At 18 I was told any role in the fitness instructor wasn’t a “real job” and it had no future, being ridiculed publicly was normalised even when you just mentioned you were studying it, so it was best not to mention it.
At 26, I was told personal training was a “flash in the pan” and to find a “real career”, in fact many people presented me with a whole host of jobs I “should be doing”, anything but fitness.
At 30, many people said behind my back and to my face that I would be a “cripple by the age of 35 (not my word it came from other people”), as I would often train and run and bike with several people per day and it was “too much”.
At 35 when it didn’t happen, I was asked what would I do in my 40’s after all “how could I keep this pace up?!!). When I replied the top trainers in the world were all in the 40’s and 50’s (and now in their 60’s and 70’s) due to their experience, it was met with a blank stare.
When my father got ill with dementia and we need to radically upgrade the gym in 2008 as the banks were going bust around the world and we fell into the great recession, I knew that training people properly and serving one person at a time was going to work and pay off over time.
In 2016-2020, nobody believed we would create a gym where the inspiration came from professional sport, adding things slowly and then radically with a 8000 square feet outdoor area that was built for sport training and custom made for individuals and teams.
When the pandemic came, we openly got told we would never open again anytime soon as many gyms closed and never reopened, and our business was “finished” despite immune system’s everywhere needing to be built up urgently again. Our expansion meant we were ready to open earlier than most and come back stronger than ever, and we were able to get so many’s people’ bodies stronger, as well as their minds despite all the threats of the world coming to an end.
I urge you to not “fit in with the crowd”, don’t take everyone’s opinion as gospel, they often have their own insecurities and often they don’t have the courage or fire you have inside of you, and use it as “fuel to prove everyone wrong”, to create your own future, your own reality and most of all be yourself and see it through no matter what.
