Would you know what to do if...

Someone like a customer, a friend or a family member approaches you to share they have been sexually abused. Unfortunately, with the statistics below it could easily happen. Very sad but we have to be prepared. A few things you can do: 

.Listen in a way that supports and validates their feelings.

.Let them know that you believe what they are telling you.

.Make yourself available

.Encourage them to seek help.

.Let them disclose details of the abuse at their own pace.

.Ask them what they need from you to feel safe and supported.

.Take care of yourself and get help if needed.

.Educate yourself on recovery issues.

.You can go to the police, hospital or counseling with them

. Refer them to someone you know

 that has gone through a similar experience

The statistics:

How Often Does Sexual Assault Occur? 


·            1, 397 sexual assaults occur in Canada every day.

·            Once every minute a woman or child in Canada is sexually assaulted (forced sexual touching)

·      A woman is raped (forced to have sexual intercourse) every 17 minutes in Canada 




 

Who Are The Victims Of Sexual Assault?

·      82% of sexual assault victims are women or girls

·      15% of sexual assault victims are boys under 17

·      3% of sexual assault victims are men over 17

·      56% of female victims are under 18 years of age

·      25% of female victims are under 12 years of age

·      44% of female victims are over 18 year of age

·      77% of stalking victims are women 




 

What Percentage of Canadian Women Are Victims Of Sexual Violence?

·      39% of Canadian women (or 2 out of 5) have been sexually assaulted since the age of sixteen

·      24% of Canadian girls under age 16 have experienced rape or coercive sex.

·      51% of Canadian Women have been victims of physical or sexual violence since the age of sixteen.

·      24% of Canadian women have been forced into sexual activity by threat, by being held down, or by being hurt in some way.

·      30% of women currently or previously married have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence at the hands of a marital partner.

 

More information:

  http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ncfvcnivf/familyviolence/html/nfntsxagrsexadult_e.html

http://www.safekidsbc.ca/statistics.htm

10 Tips when Travelling Abroad

As I travel in Hungary I want to share some of the things I keep in mind when in new places. The following can be applied to wherever you go.

1.Weather you are travelling or at home each and every day there are priorites. Always start the day with completing the priorty. If not, have a plan set in place to make sure you get it done. We always feel much better about ourselves when we know we have accomplished the days biggest tasks.

2.Be ready to give. Take something unique from your home before you travel. You never know when you will be helped by someone or invited to someones house along your journey. By having a gift ready, one that is characteristic of your home or country says alot about you and is always appreciated. For example, in Hungary there is no maple syrup therefore I brought a few extra bottles ready to give.

3,Make an effort to learn something of the culture prior to your visit. This will prepare you and make your feel less ignorant. Learn proper etiquette, attitudes, industries, history or language. On top of it all, make sure you learn something from the experienced culture before you leave as well. You will be asked about it when you get home.

4.Meet people. Meet as many people as you can. Because knowing that everyone on this earth has a unique role to play and expereinces to teach there is a lot to learn from someone in another culture. Do not limit yourself to not just being alone or to those most similar to yourself ie. do not just talk to the english speakers. Everyone has a story to tell weather english speaking or not.

5.Be openminded to experience new things. Along with meeting new people, try local quisine and dont be afraid to eat something you have never tried before. Pick something new from the menu.

6.Smile when you meet people even if just in passing. You are representing yourself and your country. May sound pretty patrotic but Canada has a good rep. Lets uphold that rep internationally.

7.Exercise. Even because your are away from your regular routine there is no excuse to get some exercise done. Walk, hike run, experience a bike tour or visit a local gym. Just get it done because there is no excuse just because you are travelling.

8.Drop a line to those people in your life who care about you. Stay connected with them, they will appreciate it even if it is just a note saying hello, I have arrived safely.

9.Take photos but try to expereince more. Much too often we are way to concerned with capturing the moments. Sometimes we try to capture every moment that in the process of doing so we forget to enjoy the actual experience or actual view from our own eyes.

