Teller of tales

So all-in-all, we are good – hell, sometimes we are great. We do amazing things for people all the time and we quite often share these experiences.

For the past 90days there has been a group (the leadership forum group) who has been doing detailed weekly recaps. Last week, we started an additional 90days for the entire IF team to do these weekly recaps – sent out on Friday to your current team (in house) and so on…

After the smoke had settled this weekend, wvan had 3 teammates who did not do their recaps – not bad…good, but not great. But on a whole, the recaps were great. There was tons of stuff/information in there that was ‘news to me’ and this is fabulous because it really shows the depth of each teammate.

For me, when I started at IF I didn’t like talking about myself. I was challenged to share and to well…talk about me. This was a hard thing for me to do, but I needed to understand the reasoning’s behind the concept. It had nothing to do with ‘being all high and mighty’ or ‘bragging’. It wasn’t ‘hey look at me on this pedestal’ it was all about sharing what I was up to and sharing my personal experiences to educate and provide education or personal perspective. Guess what, we all have great things to say and share. We all have the opportunity to help out one-another…

‘Twice the beauty is seen when shared’ – ever heard this before? Well you should have in wvan because it’s on all of our computers. When we take the time to share our experiences with coaches and customers we empower, educate and story tell…we are making the experience or lesson reachable and attainable to those who listen.

Now there’s the catch – all of this sharing is useless if we do not listen…in other words, if we are not paying attention to the message, the lesson is not absorbed, not understood, not shared and ultimately not being paid forward.

Remember, Great leaders are excellent communicators. They make the time to perfect the craft of relaying information in a relevant manner both verbal & non that everyone understands AND will make sure that they follow up on their coaching to ensure the information is being correctly passed on.

So, what do you need to follow up on that you have shared?

Pan - North America

As I walked along Denman and Robson Street this weekend looking for a place to eat, I realized that we live in such a diverse city. In a space of one block you have a Sushi, Korean, Ukrainian, Mexican, Chinese and Greek restaurants. I have been down these streets hundreds of times and always resorted to the same ones. We eventually decided on a Korean restaurant and thankfully my Asian friend new what to order. I had absolutely no idea where to begin and luckily did not have to go through the embarrassment of trying to order something. The meal was completely different and we had to be open-minded to just try the different foods. We overhead a conversation at the next table on how they are amazed that these days it is normal to see non-Asians in theses restaurants, properly using the utensils (i.e. chopsticks) and respecting the culture. A decade ago these same restaurants provided western utensils for us to use.

We are truly lucky to live in a city that provides us with theses worldly restaurants. You have to be open-minded to these different foods, step out of your comfort zone and not always chose the same restaurants over and over again. We all need to take advantage of the opportunities that Vancouver has to offer with all its diversity. Take what’s given to you and make the most if it.

Communication

‘The problem with communication…is the illusion that it has been accomplished,’ George Bernard Shaw. Communication is the process of conveying information from a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood the same way by both sender and receiver. Many of the problems that occur in an organization are the direct result of people failing to communicate. As Nitin Nohria said, ‘communication is the real work of leadership.’ It is the chain of understanding that integrates the members of an organization from top to bottom.

Strong leaders are strong communicators. Effective communication is no more a natural skill than leadership is a born trait. Some leaders think they have communicated once they have told someone to do something. A message has not been communicated unless it is understood by the receiver.

How do you know it has been properly received - by two-way communication or feed back. This tells the sender that the receiver understood the message, its level of importance, and what must be done with it. Communication is an exchange, not just a give, as all parties must participate to complete the information exchange.

Leadership and communications are inseparable. Most leaders learned, developed, practiced, and refined their communication skills through a lot of hard work and conscientious effort and understand the importance of feedback – to alter messages so the intention of the original communicator is understood by the second communicator. Leaders don’t think they have communicated once they have told someone to do something, they know that the message has NOT been communicated unless it is understood by the receiver.

It all adds up

Here are some great tips on how to save money while working at Innovative Fitness and what has worked for me.

1.) Set an amount you would like to put into your RRSP account each month. Once you have a set amount going into this account bi monthly you’ll be surprised how fast the money starts to build. In one year I am saving approximately $4320 per year. In 5 years I’ll have saved over $21,000 plus the interest it has accumulated.

Let’s use my RRSP account for an example:

$150 per pay period x2 = $300 going into my RRSP account each month

(IF will partner up with you and add an additional 20% of what I put into my RRSP each pay period) 20% of $300 = $60 per month.

Grand total saved per month = $360 per month x12 months= $4320 per year.

2.) Wasted money on the pleasures you do not need. These can include buying overpriced muffins at the local bakery five days per week, having the ultimate cable package when you do not watch much TV.

Here are two examples:

I reduced my cable package from having 60 channels to 29 channels since I rarely watch TV. Each month I am now saving $20 per month.

$20x12= $240 saved in one year.

I use to drink 7 coffees per week and quite often I added in a high fat cookie or scone. Instead I added one more hour of sleep into my schedule and brought my coffee intake to approx 3 coffees per week and took out the goodies which I really don’t need. I estimate I save $20 per month x12 months per year = $240 saved per year.

