Formula for Success

The winners in life know the rules of the game and have a plan. Whether you're looking to heal a relationship, get a new job, lose weight or find inner peace, consider these characteristics which are common to people who succeed.

Have a vision. Champions get what they want because they know what they want. They have a vision that keeps them motivated and efficiently on track. They see it, feel it, and experience it in their minds and hearts. What is success for you? You won't get there without knowing what it feels and looks like.

Make a strategy. People who consistently win have a clear and thoughtful strategy. They know what they need to do and when they need to do it. They write it down so they stay on course, and avoid any alternative that does not get them closer to the finish line.

Find a passion. Are you excited to get up in the morning? People with a passion are, and they're energized about what they are doing. You need to live and breathe what it is that you want, and be passionately invested in both the journey and the goal.

Live the truth. People who consistently win have no room in their lives for denial, fantasy or fiction. They are self-critical rather than self-deluding, and they hold themselves to high but realistic standards. They deal with the truth, since they recognize that nothing else will make their vision obtainable.

Be flexible. Life is not a success-only journey. Even the best-laid plans sometimes must be altered and changed. Be open to input and consider any potentially viable alternative. Be willing to be wrong and be willing to start over.Take risks.People who consistently win are willing to get out of their comfort zone and try new things. Be willing to plunge into the unknown if necessary, and leave behind the safe, unchallenging, and familiar existence in order to have more.

Create a strong nucleus. Surround yourself with a group of people who want you to succeed. They will move with you toward your goal. Choose and bond with people who have skills, talents and abilities that you do not. Winners give and receive by being part of other people's nuclear groups.

Take action. Do it! People who succeed don't just sit and think about what they want to do. They take meaningful, purposeful, directional action consistently and persistently. Every step they take puts them toward the outcome they're looking for.

Set priorities. People who are consistent winners manage their challenges in hierarchical fashion. They commit to managing their time in such a way that does not allow them to spend time grinding along on priority number two or three if priority number one needs their attention.

Take care of yourself. People who consistently win are consciously committed to self-management. They are the most important resource they have in achieving their goals. They actively manage their mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health.

Time is Elastic?

You may or may not have heard the theory that time is in fact elastic. That in space time moves slower than on Earth and that "there is no absolute time, time moves differently from one object to the next and in one location to the next" - (Alan McDougall, Senior Physicist, in reference to Einstein's Theory of Relativity).

Now, I know what you are thinking, what does this have to do with me, this blog, lIFe? Well, to illustrate my point I have a quick story. At a recent doctor's appointment I was kept waiting 25 minutes despite the fact that I had specifically made my appointment for 9am - the first one of the day. Incredibly annoyed and checking my watch every 3-5 minutes time seemed to slow to a crawl. When the doctor finally arrived she commented on how hot the room was, then after pleasantries and observing my mood as being less than excited she asked if I had been waiting long.

It occurred to me that as 'valuable' as her time is, she apparently has quite a bit of it and is not held to a schedule that holds her accountable to others. If I was to walk out the door annoyed and not return it would not affect her livelihood in any way. It would not affect the receptionist who put someone else in another room ahead of me in any way. As they both know there are patients (re:customers) lined up to see them. General Practitioners are in demand and a government facilitated (with free health care to all that need it) necessity.

My day to day life, as with most in the customer service industry (IE. banking, realty, hospitality, finances), especially during these economic times, is exactly the opposite. Time, mine and that of my customers, co-workers and family members, is incredibly important, to myself, and to them. We all work hard to manage it, balance it between spheres and allocate it depending on the carefully mapped out quarter of the year.

My point is, time might be elastic (I'm pretty sure it is for my four year old daughter), my weekends tend to go quickly and my commutes often go slowly, but until you can see this reality for others always treat time as a invaluable commodity.

When is it time to Walk Away?

"You got to know when to hold 'em

Know when to fold 'em.

Know when to walk away...

And know when to run."

~ Kenny Rogers (The Gambler)

So that's it. Lance Armstrong comes back to the tour - and places third. Definitely a respectable placement, and nothing to be scoffed about.

But there were a couple of things that maybe - maybe - tarnished the finish.

a) He didn't finish first. He could have retired on a high, the clear and definitive, undisputed champion of the race - but he came back, and finished third. He says that he came back in order to keep raising money for cancer research and to keep his profile high - but was he suffering from a lack of publicity when he was retired? Also - by coming back and not winning, is he going to see himself drift into irrelevance as people move on to someone they view as "more impressive"?

b) Worst of all, there's bickering between himself and the winner, Alberto Contador. I have to be honest - no matter who's at fault, no matter if it's justified - never air your team's dirty laundry. No one comes out looking good. Lance looks bitter, and like he's trying to justify why he didn't finish first, and Alberto Contador looks like an egotistical prima donna. Neither person comes off well.

I've always respected many things about Lance Armstrong - and justifiably so, I believe. Granted, I don't know the man himself - only the public figure. Ego? Probably - but he had the wins to back them up. He could just smile and brush the criticism aside, because he's won year after year. He always seemed above the fray - a person who could let their accomplishments speak for themselves. Until now, that is.

