I listened to John McAfee (yes, the virus software guy) tell his story and decided that he really is, literally the most interesting guy on the planet and from that you are being watched every minute of every day as all of your apps have access to your camera’s and microphones… so cover up your cameras! Can we say 1984? That scenario is just around the corner.
I also heard on Hardcore History how Arch duke Franz Ferdinand, in 1914, dies in this assassination that wouldn’t have happened unless this bizarre coincidence didn’t unfold. Much like that movie Magnolia where these ironic coincidences would happen suggesting that “forces greater than chance play important roles in life.”
I also learned from Micheal Hyatt, Author of Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World, to”fail forward.” No, that’s not like paying it forward when you do good deeds and then ask that person to do the same for someone else. Failing forward is working toward your goals, making mistakes and then picking yourself up, learning from them and moving forward. I know that isn’t a new concept but I like the phrase Fail Forward.
Back to the event…..
Today, Friday November 6th, 2015, I drove into St. Louis on a gorgeous sunny day, walked into the Busch Stadium and prepared to become inspired. This preparation wasn’t something I consciously set out to do when I walked in, it just happened. The stadium I had entered was AMAZING. It was filled with all of the influential and unforgettable baseball players and coaches immortalized as bronze statues or in pictures. Baseball card and cracker jack box memorabilia all over the walls. It was very patriotic and the energy was really moving.
So I checked in, chatted with some people, found my Coach John Gorman as well as Chip Cunningham and friends and we sat down at our round table ready to get fired up! And boy did we. To say this was event was motivating and inspiring is an understatement.
Through the day, we listened to Ben Newman, an international speaker, author and high performance coach, tell tear jerking stories from his personal life making any of my problems seem like minuscule and petty issues but at the same time making me feel like I can overcome anything and conquer the WORLD! We listened to Andy Friesella, owner of 1st Phorm , S2 supplement stores and founder of the MFCEO project, give us a no bullshit approach to building a business or how to be a better employee. Lastly, Aeneas Williams, NFL Hall of Fame Cornerback & Pastor graced the stage to enlighten us on his vision and message to be successful using his own incredibly journey in life as an inspiring example.
It was a comfortable size crowd of maybe, 200 people? A size that made this type of event more intimate and I love that. It would have been nice to chat with everyone in that room! But, that’s what I like to do. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough time in the day for that.
I avidly took notes, wrote down my idea’s and found that the timing in my life was impeccable. This tour couldn’t have come at a better time. Just this year I decided to make a pact with myself to be transparent, to not FEAR failure or rejection- truly and to just jump in and start talking to people, putting my goals out into the universe and work my butt off to achieve them. This event aligned with that pact every well.
Before starting this fitness business of mine, Get Fit. Go Figure!, I didn’t realize how I was living in fear of failure and rejection. I used to keep my goals to myself so that if I did not reach them, nobody would know I failed or gave up. Putting yourself out into cyberspace and reaching out to various people is scary. You fear negativity, you fear the internet trolls, you fear rejection.
Nobody wants to hear negative things about themselves or the entities they work so hard to create but it is inevitable the more well known you get. There will always be haters out there but more often that not, if you do it right, you will have more people that LOVE you.
3 Keys to Success
So how do you do it right what ever “it” is? I have found, after having followed and interacted with very successful people in life and business as well as starting two of my own, that there are common threads among true go getters.
1 ) Fail forward. As mentioned above but I will recap. Seek out your goals, try, fail, learn from it and keep moving forward. If you aren’t failing often, you aren’t trying hard enough.
2 ) Solve problems and give value. Take something you are passionate about and help solve other peoples problems and give something of value to others. Provide something that a population needs or wants a solution for like weight loss, organization, how to blog, how to write successfully, how to ____________________ (fill in the blank).
Three years ago I started a paleo cupcake business. I had people banging down my door and coffee shops wanting to sell them before I was officially opened and licensed. Why? Because people had dietary restrictions and wanted beautiful and tasty confections to eat and no one was doing this. I solved a problem. I took a tasty old time favorite and put a twist on it…. the paleo cupcake. I had people with celiacs disease cry when they would pick up their cupcakes and taste them because they hadn’t been able to buy a tasty baked good in 10 years. It was very moving for me and I would tear up right along with them.
3 ) Reframe and never stop. Successful people know how to reframe their thinking, focus on a solution and keep moving forward. They don’t stop no matter what. No matter if they are robbed, injured or ill, told they will fail, or whatever the set back may be… they reframe, see the solution, see their goals and keep moving forward.
” If your purpose is big enough, it will overtake your pain.” This was a phenomenal statement made by Ben Newman after having told stories of people who had visions for themselves but physically were unable to even carry out their purpose, or so it would seem. At times that I probably would have given up these people pushed through their injuries or terminal illnesses in amazing feats of effort and DID IT ANYWAY achieving greatness- big and small.
This applies to EVERYTHING. Business, relationships, LIFE! You will get knocked down, you will fail, you will feel like giving up. But if you keep your purpose and goals at hand, and that will is strong enough, you will overtake that pain.
