9 Lessons from owning a gym

I was out for a lunchtime walk last week when I realised Ive been a gym owner for nearly 2 years!

I still consider us to be just a young new pup, but at the same time, we’ve grown so much!

We’ve more than doubled in size,

run big events raising over £1600 for charity,

quiz nights, movie nights, parties,

run lifting and gymnastic courses,

drunk copious amounts of coffee and monster,

run game days,

hosted RAD acid athletics,

we even turned the gym into an escape room once!

We’ve also had members climb mountains (Kilimanjaro),

lose weight,

make friends,

fall in love with fitness,

overcome conditions that previously held them back,

compete in & win fitness competitions,

get stronger,

do things with their body they never imagined like handstands,

get fitter,

get into running,

gain confidence,

wear shorts & sports bras for the first time without feeling self conscious,

and much more!

We’ve got such an amazing thing going on!

But theres been some hard lessons ive learned from owning a gym for the last 2 years…

Heres what owning a gym has taught me about life and fitness!

1. Action over waiting

Waiting for the perfect time gets you no where… Everything comes with compromise.

We have to decide ‘this or that’ every day. Especially when we opened!

But dont wait; investing in fitness, rehab, trying something new… even if its a struggle financially (it always is), dont wait, take action!

2. You cant please everyone!

And nor should you… There are people who are a perfect fit for Tough Cookie; its community, its support, its friendliness, its intelligence, its vibe.

And theres people who arent. And thats ok.

Even within the team we’ve got different tastes and styles, and someone will always complain about the music! As long as youre a good person, just do you!

(and remember you cant have it all your way!)

3. Be true to yourself

Its a cliche… but actually theres a lot you can get dragged into that you never signed up for (in life too). Sales and marketing - which we all do daily in some way - can make you behave unnaturally.

Ive also found that being an empathetic coach and really trying to understand the diverse bunch of clients we have, has sometimes left me wondering who I really am, and what I really think…

So i feel like its important to know yourself; being able to really understand other people, while also knowing who you are.

Don’t get lost.

4. “All life is suffering”

You have to choose your hard. Because no matter what you choose, it will get tough sometimes.

We wanted to grow, but growing was (and is) tough. We wanted to be better for our members and overstretched ourselves, we want to be amazing value which means putting in lots of hours, etc etc…

No matter what you do, its all hard! So make choices that you’re willing to endure.

For example, its hard to live a healthy fulfilled life without good fitness, and its also effort and investment you have to put into your fitness. Choose wisely.

5. Going it alone is impossible

Absolutely no way on earth we could have opened a gym and made such an impact already without tonnes of support.

We’ve got mentors, other coaches, other gym owners, our own members & even others from different professions who have all helped TC become something amazing.

If I’d tried to do this alone, it either would have failed, or wouldnt be half as good as it is!

You need to get expert guidance and support from like-minded people, coaches & people who have been where you are!

6. Sweeping the sheds!

This is an All Blacks classic lesson… but for me and the gym, its got layers…

It means that no one is above doing the basics and the dirty work - and doing it well.

It comes from the fact that the All Blacks - rugbys best athletes with the highest winning record of any team in any sport are still expected and willing to sweep the sheds after practice.

For me, its come to mean that no one is better than anyone else.

It means no one is above doing the basics and doing them well.

It means standards matter.

It means the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and everyones contributions make it better for everyone else, including themselves.

Do the work.

7. More isnt better -> Better is better

In wanting to be better coaches, have a better gym, provide a better training experience, we’ve often tried to do too much.

Sometimes thats meant things havent been given the time, care and attention they could have! So trying to do more has meant everything became less!

This hits in training and life too. The people who try to do everything burn out (I have this conversation regularly with clients). In training when you try to work on everything at once, nothing gets enough time to develop…

Stop trying to do more, and instead figure out the biggest 1 or 2 levers to pull, and do those things better!

8. Don’t take life too seriously!

Ok, i have been through a phase in the last couple of years where it felt like i was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.

I worried about eveeeerything! I wasnt sleeping, I was burned out and having a really hard time…

It was a struggle. And it wasnt even at the hardest point in the journey. Because it wasnt what was happening - it was my mindset - id lost perspective. I thought i was in a life or death situation. I know it seems silly to read, but when life gets on top of you, thats how it feels!

I had lots of people telling me this already, but I had to have a really deep think, face facts and remind myself… its not the end of the world and ill be ok. If it all goes wrong, Ill still be ok. It might be hard, it might not be what I want… but ill be ok.

I can handle it! Ive proven that in the 39 years ive been on this planet already.

So fuck it! Chill & have fun with it!

9. Pound the stone

Keep hitting… it may take 10 hits, 100 hits, 1000 hits, but the rock will break!

You dont know when, but it will.

Keep hitting every day. Youll make that lift, youll hit that time, youll build what you were trying to build, youll become who youre trying to become.

Dont stop at hit 9, 99 or 999… without knowing what could have been.

Daily & weekly, do the things that move the needle forward.

Hit the gym, make the calls, repeat the little investment, take your vitamins, go for the daily walk, follow your sleep routine, find some joy in your day, listen to your coach.

Let it compound over time until you look back and realise you’ve moved a mountain!

Thanks for listening to my ted talk…

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Peace team!

Coach Seb

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