Sometimes it's hard to see our role models become too human.

~Guy

The long road to Australia…

There is no road that leads anywhere that doesn’t have its ups and downs. In fact we should never want our roads to be bump free…for how are we able to learn or experience anything without the peaks and valleys that life has to throw at us?

My long road to Australia started last fall in 2008. An invitation was sent out…a challenge…and the opportunity was open. I personally jumped at the possibility which I felt was another chance of a lifetime that I felt I had received. To be asked to ride across Canada in 2007 and now this – a chance to do it all over again except this time in the land down under…what an amazing concept and how fortunate was I to be asked to be part of the team!

Let’s step back in time…last summer we were busy with our summer events. Many of us spread ourselves thin and some may even do a little too much, but our passion usually gets us through to that finish line injury free. Well, to close the loop here, I ended up injuring myself during the West Coast Trail hike. I knew something bad happened but I had no idea that I had torn my medial meniscus in my right knee and damaged it enough to warrant surgery.

Fast forward a bit. The winter months were spent on the spinner building a base and developing power. Towards the end of the indoor season, I knew I had a major problem. Driving was becoming more painful and walking properly after a spin class was difficult.

I was blessed and was giving a chance to jump the line for an MRI – right after I went back for a CT Scan. After seeing multiple Dr’s I got in with the best knee guy in town. Dr. Brian Day. I went to see him and for 500$ he moved my knee around and told me I needed surgery without a doubt. He said I was strong but that my injury was catching up and I needed to make a decision on what to do. I decided to go the private route and pay to get fixed right away…

Within a couple weeks I was on the operating table getting knocked out…I woke up in a daze and a monster bandage on my knee. The tide had changed and I was now on the road to recovery..

This road has had many road bumps. The training, the pain, the good times, the memories…

Last week I posted that I was looking for support and couple days after I sent out a personalized note to many asking for the same support…with an open heart I am happy to share that I have raised over half of what’s needed to pay for my ticket to Australia..

Thank you so very much for all your support so far!

More updates to come…the journey on the road to Australia is not over…in fact it will truly begin when we clip-in…

What makes a good speaker?

This past weekend the leaders of Innovative Fitness got together to discuss our companies opportunities in the future, our current situations and growing as a group/individuals to lead our respective facilities. During this forum, we were very fortunate to listen to a guest speaker – Mike Bushore.

He is one of the top speakers I have had the privilege to listen to. He is a customer at the White Rock facility who is the chief innovation officer at Coast Capital Savings. He has given speeches and presentations to some of the biggest organizations in the world, such as Microsoft. His presentation this weekend was about how a business can be successful by being different.

The message and tips he was able to share were all ideas and concepts that we have heard but he was able to shine the light in a different way. During the presentation, every leader hung off every word he said, laughed at his jokes and made the connection with what he was saying to our current situations.

What made him such an inspiring speaker?
1. He spoke on a subject that we needed to hear. He was able to provide real life examples and relate them to us.
2. He connected with us. He told stories and funny incidents that related to the material that followed.
3. He did not only say what we wanted to hear, but what we needed to hear. He gave us fresh ideas and a new outlook on things.
4. He made 3 points in his speech. He did not bulldoze us with information; he kept it simple, valid and easy to follow. He illustrated a story for each point and made it relevant to us.
5. He brought you into his presentation by asking questions and made you feel that you were the only person in that room.

I was very inspired after Mike’s speech and wished he could have gone on to share more of his ideas and concepts to make us a better more successful company.

The next time I present or speak infornt of a group, I am going to take these five points and use them in my presentation as best I can.

Miscommunication

Following the decisive blow to Napoleon in 1815, a Morse-like message (delivered with powerful light beams), flashed across the English Channel: "Wellington defeated"!

Panic swept through the British nation and its Board of Trade collapsed. The cause of their terror? Much of the intended message - "Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo" - had been obliterated by fog.

How does miscommunication happen? It happens when one side doesn’t communicate enough information to us, or we misinterpret the real meaning of their words. In either case, we get a different meaning of their words than they intended.

This is a becoming a common problem now-a-days because type-based communication is asynchronous communication, meaning that people do not communicate in real time – it’s essentially a telegram. Asynchronous communication does not allow for immediate feedback response, so our minds have to interpret what the other person is saying based upon their typed words alone. Although most common in typed-based communication, miscommunication can also occur in any type of communication setting.

People always fear the worst outcome. In miscommunication, the mind will fill in the missing information with their own creative insight, which is often fear-based - our minds will always think of the worst possible outcomes based on our fears and insecurities. Our minds need logical explanations to events. One of our most basic needs is the need to have answers and the need for reasons and explanations.

Absent those needs, our minds switch to a fear-based mode where we have to satisfy our need for answers with that of assumption. Assumption is a derivative of fear because we always assume the worst based on our fears and insecurities. Assumption therefore fulfills our need for a logical explanation for the unexplainable event and we tend to become locked into that assumption, believing it as truth.

