Sticking to the Plan

Everyday you wake up can be a little bit of challenge - knowing exactly what you have to accomplish for that day, especially when every detail is laid out for you. It can be a little overwhelming and mind-boggling, some days a little demanding and exhausting. Although, when you understand why you plan things, you realize their importance. Everything is done for a specific reason, and in the big picture, it will help you accomplish your goals and reach whatever success you set out for yourself.

After making the decision to train for a huge event this coming year, I spent the time looking at what was going to be next twelve months of my life and planned what now seems like every minute and every detail of my life. I knew that I couldn’t just “wing” it; I needed to make a plan, and truly stick with it, no matter what.

Following and sticking to my plan to an absolute tee, and doing things properly, has made me I feel like I’m making huge strides in attaining my goals.

There are times when it can be very challenging and tempting to stray from what I’m supposed to do, however, knowing where my finish line will be is what gets me through each and every day, and what keeps me dialed in to what I know I’m supposed to do.


-Nina Mathers

You Are the Sum of the Whole, Not Single Moments

Legacy: "Something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past."

On April 12, 1980, Terry Fox dipped his right leg into the Atlantic Ocean and set out on his marathon of hope. For the next few months, Terry ran through Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Quebec, reaching Ontario in June. Over that time, he covered approximately 23.3miles per day, and had reached just outside Thunderbay when his battle with cancer finally forced him to stop - one year later, he lost the fight entirely. However, his courageous journey will continue to live on and Terry's efforts will never be forgotten.

On March 31, 1984, Steve Fonyo began his "Journey for Lives" - a marathon that was meant to honor Terry, covering the same route and then carrying on past where Terry had finally succumbed. He completed it on May 29, 1985 after covering 4,924 miles and raising $14 million (CDN). In the early part, he was criticized as a "copy-cat", and was overshadowed by Terry's history - but by the end, he had earned everyone's respect by his own right, and amongst other things was awarded the Order of Canada in 1985 - the youngest person ever given the status at that time.

Sadly, after reaching this pinnacle, Steve Fonyo has been in and out of the legal system for various reasons: assault with a weapon, fraud, impaired driving - the list goes on. In December of 2009, Steve Fonyo became only the fourth person in history... to have his Order of Canada revoked.

It's been said "Leadership isn't a sometimes thing", and that "Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit". As leaders, we do well to remember this - when you leave work, when you're out shopping, or when you move on from a position - your legacy continues to be written.

You are not only who you choose to be - but who you choose to be at all times. History will always continue to be written.

~Guy

We should never read a book by its cover

We should never read a book by its cover but we need to know how.

A customer walks in and gets on the treadmill like any other day. As they walk through the door their name is called and an uncomfortable smile crosses their face. They are quickly swallowed up by the loud music, energy and fad into the background. As the treadmill buzzes along, they begin their usual pre-workout warm up. As the clock strikes the hour the coach walks up with a towel and wearing a sparkle in their eye.
’how are we today?’, they ask.
’fine, you?’, the customer replies…

Stop right there…we can not see as we read but there is the body behavior of something greater here that may go unnoticed.

‘I’m good’, says the coach, ‘how’s your low back, did you get in to see the physio like we spoke about?’

A small tear is forming in the eye of the customer as they run, avoiding eyes and an uncomfortable feeling fills the air.

‘hey, lets go outside for our warm up’, the coach suggests.

With the care needed, the coach hits the stop button and proceeds to the door where they both head into the fresh air.

‘it’s better out here right now’, the coach recommends….

We should never read a book by its cover and or judge a situation but when we see the signs of something bigger than expected it’s important to take control.

We are not only personal coaches, we are professional advisers. By no means are we to prescribe medication but we have the opportunity to be a shoulder or an ear to listen.

There is a turning point in our coaching carrier where having the chats about sports and weekend beers just won’t cut it. There is a point where we must dig a little deeper and make ourselves vulnerable to feelings and emotions.

Take that step and take the next step into coaching and mentorship.

Not everyone is coming to see us to get fit. If you don’t know the stats, please ask because there’s a whole world out there that is passing you by.

When are you going to take that next step?

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of talking to a principle that works in the Inner School District of Vancouver. We were talking about how they are handling the Olympics and incorporating it into a 2 week educational theme with the students.

Most of these students that attend the inner schools are from families that are on welfare or single parent families and are in area with high crime rates. The students and their families cannot afford to go to the games themselves nor some of them never been able to go out side of their district due to lack of funds to even travel on public transportation.

