Why I started a new business and what it will mean for my life…
Last month I decided that after 10 years, I was going to leave the health club I’ve been working happily at, enjoying a comfortable employment full of awesome people.
Why would someone do such a thing?
Jumping off the cliff edge with a parachute you *think* is going to work, but can’t be 100% sure.
Today, I’m going to share with you why I jumped, my vision for my new business, and more importantly what I want for my personal life and how business will intersect with it.
Yes, I want to continue doing what I love which is coaching and helping people, but I also have another 30+ years of my ‘working’ life (hopefully), with dreams of living and working abroad, and a bucket list a mile long of parts of the world I want to see, as well as goals for financial freedom so I’m not working to the bone to make ends meet.
Ambitious, I know. How do I create a harmony between these things? Where I can say ‘yes, I have a career I am proud of and sets me up for life financially’, but also further down the line I can say ‘I lived for the moment in my 30’s and 40’s, saw the world and seized life as much as possible’.
Travel more. ‘Live’ more. Earn more. It’s a big ask, but I’m really happy with the direction I’m choosing to take it.
So what about the business itself? As most people who follow me might be aware, I’m going to be putting all of my efforts into running a high performance health and fitness service called GJP Elite.
I’ve worked in the fitness industry for over 15 years. But that hasn’t stop me struggling with injuries, poor diet, high stress and bad business outcomes, all compounding to affect both my physical and business performance, longevity and personal satisfaction with my life’s trajectory. Despite all the qualifications and university degrees, it’s taken me the best part of a decade of transformative experiences to figure out the formula for turning those fortunes around.
So if it can take somebody who is fully immersed in health and fitness culture that long to somewhat ‘crack the code’, imagine how hard it can seem to somebody who isn’t? I want fitness, longevity and happiness to be more common in the industries that make the world turn. I want to share the path forward with people who want to be better performing individuals and realise their true potential. I also want to do it in a fun and exciting way which makes the process rewarding and attractive, rather than something people begrudgingly do half-heartedly because they read that it’s meant to be the right thing to do.
GJP Elite will promise clients we can improve their energy, focus, productivity, on-pitch performance or business network and success, as well as their fitness objectives and long term health no matter who they are.
Energy: Using technology to monitor and improve sleep habits, build a picture of the clients sleep environment, hygiene and outcomes, as well as a deliberate strategy for energy expenditure and recovery.
Focus & Productivity: Help people understand their ‘moments’ in the day where the brain is at its sharpest and clearest. Knowing when they work best, and learning how to funnel the most intense, deep work into these windows, as well as getting smart with nutrition to maximise focus at these times.
Business Network / Success: We want you to have the best business year of their career with us, or best season on the pitch to date, or happiest year in their home life they’ve had in decades. Developing a high performance mindset which will compound and expand itself to relationships with others.
Fitness objectives: The easy part. Improving the physical condition of clients is the bread and butter. We know how to get people into better shape with as little or as much time as they are able to give. They provide the accountability element, they hold up the consistency end of the bargain, and even if it’s 15 minutes per day, we guarantee the physical improvements the person is looking for.
Longevity:
We place importance upon; strength training, daily movement, nutrition, sleep, mindset, lifestyle and habit management. Approaching these aspects in a holistic way to provide a well-rounded and sustainable path forward for the client is ultimately what I want for the business.
These are great outcomes, that many people simply don’t know how to go about achieving. So unfortunately the reality for most people carrying a heavy burden on their shoulders (in their profession or personal life) are struggling with:
Poor quality sleep / absence of it
0 time/brain space for quality nutrition
0 time for training habits
Mind & body performance suffers as a result
Unnecessary pain/injuries
Unsuccessful negotiations, business results or network maintenance
Coming to work stressed or low energy/poor focus
Coming home with no energy for family/friends
Instead we want them:
Skyrocketing their performance (competitive advantage)
Improving their fitness and physique
Finding effective times to move that don’t disrupt the schedule
Nailing their sleep and nutrition
Coming into work and home from work full of beans
With constant support, coaching and monitoring along the way
But the mountain seems too steep, so they don’t even bother climbing it.
So I wondered what would happen if I could save our client from the painstaking task of trial, error, reading and researching the best methods around training, recovery, productivity and all the rest of it? What if I owned a business which provides the helping hand they are looking for, guiding them to the very peak of their personal mountain without them ever needing to take their eye off the ball? That’s an opportunity I know some very snowed-under people would want to seize with both hands.
The rest of their industry isn’t doing it, that’s for sure. It’s going to be very interesting observing which companies (over the next 20 years) become the first to realise the importance of high performance and begin to implement it within their organisations wide-scale.
A service like this could be like getting the pre-sale of a superior game-changing product before its global release. While other people are still lagging behind with the old model, the shrewdest and the sharpest in the industry have already found a way to steal an advantage on their rivals.
We talk about the compounding 1% differences. Imagine 10 (insert here - partners from the same firm, players from the same team, employees at the same start up), all in the same arena simultaneously reaping the benefits. Negotiating with a 5% better chance of success because they were aware of their circadian clock when nailing a date in the calendar, or making up to 10% better decisions because they knew how to minimise their sleep debt, or keeping their worst injuries at bay to have career best season because . They know far better than I do - these margins that seem small can amount to millions over time.
So do I have an opportunity to make a difference? I hope so. There are so many people all struggling with the same dilemma. They are not in prime condition mentally and physically to maximise their true potential - so I think yes, it’s a huge opportunity to make a positive change to society. There’s only a handful of performance coaches currently offering a similar service to what we do (some of them have personally inspired me in developing the vision for my business), so maybe we can collectively raise the bar. I know the quality practitioners in our industry can genuinely help people get ahead of the competition.
Wish me luck on my new business adventure, I’m going to need it! With that luck, I’ll be taking my work across the world, working with people in-person and remotely, and enjoying running a variety of cool services which will help people feel better about themselves and proud of their achievements.
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