When we are faced with miscommunication, we must keep our minds open to additional possibilities without adopting a certain truth about the other person until we know exactly from them what they are thinking. How can this be accomplished? Well, your fears and assumptions will automatically kick in. There is no way to fend against that because that is how our minds are wired. Instead of adopting those assumptions as the truth however, simply acknowledge those assumptions as one possibility out of a number of possibilities. List other possibilities with your assumptions and acknowledge them all without judging or evaluating them. Simply tell yourself, "These are all possible, but we don’t know the truth yet, so I won’t lock myself into any one of them." By keeping your mind open to additional possibilities, you can break the assumption triangle and prevent miscommunication conflict from happening.

Aspire to Inspire

"The test we must set for ourselves is not to march alone but to march in such a way that others will wish to join us."

-Hubert Humphry, U.S. Vice President, Senator

Not too long ago I found myself discussing the importance of inspiration with a customer. She commented that while doing the most difficult part of the hour, when the weights are heavy, she can't catch her breath or one more seems utterly impossible, but it's not, and she is successful its largely due to someone providing inspiration.

She talked briefly about how important it is to her to feel that someone has done what she is about to do before and that someone is rooting her on and that someone believes that she will be successful in this task.

I began to think about the importance of inspiration on all of its levels. As a coach it is one of the things I love so much about my job. I am that person rooting her on. I wouldn't be asking her if I thought she would fail and while she might not believe in herself at that moment I do.

I began to think about where I draw my inspirations from and how my day to day life is affected by the examples set by others whether purposefully or subconsciously. I have sources whereby I draw inspiration to work that much harder, not give up until a task is complete, and although I am not always successful that is sometimes not the point.

Much like the idea of mentor-ship, leading those around you is best done by being consistent and to always act as though you are setting an example. There are many leaders and many followers who will always play these roles but there are also those who aspire to inspire.

Top Five Mistakes We Can Make as Leaders

I was reading a few articles the other day, and I came across a couple that really hit home. What was great about them was the way that they complimented each other...

The way I see it, everything's a pendulum - things will constantly swing back and forth from one side to another. They key for us, as leaders, is to constantly work at a smaller range of side-to-side motions, so that we're level, consistent and intelligent in our decision-making and role modeling. So what follows is five mistakes we can make - with each end of the spectrum represented.

Number Five: Holding onto people who aren't the right fit for too long vs. Letting people go too quickly

Number Four: Trying to be everybody's friend vs. Being detached from the team

Number Three: Micromanaging vs. Delegating every single task

Number Two: Flaunting the advantages of leadership vs. Making your job look like the last thing anyone would want to do

And the number one mistake we can make if we swing too far in either direction: Having a team that can never get on board vs. Having a team of people who will never challenge the status quo

~Guy

..support with a personal touch..

In 2004, I experienced my first doubles session at the Innovative Fitness kits location..I got my butt kicked. My sister trained there and asked me if I wanted to try it when her partner was away…well I trained in kits several times and then followed her to the west van location. Of course I was getting my butt kicked there too but what I was witnessing in both locations was the pure energy of the team and that something special that attracts constant positive energy into the doors..
I was hooked and asked our trainer Curtis how I could get on the team. He asked me for coffee right then because I guess it was his lunch break. We went to Delany’s and he wrote down on a piece of paper the specific certifications and first aid that I needed to apply. I focused myself and in the fall of 2005, I came back with the base knowledge I needed and joined the team right away.
Since I have been with Innovative Fitness I have succeeded in more than I thought possible. From jumping out of a plane to snowmobiling in Alaska…a half ironman, marathon and a seven day mtn bike race to name a few more. I have also been lucky enough to help raise money and awareness for many charities. In 2007 we flew to Cambodia and experienced ancient civilizations and volunteering at the ankor wat children’s hospital raising almost 15k of support…all while running a half marathon as our physical focus. For the last 3years we have been working with Canuck Place Children’s Hospice. Raising awareness with Train the Trainer and the Innovative Fitness Adventure Race events...
Finally, in 2007 I was lucky to be selected for team H2V, riding across Canada and raising awareness and a million dollars for juvenile diabetes..a Guinness Book of world records affair..

Well…it’s happening again, except this time it’s in Australia! We are leaving on Aug 18^th and are looking to relay from Cairns to Melbourne in 5 days and raise additional awareness and monies for Juvenile Diabetes.. www.cyclebetes.com/au/

Now, this is the part where I am asking for support…with a personal touch…Everything is going well with fundraising..we have bikes, rv’s, food, gas..but no airline ticket..the deadline has come and past and we had to purchase tickets. My return ticket was around 2k and I have been lucky enough to have a donor step forward and help part of the purchase.

*I am asking for support with a personal touch in the form of 5-10-50 dollars…anything will help..

Now, what’s in it for you? the satisfaction that another dream is being lived..getting to ride almost 5000kms with friends in a record breaking attempt while raising major awareness for Juvenile Diabetes through Australia..this will be very special for me..