However the Inner City school board is taking full advantage to educate the students, realizing that this is a once in a life time event and all should benefit the experience that is arriving in Vancouver in less than a month. The school are providing full field day trips to certain free Olympic venues across the city. Organizing these full day field trip, the students get to experience the atmosphere, be involved in the celebration of countries coming together and watch the olympics on the big screen TV’’s with thousands of other people from all over the world. On the days that they are not venturing into the city, University students are coming out to there schools. A specific example is the engineers from UBC are teaching/showing the students how to build certain Olympic structures, like the luge and the ski jump. I think this is an excellent chance to allow the students to study and learn information that is relevant to what is currently happening.

How are you going to engage yourself over the Olympics? Will you walk around downtown? Do you have tickets to events? Will you mingle with the visitors from all over the world?

If you are stuck, here is a website of free events that the city is offering:

http://www.citycaucus.com/2010freevenues#5362

Pushing the Boundaries

So January First it became illegal to talk on your cel phone while driving. We had plenty of time to prepare, radio and news media running stories for months, allowing people time to purchase Bluetooth equipment as holiday gifts and mentally prepare for quiet commutes.

Now as you are aware I am also a commuter (just under 2 hours a day 5 days a week) and I was one of those individuals who received a Bluetooth for Christmas. Nevertheless, on a daily basis, I see distracted drivers looking guiltily back at me, chatting nervously on their phones while in rush hour traffic. It has been advertised that tickets will not be issued until February 1st but really, why do some individuals either a) just not care b) believe they are capable where others are not or c) so resistant to change that they procrastinate until the last moment.

6,000 people were killed last year alone by cel phone using drivers. Drivers texting while driving are 8 times more likely to be in an accident, that's double the statistic of a driver under the influence of alcohol.

A co-worker has the mantra "be the change you want to see" which of course we should all live by but is that enough? Why is it so hard for people to do the right thing or break bad habits?

-Angela Tames

How Not to Host a Party

A little backstory:

I hate New Year's Eve. In my eyes, it becomes a matter of spending 1.5x what you normally would, being around a lot of people you don't know well, having trouble getting home and, after all is said and done - having a fairly average evening. I much prefer spending it at home with my wife and maybe a few close friends, having dinner and getting to bed - allowing me a full day on the 1st to enjoy the fresh start of a new year.

This year, my brother (who lives with us) decided to have a New Year's Party - full decorated, lots of alcohol and suit-and-tie dress code. When he told me about it, I realized I had two choices - I could be a grade "A" a**hole and lock myself in my room, resplendent in my bitterness... or I could grit my teeth, put on a smile with my suit and spend some time with my brother and his friends - thereby making the best of it. I chose the latter option.

For the 2010 Olympics, we, as a host city, have the same choice. Yes, there problems with it - the traffic will be a nightmare, it will inconvenience us terribly, we will probably be overbudget, our handling of the homeless will most likely be inadequate, and our mascots are some bizarre Japanese anime joke. But, when the 100th person on a day asks us where the seabus station is, or how to get to Robson Street, we can either say "It's at the corner of 'Get a Map' and 'Piss Off'", or we can smile, point them in the right direction and wish them a happy stay.

We don't gain anything at this point by coming across like a city of d***heads - and in the end, it has less to do with "being a host city", and more to do with the simple, common courtesy of being a host.

Let's show them what we can do, Vancouver - let's welcome the world.

~Guy

.black out.

Yesterday was like any other day. Alarm went off at 5am; shower on and on the road with a packed lunch by 5:20. The highway was a bit out of the ordinary though…there were some tree branches littering the path and the car seemed light on air in the tires because it was harder the handle. Turns out the wind was on overtime and not only was it pushing the car around, it was sending debris onto the road.

As I parked the car the wind howled and pushed against the car. It was apparent that it was heavy when I opened the door and it closed behind me with a gust. Wow I thought, it is windy…about the same time I noticed the warm breeze on my face. Odd for January but no biggie...then it happened…it was like someone had control of the surrounding light in the neighborhood. Everything flicked on and off several times before the lights went out. All the lights of the block went out and the street seemed quiet…

The walk to work took 2minutes and I was met by a couple teammates in our dark facility. The emergency lights were on and we quickly realized that the morning was now not what we expected…

The point of this story is not to shed light on the fact that we had a blackout but to illustrate that no matter what one expects, expect the unexpected.

Right away the west van team took charge and started the day right. We rolled towels in the faint light of the exit sign and reviewed the week prep off of a black berry. With only one customer training at 6am (outside bootcamp) the remaining team rallied together and cleaned what we could see and prepped for the day because we know that it was only a matter of time before the lights would be coming on again…

The moral of the story completely is that with every action there needs to be a tight reaction. Even though the lights were off and the WiFi was off, part of the team bonded with a workout and the rest stretched and or clicked away on black berry’s until there was enough light to continue to prep for that moment in the morning where everything came back to order in the form of electricity.

