Fitness Business University Podcast

SPEAKER_00: What's up, guys?

Welcome to another episode.

I have a quick one for you
today.

In one of my emails, I was
writing about confidence.

And you know, as I'm preparing
for this Jim Pranos event, and

if you've not been tuning in,
I'm doing a Sopranos, the show,

the Sopranos themed event for my
next mastermind meeting called

the Jim Pranos, right?

And so, you know, I always like
to, and obviously the majority

of the conference is going to be
about growing your business and

making more money and all of
that.

But I always try to lace in some
fun stuff and link it back to

the theme, right?

And so the theme is taking it
from the sopranos.

And there's a lot to learn from
Tony Soprano, you know, about

leadership, about team and and
all of that.

But one of the things that, and
I'm re-watching the show, but

one of the things that he just
has beyond anyone else is this

extreme amount of confidence.

Right?

This extreme amount of like when
he goes into a situation, he is

w so certain at what he's
saying, and there's just a

there's just a ton of
confidence.

And I think that's what you know
makes people drawn to the

character, and even why people
want to follow him, and why, you

know, a lot of the women in the
in the show throw themselves at

him, uh, even though he's not
like a great-looking guy, but

it's that he just exudes this
confidence, right?

And you know, I, you know, I'm
not saying I'm Tony Soprano by

any means.

It's something that I've had to
work on over the years of

becoming a more confident
person, right?

And I've had to do a lot of work
because I in my nature I'm a I'm

an anxious person for sure.

If you ever met my dad, you'd be
like, oh, you're you're you

know, Vince is just like your
dad.

He was an anxious guy too, a
great guy, but anxious, right?

As I am.

And I've had to do a lot of work
to be less anxious and be more

confident.

It's uh something I still work
on today.

But it the most probably the
most important thing I've ever

learned in any book was the four
cornerstone recipe for

confidence.

And I learned it from Dan
Kennedy, who was wrote a book

with Dr.

Maxwell Maltz, who was Maxwell
Maltz was the he was the author

of a book called
Psychocybernetics, which is

basically like a very old school
personal development system, if

you will, that was based around,
the premise of the book was

based around all progress starts
with your self-image, your your

picture of your yourself, right?

That's kind of the premise of
the whole book.

But they talk a lot about
confidence.

And they outline this four
cornerstone part of confidence

that I'll share with you today
that's really been able to help

me.

And the first part of managing
your confidence, of not just

have being confident, but
protecting your confidence,

right?

Protecting the confidence that
you do have.

The first piece is to manage the
voice inside of your head.

And you know, I know that for
me, that voice tends to be

really loud.

And honestly, sometimes that
voice is a real dick and can be

very mean to me.

And some so sometimes what we
have to do is just learn how to

handle it and deal with it.

Because the one thing, and I I
didn't know this, but the one

thing you have to understand is
that voice is never going away.

It's just not.

Right?

It's not gonna go away, it's
gonna be there.

The question is, when the voice
inside of your head says

something you don't like, do you
respond and do you react to it?

And that's what it's all about
navigating it and learning how

to handle it.

And I have learned how to do
that through meditation.

Through, I got certified a
transcendental meditation, and

basically what it does is it
basically desensitizes you to

the voice inside your head where
you're not always reacting to

the things that it says.

You're not always reacting to
the negative thoughts.

You essentially can hear
negative thoughts, you can beat

yourself up, but then you're not
reacting to it as emotionally.

So it can be there, you can sit
with it, and then you're not

reacting to it.

You're not letting it ruin your
day, if you will, which a lot of

times we do.

You're not letting it drive all
of your actions, right?

You don't want to be driven by
the actions of the voice inside

of your head, especially that
you know there's, you know, I've

done a bunch of stuff on this,
and one of the things I learned

from John Carlton is the four
the four different voices in

your head.

I'll talk about that on another
podcast.

But I I think that that one of
the pieces is winning the game

in your own mind.

And that's a that's a big piece
of what they talk about as a

cornerstone of confidence.

If you're constantly getting
derailed by your own thoughts,

it's a tough place to play.

And again, for it there's so
many strategies to do this.

For me, meditation was a very,
very helpful thing.

It's been a practice and a part
of my life for a very, very long

time.

All out of 100% out of
necessity.

100% out of my mind's fucked up
and I need to do something about

this.

And that's what was helpful for
me.

So that was the first that's the
first cornerstone.

I'm trying to keep this a short
uh episode, but I could talk

about this stuff for a long
time.

The second cornerstone is skill
development.

Think about when you sh started
training people before you

trained anybody, you did not
have a lot of skill in that

department, right?

You had to learn and you had to
grow.

And then eventually what you did
is you acquired a skill to look

at the human body to see it
move.

You acquired all these different
strategies and ways that you're

going to get a result, right?

That you weren't born with that.

And I would imagine two years
into your career as a personal

trainer, you have more
confidence because of the skills

that you've developed, whether
you develop them through going

to seminars, whether you develop
them through taking courses,

whether you develop them in
college, whatever, you know,

certifications, things like
that.

Over time you've developed
skills, and those skills have

given you more confidence.

So in my world, right, in the
business side of it, uh,

marketing is a skill.

I didn't open my gym with
knowing anything about

marketing.

It had to develop a skill, uh
writing emails, doing this

podcast.

This is a skill that I've just
developed over time, and just

like you guys, you have to put
the work in to you know develop

the skills that you need to get
what you want.

unknown: Right.

