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What Drives You to Succeed?

As fitness professionals, we are motivated by a deep desire to help people achieve their fitness goals.

The research supports the idea that to succeed at something you must have a motive or a deep desire. Those who are wildly successful have heaps of motivation. While successful people may not always know what they are doing, they have a driving motive that is developed from an emotional state. They do not take no for an answer. When things get difficult, they push through and make things happen, negotiate or influence others as needed, and do not quit until they succeed at reaching their goal(s). That is what motivation is all about. Motivation is regulated by a part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. This is a small region of the brain that regulates the flow of neurotransmitters between the brain and different nerve cells in the body and strongly influences whether or not you have the desire to do things like go to the gym, eat healthy, and prospect new clients for your business. One of those neurotransmitters worth mentioning is dopamine, because it is this brain chemical, released from this region of the brain, that plays a major role in triggering motivation and reward motivated behavior. Dopamine also influences memory, cognition, sleep, and mood. Behavioral neuroscientists and psychologists say that dopamine helps bridge the gap between inaction and action. Just as important as the hormonal and neurotransmitter factors that influence your motivation to succeed at something, there are social motives unique to humans that drive behavior. Social motives are specific to humans, while physiological motives are present in both animals and human beings. They are called social motives because they are learned, and the strength of one type of social motive or another will vary from one individual to another, which explains why some people have greater levels of drive to succeed than others. The more you understand the social motives you have, the greater the potential to learn how to harness motivation and take success to the next level. The three main social motives are power, affiliation, and achievement. These social motives are what compel you to your goals. If you do not use them, your emotional state will not be revved up enough (like putting your foot on the gas), and your progress will be slower, or you may not reach your goal at all. It is important to know that dopamine spikes whenever something goes better than expected – like feeling better than you expected after a tough workout or when you exceed a set goal. Unfortunately, your brain will get used to that feeling quickly and after a few experiences you come to expect the same “high”. Your dopamine levels will no longer spike quite as high and you will begin to feel less excited about difficult work tasks or different workouts, as examples. In order to keep your motivation high and dopamine spiking, you need to take on new challenges (in pursuit of new goals) every couple of weeks or so. Those who exercise, and those who teach and train, know that to keep motivation high they must switch up their exercises weekly, and their routines every four weeks. Remember if nothing changes, nothing changes.

Three Social Motives

POWER

People who are power motivated strive to exercise strong, influential action, generate strong emotions in others, and are concerned about reputation or position in the world. They seek positions of leadership, authority and status, and they are most often the leaders within their company. They make their life purpose to inspire others to achieve their best and to live a fulfilling life. This social motive is often called “influence motivation”.

AFFILIATION

People who are affiliation motivated strive to establish, maintain, and restore close relationships with others and they characterize group activities as social, friendly, and collaborative. The need for being connected with others, for working cohesively with others, while creating participation is key. They succeed in coaching, consulting, and managerial roles that require relationship building.

ACHIEVEMENT

Achievement motivated people enjoy setting and achieving challenging goals, and they strive for innovative and unique accomplishments. They are very goal oriented and they perform best when they are given deadlines to achieve. To get to know which social motive drives your performance, you need to first tap into your emotions to really see what drives your behavior. Then you need to take daily action to keep your drive revving high. Visualization is an effective way to tap in. Think about a situation in which you are at the centre of attention, such as when you are giving a presentation. Focus on everything—from what you are wearing, what the room looks like, and how many people are sitting in front of you in the audience. Then ask yourself “how do I feel?” If you have a positive emotional response to this situation and you feel confident and strong, that is a sign you are driven by power. If you feel comfortable or somewhat anxious you are motivated by affiliation or achievement. If you were imagining how you could network with the people in your audience, your motive is affiliation. If you are driven by achievement, you envisioned getting over your fear of public speaking or imagined a standing ovation following your presentation. Which motive did you relate to the most in this scenario? If you are eager to learn your dominating social motive then I encourage you to check out my recent book, co-authored by Nathalie Plamondon-Thomas and Tasha Hughes. It is called Think YOURSELF™ Successful-The DNA System To Reprogram Your Brain & Wire Yourself For Success. It will provide you with more insight on this area of motivation as well as a self-assessment so you can determine your dominant social motive.

Wayne Huizenga

Some people dream of success while other people wake up every morning and make it happen.