10.Take public transit. It makes no sense to me to rent a car in the city. You will only experience more stress trying to figure out the roads and find places to park. Public transit is environment friendly, has less stress and provides another opportunity to meet new people and enjoy the view.

Fresno State Bulldogs - College World Series Champions

Just in case we need another example from the world of sports on how teamwork and attitude outperform talent and reputation:

CHALLENGE:

· The Fresno State Bulldogs were the lowest seed ever to reach a CWS, much less win one

· The No. 4 slotting they received in the 64-team field was equivalent to a 13-16 seed in March Madness parlance, which means they were bigger long-shots than Villanova winning a basketball national title in 1988 or George Mason reaching a Final Four in 2006.

· With a final record of 47-31, Fresno finished with the most losses of any national champ in history

· The Bulldogs began the season 8-11

· They finished the regular season unranked and 89th in the RPI (National ranking system)

ADVERSITY:

· They had zero first-round picks on their roster (Miami, the No. 1 national seed, brought three first-round draft picks to Omaha and left after three games. Fresno State's highest draft pick was second-rounder Tanner Scheppers, and he missed the postseason with a shoulder injury.)

· In a news conference a day before this marathon, 12-day CWS began, salty Fresno coach Mike Batesole offered up one of the greatest undersells of all time in his opening statement. Of his Bulldogs, he said, "On the mound, you're not going to see a bunch of guys throwing 90 mph. You're not going to see a bunch of web gems on the field defensively. And offensively -- we just came back from Tempe, and if you've ever seen the Arizona State team take batting practice, they probably would lose 50 balls a day. And we're still working on our original bucket."

· One thing that could not be hidden in the lead-up to the CWS was Fresno State's resiliency. Facing elimination against No. 6-ranked San Diego in the NCAA regional, it scraped out a 5-1 win to move on to Tempe. There, after falling 12-4 to Arizona State in the opener, the Bulldogs beat the third-ranked Sun Devils in two straight elimination games to earn a trip to Omaha. When all was said and done Fresno State was 6-0 with its backs against the wall, all of it accomplished in an exhausting road swing after playing its final home game on May 11

· Coach Batesole, slightly embellishing, likes to say that his club hit the road for 40 straight days. Following the title game, he said, "We haven't left anywhere the last five weekends where we weren't empty or done."

· Fresno State had played three pitchers with 6.75-plus ERAs on Monday to send the game to the decisive Championship game

VICTORY:

· Steve Detwiler went 4-for-4, with two homers, and drove in all six of Fresno's runs in the 6-1 clincher over Georgia while playing with a fully torn tendon in his left thumb that he suffered on April 1

· Justin Wilson, whose eight-inning, one-run, nine-strikeout tour de force was the game of his life threw 129 pitches on three days' rest

This example perfectly complements the example that Matt laid out in his email “Thursdays Connect” on how the strength of our team will outlast and outperform the individuals that have left to do their own thing. Although we may never be the flashiest (although this will change with the TV opportunity) or prettiest (state of the art equipment) our commitment to the systems and the team around us will guarantee that our chances of standing alone at the end will be that much greater.

Paul

Credibility in the absence of an audience...

It's funny, because credibility is something that can be created by so many different actions - but it can be equally undermined by behaviours and attitudes which are often overlooked.

There are the obvious examples - putting them into our frame of reference, it can be pretty hard asking someone to "eat properly" when we're sitting there stuffing garbage in our faces. Or to give someone a hard time about drinking on the weekend, when we were sitting there knocking back beers with them.

However, stepping up and doing something that you yourself only do when you feel people are watching, or because others are doing it, can be equally undermining.

