Time comes and goes, this is a story about sticking around, doing the right thing and trying to do your best, no matter who is doubting you, who is laughing at you, who doesn’t believe in a thing you do, and those who hope you never do something meaningful in your life.
9 years ago I took over the gym, after 20 years straight of working 14 hours a day doing one on one training (a career that 95% of people thought would never take off in the first place).
Not many people came to the gym, my dad had dementia and things were running down.
People would walk in and frequently say “am I the only one here”. A little embasrassed I would say yes but I was determinined to do the best for them.
Then a trickle started of referrals and the least fashionable place became a place where you could improve, you would be looked after, had an incredibly positive atmosphere full of great human beings, and you would do the right thing no matter what.
As the gym got busier, the pressure on my one on one training got so much I had to cut my hours down. Cutting hours from a busy business and training people for 20 years was hard, but I knew burry port was deep in my heart, and a lot of people needed serving better.
Instead of a relatively small number of people who could afford my training, I could hit the general public on a big scale on £30 a month which most people can afford and I could help them enormously with some care and attention.
I was determined to help every single person every session, and make us one of a kind gym that you could make radical improvements in day in day out.
To cut a very long story short, people with us started doing very well, and we usually are capable of putting at least one success story on a day on here, with many others not wanting to go on social media and these figures are always strong.
The land at the back of the gym you see busy today we first put in for with the council 16 years ago, and had to a wait further 13 years before they sorted out the problems with people trying to claim access to it, the council took them to court and then eventually sell it to us.
Most people told me to forget about the hassle along the way, the stress of it all but i’m glad to say it’s been clearly worth it.
We then put 300 tons of sub base and tarmac on it and thats what we all use for all the extensive stuff we do on it every day now.
I am very proud to say we are ready to make a significant further investment in the outside area of the gym, creating our dream scenario of activities and sports fitness training we always wanted to do, which will serve our community very well indeed.
There will be a further transformation outside of the gym within 8 weeks if everyone delivers on time and time is of the essence, this will happen.
I had years of feeling often I wasn’t getting anywhere, but kept a mindset that even one positive sign a week was getting us closer to where we wanted to be.
For those of you struggling to stick at something you care about, keep battling with tunnel vision, keep getting better at what you do, find a way to create more value for people, and cherish your daily opportunities to serve people incredibly well.
My family have supported me all the way, I am lucky for that, as well as the great team of coaches we are developing so well.
Always be the most enthusiastic person in the room, never let your head drop, always hang out with people who want you to succeed, and never quit as it’s always darkest right before dawn.
