The heart of the young

Do you know what a proud father is??

A proud father is a guy that watches a boy (actually a 14 yr old Man, but for the sake of letting me have a boy just one more day, in today's blog, he is a boy) try out for a sport that he has never attempted before. We discussed at length that in our region the sports like baseball and wrestling, are filled to the top with kids that have been developing skill sets in that sport since kindergarten. The kids start out at five or six and usually have over the top parents that foster the desire for that sport ( I have a neighbor that built a huge home around a batting cage and pitchers mound when his only son was seven because he showed promise at B-Ball).

I love to watch my two boys do anything they have a passion for, and am always interested to know where in the world they inherited any type of athletic skill or talent for that matter.
After a lot of matter of fact conversations about the inevitable competition level surrounding Junior High Wrestling and Tylers experience being a zero, he said, "No, I'm good, I am going out for wrestling" . Well he did. Hard practices, nervous about having no experience, the first meet came. He wrestled hard for about 67 seconds and then was put in a hold that I have never seen before by one of those guys with nine years experience and pinned to the mat. The referee's hand raised then slammed to the ground with a deafening thud that I felt twenty yards away. I was lost for words, not typical. He did not have enough time to learn anything from the experience, there was only an instant between the handshake and seeing my sons new wrestling shoes five feet in the air and body twisted unnaturally at the will of the other guy. I was devastated. I am old.

The heart of the young is resilient. After un-knotting his body and getting a drink, he comes to me and said "I am going to learn how to wrestle like that guy".

At that moment pride consumed me and a lesson I learned.


A mean English teacher forced me to read a lot Shakespeare when in school and the most prominent memory I have is:
"Nothing is either good or bad, only thinking makes it so." How true.

We are in the business of leading a person or group of people into the successful operating of a fitness center. We have been doing this for a long time, more than half my life.
Our biggest obstacles are the thoughts of the potential entrepreneur:

• "I have never owned my own business"
• "I have never been in the fitness business"
• "I am not sure I can operate my own business"
• "There are all these big health clubs that have all this experience, why would someone come to me?"
• "I am not sure I can do it, I have never done it before"

I want to be more like the young. When do we stop trying new things? When does fear of failure become crippling to opportunity? At what age do we realize that we are not cut out for something that we like or are interested in? I am motivated by my boys to quit growing up and "try some stuff".

I am motivated by the spirit of the people buying NITRO FITNESS franchises. Young, middle-aged, never owned a business before, never been in fitness before, successful in a different line of business, a vast array of backgrounds.

You know what they have in common?

Heart and desire to do. Something new. Something they like. Something they have a passion for. To go for it and be cool with trying something new. To step into a new arena and learn a few new skills.

Paul Bernier and Heather in Maine,

Terri T and Donna in Columbia MO,

Dr. John and Sara in Joplin,

Steve C. on the East coast,

Ethan Blair in Arizona,

These are Our very first franchisees and the source of my motivation to make this franchise system the very best it can be, the best in the world. They stepped into a concept that still is brand new. Unproven, no experience. They have invested in the belief of the concept and their ability to succeed within it. Congratulations to you. Thank You for the inspiration.

I cannot sign off with out telling you that Tyler's second wrestling meet of his career was yesterday afternoon and he still is not getting any time for a real education. He pinned his first guy in 57 seconds and the second wrestler he pinned to the mat in 49 seconds after the handshake. Just when I thought I could not get any prouder.

Tell me about your inspirations and lessons learned from the young at heart, the young, or people that impact your thoughts and actions.