Think Yourself Successful

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Once you have tapped into your primary social motive, you can use this knowledge as a powerful tool to feed your motivation on a daily basis. I have created a 15 Minute Morning SUCCESS Routine, a simple 7-step routine that you can put into practice first thing upon rising each day. This will ignite your motivation spark by changing your state, both mind and body. SUCCESS is an acronym for this 7-step method: Sit in Silence (five minutes of silence and/or meditation to become mindful of your breathing, your thoughts, and your feelings). Understand and identify one strength that you will bring to your success today. (Spend one minute and complete the following sentence “I am………………….. today”.) Construct a picture in your mind of the future and how things will be and feel when you reach your goal. Spend one minute visualizing. Create a mantra or affirmation (positive statement beginning with “I am…”) and recite this statement out loud five times to confirm your belief in achieving your goal (for today or in the future). Spend one minute reciting this statement (best to be recited in front of a mirror). Energize your mind with personal reading or audio listening for five minutes. Scribe in a journal what you are most excited about, proud of having achieved or grateful for on this day, for one minute. Stretch and move to energize and power up your body, with rebounding (aerobic movement) for one minute followed by one minute of “Power Posing”. Perform the following power poses in front of a mirror for one minute while reflecting on your strength, visualizing yourself having succeeded and reciting your mantra out loud (in each pose).

 

If you are motivated to make SUCCESS a part of your daily life then I will encourage you to embark on a 28 day SUCCESS challenge. Make a commitment to do this 15 Minute Morning SUCCESS Routine for the next 28 days. *Disclaimer: Your mornings will never be the same after 28 days. Join Mo and Nathalie Plamondon-Thomas at the canfitpro world fitness expo in their session “Think YOURSELF™ a Leader”.

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Jump Start Your Summer!

June is the springboard to summer; a time to reveal ourselves to the world as we take off the layers of clothing and excess weight gained over the winter months.

This is the most popular time of year for people to engage in exercise and a weight loss program.  People join fitness clubs, running clubs, group fitness classes and hire trainers in the desire to shed this unwanted weight so that they can look, feel and perform their best, and become the best version of themselves.  While 80 percent of the population knows that they need to move more and eat less, the majority of this group do not know where to start and, or they struggle to make eating healthy and moving more a priority in their daily life.

I encourage you to leverage this time of the year to set out a plan for the next three months. Begin with the end in mind.  Choose your goal date to accomplish your goal.  Make a list of all the reasons why losing weight, getting fit, becoming healthy and achieving your fitness goals is important to you.  Visualize this goal being achieved and identify with the emotions that will accompany you achieving that goal—joy, bliss, peace, happiness, pride, etc.  Ask yourself why achieving this goal is important to you?  Dig deep to establish a “why” that you can get emotionally motivated by.  You need to have a strong, emotional reason for wanting to achieve any goal in order to take action on a daily basis.  Without a strong and emotionally based “why”, you will most likely struggle to stay on track with your plan and without a SMART plan written down, broken down into weekly and daily goals, you will struggle even more.  Consistency is KEY to achieving any goal.  As I always say in the fitness classes that I teach, “it is not how much you do, or how hard you do it, but what you do and how consistent you are, that will make the difference long term.

Those who are successful in achieving fitness and health-related goals do three things:

  1. THEY MAKE NO EXCUSE!  Nothing stands in their way of achieving their daily, weekly and monthly goals.  They prioritize what’s most important and to ensure they succeed they do the following:
  2. They have an ACTION plan (with SMART goals written down-Specific, Measure-able, Achievement, Relevant and Timely).  They report their progress on their activities to someone who asks to be accountable to, on a daily or weekly basis.   Having a coach, trainer or ‘accountability’ person to report their progress to ensures that they achieve the following:
  3. They are CONSISTENT!  Those who achieve their goals are consistent over time.  They exercise 5-6 days per week to achieve their fitness goals.  They invest in makes needed to support them on their journey to achieving their goal.  They prepare their meals and snacks for the week on Sunday (ahead of time). They build their exercise and healthy eating into their life, as a ‘lifestyle.   Those who are consistent find a way to fit their pro-actions into action every day.  They proactively choose and prioritize their day versus react to the day in front of them.Take action and achieve your fitness and health goals this summer.
To help you, I have created a JUMPSTART program to support you.  Click here to learn more.  I will personally send you my  box full of products, which includes a 30-minute coaching session that will help you set up your plan. Learn More about the package HERE.
This amazing box full of products includes a 30-minute coaching session that will help you set up your plan.
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Awareness — The Power of Fit Relationships for Healthy Aging