3.) Start a savings account at your local bank. I set a goal to strive for in the total pay cheque amount. This keeps me accountable so I can save money.

Example:

Put a set % of your total earning per month into your chequings account. This money is the money you can spend and is within your budget for the next 2 weeks. Next, put away a % of money into your savings account. This money you cannot touch, unless there is an emergency or your in need of a present for yourself. Let’s say you put away $100 per pay period into your savings account and get great interest. $200x12months= $2400 saved per year.

4.) Do not live beyond your means. You do not want to be the poor dude who everybody thinks is rich. (Drives the fancy car, wears $300 shirts and blows money at the bar). If you cannot afford a big screen TV and have to go into credit, then wait till your savings account has accumulated and then treat yourself to a TV. That way, you will not be going into debt and you can always have things you can afford.

"Reality" Television

It's become it's own niche. It runs from the sublime ("Mythbusters") to the ridiculous ("Trading Spouses"). For the most part, I don't watch it - though I'll admit a weakness for "The Amazing Race" - but every now and then, flipping through the channels, I'll get caught up in it.

And once in a while, I actually get something other than a momentary diversion from it. Such is what happened the other night, when I came across "Canada's Worst Handyman".

Now, I don't do renovations, and the actual basis of the show is only vaguely interesting to me. No, what actually caught my eye and got me to sit up and pay attention was when they nominated the "project leader" (the individual the experts deemed the most improved), to coordinate and direct the others on a singular project for which they all had to work together to complete.

It was, unsurprisingly... a disaster.

And you know why? Because the person who was leading them all had absolutely no idea what he was doing, was a bad communicator, was even worse with relating to people, and could not, if his life depended on it, actually inspire anyone. When he was frustrated, he showed it, he blamed others for the project's failure, and he actually went as far as to kick someone off of the project.

Sound familiar? I hope you're not thinking about yourself.

For me, going forward, whenever I have to lead and direct others (for example, if I'm the point man on a destination or event), I will remember what I saw Joe "The Bullet" do on Canada's Worst Handyman... and make a point to do absolutely everything the opposite way.

~Guy

Put it back where it belongs!

Like come on – put everything back where you got it from…

Ok - so you pull the massage table outside and provide a stretch/massage for the hour…when you are done, put it back inside away from harm’s way and in its safe spot. The same thing should be done with the lotion – put it back – take it out of the sun and put it back where it’s not going to get stepped on and in a good spot for when someone else needs it…

Basically, your mom doesn’t work here and we need to be completely aware that there are more than one person/you that works here SO, everything has its place and everything has a home.

Tell me this, how else do we need to explain it? Please enlighten us and we will sing those tunes…

Or how about this one…take it home! If you bring food for the day, take it home at the end of your day! Our fridge is super small and if everyone was as selfish as some of us, we wouldn’t have any room in it because it would be jammed packed full with lunch material and left over’s…why do we need to put a note on the door reminding everyone that we will be cleaning the fridge out every week? Because all of us don’t see the big picture…

Do some laundry! Humm, the laundry keeps getting done…do you know why? Because the same people are doing it day after day. The same people who don’t do laundry are most likely the ones who give out multiple towels during their sessions because they aren’t keeping track of the first one they gave out… Help the team out by putting someone in a front bridge and running back to check on the dryer. Hell, tell your customer for that hour that you will be right back because you need to do their log and check on their towels. They may have a towel right then, but next time they may not be as lucky. How freaking embarrassing is it when you have to say, ‘we are out of towels right now’? Holy shit-show they must think…there are only a couple customers that are ok with this and may even realize the laundromat we have going on in the back, the rest are expecting a towel…and to be frank – we expect towels to be on-point as well.

Bags! Keep them in check in our back room. We realize that our staff room isn’t in proportion to how many coaches we have, but make the extra effort to hang it, store it, hide it or just keep it tight (zipped up and out of the main path to the laundry) how ironic is it when someone trips on a bag when they are running to get laundry going when we run out of towels!

Hey, don’t get me wrong, we are good – we rock it daily and only sometimes there are issues with said examples…BUT, we need to pull up our pants and keep this well oiled machine running lean and hot! Don’t be the bump in the road that throws this trailer off its hitch!

And these are only examples of simple systems and operations (little things)…there hasn’t even been one mention of replying to your emails within 24hrs!

Living on the West Coast, black bears are a common accurance in our lives, on the news, in our backyards, and “beware of bear” signs on the trails, but how many of us actually know about them?
I recently received an email about black bears, which I thought was interesting to share with you all. Tom Sears is a photographer who followed a family of black bears for 6 weeks. This family of bears consisted of five cubs. This is a phenomenon, as black bears normally have two cubs, rarely do they have one or three cubs. He wanted to take this opportunity of lifetime to photograph all five cubs and their mother. Therefore, he followed the black bears for four hours a day, 7 days a week, for 6 weeks. He eventually discovered the trail that the bears would follow on a regular basis and finally was able to capture that amazing shot.
Over the rest of the summer, he stayed in touch with other bear enthusiasts who saw the bears, until he knew they had safely gone into hibernation. A year later, he was once again destined to capture his second photograph of a lifetime. This time the cubs were all a year old for another truly amazing photograph.