LIFe must move on in the case of adversity in any form so get ready cause it’s not if, it’s when…

In a Time of Need!

Watching and reading the news over the weekend, it is unbelievable how supportive and generous the world is being to the disaster stricken country of Haiti. The world is coming together and raising funds, but due to this crisis, the supplies and human support is not coming fast enough. The people in Haiti have no homes, no food, running water is sparse and there is not enough medical services to meet the demand.

However, the positive aspect of this natural catastrophe is that the world is doing everything one can to help this country. Charities such as, Unicef is deploying clean water, sanitation supplies, therapeutic food, medical supplies and temporary shelter to Haiti, the CARE organization plans to start food distribution of high protein biscuits to Haiti, and the red cross is accepting donation for Haiti Relief development and have raised more than 8 million dollars thus far. High end businessmen and celebrities are also raising funds to help out.

Short help is what is needed immediately but one should think about the long term effect that this will have on this country in a year, 5year and 10 years time.The long term project of rebuilding Haiti is of a great importance. The United Nations are taken a step in the right direction. They have launched an appeal for 562 million dollars to help fund a six month relief effort.

So yes, please donate now to a humanitarian organizations to help the current situation, however remember that this country has to rebuild itself from scratch, so don’t forget about then in 6 months time!

Presentation

So a friend of ours was in town for Christmas and during a particularly raucous visit he proceeds to tell us a story about a new Sushi restaurant that has opened in his hometown named Kai. The big draw for the $150 an hour meals is that they serve Sushi on live, nude young women. Now we are enjoying his tale of mayhem immensely as he describes this poor girl lying on a table surrounded by techies, all knee deep in Saki, chatting away with her enjoying and the fact that she isn't supposed to talk as they are simultaneously looking for the wasabi.

A couple of days later I was thinking about this idea that has been around for decades in Japan and the art of presentation. It is amazing that as a result of a very expensive dinner this restaurant is now the topic of conversation for the fifteen attendees for countless further dinner parties! That is advertising you just can't make up.

The moral of the story I suppose is next time I present an idea, argument or myself I will think back to the importance of the first impression and presentation.

- Angela Tames

Seriously...

True story for everyone:

In London, England, there lives a doctor by the name of Richard Dawson who, when parking his scooter on his own property - receives a parking ticket from the local traffic wardens . So, he fights the ticket - and the bureaucrats at the Traffic Registry simply tell him he's wrong, he owes the money.

He doesn't pay.

He gets another ticket, same approach, same problem. Thus it continues for the next ten years, as over thirty tickets build and build. Finally, being fed up, he goes over the head of the registry. He goes to court, where he travels all the way up to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales armed with the deed of the land and proof that he owns the portion of property on which he's parked.

And he loses.

The judge (Lord Justice Sedley, for anyone who's curious), finds that although he does, indeed, have legal right and entitlement to the piece of land he's parking on - since the public has access to it as well, they can ticket him.

I don't even know where to begin voicing my outrage at this. Whether it's the fact that the traffic wardens have so little self-esteem and confidence that they need to be complete a**holes to make themselves feel like they have a value to society, or the fact that the judge himself shows that education and experience do not guarantee intelligence - there are so many things wrong with it, that I find myself once again wishing that there was a forum in which to expose and hold accountable all those for whom common sense is replaced by stupidity.

Why is it that people like this are often the ones who wind up running our governments?

~Guy

A lifetime of engagement

A weekend of skiing and snowboarding with my family turned out to be more than one of our regular active holidays. Growing up, Erika and I were continually exposed to athletics and adventure. There was usually a theme to our vacations and we grew up watching our parents participate in many different sports and explorations...

Ten years ago, when our dad turned 60, our step mother Victoria surprised dad with an adventure paralleled to none. She researched and found a trek leader in Nepal. She took him to the Himalayas and made one of his childhood dreams come true. They spent a year training and preparing for this journey of a lifetime. An experience that had such an impact that they returned 2yrs later with Erika and I...

At Christmas this year she did it again. She totally shocked him and rolled two carbon road bikes into the living room! Instantly the conversations began about what to train for and what then next adventure would be. With tears in his eyes he shared his feelings about how amazing it is to have yet another physical goal via the gift of this new bike. Currently he trains with a coach 2 times a week and rides his mountain bike 3-4 days per week – this guy is fit...

Fast forward to Saturday night, Victoria was not done with the surprises. During a French night theme in our place in Sun Peaks she gave dad an early birthday present...she is taking them to France to ride with a group on a Tour de France trip! The look on his face was priceless...