To use an example from a couple of weeks ago:

"Critical Mass". For those of you who are unfamiliar with this movement, essentially it's a protest against those of us who use our cars. A large number of people grab a bike, and ride en masse, blocking up intersections and delaying traffic, for anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes at a time. As a former "long-haired son of Jesus" (as I was so affectionately called back in my days of tree-hugging, jam circles and plaid-wearing), I can appreciate the sentiment, and I'm all for a peaceful protest. BUT: from what I can tell, most of these yahoos aren't real cyclists. Unlike myself, and Josh, and anyone else who rides regularly, or actually DOES commute on a bike, these jackasses are, generally speaking, the same people who take their cruiser bikes on the seawall one Saturday a summer, and come dangerously close to hitting pedestrians. In fact, in a twist of irony, I was riding home and got stuck behind a bunch of these idiots after the protest - they actually were slowing me down ON MY BIKE, because they were weaving all over the road, riding bikes that were barely (if at all) road-worthy (and not a helmet among them), and a few of them even drinking beer from the stupid basket on their handlebars.

So the next time you are trying to hold someone accountable, or trying to motivate them to change, ask yourself how well you represent what you are trying to get them to do? This becomes more than credibility - it becomes a question of integrity.

Not only do you practice what you preach - but do you practice what you preach when nobody's watching...?

friends and family

This week is friends and family week at work. Innovative Fitness invites the friends and families of our customers to come and enjoy a workout for free. Meaning, a current customer can bring in a friend or family member who hasn’t yet experienced an Innovative workout on the house. How great is this! Giving the gift of sweat but as importantly the opportunity to experience what we do and to have the chance to understand what all the hype is about. Yesterday and today (and I’m sure for the rest of the week) the gym has been full of new faces and smiles…well smiles when they walk in – but during the hours sometimes those smiles turn to grimaces while they are working hard or competing with their counterpart.
For us, it allows us to simply do what we do best. Challenge people and place them outside of their comfort zone. It also allows us to follow our tried and true systems and most likely gain new friends and customers on our schedules. It’s as easy as that…do what you do best with passion and care. Watch as those follow up emails and phone calls turn into repeat business and fans!
On a whole, everything is going well and we are already seeing a trend in these ‘new to experience’ wanting more of what we provide on a daily.What an opportunity for us to have…more with the opportunities!
Another way to look at it is the chance to share with someone who is close to someone you are close to. Meaning – if you have created a trust based relationship with a customer and they bring someone in, we can take that relationship to the next level and create something exciting for someone who has already most likely heard about us and is eager to experience Innovative.
Personally, if I was a customer and was able to bring in a friend or family member, I would want them to have a great time and really receive the full understanding of what I would be getting on a weekly bases.
So, what have YOU experienced so far this week with this promotion? Have you made any new fans yet and what’s the biggest thing you have learned from the experience?

Richard

one year at IF.

Last week, we took the time to review 2 of our 3 key systems we have in place. It's pretty exciting to have the Little Things back with all 3 facilities on the same page. The TAJ new site looks very clean and easy to use. I have to say I was really proud to show the TAJ members to my friends back home. I hadn't seen people in over 2 years so I had to explain what I have been doing in the last year...

I wasn't surprise to see how the Little things have such a big connection to the destinations with TAJ. 

Let me show you how some of my year went:

• Someone is stuck one day and really wants to go to the Canucks game. I offer to babysit.  Little things.

   - A few months later I mention I am looking for a car. They find me one I can pay cash for and very cheap. I trust them with what they are selling me

   - Because of the trust that started with the little things we have these 2 customers that are loosing weight, changing their life style are in Seek the Peak/Moab/IFCP/NYC marathon... 

They are now customers for life, gives the team hours on the schedule

• Give a snack to someone after their workout

   - we start talking and he shares some of his story,  he tells me he has a room he would be happy to let me stay in

   - Struggling on my own, don't know anyone to share a place, this was a great opportunity to save money

   -  he is now one of my great friends who just dropped me at the airport

Cost:  probably saved a minimum  of 400$ a month 

• One customer comes in for fun at IF

   - I take the time to go outside for fun bike rides instead of doing the same routine. We have a great time each week he is very thankful

   - Because I took the time to listen to what he wanted and I share with him what I want to do he offers to pay for my trip to Honolulu because he knows how much I would enjoy it

Cost: 700$

• One customer doesn't know what to have as a goal. I take the time to go take him out for lunch to educate him on what destinations he can do.

