Fit For Life: If You (Just) Dream it, it Won’t Come True…

Sunday, October 08, 2017

Matt Espeut, GoLocalWorcester Health +Lifestyle Contributor

This week marked a big milestone for me and Providence Fit Body Boot Camp. We reached the three-year mark in business, and I wanted to discuss some of the events and takeaways I have experienced these past three years. You are probably thinking “Why is he writing about this, and how is it going to help me?” Well, one of the best “educators” is experience, and I feel that talking about real life experiences is more helpful than reading a textbook or manual, and that experience at success and failure teaches us the hard realities of life better than any other method does.

Here are some takeaways I have gotten from the last three years: You need to make things happen, and you can’t wait for the perfect time. I wasn’t 100% ready to take on the task of opening a brick and mortar business. I had zero experience working with technology, and incorporating systems. I barely had enough knowledge to open an email. This used to frustrate the hell out of everyone I was in contact with, or should I say, needed to be in contact with. My system for finance was taking cash from clients and wrapping it with an elastic band and putting it in my front pocket. My schedule was in a book that I carried around, and wrote in pencil, so I could erase and make changes.

With that being said, I knew that if I wanted to stop trading hours for dollars, be a legitimate business that can impact more lives, I had to step up my game and put on my big boy pants, and take a risk. So, I did, and that was just the beginning of needing to make things happen. You don’t just open your doors and expect people to come. Now the REAL work started. Embrace change. And I had to make major changes. I am still very intimidated by technology, but as you know, I get the emails out when I need to, and I have several platforms and systems I am using to run things more efficiently. But once you make an initial change, it doesn’t stop there.

I am still making changes. Every fitness challenge I run, I try to change things to be more efficient, and deliver a better experience each time. Things that worked with ads before may not work now, so I change the way I market. You need to constantly change as you evolve, or progress halts. I am making some more changes as we speak, and I am running my business differently than I did three years ago. I am constantly driving my team crazy when I change things around, but I try to make them understand that it’s necessary in order to succeed.

That brings us to the next topic, and that’s self-development. This has been a constant work in progress. I feel like I am 100% different than when I opened my doors three years ago. I see things from a different light now, and it’s all due to investing in myself, and figuring out ways to get better all the time. I also invest in my team, because along the way, I learned that they are the foundation of every businesses success. Last year I took my manager to California for a conference. This weekend, I sent my admin to a seminar. I always take my coaches to summits to help them develop into A team players.

I attend something myself at least every three months, and read more books than ever before. (still need to read more). And it never stops. The day you think you know enough, and think that you can’t improve anymore, is the day everything stops. You will stop growing and eventually wither up and die, so never think you know it all.

This is a brief outline of what I have experienced and grown from over the past three years. Always be ready to make changes. Embrace them because they are necessary for growth.

Always look for people to learn from. Sometimes you learn more from other people’s mistakes than their successes. This is a huge part of self-development. Open your eyes and learn, learn, learn. Read books, attend seminars, and surround yourself with successful people whenever possible.

And lastly, take action. Good things don’t come to those that wait. Good things happen because you make it happen. If you dream it, it won’t come true. If you dream it, and get up and take action, then things come true. Implement these things, and others, into your arsenal, be patient, work hard, and you will be more likely for success. I am still a work in progress, but the more I strive the more I believe I will succeed.

Matt Espeut, GoLocal's Health & Lifestyle Contributor has been a personal trainer and health & fitnesss consultant for over 25 years. He is the owner of Fitness Profiles, a one on one, and small group personal training company, as well as Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, located at 1284 North Main St., on the Providence/Pawtucket line. You can reach Matt at (401) 453-3200; on Facebook at "Matt Espeut", and on Twitter at @MattEspeut. "We’re all in this life together – let’s make it a healthy one.

Related Slideshow: The 7 Best Health and Fitness Apps

Here is a list of some of the most obsession worthy health apps.

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MapMyRun

MapMyRun is the number one selling running app for a reason: it is easy to use, offers community support if you want it, and tracks and stores your exact routes for you. If you are training for a race or a serious runner, users say that the extra perks in the upgraded paid version are well worth it.

Made for iPhone, Android and Blackberry

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MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal seems to be the clear favorite amongst everyone polled. It is helpful not only for the fitness tracking aspect, but everyone polled mentioned how much they loved the food/diet aspect as well. From carb counting for diabetics to recipe ideas to complement your fitness goals, users love this app.

Made for iPhone and Android

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JeFit

JeFit is another fitness app that has rave reviews. It not only tracks progress for you, but offers a huge database of workouts. While many apps offer community support, JeFit allows you to sync workouts with friends who use the app, offering a (real) virtual buddy system.

Made for iPhone and Android

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Strava

Strava gets the highest mark of all the cycling apps. While it is also great for runners, the cyclers seem particularly inclined towards the fierce competition that can be ignited by this app. You can track all of your rides via GPS, then you can compare your efforts to those logged by others in the community on the same stretch of road. You can also join ongoing challenges that can net you great prizes (in addition to bragging rights).

Made for iPhone and Android

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YogaStudio

YogaStudio gets the top vote for Yoga apps. It has a lengthy collection of full class-length videos available at your fingertips. Unlike many other apps, this one also allows you to customize your own video yoga class. All of the poses are done by qualified yoga instructors, and you can find classes suitable for all levels of yogis.

Made for iPhone only

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SimplyBeing

SimplyBeing meditation app offers the best of both worlds. You can choose to run this app as a background for your meditation with soothing music or natural sounds that run for a set amount of time. Conversely, for those of you who have trouble focusing during meditation, you can choose a soothing voice-guided meditation.

Made for iPhone and Android

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Fooducate

Fooducate is an app all about educating people so that they make healthier food choices. Although not perfect, this app is easy to use (you can even take pictures of bar codes to instantly find foods in their database). It gives food a letter grade, tells you the pluses and minuses, and gives you better ranked alternatives. You can also use it as a weight loss tool by tracking your daily calories.

Made for iPhone and Android