Some personal touch bonuses…I will write contributor names on my cycling jersey, write about you in our blogs and any monies raised over what is needed for my airfare will be donated to the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice the name of a donator I pull from a hat! This is a win win!

Thank you for reading and thank you very much for considering a donation..
With Care,

Richard Alm
Richard@innoativefitness.com for donation inquires *

ps – please contact me for any additional information regarding anything mentioned in my letter

Making Something Your Forte

This year I have taken an interest in doing Triathlons. There was no big aspiration to do them all my life but under the influence of IF and my brother being into them, I have definitely got hooked onto the sport. I enjoy not just training for one sport and the fact that it is not a walk in the park. Every triathlon I do provides some challenge.

This weekend was definitely another challenge at the Peach Classic Triathlon in Penticton. This particular race is actually known as one of the toughest triathlons in the region but yesterday unknown elements added another degree to this event.

The wind was a factor for the swim. There were white caps on the lake which not only made the swim tough but the orange markers marking the swim course kept detaching and floating towards the shore. I definitely hit a low after the swim. My goggles kept filling with water, I had to literally stop and take my goggles off to see where I was going, I kept chocking on the waves when I breathed and lastly I took 6min longer than I wanted. It was a mental battle coming out of the swim and then getting on the bike. I have been an athlete all my life and been at the top of most things so when you are at the bottom of the pack it is a shot to that sports ego. However, in reflection this is why I am doing triathlons. I am nowhere near the top and I know I have a lot to work on but the drive and the passion is there to improve.

The rest of the race was challenging, with a hilly 40km bike ride anda 10km run, with the 2-5km part of the run going up hill. But they were a breeze compared to the swim.

The biggest lesson that I got from this weekend, is to take something that is out of your comfort zone or to do something that is not your forte and make it your forte.

Famous Failures

Failure is a natural part of life, it is simply an opportunity to start anew - a chance to attempt something different; a fresh start. It is an act that did not accomplish its intended purpose but nowhere does it suggest finality. Instead of dwelling on the perceived negative consequences of failure, we need to focus on the lessons we learn after experiencing failure; the growth and maturity that comes as a result of going through tough times and dealing with disappointments.

It's okay to fail. Everyone has failed at one time or another. Failure is a great life teacher. It teaches us humility and how to correct our course of action. Thomas Edison had a great attitude towards failure. He said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." It is one’s refusal to acknowledge and learn from failure that makes it devastating and an effort in futility.

The unfortunate, or fortunate thing is that we are all less than perfect; we all fall short of others expectations and even our own at times. It is common to the human experience. Falling short of intended goals equips us with the tools to succeed the next time around and success requires that we be resilient after our (former) expectations are not realized. We all must embrace the error of our ways, make peace with poor decisions or mistakes we’ve made in the past and move on---by refusing to let those lapses in judgment define our present or our future. If you don’t pay attention to why one failure happens and understand that lesson, you’ll find failure in the same way again and again until you truly learn what you need to learn.

Befriending failure makes you dare to try new things. It puts you on the path of inventions, breakthroughs, and innovations. Failure is often the price of progress.

Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure ~

Thomas J. Watson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6hz_s2XIAU

Lessons Learned

A wise man once told me that the three primary motivators for people are greed, fear and trust.

Greed: excessive or predatory desire, especially for wealth or possessions.

Fear: a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

Trust: reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

I just recently saw this adage come into fruition when communicating with a customer who we have been attempting to lead at a high level for over a year now. This individual is obese and has been unable to improve his body composition for a number of reasons. First and foremost, his average attendance of his booked sessions is about 50% (2 out of 4 weekly). Considering he isn’t doing any physical activity on his own 2 hours of exercise per week this obviously isn’t going to suffice. Another very important compounding factor is the individual’s lifestyle that includes very poor eating habits and the excessive consumption of alcohol in social settings. This is a recipe for disaster because he will have to work incredibly hard just to maintain let alone improve.

The following is an excerpt from an e-mail that Curtis sent to our team a while ago:

"When we are constructing challenges we think of the two primary motivators – fear & greed – we appeal to people's sense around both of these. When we hit an obstacle or road block – we determine why we are hitting it – customer realities / their story & dissect down to the exact things that are holding them back. When we come across someone that thinks & tell us they ‘can’t’, we tell them that they ‘CAN’ - and show them how. And...most importantly we never, never, give up...it is a relentless push to bring people to the victory of any specific challenge. And when we reach victory we must reward & recognize – if we don’t do this, we don’t connect the dots for people and are back to square 1 in terms of trying to get them to embrace another challenge. So at the end of every session and at the end of every day, ask yourself: Did I challenge that person to give their best during that session? Demand the best out of them - to push their limits (within safe parameters)."

