This month, we asked our members: what is your WHY? What brought you to taking the first step towards improving your health and fitness at Telos, and why did you stay? The answers we’ve gotten are awesome: inspiring and motivating and beautiful to read. They’ve reminded me that we are in the business of people; helping people succeed in reaching their goals and taking their lives back.
We have been told things like: This is my happy place. I now have the energy to chase my kids around all day. I am a role model for my family. Telos has saved my life. We are in the business of SAVING PEOPLE’S LIVES. How cool is that?
All this made me think: what’s my why? Anyone who has done it knows that running a business- especially a new business – is very very hard. But I love it. A lot. That is not something I would have ever dreamed of saying. You see, I am a math major and teacher, and no where in my training or life plan was entrepreneurship. I spent four years of my life studying math. And then the next eight years TEACHING it to high school students. Willingly. That was the plan. I was going to be a high school teacher for thirty years. I was good at it and I liked my job. But that’s what it was- a job. Contrary to what you might expect, I wasn’t PASSIONATE about geometry proofs.
So how did I get here? How did I get to a point in my life where where I am obsessed with something so different than what I went to college for – devoted so much of my life and time and energy into, and then veered so off course that I landed here? When Shaun first talked to me about it running this gym together, I thought he was crazy.
But here we are, nearly two years later and loving every minute (or I guess MOSTLY every minute- reconciling quickbooks accounts is admittedly not my favorite activity). It has been a really hard journey with ups and downs around every corner. So WHY stick with it?
Help First
Our why is simple: we love to help people use fitness to improve their lives.
Zig Ziglar has a famous quote: You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.
I never realized how amazing it would feel to see someone work so hard for months – sometimes years – towards a goal and then finally achieve it. The pure joy and celebration shared with a member when they get their first pull-up, hit a PR lift, or have a renewed sense of energy and self confidence when they finally gain a better relationship with nutrition is so intrinsically motivating and inspiring to witness that I can’t imagine ever wanting to do anything else.
At Telos, we specialize in helping our members reach their goals. We take something they wish to achieve and then work together to make a plan for success and the action steps to get there. It is a process we live by and we LOVE to do it. But, there is a key piece of the puzzle we can’t fill in for you: what is you “why”?
The missing piece in achieving your goals: Figure out your “Why”
Have you ever thought: “Man, I would really love to lose 20 pounds, I’m going to go on a diet starting tomorrow.” And then tomorrow comes and donuts turn up in the break room at work, or you’re invited out to dinner and drinks with friends. That “goal” of losing 20 pounds is already a distant memory.
When you make the decision that something in your life needs to change for the better, it’s really hard to make it stick without thinking about WHY it is important to you.
Do you want to lose that weight so you can have better energy and focus in a more active life? Or maybe you want to be a positive example of health and wellness for your kids to look up to. Possibly there is a big event coming up and you want to fit into a special dress or tuxedo, or impress your old high school classmates.
Maybe it’s something completely different. Regardless of your goal, without a clear vision of where it came from and how it will positively influence your life in the future leads room for indifference, confusion, and unfortunately in many cases, abandoning your goals.
When you have this all clearly in your mind, WRITE IT DOWN! That way, when you are weeks, months, years (yes even YEARS) into the process, you can look back to remember your WHY and keep moving forward.
So, what is your why? What got you into the gym and what keeps you coming back? What drives you to keep going to be the best person you can be? We know how to help you take action on your goals, but that won’t matter unless you know what motivates you to reach them in the first place.
Ready to get started on the path to improve your fitness and health? Click below.
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