  - Him and his wife find a trail marathon in Death Valley California and want to take 2 of us for the race

  - The entire trip(flight hotel food...) is paid for because they are so thankful we took the time to listen to want they wanted to do and helped them reach their goals

Cost: 1 500$

• Had a conversation with customers I wasn't training. 

  - I listen to their stories about  trips over the years and how we all enjoy kayaking

  - next day I receive an email from them asking me if I want to join them for a kayaking trip.

  - December, 6 day Belize kayaing trip will be paid for because I am TAJ member and I will get 10 people to sign up

Cost: 3 000$

• I call a customer to see how his training is going

  - We get talking about goals and he gets me to register for a tri

  - We now did something big together it went well, he trusts me and says yes to a bigger race

  - 2 weeks ago he takes me with his family to go watch the race all expenses paid for ( 2 nights at a resort, gas, food...) 

Cost: 600$

• Someone wants to go to Quebec so we sit down for supper and I let her talk about want she would like to do and tell her where it would be nice to go.

 - next day I receive an email.  She has registered me for a race in Quebec, booked me flights, a suite for myself and my family for the weekend

 - I get to watch my niece do her first 2km race

Cost: 2 000$

• I love getting out and do races, destinations and bring people along

  - Was ask to put a bio together and apply to be a sponsored athlete. I took advantage of that opportunity. I now get stretches, races and gear paid for.

 Cost: races(500$) weekly stretches(that's 4 000$ a year!), IF gear(300$)...

 I make sure I visit our massage alliances

  - I send customers to them on a weekly basis

  - Make sure to let them know customers our happy about their services 

Cost: over 300$ in free massages

• I was willing to try new things

  - Matt and Curtis invite me to be a part of TAJ, what a big privilege to be ask. 

  - I took the time to make a bio, I have my own page on the site

  - Have now received bags, sunglasses, shoes, jacket, trips, massages,... 

  - traveled to Africa, California, Quebec, Germany, Honolulu... with TAJ

  - Going to Belize NYC, West coast trail, Seatle... with TAJ

  

52  weeks have gone by. I trained an average of 40 customers a week, that's 2080 hours of training... I have made great friends, have received over 12 000$ worth of gift  and made about 37 000$

MY YEAR AT INNOVATIVE FITNESS....

PRICELESS!!!!

These examples are not to brag about what I have received or for you to go ask customers for things because I didn't ask for any of these. It's to make you see when you work hard and take advantage of opportunities like putting up your bio on TAJ to be a member, do the little things because you truly want to do them, GREAT THINGS HAPPEN.  I was not expecting anything in return. and I believe that is why I got all of it.

I wanted to show you how far it can go when you think about putting the little things and destinations together. It has truly change my life and get to change other people's life at the same time.

Take advantage of the opportunities that are right in front of you! Because I did, I had one of the best year of my life.

Values Clarification

We all have goals in life and we all know that writing our long and short term goals down benefits our success greatly. Goals are more likely to transpire when we engage in the process of writing our personal plans each year. For years I have been writing my goals on paper, keeping them in front of me daily just like the successful people before me. I have made some great steps and I am proud of my accomplishments to date but what I and many others neglect to recognize is weather these goals fall within our individual values.

Values
These are our core principals that make us who we are. They are the innermost virtues that we must live by each day if we truly want to be successful and happy with our achievements. Otherwise some of the goal setting we do is not getting us to where we ultimately want to be. I asked myself the other day, what are my values? What is important to me because these goals I write sure better meet what I believe in or else I am wasting my time.
Most of us have the priorities in health, professional, finances, emotional well being, family, relationships and hobbies. By knowing what is the most important we cut out the less important areas and create a better blueprint or personal plan which allows us to commit more time and energy to then meet our goals.

