So, the genesis of this came about as a number of thoughts were “ping ponging” around in my mind and then I went to the hardware store near our gym to pick up some fasteners for attaching some equipment to one of the walls.
This is a hardware store that has been serving the community since 1957 and I imagine that the systems of how they serve hasn’t changed much since it opened. It is a small urban hardware store with items packed into narrow aisles and in order to purchase anything or get help finding an item a numbered card is taken and then you are helped when your number is called. Waiting (gasp) for your number to be called is where the “magic” happens. How can waiting for anything be a good thing in this era of multitasking and remarkably quick delivery of anything to your home or business while you are doing something else more productive than standing in line? The magic is the organic interaction that takes place amongst a menagerie of humans with a variety of small and large tasks they are managing. Call it small talk, call it superficial, call it unnecessary, call it a distraction…call it what you would like but it is two humans acknowledging the existence of the other and an opportunity for a brief connection and sometimes an exchange of expertise or simply a story of how challenging it is to find the correct size connection for the plumbing in a 110 year old rental property in Sherman Park.
Were the last 4 years good or bad for humankind? I think the most accurate and brief answer is a resounding, “Yes”. No doubt we will be studying our reaction to Covid for decades to come and looking at the response globally, governmentally down to individuals and their most intimate relationships.
In the fitness industry, we are seeing an acceleration of online and remote training options launching influencers with content that is brilliant and some that is borderline absurd. Home gym equipment sales went through the roof. It was tough to find, let alone stomach the cost of purchasing, a set of dumbbells during Covid.
We had just moved into a spectacular new facility in November of 2019 only to be locked down 3 months later. We had made a bet to grow into the new space requiring some conservative growth over the first 3 quarters of 2020 only to find the complete opposite happening due to Covid and remote work requirements keeping many of our executives working from home and not venturing into the downtown area that our gym has called home since 1997.
We thought about the “pivot” into remote coaching, zooming with our clients, building programs and delivering our expertise to clients as they trained remotely. I do believe in a both/and delivery of services in times like this and the low overhead cost/high profit margin of delivering our expertise to a worldwide audience can make great financial sense but on a personal level it does little to feed my soul and my desire for human interaction. We do remote coaching and we engage with clients across the country and globe, delivering expert instruction and fielding phone calls and texts to answer questions along with guiding remote clients – holding them accountable and making changes to programs on the fly as necessary.
But, if I am quite honest, this introvert got into this industry to connect with people in person. I started this business to build a community, to physically be in the presence of others and experience the communication that can only occur when the energy of two or more people connect in each other’s presence.
How do we navigate leveraging the incredible advances in communication, availability of services and access to anything anywhere at any time? Have we gotten so addicted to efficiency that human beings get in the way? I am long on humankind, we will successfully navigate these “advances” and I believe we will rediscover that we are wired for connection, it is in our DNA, it is how we are designed.
Strength and conditioning along with Activation are our tools of choice to engage with curious people to help them optimize their biology, psychology, relationships and spirituality. Coaching the whole person is critical to helping people find their “more”. We take that Mind/Body/Spirit thing seriously at PMPG! Relationships are beautifully complex and if we are firing on all cylinders and we can help clients discover what it feels like at 100% we know our community is elevated. Everyone wins!
- Embrace the long game – optimal health is a series of simple actions done consistently over your lifetime.
- Embrace people – Literally (with permission of course) and figuratively as you practice curiosity rather than judgment with the variety of people you encounter.
- Embrace yourself – “put your own O2 mask on first” – prioritize you. When you are optimized you can serve others so much more effectively.
- Embrace your upgrade – Much of the disease and dysfunctions we attribute to age or genetics are more impacted by inactivity and how we choose to influence our genetic expression. It is sobering and empowering to know you have more control than you realize.
I love a South African greeting, the word is “sawubona”. Roughly translated it means, “I see you”. Practice “sawubona” whenever you come in the presence of another human being. Actually see them. At the highest ascension we are all one. As we walk around in this collapsed wave function we call life we are beautifully divided. Let’s celebrate that unique expression and see each other with a bit more grace which starts as we allow ourselves a bit more grace.