As quoted my Mr. Sears “when something as magical as this happens between man and animal, Native Americans say we have walked together in the shadow of a rainbow.”

Welcome to the Maritimes!

Normally I use this blog as an opportunity to share a situation and/or story from my life, highlighting a lesson that it has helped me to learn - this week I would like to teach a lesson. Recently, I went to watch the movie Traitor and during it a few law enforcement agents were sent to Halifax, Nova Scotia. As there plane landed, and they were unloading, they lamented that they had been sent to the ass end of Canada. I am here today to let you know that there is something farther East than Toronto and that we are more than just the ass end of the country.

The Maritimes are a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: (1) New Brunswick, (2) Nova Scotia and (3) Prince Edward Island. The modern Province of Newfoundland and Labrador is often mistakenly identified as a Maritime province: it is properly part of Atlantic Canada (with the other three provinces) and thus referred to as an Atlantic province.

New Brunswick is one of Canada’s three Maritimes provinces and is the only constitutionally bilingual province (French and English) in the federation. The provincial capital is Fredericton.

Five Fun Facts:

1. The world's biggest lobster also calls New Brunswick home. He is 10.5 meters long and 4.5 meters high and weighs 90 tons.
2. The world's largest axe is located in New Brunswick. It stands 15 meters high.
3. The first chocolate bar was also invented in New Brunswick by Arthur Ganong.
4. Sibian Cymbals are manufactured in New Brunswick. Drummers for Eric Clapton, Phil Collins and Billy Joel as well as percussionists with the Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Cleveland and New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestras all use Sibian Cymbals.
5. Saint John has the steepest main street in all of Canada. Over the distance of 2 city blocks, the street rises 80 feet - that's roughly the height of an 80-storey building!
   

Nova Scotia is Canada's second smallest province in area (after Prince Edward Island). It is located on Canada’s southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital Halifax is a major economic centre of the region. Nowhere in Nova Scotia is more than 67 km (40 mi) from the ocean. Cape Breton Island, a large island to the northeast of the Nova Scotia mainland, is also part of the province, as is Sable Island, a small island notorious for its shipwrecks.

Five Fun Facts:

1. Nova Scotia has the most degree-granting institutions in Canada with 11 universities and 13 community college campuses. It boasts the highest number of universities per capita and the highest participation rates in post-secondary education in Canada.
2. Stewiacke, a town in Nova Scotia is famous for being located exactly halfway between the North Pole and Equator.
3. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, is buried in Nova Scotia.
4. Halifax is the capitol and also the largest city in Nova Scotia. A person from Halifax would be called a Haligonian.
5. Halifax is home to one of North America’s top ten medical centers, the IWK Children's Hospital.
   

Prince Edward (PEI) is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name. The Maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population (excluding the territories).

Five Fun Facts:

1. The Confederation Bridge connects PEI to New Brunswick. It was completed in 1997 and is the world’s longest bridge over freezing waters.
2. Jacques Cartier landed in 1534 and described PEI as "the most beautiful stretch of land imaginable."
3. Approximately 15% of electricity used on PEI is generated from renewable resources, predominately wind.
4. PEI is the setting of Lucy Maud Montgomery's book, Anne of Green Gables. She also wrote the Island Hymn.
5. PEI's famous red soil gets its color from the high iron content which oxidizes when exposed to the air.

So the next time that you hear the Maritimes described as the ass end of Canada think about this quote from Alexander Graham Bell, ‘I have travelled around the globe. I have seen the Canadian Rockies, the American Rockies, the Andes and the Alps and the Highlands of Scotland; but for simple beauty, Cape Breton outrivals them all.’

Creating Systems

Every successful company has a system in which they operate. There is no right or wrong system and some systems may work for one company and not for another. If for example, Innovative Fitness never created a system which worked, both Matt & Jeff most likely would still be on the training floor today. Why Innovative Fitness is so successful is because Matt & Jeff created systems over a decade and passed these systems onto management to implement them and regulate, while they are looking at the bigger picture and trying to figure out ways to improve these systems. Without these systems it would be very challenging for a company to survive since each employee would be doing it “their way”. When each employee is doing it their way, it is very challenging to regulate and manage and quite often it will cause employees to grow apart.

Innovative Fitness has a great reputation of both long term customers and new customer referrals because of the systems they operate in. Each coach follows the same system and we work as a team to support one another. The White Rock franchise is proof that the systems at Innovative Fitness really work. By Curtis and his team following the systems the franchise is a huge success.

The below is a system at IF and when followed by coaches it will provide a great experience for customers and thus allow the customer base to grow because of ongoing renewals and referrals.

Possible new Customer-> Consultation -> Promise of systems during consult -> New Customer-> Education -> Profiling -> Programming -> Accountability -> Destinations/Results -> Renewals and Referrals.

Pay Attention

I'm a media junkie.

Now, I don't sacrifice my valuable time to overdose, but at the same time, I do believe that in order to have truly informed opinions, I need to see things from all angles - particularly because everything is related.