Throughout the past year we have tried appealing to the aforementioned individual’s sense of greed (by establishing bets with rewards for success) and trust (completing events with him, spending personal time together outside of the training atmosphere). We have seen some success through these strategies but unfortunately it has been short-lived. A few days ago I received an e-mail informing me that the individual had a check-up with the doctor that didn’t go very well: serious health issues including high cholesterol and excessive fat surrounding the liver. This news was followed be a vow that this time he is going to be successful for himself and everyone that he is close to.

From this experience I have learned a few valuable lessons first hand:

Patience is absolutely imperative.

Different strategies work for different people.

It is only when an individual decides for themselves that they need to make a change when they will truly be committed. If actions are simply following orders or being carried out to please somebody else the ever-important element of intrinsic motivation is missing.

Hypocrisy

It's rare that I'll find myself agreeing in any way with something that Bill O'Reilly or Geraldo Rivera have to say. In fact, more often than not, the thoughts that they share simply agitate me. But, once in a blue moon, they put forward a point or idea that I'm forced to acknowledge has merit (you know what they say about monkeys and typewriters, right?).

Anyway, the most recent case of this was when they expressed disdain for the Michael Jackson memorial. For the most part, I tuned out the rants about his questionable behavior with children, or the incredibly overblown proportions of the media attentions - but what did, in fact, stick out for me was their criticisms of the "celebrities" who turned out at this event to cry and moan, and talk about how important Michael Jackson was and what a loss we've all suffered at his early exit.

Well, what Bill and Geraldo asked was: where were you when he was on trial for child molestation? So very, very many of these people were absolutely no where to be seen when he was on trial - nor were any of them heard from. They weren't on the television, standing beside him and offering platitudes then... no, they had their backs turned and were staring off, pretending not to be aware of what was going on. And then, suddenly, everyone's celebrating Michael Jackson as a champion, as a hero... and there they are, lining up to be seen crying and offering tributes to the "King of Pop". Now, I'm not saying that if they felt he was abusing children, they should have been getting his back anyway - but what I AM saying is that they are doing one of two things: ignoring this horrific fact because right now everyone's forgotten about it, or worse - they never believed it in the first place, but didn't want to be associated with him by publicly supporting their "friend".

Either way - shame on them.

Stand by your convictions - whether it's ethical, moral or simply cheering on your home team.

Give people someone to believe in.

~Guy

How hard is it really?

There are plenty of people out there who have it harder than most. Won’t even waste your time telling you about people living in fear or famine, let alone who spend their days homeless or in jail…

So what the hell are we complaining about? Nothing, so roll up your sleeves and make something out of yourself. If you are solo, work with the passion of 20 – if you are on a team, step up and have the team’s best interest at heart. Think beyond yourself for 5min..

Am I really writing this? Yep, amazingly we are still surrounded by selfish people who are only concerned about themselves and don’t seem to pay attention to the bigger picture..

But how can this be? Easy, it’s ingrained in their make-up and in their basic system..

Well, guess what, a wining team doesn’t need you. A wining team is there for each other and takes time out of their day to help one another. We don’t walk out half way through – we aren’t late or keep each other waiting. If one has a question, we take the time to listen and answer. We also don’t ask questions that we can figure out ourselves or waste each others time asking for things that we can do ourselves for that matter..

So how do those types slip through the cracks? Please let us know because there are still many of us who don’t know how this is possible.

We are half way through 2009 which means 2010 is right around the corner…I have the feeling that as time moves forward there will be less room for this type of person..

The stone ages are over, the dinosaurs are extinct and those whom are selfish are next.

It’s only a matter of time until you will be weeded out and our oxygen levels can balance out so there is enough for our team…

Answer – it all starts with self – if you are ready to explore that concept, please let the next in line enter and go to the back on the line yourself…there are those who are way hungrier than you breathing down your back.

A team is only as strong as it’s weakest member so ask yourself…are you consistently strong enough to make a difference or are you taking up valuable space?

Don’t be the weak link..

The best part…all you have to do is ask and all your problems have the ability to be swept away…

Jamie’s Eat to Save Your Life.

Last night I watched a British television show called “Jamie’s Eat to Safe Your life”. Over the past 15 years, in Great Britain or “Fat Britain”, overweight and unhealthy lifestyles have taken a toll for the worse. Obesity rates in the UK have suggested that nearly a quarter of adults are now classified as clinically obese. Since 2003, deaths directly related to obesity has increased 35% in Great Britain, due to related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and blood clots.

This show had 4 experts (a physician, an anatomist, a fitness expert and a nutritionist) who took 18 volunteers and dramatically showed them exactly what effects their terrible diets are doing to them and how they can change their eating habits to save their life.

Jamie would physically reveal a volunteers daily diet and show them exactly how much fat, sugar, salt, empty calories, low nutrients and vitamins were in their meals. Explaining to them that their eating style is a major risk factor for life threatening diseases such as heart disease cancer and diabetes. Some of his dramatic demonstration included a lady sitting in a bath tub and pouring the gallons of fat she would typically eat in one day, or laying out the foods a volunteer ate in one day and then telling them that if you just cut down that 1 latte (instead of 3) and 1 class of wine (instead of 3), you would automatically save 300 calories per day.

