Seeking the Peak: How to Achieve Success by Deciding on a Destination, Creating a Plan and Taking Action
In October 2000, I started my first job in health and fitness after graduating from university as a Kinesiologist. This was after being rejected from several rehabilitation schools and being told to get more rehabilitation experience (even though I had volunteered at several physiotherapy clinics and a prosthetics clinic for the prior three years). Dejected, I decided to get into personal training with a focus on rehabilitation.
At that time I really didn't have a second career path planned. It was over the next three years that I gave control to various opportunities that took me in several directions including group fitness and group fitness management with the rehabilitation specialization on the side. I didn't have a plan of how I was going open my own rehab clinic within a gym; I certainly didn't put any major focus on it apart from a few management/business courses here and there while collecting various resources from conferences.
It was in 2004, when I transferred to the North Vancouver Steve Nash Fitness World because they opened Personal Training, Pilates Reformer and Spinning Studios, that I took control of my career and started on the path towards Lifemoves.
From the beginning, I expressed my desired destination: a rehabilitation program at Fitness World. Over the next two years I became known as the go-to trainer for any clients who needed rehabilitation. I kept a generalized working plan in my head, but didn't write anything outside of my brain until 2006.
The subconscious is amazing! Without consciously thinking about my goal, opportunities and actions came about that gradually propelled me toward it's fruition. In 2007, when I reflected on my 2006 plan, I saw that it clearly expressed my goal of having a clinic within a year.
From April to June 2007, I wrote a business plan and figured out some of the details of my vision. I proposed it to Fitness World and, after a few months of negotiations, we agreed to make the transition in September.
The business plan is a general plan that gives you an idea of how you are going to become successful and how/when you are going to make a profit. The strategic plan sets out the direction and destination of the company, while the annual plan gives an account of what actions are to be taken on quarterly, monthly and weekly bases.
This same plan and action process is what high performance athletes use to reach their goals of winning world championships and Olympic Gold Medals. Each training session they complete has one or two major objectives -- one action or one step that takes them closer to their goal.
Four Steps to Success:
- Decide Your Destination
- Set a Path/Create a Plan - Get as detailed as you want (even down to the day)
- Decide on the Next Action from #2, then Take Action
- Repeat #3, based on #2, with #1 always in mind
Remember, you can make the greatest travel plans, but if you don't take action (e.g., book the plane ticket) you are not going on your vacation. Without action you will sit staring at this screen.
Maybe your next action is deciding on your destination. If you know this, then write down a plan by starting with what you know. Please share what you are going to do next to achieve your own success.
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Labels: Entrepreneur, Excellence, Seek the Peak, Standards
posted by Alfred Ball at
6:50 PM
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