In the last two days, for example, I've followed everything from the Lehmen Brothers' collapse, the Dallas/Philly game, the fact that the Liberals themselves may be losing faith in Dion, Jennifer Lopez running a triathlon, and Sarah Palin's politics.

And you know why? Because there is a lesson in everything, though you sometimes have to dig a little deeper.

A good example of this is Ms. Palin. Now, some people may ask why I care, given that it's the United States election and not Canada's... and to those people, I say get your head out of the sand (actually, I'd likely be a little more colorful in saying it, but not here...). If you think that what happens in the US isn't going to have an effect in Canada, then you're sadly unaware of the real world. Furthermore - you should really read a bit on this unknown vice-presidential candidate to get a better idea about the possible scenarios that could play out down there... in fact, there was one fact in particular that jumped off the page at me.

The first time she travelled outside the United States was in 2007.
Think about that. Given John McCain's age, there's a 1 in 3 chance he doesn't survive his term in office - which means that there's a 1 in 3 chance that the person who may wind up running one of (if not the most) powerful countries in the world - didn't even leave the country until last year. What kind of perspective can she have? How can she possibly make decisions on a global scale, with such a limited amount of experience?

I'm not going to get back on my soapbox - I've been there enough the last few weeks. All I ask is that you take this real world example, consider the message it sends... and then ask yourself if you have ever done the same sort of thing on your own scale?

~Guy

Do we need it?

What kind of stuff do we really need to get by? Do we really need all that crap they keep telling us to buy? Well, not exactly…Million dollar questions I’m sure – but to bring it back a few steps and to educate through personal examples and experiences…
A couple months ago I was doing what I do every day. Heading to work in the small hours of the morning… I have a efficient and precise routine for the start of my day. I wake up before my 4:50am alarm. A half a litre of water and my juice plus+ goes down before I stand up. I walk to my kitchen, turn on my espresso machine and grind some beans. I spin around to open my fridge. Lunch and breakfast materials are placed on my counter and I get to work. If I haven’t already made my lunch from the night before - I quickly prepare a couple sandwiches and load up my bag with mixed nuts and fruit. At the same time I am either preparing oatmeal or eggs on toast. While that stuff is cooking I’m in the shower and changed in minutes. Within 25min of opening my eyes I’m usually walking down to my car and on autopilot.
Now, back to a couple months ago…I was driving down Georgia and then suddenly was ricocheting into the oncoming lanes. A cabby was on his phone and pulled a high speed (out of nowhere!) uturn and totally blasted my car in the process. I was in complete shock as I held the wheel, ripped into the empty lanes and parked the car on the opposite side of the road heading the wrong way. We hit hard. I was instantly mad because I was driving an accident free ultra mind ’92 jetta…
To speed up a bit, the minimal damage turned out to be enough the write the car off. What!? I was really shocked because I totally love my car and I treat things really well so they last forever. Eg. My favourite jeans are like 8yrs old and just started to get rips in the knees…
So, the hunt began - I needed a car - Craigslist here I come. Holly crap that sucked! Searching all the time. Keeping track of what’s being sold and bought. Nothing really cool, everything was over-priced and nothing seemed to have been taken care of so preciously as my black beauty of a jetta. The whole thing really got to me. It pretty much all came down to debit servicing for me…so, how much does one pay for a depreciating luxury asset? If you go too low, you end up with something that will die early and if you go too high well then you are a fool because there are better things to spend ones money on…
Humm, this was a tough one and I really wanted to secure something appealing to me to top it off. God damn, 'beggars can’t be choosers' I thought…
Anyways, I finally found a car and it’s getting inspected like ‘today’ and now I am forced to do an accident and lien search. 'Can’t everyone be legit and good in our world?' As the dust settles, it appears that I have found my needle in a hay stack. An inexpensive car that’s relatively new and is the top model of its time…it’s in fairly mint shape, safe and looks somewhat sexy…well, well…
As the ICBC claims adjuster said to me a couple months ago as he wrote off my car, ‘it’s an end of an era bud’ and now I’m thinking, ‘it must be the beginning of another’
Now if I wasn’t addicted to having a car in the first place this would have been an easy fix. But I’ve developed a love affair for driving and easy convenience…and since I’m willing to pay for this luxury, I guess I need a car, but I do feel I’ve come out on top and met the balance of ‘Want and Need in relation to Debit Servicing’
Educate yourself with the options so you will be better equipped to make that final decision…

