I had one of my monthly coaching calls with a long-term health club owner client of mine this morning. With his permission, I am using a part of that call for today’s topic.

This client, all in the past year has gone through an ugly divorce, had his club flooded (only to find his insurance policy didn’t cover floods), had a Planet Fitness move two blocks from his location, had knee replacement surgery when all ligaments were snapped in a pick up basketball game, had to fire two personal trainers for stealing (one had been with him for 7 years), and had seen a decrease in monthly EFT by nearly 30% due largely to the economy and the increased competition.

That’s a tough year no matter how you look at it.

But here is the amazing thing. This client never seems unhappy. He is always positive and only focuses on the good. So today I bluntly asked him…What is your secret to staying happy no matter the circumstances?

His answer was simple and piercing…

What other choice do I have?

Then silence…

I really didn’t know what to say. I know tons of people that deal with issues much less difficult than any this guy has encountered. I personally try to maintain a very steady mindset, but even I falter, sometimes when it is only a simple problem. But not this guy…

To hear those words come from him were very powerful. Hell, I want to refund his consulting fees for the month because the lesson he just taught me was that valuable. I’m not refunding him, but for a fleeting moment I felt I should J

So I guess the moral of this story is that we all have a choice, every day of our lives. Life throws curve balls, sometimes it seems every day. How we handle these situations is entirely up to us. We can either let them bring us down, or we can shrug our shoulders, recognize the situation for what it is, and make up our minds to learn from the mistake and push forward.

And for the record, this client (I’m certain because of his positive attitude and not because of my consulting), has improved every aspect of his business. His EFT was back above breakeven last month for the first time in 10 months, his personal training revenue has doubled since letting the personal trainers go, he’s playing basketball again, has recovered completely from the flood, he has a great girlfriend in his life, and he still has that positive attitude. I can almost picture that confident grin on his face every time we talk on the phone.

I hope that those of you who are currently struggling can see how powerful it is to have a positive outlook on everything. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade; When one door closes, another opens;

All of these sayings may be very cliché, but they are so very true. As for my client…My hat is off to you sir. I am proud and humbled to be a part of your life.

Dedicated to your Success…

Curtis Mock

If anyone is familiar with the author Brian Tracy, then you’ll recognize the term, “Eat that Frog”. It is one of the most powerful habits you as a health club owner can develop.

Simply stated, if the first thing you did every morning was eat a frog, then the rest of your day would be simple. Translated…if you make sure to do the task you dread doing the most, right away, the rest of your day will be more productive and more enjoyable because you took care of your most difficult task.

Here are some things you can do immediately to be more productive and devouring all kinds of frogs in your health club:

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**Write down your goals, all of them. Daily, monthly, yearly, life. All of them are important and all of them need to be on paper.

**Don’t start a day without a to do list. Make sure you plan your day the night before.

**Resist the temptation to do your smallest tasks first. It’s fun to mark things off the list, but you end up spinning your wheels, putting off the bigger, and likely more profitable tasks for later.

**Follow the law of forced efficiency. Meaning…You don’t have time to do everything, so make sure you always do the most important things. “What is the most valuable use of my time…right now?”

**Keep your work area clutter free.

**Create a pressure situation. If you give yourself an entire day to do something, it will take you an entire day to do it. That’s just human nature. But if you tell yourself it will take you 3 hours, and that after 3 hours you are finished…you’ll be amazed when that task is completed in 3 hours.

**Turn large projects into a series of smaller projects. This will help motivate you to get started. Many times we don’t begin a project because of the sheer enormity of it. Break it up into smaller pieces and you’ll be glad to work on each piece individually.

**The most important thing you can do though is Eat That Frog. If you are dreading paperwork, or calling delinquent members, or filing taxes, or processing cancelations, or training your staff, or writing a newsletter, or cleaning the gym.

Whatever your most dreaded task is, Do It First!!

Dedicated to your success…

Curtis Mock

Take a look at a video I came across discussing the future of using the Nintendo Wii as the training tool of the future. What do you think?  Leave a comment.  Enjoy!

The Future of Fitness