My focus on the power of group continues this month as I keep finding research to support it.   My latest discovery came out of the November-December issue of The Journal of Active Aging.  According to a 79 year old Harvard Study of Adult Development, the world’s longest running study of the factors affecting health in later life, the single most powerful predictor of good health is positive relationships.   This ongoing study evaluates a myriad of factors that affect how healthfully participants age.  While factors including genetics, diet, exercise, drug and alcohol use, socioeconomic status and intelligence were measured, positive relationships stood out as the most significant; those who were most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 turned out to be the healthiest at age 80.  Positive relationships with family, friends and community appear to better predict long, healthy, happy lives than all other personal and social factors.  The opposite was also found in that those with absence of close relationships fostered poor health and decreased longevity.   So what does this mean for our industry and for your business?  By understanding the impact that quality relationships has on overall health and longevity, the fitness industry can promote this as one of the leading benefits of exercising in a group whether that be group fitness classes, small group training or a social ‘club’ within your facility.   Dr Jeff Rossman, author of this ICCA journal article titled “Strong Relationships: A Prescription for Healthy Aging” shared his healthy tips for building strong relationships as we age and among them he recommended exactly that—to join groups.  He also compared the benefits of positive relationships to the benefits of exercise and said “just as we strive to stay physically active in later life, we need to strive to stay connected with people, as the quality and quantity of our life depends on it”.  Another big variable is positivity.  Being around people who are happy, who choose to take good care of themselves, and choose to surround themselves with other positive, health-driven goals, is just one more way to develop and sustain relationships.   So think about the opportunities you have to bring members together in your club or facility.  Look for opportunities to foster healthy relationships with your members.  While group fitness and small group training are two proven and powerful ways to accomplish this, think of ways to foster relationships with your new members as early in their membership life as possible.  Leading in the front lines at GoodLife Fitness, as a group fitness instructor for the past 33 years, I am witness to the power that group has on people’s lives physically, mentally, emotionally and socially. With this new information I am more assured than ever that what I am doing for the participants in my classes is far more than providing them with an exercise response.  It is providing them with a life line.

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A New Lens on Group Fitness—Group Therapy Prescription for Health

Would it surprise you to learn that exercising in a group setting can lower participant stress levels by an average of 26 percent compared to those who exercise on their own.  Those in the business of managing fitness programs already know the value that group fitness brings to their club business however what they may not realize is that group fitness may provide even more positive effects for exercisers who experience high stress and anxiety levels.   New research conducted on medical students at the University Of New England College Of Osteopathic Medicine supports the finding that group settings for exercise are better when it comes to the psychological and emotional aspects of working out (an unassuming benefit of exercise).  A small group of medical students known for experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety and a self-reported low quality of life, were asked to join either a 12 week exercise program, either in a group setting or on their own.  The results of this non-randomized study were published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, reporting positive implications for anyone with extra stress and anxiety in their lives.   Students rated their levels of stress and quality of life across three categories: physical, mental and emotional.  While those who exercised on their own, spent more time working out on average, they reported no significant change in stress levels and only a minimal improvement (11 percent) in mental quality of life, as compared to their group exercise counterparts.  Those students who chose to work out in a group reported a 12.6 percent increase in mental health, a 24.8 percent increase in physical health and a 26 percent increase in emotional health.  These findings not only support other research on the benefits of exercising in a group, it certainly will boost our confidence as leaders and business operators, that group exercise is beneficial for those solo exercisers who have difficulty staying motivated to exercise.  Consider it group therapy if you like.  I would even go as far as suggesting that group exercise be a prescription for health for many more of our members, not only those who naturally seek out the social camaraderie associated with group fitness but also those members who are looking for ways to better manage their stress and emotional quality of life.   As a side note, the author of this study did state that “these findings should not be a condemnation of individual exercise” but rather “as an addition to one’s exercise regime as a solution to improving the well-being of medical students and physicians”.  It is my passion to create MO’tion, and keep our industry moving forward in a direction that supports and serves more people.   Moving our minds, with new insight like this, is just as important as moving our bodies with new innovation in programming.