The anatomist expert conducted autopsies to graphically reveal the terrible damage the volunteers diets were doing to their organs, in particularly their over-sized hearts, clogged arteries, damaged livers and their organs that were covered in fat.

What was interesting about this show was the visual aspects. A lot of the time we suggest, tell or inform others on what to eat and advise them that if they changed their diets or cut out a few things then they would lose those few extra pounds and live a longer healthier life.

However, pictures speak a thousand words.

My advise is the next time you have a customer, family member or friend that is having problems with their diet, physically show them pictures, videos or graphics to make them see exactly what they are doing to their bodies.

Qualities of Women Leaders

When it comes to leadership, does gender matter? Is there a difference between women leaders and men who lead? If so, what are the unique qualities of female leadership that the most effective women leaders possess, and are they unique to women?

In 2005, a year-long study conducted by Caliper, a Princeton, New Jersey-based management consulting firm, and Aurora, a London-based organization that advances women, identified a number of characteristics that distinguish women leaders from men when it comes to qualities of leadership:

Women leaders are more assertive and persuasive, have a stronger need to get things done and are more willing to take risks than male leaders....Women leaders were also found to be more empathetic and flexible, as well as stronger in interpersonal skills than their male counterparts....enabl[ing] them to read situations accurately and take information in from all sides....These women leaders are able to bring others around to their point of view....because they genuinely understand and care about where others are coming from....so that the people they are leading feel more understood, supported and valued.

So based on this do I think that gender matters? No, but I think that we should all be thinking about what we as individuals can offer in the way of leadership regardless of our gender, and really hone what we do well.

Trust Us

The following goals are some of the more common that we hear in consultations from prospective customers: lose weight, increase lean muscle mass, improve general health and fitness, increase strength, increase motivation and energy level. While 99% will not admit it, the aforementioned goals usually stem from a desire to improve self confidence and self worth. As a destination fitness company we then encourage individuals to establish a destination which will anchor the focus of their training and produce the desired results along the way.

There are times when we face resistance from customers who listen to our advice only to revert back to the program that they are familiar with. We recently faced a situation where a new customer was gung-ho about training for triathlons and running. A month later they completely changed their mind and stated that they were going to quit if we didn’t start giving them heavy weights and a hypertrophy program. They were apparently worried that they were going to get skinny from all of the endurance training. When it boils down to it they second guessed themselves, refused to trust our expert opinion and resorted to their default (lifting heavy weights was all that they knew). We were able to retain the customer after revamping their program but unfortunately they aren’t exactly on the road to reaching their goals. We failed to educate before it was too late. Next time this situation happens we need to have a plan to convince the customer that strictly body building isn’t the answer to becoming an all-round athlete and improving fitness. Here is some information that can be used to reinforce why we believe in leading people to run, cycle, hike, swim, kayak, and train functionally and sport specifically:

Identifying the world's greatest athlete is pretty much impossible to answer empirically. No matter how impressive, world-class athletes mostly excel at single tasks. Olympic gold medal weightlifter Hossein Reza Zadeh can, in two quick motions, lift 580 pounds over his head. Marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie can run a mile in an astonishing four minutes, 45 seconds, and repeat the performance 26 times in a row. Place either man at another sports venue and they won’t have a hope in fitting in and competing.

Sports physiologists don't have a system to rank all athletes. University of Texas exercise physiologist Ed Coyle said doctoral students have tried in the past "only to have their professors shut them down after months of continuous work." The Wall Street Journal sought to identify the world's greatest athlete with an approach that, while not completely scientific, took a number of measures into account. A panel of five sports scientists was given a list drawn of 79 top male athletes. Candidates had to be active in their sport and among the all-time best. (Women were featured separately in another article.)

The panel weighed individual performance stats, along with their subjective judgments about the relative difficulty of each sport to give an overall grade to the athletes. The judges graded athletes on speed, reflexes, stamina, coordination, as well as power, strength and size. The finalists, they said, exhibited a wide range of athletic skill in highly competitive environments.

There were some surprises. Tiger Woods, a dominant figure in professional sports, didn't crack the Top 10. Panelists said they didn't give golfers much weight when assessing overall athletic ability. Michael Phelps, one of the greatest U.S. swimmers of all time, also missed the top tier because the judges felt that “swimmers generally don't perform well out of the water”. Such endurance athletes as marathoners and Tour de France cyclists also failed to impress. “Too one-dimensional” the panel said. For overall athletic ability and fitness the key seems to be training in various disciplines.