Action Steps
How do we determine what is important to us in life? What are our values? Here are a few exercises that can help. I encourage you to try them because who would not want to gain a greater knowledge of ones self.

1)Imagine yourself living in your nineties and you are thinking back to everything you accomplished in your life. What accomplishments were the most meaningful? Reflect back on the things you enjoyed the most and what gave you the most pleasure. Write these down and keep it brief.
2)Imagine you have been just informed that you have a few months to live. During this time you are physically able to do anything you please. What experiences would you go for? What things would you do with your remaining time? Write these down and keep it brief.
3)Imagine you are in the greatest library with the best books on every subject known to humanity. Go through the whole library and pick the books that interest you the most. What books would you pick off the shelf? Are there values inherent in these titles? Write down the titles of these books.

Hierarchy of Values
With the ideas you have jotted down compare them. The idea is to create a hierarchy of values. Use your intuition to determine what answers feel the most important to you. Take the time to think more about these values and juggle them around based on how you feel. Some will end up being more important than others. Then use your intuitive sense to place the highest values on top. This is your principal list of values that will decide your priorities and goals. When we know our values we gain a greater sense of self knowledge and are then better able to create meaningful personal plans in life that truly reflect who we are and who we want to be.

got "it"?

We often hear about getting "it" or talk to the other coaches about what it means to finally get "it", but what exactly does that mean for each of us? I can't definitively say when it was that I first started getting "it" but what I can say is that I now see and understand things differently. So what exactly are some of these things you ask?

• Not having to be constantly reminded about doing the basic responsibilities and instead, spending more time holding others accountable to getting them done
• Being able to see and understand the schedule outside of my own training hours. Knowing which customers can move to which spots, who should be where and how to build hours when needed.
• Understanding how each of the roles directly affects the other roles and how this ultimately leads to the success of the facility. (Customers into destinations.....Proper programs completed for the customers.....Customers achieving victory and spreading the word to their friends and families, which leads to more new customers)
• Destinations aren't a part of our business, but rather, they are our business. As an aside, this is actually something that I'm really looking forward to with the franchise in Langley. Seeing the success that Curt has had with the destinations and making it the standard right from the start with all of the customers has been an integral part of his success, I believe, and is something that Guy and I are excited about.
• Each and every team mate has something to contribute to the success of the team and facility and when it's not apparent right away it sometimes takes more effort on our part to draw that out.This may come in the form of spending time outside of the facility together, spending time doing what they enjoy or simply asking questions to find out more about them.
  

I'm curious to know what the rest of you think and how you know that you now get "it". PLEASE POST a comment in response to this blog so that we can all see each others contributions.

Paul

Ten Rules to a Good Life

So far in life, I've been lucky enough to have a) some amazing role models, and b) been taught to pay attention to the world around me.

Now, yesterday my sister came to town with my niece, who is only about eight weeks old, and as I sat there with her, I thought about the legacy I would like to pass on to her. This further led me to think about all of the advice and direction I'd received, from countless sources... and as I drove to work, I decided to record them here.

What follows are ten guidelines that I hope will help Wren lead a good life - taken from all of the people, places and things I've come across so far in this world.

1. Every day is a gift - wake up and take advantage of the opportunity you've been given.
2. Plan for the future, but live in the day.
3. Smile when you answer the phone - the person on the other end will appreciate it.
4. When someone does something for you, whether they have to (ie. a waiter) or not, thank them sincerely.
5. Always be honest. You do nobody any favors by misleading them - in fact, you only hurt your relationship when someone else tells them the truth.
6. Life isn't fair - the sooner you get over it, the better.
7. You are never too busy to exercise, call your family, or stop and feel the sun on your face.
8. Don't lower yourself to the average - set your personal bar high, and lead others to try and exceed yours.
9. Eat well - but give yourself a break every now and then.
10. And finally, of course - always wear sunscreen.

~Guy

Opportunities..