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

Have you ever wondered why we choose to make our life crazy and hectic? Why we try to plan so much in 24hours wishing that there could be more hours in the day. Do we ever make the time to reflect, enjoy the moment or do we find ourselves always on the go in a professional, physical and social level.
Personally, I know I do not reflect enough nor do I take the time to sit down and relax. I want to do everything, be involved and be everywhere. I do love being busy and active, it keeps me on my toes, mentally engaged and on top of things. However, I fully believe it is important to take a break, re-group and be refreshed when you return.
Yesterday I did the Juan de Fucia Trail. This is an absolutely beautiful trail, with breathtaking scenery, wild animals, and gorgeous weather. We wanted to only hike 19km out of the 47km, take it easy, enjoy it and explore the wildlife and environment around us. However as nature has it, the plan does not always go as planned. The drive from Victoria to Somborrio (our starting point) took longer than expected, and the drop off of two cars at the start/finish point added more time. We set off about an hour and half late, and it was a race against the clock because all of us had to catch the ferry back to Vancouver for work today. However, you always have to be prepared for the unexpected and anything can happen while hiking. We were extremely lucky that we got to see a hump back whale 10meters off the shoreline. We stayed 10 minutes watching in awe this amazing specie frolic in the water. Never in our wildest dreams did we think that we would be 50meters away from a black bear and have to re-evaluate which way we should go. Go back the way we came, find an alternate route up a creek bed or go in the direction the bear was going. All these factors came into play which determined when we finished our hike. I loved doing this hike, but it was a race against the clock. We were constantly checking our watches and kilometer signs to make sure were on track. We didn’t get to explore and take the time to observe everything we wanted. We were lucky to come across some spectacular wildlife but it would have been nice to take our time, relax and explore the trail.
To be honest, I am jealous of these wild creatures whose life is quite simple, who roam around the wilderness, looking for food and protecting themselves from predators. We choose to lead our crazy busy lives, lead a successful life, but do we take time to do/enjoy our extra curricular activities? Why do we push the limits to get as much in 24hours as possible?

Are you comfortable?

Is it wise to stay in your own comfort zone or, should you step out? Our comfort zone is a place where we feel comfortable, where we feel secure, and where we know what to expect. ‘If you're in a comfort zone, afraid to venture out, remember that all winners were at one time filled with doubt,’ Author Unknown, from My Comfort Zone.

On Saturday, September 6, 2008 Innovative Fitness partnered with Canuck Place Children’s Hospice for the inaugural Adventure Challenge fitness fundraising event. The three-part race comprised of kayaking, mountain biking and trail running challenged participants both physically and mentally all while supporting the Hospice. Each individual had to raise a minimum $1000.00 in pledges for Canuck Place Children’s Hospice, with all proceeds directly benefiting the children and families - as a team, Innovative Fitness managed to raise over $200,000.00 in pledges!

For one team in particular, this event was truly more about the journey than the destination. Aside from the incredible privilege of raising money for Canuck Place Children’s Hospice and the unbelievable support from our donors we had the opportunity to not only find one another, but to find ourselves.

This team’s story started back in June 2008 when I enlisted 3 women to join me on the short course which was comprised of a 4KM kayak, 20KM mountain bike, and a 5KM trail run. They agreed and that was the beginning of the Tight Ends.

Three members of my team had never kayaked before and two out of the four had never been on a mountain bike for any length of time. They showed up to the first mountain bike training clinic with their borrowed bikes in tow, along with a healthy dose of fear and a little bit of trepidation.

They made the decision at that point that they were not going to let fear get the better of them; they were going to go for it. One of them can now claim victory for overcoming her fear which would have kept her from discovering a new passion and the other a victory over self - allowing her to start thinking about the next chapter of her life and wanting it to be filled with many more athletic endeavors and challenges.

To borrow from a cliché, this was one destination that was truly more about the journey. Aside from the incredible privilege of raising money for Canuck Place and the unbelievable support from everyone associated with this event we found out some cool things about each other and more importantly about ourselves along the way.

So in the words of Brian Tracy, ‘Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.’

Having a Vision

Having a compelling vision of a future that is allied to your values, interests and desires helps you gain a foothold in that territory. There are a few people I met throughout my life who had a really clear vision what they want in life; one being my best friend.

· Age of 13 said he will be a director one day and be up there with the top directors such as Michael Mann.
· Age 14 started using a video camera.
· Age 16 wrote, filmed and edited his first documentary.
· Age 19-22, worked on over 6 films (low budget) with no salary or income.
· Age 23, filmed his first short film with a small budget.
· Age 23-24, spent over a year as a screenwriter, on a small island with other inspiring screenwriters from around the world.
· Age 25, wrote tons of scripts over a year span in LA and worked at a production company to build further connections.
· Age 26-27, spent two years writing 6 hours a day x5 days per week writing a full feature script. Did what other directors/producers do not do. Wrote a full storyboard, had the full budget and actors all lined up and still it did not go through.
· Age 27, had meeting with over 3 production companies to promote his project. Still nothing.
· Age 27, worked as a script supervisor with some of the big producers/directors/actors of West Van. Has earned a reputation now and has had 2 high paid jobs in the last 90 days.
Age 28, what next?