Its amazing how strong our mental toughness can really be if we want it to be so, if we turn the negative into a positive, if we keep on going.
Notes
These are notes I took as I was listening to these speakers. Somethings they said, somethings I just needed to right down as they came to me.
- Identify your purpose. Write in down!
Personally, I want to volunteer more in my community and be a better wife and Mother. I want to start a fitchick fashion line of street clothes that will fit over our asses, quads and calves. I want to speak at conferences, be a guest on podcasts, I want my pro card, maybe have a team of amazing coaches under the Get Fit. Go Figure! brand. I want my business to be able to contribute to non- profits, add value to communities and give back. I want to host fitness events and seminars and conferences.
There, I just blurbed goals on my list out into the universe.
2. Have the power to reframe. Focus on a solution.
3. Be your own advocate. Not your adversary. Stay positive. You can do this!
4. Get a little bit better every single day.
5. Be courageous and intentional.
6. Have patience. It takes time to get better, to make connections, to take the steps to meet your goals and continue through the process.
7. You control your fate, your actions, your reactions, your feelings. You have the power to change anything it is that you don’t like about your life. YOU. Nobody else. Nothing will change unless you make it happen.
You are the reason you are where you are today. Nobody else got you there. You may have had people help you along the way, or events that nudged you in certain directions to make certain decisions but ultimately, YOU ARE THE REASON YOU ARE WHERE YOU ARE TODAY. You don’t like it, CHANGE IT!
8. Don’t say, I will do “this” or I am going to do “this”. Say, I AM “this”!!!
I AM the most influential female in the bodybuilding industry… there is said it. This statement came to me as I was sitting there trying to think of what my ultimate goal is after having written down that I am an agent of change. Over the years, so many people have come to me for health and fitness advice. I was an example that inspired friends and family, my athletes when I coached, students when I was a teacher, to want to be better and live healthier. I AM AN AGENT OF CHANGE. That I thought was pretty powerful. Then Ben Newman stood up on that stage and gave an example of how he got one of his clients to think bigger and more in the present. That is when I came up with the aforementioned goal: I AM the most influential female in the bodybuilding industry.
…Now I can say that everyday. But what steps will I take to get there. Here is what I decided:
Aside from putting my family first….
a.) Continue to be the best coach and always there for my clients. Be impeccable and have the highest integrity. To be well read and researched.
b) Give value to and educate people with information on my blog. Possibly provide products- electronic or tangible that will also do the same.
c) In 2016, to volunteer at fitness expo’s, conferences and seminars. To network and talk with the moderators, organizations, personal assistants, attendees of the events, influential people and speakers of these events.
d) Speak at conferences regularly by 2018.
e) Continue competing on that stage as a bikini or figure competitor and get into power lifting. Something I have been looking into for several years. Get a pro card in one of these areas.
f) Be innovative in going about coaching, competing, living a healthier lifestyle. Can I mesh a life for longevity with a life of competitive bodybuilding. Conventionally, those two don’t really align well. Sounds like a problem I need to solve….
g) Talk about what I offer with enthusiasm! If I am excited about telling people about what I offer and how it will add value to their lives, they will be excited to!
h) Reach the Early Adopters. Andy Frisella covered the concept of the innovation adoption life cycle.
Let’s start with the innovator, aka: YOU. Then you have the early adopters who will be the first the try out your product and review it, blog about it, share it, get the word out. Then you have the masses who will buy based on the reviews and blog posts and the other famous people using this product or the friend who said your product or service was so amazing. With the internet and social media today, nobody buys blindly because they saw an ad stating that your product works great. They are going to ask around, search the internet for reviews and to see who uses your product or service. Lastly you have the laggers who will eventually get around to buying in or trying it out.
Essentially, you need to focus your time and energy reaching those early adopters for the most efficient way of getting the word out. Those influential bloggers, youtubers, Instagrammers and other top social media-lites in your industry that will try out what your selling and tell the masses. And if you are good, the followers will tell a friend and so on.
Ben Newman has a 1+ concept. “The definition of “The +1 Concept”: once per day challenge yourself to identify 1 contact per day via social media and turn them into a legitimate business prospect”
That is BIG. Check out his page and utilize the language he puts in there to help you do this.
i) Create loyalty. In doing the above… being impeccable, truthful, enthusiastic, adding value and education to solve a problem for somebody, following up with them to make sure information or services worked and show that I care how they are doing….I can create loyal followers/customers.
j) Laslty: the power list! Andy spoke about this concept of his power list. Write down 5 things everyday that you will get done. If you get them done, that is a win for that day. This is brilliant, let me tell you why. Take a look at my lists…..
Yep, those are my lists…. they compile ideas, and articles and concepts I have and things get buried, then I get discouraged. Half the time I don’t even want to start.
But, If I prioritize 5 things that I will accomplish that day… I can crush this! That is completely doable.
So, Before I go to bed, I will plan the 5 things I am going to accomplish the next day and Do It Anyway!
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