..They can come when least expected. We learn that we must take advantage of any opportunity that comes our way. You never know if that occasion will return or what may happen from acting on that prospect. It really comes down to asking yourself, ‘why not?’If we pass on something or don’t take full advantage, we may never know what could have been or what great things are waiting around that corner.
Last week I was given an opportunity to share in something special with a family of ordinary people doing an extra ordinary thing. Right now, a family is riding their bikes across Canada to help raise awareness and funds for juvenile diabetes…Daniel Hurtubise, has been living with juvenile diabetes (Type 1) since the age of 15. Now at 50, his diabetes hasn’t stopped him from living an active lifestyle and to continue to enjoy his passion for recreational cycling with his two children, Alexandre and Sonia. The departure of Ride of a Lifetime has taken place from Kits Beach on June 14th 2008, and the arrival in St. John's, Newfoundland, is scheduled for August 12th, 2008.
Basically around three weeks ago, Daniel and his family drove a motor home over from their home in Quebec. They took their time and rested along the way. The motor home is equipped with a trailer and is well branded with their sponsors’ logs. This ride has been in the planning stages for around 3years and is now finally happening (as you read this!)
Back to the opportunity…last week I received an email inviting myself and the other cross Canada H2V riders to participate in this ride out of Vancouver. Without hesitation I replied and committed to being there. ‘This is an opportunity I will not miss’, I said to myself.
Saturday morning came and I was proud to wear my H2V gear as I headed out my door on my bike. We rolled into Kits beach and were met by a small crowd, some media cameras and a family of bikers. A short service at the water edge and we were off. Big smiles all-round as we pedaled east and had a media van racing around filming the first stage of this journey across Canada. Their goal is 150km/day and as mentioned, this will get them to the east coast around August.
With 50km complete, Kyle and I turned around and headed home. But not before wishing our new friends good luck and a farewell.
We must never pass on an opportunity or overlook something that may be no big deal to you, but may be a very large deal to someone else.

Richard

if I knew

After reading "if I don't I will regret it" in josh's blog, I wanted to share

this poem

that made me be more involved in my nieces life.

I wasn't the best ant for a few years and wasn't talking to them 

everyday. 

I feel very lucky to be a part of their life now and very thankful

I made that splash and made changes!

Now I know if something happens to them or to me, 

we all know how much we care for each other

I will have no regrets about my relationship with them. 

This is not to be on the "soft" side of things

but it's to realize we can't take the people that have helped us, or that are close to us for granted.

Let people know what you think or you might regret it one day.

IF I KNEW 

by Tricia Youngson

 If I knew it would be the last time

That I'd see you fall asleep,

I would tuck you in more tightly

and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.

 

If I knew it would be the last time

that I see you walk out the door,

I would give you a hug and kiss

and call you back for one more.

 

If I knew it would be the last time

I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise,

I would video tape each action and word,

so I could play them back day after day.

 

If I knew it would be the last time,

I could spare an extra minute

to stop and say "I love you,"

instead of assuming you would KNOW I do.

 

If I knew it would be the last time

I would be there to share your day,

Well I'm sure you'll have so many more,

so I can let just this one slip away.

 

For surely there's always tomorrow

to make up for an oversight,

and we always get a second chance

to make everything just right.

 

There will always be another day

to say "I love you,"

And certainly there's another chance

to say our "Anything I can do?"

 

But just in case I might be wrong,

and today is all I get,

I'd like to say how much I love you

and I hope we never forget.

 

Tomorrow is not promised to anyone,

young or old alike,

And today may be the last chance

you get to hold your loved one tight.

 

So if you're waiting for tomorrow,

why not do it today?

For if tomorrow never comes,

you'll surely regret the day,

 

That you didn't take that extra time

for a smile, a hug, or a kiss

and you were too busy to grant someone,

what turned out to be their one last wish.

 

So hold your loved ones close today,

and whisper in their ear,

Tell them how much you love them

and that you'll always hold them dear

 

Take time to say "! I'm sorry,"

"Please forgive me," "Thank you," or "It's okay! ."

And if tomorrow never comes,

  you'll have no regrets about today.