8 Reflections After 8 Years of Gym Ownership

Yesterday, it hit me that it was eight years ago that I opened AHP. I'm a very reflective person by nature, so it was strange that it snuck up on me.

In the beginning, AHP was simply a 500 square foot weight room inside of a batting cage facility. I had no other staff. I remember being overwhelmed with having to figure out how to incorporate the company, how to invoice customers, and even how to set my prices.

I started with only four athletes and two teams. It was a daunting task to make sure I generated the $2,500 monthly rent I owed. I always made it. But just barely. I wasn't paying myself yet. I also had a TON of debt and the CRA was breathing down my neck for unpaid taxes.

(In defense of myself, my financial situation was due to a year earlier deciding to move to Missouri and go back to play my senior year of college baseball and finish my degree). That's a story for a different time, though.

When my rebooted baseball career ended (in truly heartbreaking, kind of soul-shattering fashion, but I digress), I had 25 hours on my long drive back north to ponder my next steps.

I recall just having this feeling that maybe a baseball career was never in fact my fate. Perhaps, my true calling was to impact the next generation: to simply be who I needed when I as younger.

So with a ton of debt hanging over my head, and no real clue what I was doing, I decided to start a business - with the goal of mentorship and being more than just a gym as my guiding light.

Now, here I sit, eight years later. AHP is a 17,000 square foot facility with nearly a dozen staff. We have nearly two hundred athletes. I get to train professionals; young kids falling in love with their sport and training; and everyone in between.

I get to go to work every day with two of my best friends, and I think (I hope) have built a fun work culture for my staff. I think (I hope) AHP is a special place to a lot of people.

It's a true privilege to have the opportunity to continue to impact young people.

So, after a far too-long winded intro, here are my eight reflections after eight years of business ownership.

1. It's on you. No one is coming to save you.

This might sound negative, but to me there's a power in this understanding. It doesn't mean no one cares about you - it just means no one is going to care as much as you do.

You must develop a core belief within you that you have the ability to solve problems and overcome obstacles as they inevitably appear. If you wait for the "perfect time" to take a leap you'll be waiting forever.

I've definitely taken on WAY more risk (and personal debt) than I would ever recommend anyone doing in order to start, and then on two separate occasions grow the business.

I remember telling a couple of my close friends three years ago that I knew I was insane for expanding the gym by nearly six times the size (and monthly rent). I just knew it would take a subsequently insane amount of resolve and work to make it successful.

2. Get the right people on the bus!

This has been the key for AHP's growth. I have hired the right people, tried my best to mentor and guide them and put them in the right spots on the bus.

People are not your most important asset. The right people are!

3. "You can only take with you that which you have given away."

Give more. Give what you didn't get. Love more.

I have tried my best to live by these words, and will continue to. As a coach, I'm a servant leader. As a boss, I am as well.

4. Adapt or Die!

"Life is growth. Business is growth. You grow or you die." - Phil Knight

You must maintain your growth mindset; forever learning; forever challenging your own biases and way of doing things;  and striving to seek improvement in all areas.

Recently, I've hired a coach and it's been extremely helpful so far.

Courses, seminars, books, podcasts, etc. all are readily available for you. Seek education and create your own curriculum. Prioritize it in order to separate yourself.

5. Have a Big Focal

With my athletes I talk about establishing a 'big focal point' that you can look at in-game when you need it. The big focal point needs to both: remind you why you play, and remind you of all the work you've put in to get to where you are today.

In my pocket at all times I have my goal sheet folded up, but I can pull it out and see the phrase, "Scrooge was better than his word." It's my focal point to act and live in a way that's consistent with how I want to.

6. When you feel lost, behind, and overwhelmed, get up at 4 am.

I do this often. Sometimes there isn't enough time in the day/week. When my to do list continues to grow instead of shrink I simply buy myself more time in the day by getting up this early. I've grown to love it.

7. Lift hard. Train hard.

"Stay in top physical shape - physical stamina is the root of mental toughness." - Major Dick Winters

When I am dialled in with my training, I find it bleeds into every other area of my life. I'm a better coach. I study more. I am in a better mood and more energized. Do hard things!

8. "Work without joy is drudgery. Drudgery does not produce champions, nor does it produce great organizations." - John Wooden

It was Freud who is quoted as saying, "In retrospect, the times of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful."

Fall in love with the work. Be where your feet are. Some of my favourite memories were the early days of trying to build up the business.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Sunday!