A common thing which most people don’t understand is why my friend is doing all of this work when he is making a limited amount of money. Quite often, people would say he does not have a real job. Although the money is limited, the overall reward at the end of the day will be a lot more satisfying since he has followed his vision. He is taking the right steps and continually moving forward, getting closer to his ultimate goal; being a great director and receiving an Oscar award. Remember, going for your dreams in life is better than living with the thought “What IF”?
In relationship to a newer coach at IF, spending countless hours not getting paid to go through orientation as well take feedback in various types, doing duties around the gym and having to do tasks they feel is outside their duty as a coach; we as leaders need to explain the importance on how orientation, countless hours of shadowing is going to benefit his/her career both within IF and in the outside world. The education process at Innovative Fitness is like getting a bachelors degree in personal development and can be used in all areas of your life. Coaches at IF are getting some of the best hands on education from the finest trainers in the world. Furthermore, coaches need to be educated on the importance on taking on more responsibilities as well. If a coach has a vision on being a franchise owner in the near future, then we as coaches are providing them with more responsibilities/tasks to become more efficient and better so when the time comes to opening up a franchise, the plan is pointed to success.
A coach who comes into IF and develops a clear vision, will start to take the right steps forward aiming to reach their ultimate goal. Personal Inventory, taking positive/constructive feedback, getting into a role and taking on more duties without expecting to get paid, taking ownership of the facility and spending time out of his/her own day to lead customers at a high level. This coach will see how all of this hard work will pay off in the long run and how it has helped them reach their ultimate goal. At the end of the day, why not invest into yourself and use the tools provided at IF to help you reach your vision in life.

Tiananmen Square Part II

So - since my last entry, an election has officially been called. October 14th, 2008.

And every time an election gets called I get back on my podium, because frankly, I find the voter apathy in this country to be shocking.

Gas prices. The homeless. Income tax. Health care. Afghanistan. Quebec's "special status". Our relationship with the states. The borders. Passports. The Young Offender's Act. The rights of criminals. Even CBC (who we all own through our taxes, since it's a government operated station) losing the rights to the "Hockey Night in Canada" theme song... all of these things we have the opportunity to voice an opinion on. Not directly, necessarily (although we could call up our MP), but through our vote.

Yes, it's supposed to be our right - but guess what. It's a privilege. The privilege of living in a country where we are actually allowed to voice an opinion, without the fear of repercussion that exists in a large part of the rest of the world. Imagine you lived in a country where this privilege didn't exist - in China, as I mentioned last week, 2000-3000 people died trying to gain the right to do what we all take for granted. In other parts of the world (North Korea), there are public executions of people who speak out against the government. In Afghanistan right now, the men and women of our Canadian military are dying at an alarming rate, trying to guarantee the people of that country the right to do what 35% of us in this country can't be bothered to do. If you're part of the 35%, then you are turning your back on all the people who have died fighting for this right, both from our own country and in the rest of the world - and you should be ashamed of yourself.

Some people may read this as a rant - because it is. Some people may find my tone offensive - I don't care. This writing has nothing to do with any political parties - just to get the people reading this blog, our leaders, to motivate others to go out and take part in our society.

"I don't follow what's going on" is not an excuse - you can log on here: http://www.ctv.ca/mini/elections2008/ and find all the information you need - it would take you one hour to catch up. Voting is your way of helping lead this country - and if you don't take part in the process, then don't bother sharing your opinion on anything that happens in the future. Because frankly, not voting means your opinion is irrelevant.

I, for one, want a say in my future.

~Guy

Born again

Last year I was invited to ride with in a five man team across Canada. I accepted this opportunity and began that journey. I received a bike for the venture and was able to keep it after the event – a wonderful surprise.

With over 5000kms on the bike, it came to my attention after stp that the frame was compromised and riding it was prescribed as dangerous. In total disbelief I had to accept that I wasn’t riding that bike again.

I wasn’t too worried, worst case I had another bike, which I ironically was selling but to be totally honest, I didn’t want to get on an aluminum bike after riding a full carbon cycle. I subsequently took a brief hiatus from riding. I rode my old bike once with a customer and it was pretty fun, but I had flat pedals and ended up breaking one on the ride. I was laughing about wrecking gear – something I do a lot of…225lbs can cause havoc on equipment in general.

Fast forward

On Friday I went to John Henry because I got a call asking me to pop by for a fitting. I rolled in there and managed to get the bike on my bike rack in less than 5min. Willie wasn’t there and the guys that were there didn’t know what to do – I was floating as I rolled it out of there. Home in 20 and on the bike in 5!

I eye balled the seat height and pushed up my driveway. Within 30feet I felt it. I pushed down and pulled up on the pedals at the same time, the bike surged forward and cut the road as I repeated this motion – I took a huge breath and exhaled…I was born again and could feel that freedom I had been missing.

The next thing I knew I was going 70km/hr down main and heading for 2^nd – an opening in the traffic, a slight break and I was at Cambie. Wouldn’t even want to know my heart rate, but my knee was yelling at me to slow down. All good – ‘the pain is worth it’, I thought. I was so happy to be gliding again – everything was so tight and fresh.

I rode again on Sunday and then dropped the bike back at John Henry. A couple more parts to add and a fitting this week will get me full circle. Back on a red version of what I had and back doing something that I am passionate for.

Now how about we find something that someone was once passionate about and get them back to that place again – a place where they can fully exhale!

