Good morning! Happy Monday!
I took a red-eye flight home this morning from San Diego, after spending an amazing three days at the Fitness Business Summit. Our goals was to better define our vision and goals for Designed to Fit Nutrition, so I’m really glad that we decided to attend. So. Much. Knowledge. Now I feel like we really have some direction with regard to projects, marketing, and systems as well as an overall game plan for moving forward and growing DTFN.
The speakers at #FBS17 provided a ton of valuable information that resonated with me on so many levels– as a business owner, wife, mom, and, well, honestly, a human being that just wants to be a better/balanced/focused/present person. Much of what was said related to fitness and business (obviously), but so much of it can be applied to other aspects of life. I thought you guys might also benefit from these pearls of wisdom, so I wanted to share them on CNC. I definitely left the conference feeling inspired, motivated, and ready to dominate! 🙂
Create a solid start to your day. At least a half dozen speakers talked about how starting their morning on the right foot made such a positive impact for the rest of their day. Each one had their own individual habits that worked for them (Craig Ballantyne, author of The Perfect Day Formula, had some especially amazing ideas), but their rituals definitely made me think about how I want to start my day. Some favorites: Wake up at the same time every morning, make the bed, devote 20 minutes to personal development (i.e. reading, podcasts), don’t check your email/social media until your work day officially starts, and acknowledge what you’re grateful for.
Dedication > Motivation. This is such a simple distinction, but it really goes a long way with regard to business, fitness, weight loss… anything, really. Motivation gets you going on Day 1, but dedication gets you going on Day 100+. Motivation is the easy part. Dedication is the tough part, but it’s everything when it comes to your goals.
Scary can be good. Whoa, this hit home big time for me. A little story… the day that we received the quote for our custom software was SCARY. It was a lot of money to invest. Guys, it was more than I made annually when I worked at Boston College. Ha! But we knew that we couldn’t keep trucking along with Excel spreadsheets if we wanted to grow. Signing that software contract was definitely scary, but it was easily the best thing we’ve done for DTFN to date. FYI: We’re actually in Phase 2 of the software right now with a BIG Phase 3 on the agenda for the summer! #action
Your belief needs to be greater than your fear. If you’ve ever heard me talk about DTFN in person, you’d know that I go on and on and on because I truly think it’s the greatest program ever. I 1,000% BELIEVE in what we offer our clients. We’re not just teaching people how to count macros; we’re teaching them how to eat and coaching them to discover lifestyle habits that work for them. There’s no one-size fits all in what we do. Believing wholeheartedly in something absolutely takes (some of) the fear out of the risks and scariness of building a business.
Excuses are incompatible with results. So true. You can truly do whatever you want as long as you don’t make excuses. Once you get rid of excuses, the results will come. Love this quote: “The only thing standing in the way between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.”
Surround yourself with winners, mentors, and only with those who lift you higher. Mal and I always say that we are lucky to have such awesome people in our life. They’re such good people. They’re fun, smart, and ambitious. They’re open-minded, supportive, and their success and happiness in life constantly motivates us. A number of the speakers stressed the importance of surrounding yourself with great people and, at the same time, distancing yourself from negative “energy vampires” because they will only bring you down.
Hire based on attitude. We’ve interviewed a lot of people for DTFN, but we’ve only asked four to join our staff so far. (We have two others in training right now.) We honestly just want people who are ass-kickers. People who go above and beyond, want to help others, and who are excited to work for DTFN. Energy and attitude can’t be taught, so that’s what we look for when hiring people to join our team.
Fall in love with the work. You guys know how much I struggled at the beginning of the year. There were so many times that I felt like my work was weighing me down, so this idea of falling in love with my work really resonated with me. Instead of thinking about all of the stuff that I “have to” do, it made me realize just how lucky I am to have such an awesome job(s). If you fall in love the work (and the journey), the outcome is a given.
Question of the Day
What piece of wisdom/person/quote/book has made a positive impact on your business/life?