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Never Forget Who You Are

Are you a generalist or a specialist?  Are you a ‘main-stream’ club that offers a variety of programs and services, or are you a boutique studio that focuses on one area of specialization?  If you know who you are and know what you are best known for, and you are delivering excellent service on that front, you will thrive through these very disruptive times.  If you are trying to become something that you are not, converting your business from a high cost, full service offering to a low cost with less service business model,  you will potentially lose your identity and soon after your members.  Instead focus on your strengths, promote your personal trainers and group fitness instructors like local celebrities, and find ways to build value in what you offer.  The Millennials and Generation Z’s are value focused not price focused.  When you know who you are and know who you wish to serve, then you can focus on what and how best to connect, relate and build relationships with your members and your community.   The fitness industry could benefit further by finding ways to create fast addiction, instant pleasure and low intimidation, as well as find immediate ways to connect and build relationships with members.  The common theme here is speed at which we create impression and leave lasting impressions.   Consider offering your personal trainers opportunities to sell and serve their clients and on-line or even virtually.  Show your group fitness instructors how they can build a social media following of raving fans so that they can promote their classes at your facility.  Offer an on-line joining option for prospects and find ways to get consumers connected with you even if they do not buy a membership or service from you, yet.   Recently I attended the IHRSA European Congress and heard first hand that the average member is doing less at the club with active member participation down to about one visit per week, which is not enough to positively change member retention.  With this in mind I would encourage owners, operators and program directors to review and re-think their value proposition.  Having a 24/7, clean and safe environment is not enough.  As Europe’s leading authority Christophe Andanson shared in his presentation, “The Future of the Fitness Industry”, we must follow “ERIC” (Eliminate, Re-evaluate, Recruit and Create), to be different and to compete.   ERIC represents four things to focus your business on today:  Eliminate the services in your club that are no longer profitable or being used.  Re-evaluate so to simplify your membership and add-on services price options.  Recruit top talent and market them like celebrities; it’s a win-win!  Create social media and technologies to engage the new generations, move your business forward and remain competitive.   Be different to make the difference.  Cultivate a mind-set and business plan (and vision) for success!

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Remember Why

To truly understand the impact you will have on your staff and members you must begin with “why”.  Why you are here doing what you do is far more important than what you do.   Putting in time in your job, getting a promotion or adding more credentials behind your name will not define you or your success.  How you choose to show up everyday is a choice and it is your choices that lead to the outcomes that ultimately influence your success.

If you want to achieve more or become better in any area of your life then it is your will to choose.  As the saying goes “if you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right”.  Success is a habit you shape from daily acts of discipline duplicated over time.  Discipline is a practice of training.  Just as lifting weights is a practice of strength training, daily acts of measurable constant improvement is a success practise. In Brendon Burchard’s latest book “High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way” he shares the top performance habits that are common to extraordinary people.  He states that the ability to be a high performer has nothing to do with one’s background.  “Race, ethnicity, gender, income level, compensation and personality were not strongly correlated with long-term performance which gives hope to everybody that wherever you are at today, you can choose habits for success”.  It doesn’t matter if you failed a year ago or ten years ago, today you can start new habits and it is your habits that shape your character and, it is your character that ‘takes the stage’ each day you show up.  High performers decide to show up every day just a bit better than the day before and they choose to show up tomorrow better than today.  High performers choose the will to become high performers. They believe in their abilities, they have confidence in their will to direct their performance in any direction they choose.  They choose to ‘be’ the person they desire to become until they ‘become’ the person they desire.  Will this journey always be easy? No, but it will no doubt inspire you to grow and learn.  I encourage you to take a moment to reflect and ask yourself “Why am I here?”. “How am I showing up today?” “How can I positively impact the world with my presence?”

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NEW Programming Trends to Follow

In last month’s column I recommended that you take a look at the various fitness industry trends reports to gain insight as to what is influencing consumer behavior and your business.  These trends reports will open your eyes to the opportunities ahead.  Not only will these insights help you make sound business decisions moving forward it will provide you with new knowledge of what is disrupting the industry as we know it today.  Recently I was interviewed by a leading fitness magazine for their feature “Wellness Trends for 2018” and I feel obliged to share these ideas with you.  I feel the fitness industry is making a significant step forward and 2018 is going to be a year of great change, and disruption.  While some trends will remain as strong as they have been for years, others will fall down on the trends list and be replaced by new ‘up and coming’ concepts that will revolutionize the industry by 2020.  The following are three major trends I see for 2018:

Wearable technology and Apps to guide, support and connect exercisers with their workouts and their workout community will stay on the top of the trends list.  It is estimated that by 2018, seventy percent of healthcare organizations globally will invest in consumer-facing technology, including Apps, wearables, remote monitoring and virtual care. The wearables market will continue to expand massively and even those who work out in a formal fitness setting will use more than one App to support their fitness and wellness needs as well as their need to connect with other like-minded exercisers.