Check out the study:

Top 10 Athletes

Which athletes are 'fit'? VO2 Max Descriptive Data for Athletes in Various Sports (Baechle & Earle, 2000)

Extremely High: (M 70+ / F 60+) X-country skiing, Mid-distance running, long-distance running

Very High: (M 63-69 / F 54-59) Bicycling, Rowing, race walking

High: (Males 57-62 / Females 49-53) Soccer, middle-distance swimming, speed skating, skiing

Above Average: (Males 52-56 / Females 44-48) Basketball, Football (offensive/defensive backs), gymnastics, hockey, sprinting

Average: (Males 44-51 / Females) Baseball/softball, football (quarterback/linemen), Olympic weight lifting, bodybuilding

Lessons In Leadership from Outside the Box

It occured to me the other day that sometimes the greatest lessons in how best to lead is found in places that we don't necessarily think of right away. For example - your boss or supervisor at work is an obvious example of someone that leads you, as is a hockey coach... but when was the last time that you can think of a the people that influenced your formative years the most other than (or in some cases more so) than your own parents?

Teachers.

I can remember the names of almost all of my teachers from Kindergarten to Grade 12, but there was only one that really taught me lessons that I've held onto my whole life. Rob Lederer - my chem and biology teacher in grades 11 and 12. Everyone loved his classes - he found a way to be incredibly entertaining (even for 16 year olds) but still teach - not unlike Venus Flytrap teaching the molecule on WKRP in Cincinnati (awesome episode, if you ever get the chance). He was such a great teacher, in fact, that he was asked to give the keynote address at our high school graduation, and his speech has stuck with me ever since.

He said very little about going out and being successful, about how we were "just starting our lives now", blah blah blah... no, instead he told the story of his mom and him. Apparently, when he was in high school, they had the typical teenager/parent type relationship... he loved her, but couldn't show it and there were definitely times of acrimony between them. Then he spoke of one time in particular, when they'd gotten into an argument over some small piece of nonsense and he left the house, telling her how much he hated her and slamming the door behind her - and while he was out that night, she passed away from a heart attack.

The last conversation he had with his mother - he told her that he hated her.

To this day, while I may leave an argument with friends and family in disagreement, but I won't walk away angry - this is the lesson that I've held onto, and I owe it directly to this keynote address.

Thanks, Mr. Lederer.

~Guy

Team it up..

Ok the Tour de France is on and I’m pumped! Today is team time trial. That’s nine guys racing together on a course full of technical town, country and hill riding. The team time trial is a seriously painful event. They would be riding in their highest heart rate zones and the better they work together, the better they will do – period. If one falls, the team protects. If a bike breaks, the team car supplies another one..

Today, during our staff meeting, we had our first annual Innovative Fitness Team Relay. We were split into four teams of three and headed to the beach. We were prepared with team outfits and sand castle building equipment. The team was made up of a kayaker, a mtn bike rider and a hill runner…

At the word, ‘go’ we jumped into action and each team pumped up their walkerbay kayaks http://walkerbay.com/products/airis/airis_sport_features.html our team got our boat into the water first and held the lead! The team carried up the boat to the mtn bike rider that was waiting. A quick high five and the rider took off for a 3km loop straight up 29^th! Our team actually rode in first to take our runner to handle 24^th hill – a murder incline that is as hard going up as coming down. Our newest IF coach Miguel ran to the beach first which allowed that team to begin building their sandcastle (we were sent a picture of a sandcastle last night that we needed to replicate)
It was a close race, with sand flying and moats being filled with water…two teams were done and rolling up their kayaks. Yes, we had to put the boat back in its backpack!

Regardless of who won, the whole team had to come together, plan and execute as one in order to compete at a high level. To be quite honest, when teams of Innovative Fitness Professional Coaches get together, get ready for a battle!

The First Annual Innovative Fitness Team Relay…we may need to switch the title because it was seriously fun.

Yesterday, history was made at the all England tennis club at Wimbledon. In an Epic match between Rodger Federer and Andy Roddick which lasted over 4hours, Federer was able to defeat Roddick to win his 15th gram slam, surpassing Pete Sampras.

The 2009 gentleman’s championship is a match that will be remember for years to come. Not only was its Federer 15th gram slam but this match was the longest match and the longest 5th set in Grand Slam finals history in terms of games.There were other great tennis players like Pete Sampras, Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg all here to watch this phenomenal final and witness a great champion celebrate his achievement.

What I truly admire about this game is the fact that these great players - Federer, McEnroe, Sampras, Agazzi, Graff, Navaratalove, are all great ambassadors for the sport of tennis. Even if you are not a tennis fan or player you would still know about these players and evidentially what happened yesterday at Wimbledon because these past players have made us recognize this sport.

Ambassadors of all levels in life like sport, business, health and fitness, family life are important. Those that are the ambassadors need to always be ahead of the rest, be ruthless and be role models for the competitors and their own company/family/community. I feel very privilege to be about of a company that is the forerunner in the fitness world and an ambassor for our communities and the health and fitness industry in general. We are ruthless, we are creating opportunities and we are setting the bar at level for other companies to reach to.

Lessons from the "Biggest Loser"

I was feeling uninspired this week, browsing the web and came across an article written by Jillian Michaels, a trainer on the reality show, the "Biggest Loser." While reading it, I couldn’t help but think of how similar the lessons that she has learned while working with her "Biggest Loser" contestants are to what we do every day with our customers. It made me feel good to know that these are the things that she thinks are powerful enough to change the world and I wanted to share it with all of you. Here are some points for you to ponder courtesy of Jillian Michaels...