Don’t let anyone (or yourself for that matter), hang up a passion…

Generosity

This past weekend at the Adventure Race, we experienced people’s generous time and donations fundraising for Canuck Place. Everyone involved in this amazing event either donated their time to raise the funds, their time to organize and put on this great event and the generous people who donated their own money towards this great cause. Everyone had a role is surpassing our goal from last year by $30, 000.00. Congratulations!

The icing on the cake was when one is rewarded for raising a huge amount for a cause and they give their reward back. Two of the top fundraisers gave back their prices to the cause. A pair of airline tickets to anywhere in North America and Canuck tickets were all given back to help contribute even more money. The look on the faces of the organizers and Canuck Place personal were full of gratitude and surprise.

I have great admiration for all the people that took part in this event and it made me realize how worthwhile theses charitable events are and more importantly everyone’s generosity for one cause.

The Extra Mile

Roger Staubach said there are no traffic jams along the extra mile. This evening I had to make a trip to a store to pick up a few much needed items for a race this weekend. Time is valuable to everyone and I am no exception. I went in armed with a list and my hopeful determination to find everything in the least amount of time possible.

Upon arrival I did what any one would do in a similar situation, I made a beeline to the nearest available member on staff. He was conversing with a fellow employee and me being a polite Canadian, I waited. He finished and I asked him to help me. He turned to me and demanded to know exactly how many items I had on my list. I was a little taken aback; shouldn’t he want to help me?

He dutifully started walking me around the store helping me find the items on my list. About half way through my list he turned to me and said that he was almost done with me. My facial expression must have given away the fact that I was not impressed, and he quickly went on to explain that his shift was almost done so he may not be able to help me find everything.

As he was providing me with an explanation for his lack of service I started to drop some of my recent finds. He looked at me with a pained expression and said that I might need a basket. Then proceeded to tell me they were by the door that I walked through on the way in. If that wasn’t enough, he then turned his back on me to talk to his co-worker, sitting on the counter.

I will never go to that store again. In fact, I will go out of my way to not purchase anything from them and I will be sure to tell others about how poor the service was that I received while there. This incidence only helps to highlight how important service is to our customers. And that the reason that there are no traffic jams along the extra mile is because so few chose to give more than what is expected from them. Give more.

No Fear

Fear plays a huge impact in all of our lives. Some people have more fears than others. The fear of failure is perhaps the strongest force holding people below their potential and thus preventing to live the life to their fullest. In a world full of uncertainty, a delicate economy, and countless misfortunes that could happen to anyone, it’s easy to see why most people are inclined to play it safe. Over the years growing up, I had a few fears and thus it limited me from experiencing my life to the fullest. Some of my fears included always caring what others thought of me, taking risk with my money, talking to people and taking my career to the next level.

But playing it safe has risk as well. If you never dare to fail your success will have a low ceiling. Most people underestimate their merit and ability to recover from failure, leading them to pass up valuable opportunities. Think about this past weekend. If the West Coast Trail group played it safe and did not strive to complete the trail in 1-3 days; then they would never know that they could do it in a time frame which most think is impossible. I hear so many stories at Innovative Fitness in which ownership/coaches keep raising the bar and thus the ceiling for success becomes greater. The ability to fail big and fail often has been a mark of the spectacularly successful throughout history.

Here are a list of my fears and how it has affected me:

· Always caring what people thought of me. This allowed me to really focus on myself and create a unique self. I don’t really care that much anymore.

· Taking risks with money. Lost over $15,000 in the stock market in the last year. Allowed me to realize that money comes and goes. Allowed me to live life with no regrets since I took the risk and invested my money. Question is; would I invest money in the stock market again (of course).

· Talking to people I did not know well. I really wanted to be more comfortable and be able to communicate better with people I did not know, so I took the small steps to get myself more comfortable around people. Worked at Aldo shoes practicing servicing and my communication skills, started to personal train to develop relationships with people and worked at IF to get a great grasp on the art of communication.

· Taking my career to the next level. Taking on more responsibility each month and building my confidence one step at a time.

Now think of some of the fears you had over the years or the fears you have today. Quite frankly, in this day and age life is too short to say “WHAT IF”?

Tiananmen Square

I was listening to the news this morning as I drove into work - it would seem that Prime Minister Harper is about to call an election for the fall. Inevitably, when I hear about the fact that we have an election coming up, my mind automatically takes me back to what turned out to be one of the earliest lessons I had in leadership.

In 1989, from April 15th to June 4th, the people of China mounted massive protests, calling for freedom and democracy from their government. In response, the government sent in an equally massive military response that left anywhere from 2000-3000 people dead (according to the Chinese Red Cross).

Even in the face of this enormous military onslaught, the protests remained peaceful - and the picture above epitomizes the lessons I learned that day. Alone and unarmed, a solitary, unknown individual stopped four tanks.

What did I take away from this, even at the age of 16? Firstly, I realized what true courage was - as Ambrose Redmoon says, it "...is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear". Then, I asked myself if I thought I would have the courage to do what this unknown person did... and realized that I would never know unless I was in the same situation myself.