Group Fitness will continue to grow and diversify.  Within this group fitness space there will be more variety in programming and fusion-style or “mash-up” workouts will grow because it serves the interests of Millennials.  Almost any style of fitness can be integrated together to create a great fusion workout—Piloxing (Pilates and Boxing), Core De Force (MMA and HIIT), Yoga Barre (Ballet, Yoga and Pilates), NEWBODY (cardio and life-style strength training), BodyFlow (Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates) and STRONG by Zumba are just a few examples.  Yoga will continue to diversify and expand and be accompanied by Meditation, Zen and Relaxation classes. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts will remain strong especially among the Millennials.  Almost all exercisers say they are more likely to work out when they work out in a group or with a friend. Over eighty percent of people who exercise say that working out in a group or with a friend makes it more fun.

Exercise prescription and ‘exercise as medicine’ will begin to take its rightful place within the exercise community.  Fitness professionals and health care professionals are coming together in order to meet the expanding needs of the deconditioned market.  As a physiotherapist and certified fitness professional for over three decades I’ve always believed this was possible and now it is no longer possible for health, fitness and wellness professionals to work independent of each other.  The time has come that we work as a team to help build and rebuild the health of all people.   People have the desire to live better.  We need to be prepared to connect, coach and care for them in new and engaging ways.  If nothing changes, then nothing changes.

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Return to Routine or Perhaps Not

This month most people begin to return to their ‘normal’ routines following summer break, or at the very least, they begin to wind down their summer activities in anticipation of returning to their regular work-life schedule.  This transition back from summer break seems to be slower and more of a struggle for even your most committed members than in past years.  Typically just before or after the Labor Day long weekend (both in Canada and the USA), everyone begins their return to the gym but this is no longer what we are seeing.  More and more members are delaying their return to the gym and for some members it takes weeks or even months before they walk through our front doors.  So why is it so hard for so many members to get back into their exercise routine and what can we do as program directors to influence their transition back into our facilities and our programs?  Social and behavioral scientists who have been studying non-consistent exercisers’ behavior patterns say that we must make exercise relevant to our clients and members daily lives and connect the benefits to the immediate short term needs of person rather than the long term health benefits.  What if we were to associate immediate benefits to our programs like “boost in energy, mood, improved sleep or productivity”, would that help get members back to the gym and back into our programs faster?  According to the research this works to motivate exercisers as does the following:  choosing easier, more enjoyable workouts that are sustainable over time, making exercise social (working out with a close friend), getting competitive within the group (where people can keep track of each other’s progress) and working out in a group setting.  Once again the research shows that group dynamics have a lot of power over exercise behavior but the key to success is gathering people with similar interests then creating an way for members to track one another’s exercise efforts.  Keeping score in the game is not just for kids.  Think about ways you can incorporate this social and behavioral science into sound strategies for bringing your members back to your facility as soon as summer wraps up.  The sooner we can get our members back into a routine that is enjoyable, social and competitive, the sooner we have impacted their lives for the long term.  I invite you to think of new ways to promote your fall programs and events that will help bring more people back into routine, sooner than later.

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Consumerism is Changing The Face of the Fitness Industry

The Millennial generation is for the most part responsible for the massive changes in how fitness is now being offered and being experienced.  If you are running a fitness business of any kind you should be aware of how these changes will impact your business both positively and negatively.  Budget clubs are among the fastest growing part of the fitness industry at the moment.  These low cost clubs help make it easy for people to get started and access fitness and while there is no service offered they do fill the demand for almost half of the exercising population at this moment.  Boutiques on the opposite extreme—being small in design and high in price—are also rapidly growing.  This group of exercisers belong to boutiques because it represents to them  a ‘lifestyle’ and they do not mind paying to get exactly what they want.  Virtual fitness classes has shown significant growth around the world and provide owners and operators with opportunities for members to ‘customize’ their own workouts and create their own communities.  Virtual classes (both in-club and via Apps) have been shown to engage members in ways that live group fitness classes do not.  They are available anytime and are less intimidating for members.  In addition to what is erupting as far as change within the club and boutique itself, even more is happening out-side of the bricks and mortar of your business. Today, more than fifty percent of club members have, and use, at least one exercise App and close to fifty percent of consumers, who are not fitness members, also have and use a fitness App.  Virtual coaching (on-line or through a App) is also demonstrating significant growth.  Finally, wearable technology is all around us and while nothing can replace the live, face to face connections that a personal trainer or a group fitness instructor can create, technology is.  Therefore it is time to pay attention and get connected.  Learn how to leverage technology to help support the member community that you have created already.  Get with your team of trainers and instructors and brainstorm ways that you get better connected with your members.  Help your training staff learn how to engage and leverage technology (including social media) so that they can connect with their clients and class participants and trust me they will win as will your business.

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