Wednesday, 18th January

Thank you Sharon!

You need to be consistent at what you do if you want success, that applies to anything in life.

The temptation to give up when things get a little harder can be overwhelming for some, but we gain faith in our efforts when we are able to see first hand, individuals in our community, and in our gym who go through transformations in every area of their lives when they stick at it no matter what.

Let’s take the story of Sharon Griffiths from Kidwelly, who hasn’t missed a week’s training in a year and a half. Bets were made that she wouldn’t last a week.

She gathered confidence through every small milestone along the way.

Walking through the door was the hardest she said first time.

Making 3 sessions a week was her first milestone. Not being so stiff the morning after was another. Then feeling good from exercise was a major milestone that kept her wanting to carry on, if you feel good doing something, then you are very likely to want to do it.

Once she felt she could stick to coming 3 times a week, her performances got better and she developed some confidence to push herself to achieve more.

Her photos compared to when she first started started changing radically, and she was happy knowing she was doing it the right way. Her skin tone was healthier and had a glow, and she started feeling guilty if she missed her exercise.

The next stage was attempting our outside runs. From a slow start when she walked much of the session, she soon was running the whole way and raised her performance levels to exceptional. A friend of her’s told me this morning that she was in tears the first time she ran it all the way, the culmination of not only a physical effort but a deeply emotional effort and experience too, the girl nobody thought would last was in the process of becoming a champion.

All of this was due to her sticking at it, never allowing excuses into her life even though she has a very busy family life and career that always brought it’s daily pressures and stress.

She is also a major part of Coach Dan Smith’s successful classes at the gym and outside, and to be honest, is one of the first people i introduce new members to so she can relay her inspirational story, so that an absolute beginner can relate to someone who has battled through from being inactive, to someone who is a major part of the gym, who ALWAYS performs at the highest level now and what that takes both physically and mentally.

We salute you Sharon, Diloch yn Fawr! Thanks for everything.

Friday, 13th January

The “magic formula” for getting results is always a simple one, but requires honesty.

Are you showing up for your workout at least 3 times a week? I always like to talk about creating a “chain”. Put a X in your calendar EVERY time you train. If you haven’t got 3 X’s a week on there regularly, you are not going to get what you want out of any programme.

2. Use a simple formula for eating. If you eat healthy 80% of the time, then great things will happen for you. Plan your food, avoid stopping in convenience shops/petrol stations for your snacks/meals. You can have the occasional treat, but your body will be nourished with the nutrients you need on a consistent basis. You will feel energetic and you your sense of wellbeing will be high.

3. Drink more water. The most underrated of habits. If you drink throughout the day, then you will feel better, your body will function a lot better full stop, and your energy levels will be high all day long.

4. Sleep better. If you are exercising well, chances are your sleep will improve greatly. Your body only improves in your sleep, when you have had chance to rest. Getting to bed earlier means you get up earlier and you get more done with your day.

5. Hang out with positive people. Anyone who drags your confidence down regularly is not your friend. Anyone who doesn’t want you to succeed is not worth bothering with. Your true friends will want the best for you.

This is a simple checklist that will transform everything in your life. Change one of these at a time until it sticks and you feel comfortable with it. Tell yourself there’s no going back this time.

Tuesday, December 20th

They say wisdom comes with age, and we need to learn lessons from our senior members.

“If i knew then what i know now” is a statement many of us have made, and we hear this mostly off senior members because they have most experience of life.

All of those senior members have realised through personal experience that getting your health right is vital.

How about taking that advice right now?

The best advice i have ever had off people with more money than they would ever need, is that HEALTH comes first. Anyone who has experienced ill health would swap all that money for just being healthy and out of pain again, i have heard this so many times that it really hit home a long time ago.

Learning to act on great life-changing advice at the precise moment you hear it is a valuable habit, so you never forget it.

So you maybe 71, 51, or 21, but heeding this advice will literally change your life. Treating your body with care and attention is the number one thing you should do, and sets the foundation for everything you want to achieve.

When you are healthy, you have much more energy so you can do more things for yourself, and just as importantly for others. Getting healthy is the least selfish thing you can do, you will always be there for others, you will get much more done and you can contribute to society much more.

Don’t waste another day, don’t play games with your health, treat your body with respect and use your healthy body to take you anywhere you want to go, and to anything you want to achieve.

Monday, 5th December

Which part of your brain are you going to let win this week?

One side will say “today will be the a great day to improve, to not look back and to do all those things that will do me good”.

The other side will say “leave it it’s christmas, you have done ok this year so give in, eat what you want, don’t exercise and start your holiday now, after all everyone else is”!

Do you remember when you used to tell yourself that this time would be different? How strong is that motivation right now? I know many of you are very happy with your progress, but none of us are perfect so what more can we give to finish the year off strong?

We all need a daily “word with ourselves”. If we don’t, its inevitable we will start the long drag back to where we used to be.

If we don’t have a positive chat with ourselves, then it’s easy to give up, easy to become untrained again, our muscles will become unresponsive, our minds more acceptant of becoming lazier, we can tell ourselves different stories that being inactive is okay because “that’s what everyone does”.

Exercise is a lifetime thing we need in our lives full stop, we need to constantly work on it.

Eating healthy makes us not only perform physically better, its makes us feel better, think better and looks after our long term health.

Progress starts and ends with our minds and what we tell ourselves each and every day.

Talk to ourselves positively, tell ourselves we will handle all the challenges life throws at us, and actively realise that we have to work on ourselves daily makes sure we never take our health and feeling good for granted, we always look to get better and we always fight off the negative part of our brains which is always fighting to win every day.

We all have the power to keep the positive side in charge to make sure we stay happier, healthier, keep growing and become more fulfilled in life.

Thursday, 24th November

gymThis is a urgent message to those of you who struggle mentally with the struggles of life. There is more pressure now than ever before.

 

From what i have seen from you at the gym, it’s criminal that you aren’t leading something big in the world, because you all have great ability, all you have is a deep under confidence that you somehow can’t get big things done.

 

You have to realise that this causes others not to benefit from your gifts of leadership, getting things done and the ability to do things differently from anyone else.

 

All of you i’m talking about are deeply intelligent, thoughtful and talented in your chosen field. Some are talented but want to make a big impact in another field, but your self-doubt is holding you back. WHY NOT change to something you really want to do? If you want to do something you will enjoy, then you are likely to do an incredible job on it.

 

Here’s the news, we all go through self-doubt, can we do it or can’t we moments and chapters in our lives, but my message to you all is not to deny the world your gifts and ability, and the positive impact you can have in other people’s lives.

 

Don’t hold back one more moment, don’t tell yourself that you will have a day off, a week off, a month off anymore because you know it turn to much more than that.

 

Become the person who DOES, who makes the phone calls, who makes decisions and become the one who upsets the status quo, upsets the negative people who never believe in us, in order to create moments and new careers, moments of impact that change your own life and other people’s too.

 

This is a time, no THE time for you to lead and take control of your own destiny and use your true intelligence and physical capacity to drive your life to another level, and never settle for second best anymore!