So the next time you are challenging someone to confront their fears, to put themselves into a situation that makes them afraid and uncomfortable, stop, look in the mirror, and ask yourself two questions:

1. Do I know firsthand what I'm asking them to do?
2. Do I have the courage to do it?

~Guy

It’s not about you; it's all about them

Many moments in our lives it's all about oneself. When you are born and being taken care of, we get all the attention. We get all the help and we get most things done for us. As time moves forward, it is common for that to flip. It’s about your family, friends or your customers
At IF, it's not about us, it's about our customers. It’s our responsibility to care for our customers during the hour and if we go away it really becomes all about their Success and Victory.
This past weekend, we guided our customers through the west coast trail. We all trekked the 77km trail in the mud and rain. It was an interesting hike through a pioneer type trail. Originally we were going to attempt to hike the 75km over 2days - the first day we were going to hike to 43km and if we felt good, we were planning to get right to 53km leaving an easy 22km 'walk in the park' to the end.
We woke up on the Thursday morning to rain. It wasn't hammering down, but it was enough to warrant rain paints and a hat! The first few hours we were trying to keep dry and clean. Climbing around the puddles and over the mud. After we got to the first river crossing, we gave in to the conditions and ended up almost waist deep in cold water. From then on it was full on. Rain, mud and dirt. Our first night was spent setting up camp in the rain and dark. No dinner, only the pitter-patter of rain drops on our tent to keep us up for half the night. We woke up to the rain and it took us 2hrs to pack up and get ourselves on the trail. We spend all day hiking hard and even jogging the flat sections. We had now realized that this was a huge hike and honestly dreaded the notion of camping another night.After close to 10hrs of straight trekking, we came to 62km and made the decision to camp. The group was divided and some of us could have gone on, but there were some that were very tired and sore (we were a team and needed to keep our team safe) Thankfully, by this time, the sun was out and we had found a beautiful beach set in a protected cove that we made home for the night. We were able to dry our gear and heat-up water for our backpacker’s meals.
The last day we were up early and hiking by 6ish. The terrain had become very unforgiving and the last 12km took us just over 6hrs. I personally was so happy to take my pack off. Carrying additional gear for others and not having my poles for the previous days hiking had taken a real toll on my knees. I was feeling a 9/10 pain intensity that I would be reminded of every step I took.
Now, in general, the west coast trail is not that tough. It’s 75km long yes, but at consistent pace and structured breaks it is quite possible to accomplish this hike in 2days. We on the other hand started off a little slow and when we did manage to get up to a good pace, different skill sets within the group held us back.
Before we left, we agreed that I would be at the back of the pack. Making sure everyone was in the group and I was also there for mental and physical support. As is stands, this trip was a little slow going and the biggest lesson we can learn if during a travel destination is that we must challenge ourselves and push through our own adversity in order to maintain our focus of 'all about them' and even when it seems impossible, realize that we are in a position to experience a different kind of victory. We are usually in control of our challenge (for the most part) but when we have little or no control, the outcome can become a huge victory for ourselves, but from a completely different path.

Regardless, the tune 'challenge, adversity and victory' can be experienced on so many different levels. We must also be appreciative to experience this personal growth - no matter what the formula was to create it.

Mental Toughness

“Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory”- Bill Russel

This past week I experienced and observed mental toughness hiking through the West Coast Trail. The group of eight women and one male took on this 76km adventure, hiking through knee-deep mud, fast flowing rivers, walking along slippery fallen logs, up and down 100-foot ladders, but remaining in this trance of sheer determination and concentration to finish. Some of these women thought they were in hell and going through the hardest thing, they had ever done. All of these women were mental strong; whom I have so much respect for. Hiking 42km in one day for 14hours is an unbelievable accomplishment and half of that achievement was because they were mentally strong. The west coast trail is an experience of up and down emotions. You start out strong and in good spirits, but once you are in the 9th hour of the hike, the chatter stops and you dig deep to focus on each step, trying to ignore all the aches and pains in your body. However, you can only push the mind and body so far. For the “2day group” when it came to the decision if we should carry on in the dark to finish in two days, it was the breaking point for some. They physically and mentally, could not or did not want to go any further that night.

So how do you describe a person who is mentally tough? These eight women showed extreme mental toughness but there are so many different scenarios out there and not just in the physical sphere. Businesses, relationships, all have an aspect of mental challenges to achieve greatness.

I believe it is the attitude that one has to get the job done! In all aspects of life, mental toughness is demonstrated when someone needs to reach down and draw out efforts beyond they knew they had or at least wanted to give to achieve.

How can you improve you own mental toughness?
1. Being personally accountable. You are in control of your own life, your own choices. “What you think and do determine for the most part where you end up.”
2. Goals. What are you going to achieve and how are you going to get there. “Choosing is mental toughness; failing to choose is personal weakness.”
3. Planning. Breaking down that goal that you have set into smaller steps.
4. Prepare for the unexpected. Everyday you will come across obstacles to achieve your goal, the question is how are you going to overcome those obstacles.
5. Action.
6. Giving and 100% and then some. Going that extra mile to achieve your goal.
7. Support group/Team. Being around like-minded individuals who will help you reach your goal and help you in anyway they can.
8. Reflection. Always look back and see how you can improve for next time, what went well and what needs to be changed.