What’s up World Changer??
Is is cool if I take a minute and share my story with you?
Well, I am the oldest of three, with a younger sister and brother, and have two amazing parents. I was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, which is a small town about an hour and half south of Pittsburgh.
My father is a golf course architect (owner of Forse Design Inc.) and my mother is a retired nurse and does home hospice care part time. They currently live in Florida.
As a kid I was a lanky, shy red head with big ears and freckles. I really didn’t like who I was and had no self confidence.
I loved sports and was active, sweaty, and getting into trouble regularly. My aunt Maria would babysit me and sit me in one of the double sinks while washing dishes in the other to keep me from being “ornery” and getting into trouble.
The first sport I played was tee ball and my Dad tells me that I had the ugliest running form back then. I used to “pitter pat” my feet with extremely short running strides. It’s interesting because one of my current passions is helping athletes develop their speed even though I started out slow as heck!
The second sport I played was soccer in fourth grade. I was literally THE WORST player on the team! The coach put me in the back and told me to kid the ball to one of the good kids whenever the ball came to me.
So if you, or someone you know, isn’t good at sports it definitely doesn’t mean that that determines future success!
Because I was tall and uncoordinated, I begged my Dad to let me quit soccer, but he told me: “You signed up and committed to the season. You will finish what you started.”
This was first life lesson I learned from sports and has stayed with me ever since. I’m an advocate of youth sports (and playing as many sports as possible) because of the life lessons you learn.
I reluctantly finished the soccer season and went on to play basketball. I was much better suited for basketball because of my height but still had to overcome my shyness and lack of self confidence.
It’s interesting how things that happen to you at a young age stay with you to adulthood. This is a lesson that has stayed with me.
I asked a mentor of mine what my greatest attribute is and his answer surprised me. I was hoping he would say: charismatic, good public speaker, communication, ect…, but he said my best attribute was perseverance.
In four years of training clients, I’ve found that 90% of the battle is just showing up. This applies not just to the gym, but to life.
If you show up, and keep showing up, you will get better! It’s inevitable.
In life, there’s no winning and losing. Only winning and learning.
Either you get the result you want, or you learn how to do it another way. Sometimes a closed door is the answer you need. It just means you need to go in a different direction.
So I hope you are encouraged by this story, but remember information without action is useless.
No one got arrested for thinking about robbing a bank.
So make a decision RIGHT NOW to make one (1) small change that you will show up consistently for. It will become a habit and then you can move on to the next one.
This is the formula for success in life.
And remember, even if you started out as the worst soccer player on your team (or whatever you started) it DOESN’T determine your future success.
I mean I think I turned out ok…
…and remember
Life is more like the gym than a genie.
You just have to show up, and keep showing up.
Results are waiting for you!
Your Friend,
Nate