1. Nothing Is Impossible

Let's face it: If I can take a person that is 400 pounds and get them into run-a-marathon shape in four months, we as human beings are capable of just about anything.

2. You Should Never Ask "Why Me"-Instead, Ask "Why NOT Me?"

Society—and sometimes even our own friends and family members—say you are arrogant and selfish if you want to be anything beyond the norm. Strive to become healthier or richer or more successful than average and it becomes a "Who do you think you are?" scenario. That is such a crock.

The next time you feel less-than or undeserving of making a healthy change, ask yourself that question: Why not you?

On "Biggest Loser," my contestants learn to stop asking "Why me?" and ask this question: "Why not me?" Why not me get gorgeous, healthy and famous? Why not me fall in love? Why not me have the career of my dreams? And here is the best part: by putting themselves first for once, they change their lives, achieve their goals and inspire a nation. So, the next time you feel less-than or undeserving of making a healthy change, ask yourself that question: Why not you?

3. You Must Choose To Be Happy

Life will not always be easy. You won't always be happy. Things will go wrong that are unfair and totally out of your control, but ... you have a choice. You can choose to become a victim of these unfortunate events or you can choose to learn from them and grow.

A lot of the contestants on "Biggest Loser" have had very sad lives—some filled with tragedy, all filled with physical hardship. But the ones who succeed do so because they come to find a meaning and purpose in their struggles that propels them towards a beautiful rich fulfilling future.

Make a Splash

I’ve always been fascinated by the nature of the media beast. (FYI - I wrote this without reading Guy's post on Perspective in the Media from yesterday). At times it seems as though Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, was correct when he stated “Any press is good press”. In other words he didn’t care if the media coverage on the Dallas Cowboys was negative; as long as the team was making the headlines they were on people’s minds and that's all that mattered. When it comes to our personal lives we are stringent with morals and ethics. How could you possibly be close friends with someone who committed adultery or released a sex tape? Yet we hear sensationalized stories about celebrities on a regular basis and continue to watch their TV shows and movies, buy magazines and gossip to our friends about the latest headlines. Consider Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian who went from spoiled daughters of successful parents to ‘celebrities’ in their own right. How? They created a media craze after home videos containing revealing content were ‘leaked’.

These individuals aren’t as stupid as they seem. The formula for creating a buzz / making a splash / separating yourself from the pack goes something like this:

1. Do something outrageous that gets people talking
2. Let the story flow through the media and watch the number of Google hits of your name go up
3. Sleazy companies and entrepreneurs are the first to pounce, closely followed by more credible companies looking to ride the wave of can’t miss marketing
4. Acknowledge that your actions were of questionable taste and character, apologize and move on
5. Everyone forgets why you are suddenly famous but it doesn’t matter because your name is in the headlines

Here is one of my favourite examples of the phenomenon: Rome vs. Everett

Jim Rome is an American sports radio talk show host who is a very polarizing character… you love him or you hate him. But it doesn’t matter what you think because he’s one of the top sports personalities in North America and brings in millions in salary per year. He went from cocky host on a disregarded television show to international leader is sports talk. How? What you saw in the video clip was Rome calling Jim Everett “Chris” (after Chris Everett, the female tennis player) because he felt that Everett was soft and shied away from getting hit as a quarterback. Rome gained notoriety for the incident and gained the respect of the masses for his ballsy display.

The examples that I have provided involve questionable behaviour but the same phenomenon can be achieved through positivity. Riding across Canada or Australia to raise money for juvenile diabetes, taking part in the Ironman to raise money for cancer (ala Scott Rintoul) or completing extreme events such as the Del Sahara are very impressive feats that will create a buzz. If you want to fly under the radar and you’re content being the quiet, consistent type that’s fine. If you want to separate yourself from the pack and market yourself and the company in a positive light, remember that anyone can do it with some planning and a large stride outside of your comfort zone. Ask yourself if this is a step that you need to take to be more successful and if so, plan what you can do to make a splash.

Perspective in the Media

Nice to know that our media hasn't become sensationalized, or anything. That they won't overlook true news, important news, just because something that appeals to the public's morbid and twisted fascination with all things ridiculous occurs.

Let's say, for example, that there were demonstrations happening in a country where what appears to be a corrupt and tainted elections recently took place. Let's say that the demonstrators were, for the first time, standing up to this dictatorship, and demanding that freedom of choice and democracy were actually allowed. Let's say that the government in this same country then decided to start cracking down on it's own people, shooting and murdering it's own citizens then silencing their voices both in the real world as well as online.

If this were happening, and a singer who was far past his prime, who's only real contribution to society for the last fifteen years was entries on the "Bizarre News" page of the newspapers... we wouldn't see every single news outlet turn their attention to it, completely forgetting the carnage and courage being displayed by everyday people in the face of true adversity...

Would we?

~Guy