The meaning behind this is 2 fold. A physical adventure to keep them both focused and an adventure through a physical challenge that they can do together.

As we think about ways to engage ourselves, teammates and customers. Understand that the value can be limitless; all it takes is the first step and an idea!

A lot of great things are happening at IF at the moment and over the past week there has been some great communication between all IF coaches, leaders, managers and owners. Our theme has been “engagement.”

What is Engagement?

In our industry the action of “engagement” is pivotal in how we lead ourselves, our team and our customers. What keeps us engaged in our jobs/goals, what keeps our teammates engaged so they don’t fall off the band wagon and ultimately how can we best engage our customers so they get the full benefit of our services.

I would like to share with you some of the communication from some of the things on how we keep ourselves engage and how we engage our customers.

Team:

• Events Destinations - the cool factor, the challenge.
• Time with Management, owners and leaders
• Constructive - they are delivered to make us better, hold us accountable and they challenge us to be better.
• support & recognition from teammates, managers, owners
• Leadership Forum - constant communication from owners/managers on updates on how we are leading the fitness industry.
• The possibilities and opportunities that are discussed day in and day out. Always options to enhance and grow in your career.
• Excellence through education and re-invention
• Mentoring from leaders in the company.

Customer:

First and foremost - know your customer:

• Who they are
• Why do they come to IF
• What is there motivation
• What are there goals
• What makes them tick
• Do you pay attention to what you talked about last week (and last month)
• Engage them through your personal stories that are relevant to them.
• Ask them questions about their life, their experiences and their advice.
• Go above and beyond
• Be Real.

Multi-Tasking

I trained a fellow for the first time recently (his first time at IF) and was surprised at the level that we are seeing people at off of the street more and more often. This guy was not unlike so many others, had taken time off from himself to grow his business, raise his young family and in the meantime literally was doing nothing for himself. He would go home and eat the meals prepared for him, watch an hour of television and play with his kids then go back to the computer or the phone or both.

The shocking part is not that these were his new priorities but the level at which he now finds himself after only 3-4 years away from physical activity. Literally an hour of constant movement was a major undertaking for him and he is not the only one that I have seen like this recently.

My question is really this. How as a society have we come to this? How is it that we put so little value into staying engaged in the holistic-ness of life? I am proud to be part of an organization that promotes 2-3 (hopefully more) hours a week to physical fitness but really - why are people tapping out so regularily? Is it a societal need for more - more money, bigger house, larger more profitable business?

What is our solution. Will the Olympics inspire a community? We live in a city that takes pride in the amount of fitness that it participates in year round, how are so many people not? My hope is this. That with the focus of 2010 being so much on legacy (Olympic spending), growth and change that those aforementioned people will continue to knock at my door and I can do my part, one at a time and keep them engaged.

Understand Your Subject

I think that many times, society, as a whole, have a tendency to blindly read the information that's been presented to us without actually putting any thought into understanding it.

Statistics are a good example.

How many times have you read an article, that quotes some sort of statistic to support it's position, and just accepted it at face value? Judging by the way the media can control everything we say and do... many of you have done this, and quite frequently. And, I suppose, that's alright - it's human nature. Numbers rule - if someone is quoting numbers, they must have done the research, and they must know what they're talking about.

But numbers can always be manipulated, and at best only give you a snapshot, a specific view. How about a real world example?

In six years, the Canadian Junior Hockey team has only lost two times out of thirty-two games. Twice. Out of thirty-two.

BUT:

Only one of those losses cost them the gold medal. So, when it comes down to it, although our win record at the world junior championships is a staggering 94% - we went home with the silver medal this year.

Always look beyond the headlines, the numbers, the bells and whistles. I guarantee you, there will be more to the story - if you take the time.

~Guy

Not every time we are 100% but every time we have the opportunity to be 100%..

Put it away..
If you take out and use equipment on the training floor, be sure to orderly put it back where it lives. Go ahead and help us out with that, thanks! If we leave gear out and not where it belongs or simply in the way (not put away properly) it ruins the organic flow that lives in our controlled chaos.
Solution: get your customers doing fast feet drills while you put the equipment away (or come up with one of the other million things you can do to with someone while you clean as you cook)

Calling in sick..
If you are up all night ill or just completely sick when you wake up, crawl to your computer and look at the schedule. Think solutions and look at the possibilities of everything working for that upcoming sift.
Solution: maybe you need to come in for 1hr and then have coaches cover the rest of the day. Be able to assess your state.

No matter what the example, it still has relevance in the journey for 100%..