SPEAKER_00: And so that's the
second piece is like, what do

you need to do to what skills
don't you have?

Or what skills do you have, but
they're not good enough for

where you want to go?

Right?

Maybe your leadership skills
aren't good enough right now to

take your business to the next
level, and that's a skill that

you need to develop.

Maybe your marketing and sales
knowledge, maybe you don't have

those skills.

Maybe you do not have the
marketing and sales skills that

you need to get past 100
members.

And it's just something that
needs to be developed, and

that's the beauty of this
confidence thing.

In order to feel more confident,
sometimes it's just a skill set

away.

The third cornerstone of being
more confident is knowledge,

right?

What knowledge needs to be
acquired, and knowledge is

different than skill.

Skill is you know your ability
to do something.

Knowledge is your you're you're
acquiring these different levels

of things that you know to be
able to be more confident and to

be able to get more results in
the things that you do.

So you're acquiring more
knowledge as a marketer, you're

acquiring more knowledge as a
leader, you're requiring more

knowledge, right?

And it's always this constant
growth period of growing.

One of Warren Buffett's rules is
learn every day.

So you should be constantly
learning and growing every day.

We had a mastermind call today,
and I was giving them knowledge

about their marketing and about
how to diversify their

marketing, how important it is
today to diversify the

marketing.

Okay, so the first is navigating
the voice inside your head,

second is developing new skill
sets, third is acquiring

knowledge.

All of this is to help build
your confidence.

The last one is your ability to
relax.

If you're constantly tense and
you're constantly anxious, it's

very hard to feel confident,
especially when you're going to

do something.

It's like think about you know,
if you go out and do a talk and

you're really, really tense and
you're really anxious, you're

probably not going to show up
the way that you want to show

up.

Think about if you're training a
session and you're so anxious

and tense and your body doesn't
know how to relax and you're

tight, you're you're not gonna
perform the way you want to

perform.

And when you feel like that,
you're not gonna feel confident.

And so that's the fourth
cornerstone is your ability to

relax.

Now, I have had a lot of
experience here because I will

tell you this I was a really bad
football player in college

simply because I did not know
how to relax.

So Joey asked me, my son asked
me recently, why didn't you play

in the NFL?

I said, Well, son, first of all,
I never had a chance to play in

the NFL.

But second of all, I could have
been a decent college football

player, but I was a below
average college football player

because of my inability to
relax.

My inability to control the
anxiety to have when I get out

onto the field.

I went out there, I played
tense, I played tight, and

because of that, I got hurt a
lot and I sucked.

And if someone just taught me
how to breathe, if someone just

taught me how to relax and just
go out there and play, I would

have been a much better player
and I would have been much more

confident out on the field.

And so through that period and
through 20 years of business

ownership and opening gyms and
starting businesses, I've worked

on that.

And I will tell you, there's one
thing that I've learned that

worked has worked better than
anything else that I've ever

had.

And if you do this, it has the
possibility to change your life.

And I'm going to share it with
you, knowing that if you suffer

from anxiety and you suffer from
being tense and you have an

inability to relax, this has the
potential to change your life as

it has done mine.

It's something I learned from a
doctor named Lee Lagos, who is

mentioned a lot on the Tim Fair
show.

She happens to be Josh Waitskin,
who is like the chess champion,

his coach.

And basically, she has this
concept called resonant

frequency breathing.

I think I I got it right.

And basically, she says there's
a level of breathing and a

certain amount of breaths per
minute where we thrive, and then

there's a level of breath per
minute where we're gonna feel

garbage.

And I have found that my pace is
when I and when I do this, I'm a

different person, right?

I breathe through my nose for
four, in through my nose for

four, and then out of my mouth
for seven, seven seconds.

So in for four, out for seven,
and I do it two times a day for

twenty minutes.

It's a commitment.

I'm gonna tell you that right
now.

A lot of people will do the
first week and they'll stop.

But if you can get past week
two, and you can do this

consistently, and it's twice a
day for 20 minutes, in for four,

out for seven, if you do this
consistently twice a day, and

you can get past two to three
weeks, and you can go all the

way to ten weeks, that's the
goal.

That's Lee Lago.

So she talks about that the
magic, it's ten weeks and twice

a day.

I will tell you, there is
nothing I've ever done that has

been more impactful to
controlling anxiety and and can

my and improving my ability to
relax than this.

And it's so simple and it's so
stupid, it's literally just

breathing.

But there's something about when
you start, it starts to come

together.

It just has been a game changer
for me.

So those are the four
cornerstones to confidence.

Why are we talking about
confidence?

Well, Tony Soprano was a real
confident guy.

Gym owners need to be confident.

You want to be a confident
leader.

You you want your staff to feel
you know that you have things

under control, even when you
don't.

And that is your confidence,
your ability to do that is being

confident, right?

So that is a really it's a
really important thing for you

to lead your business and lead
your organization, lead your

family, and to have that level
of confidence.

And the thing is, it's really
it's about it's a mechanical

process.

It's a mechanical process of
manage of learning how to manage

the voice in your head, of
acquiring skills, of gaining

knowledge, and and doing the
work and learning how to relax

your body and be calm under
times of stress.

And all of these things, well,
what Maxwell Monks calls

unshakable self-confidence.

It's a really powerful place to
play.

And so we're talking about this
because we have the Jim Pranos

event coming up, and it's coming
up in February.

It's on February 27th, 28th, and
March 1st in Orlando, Florida.

And it's a three-day event, and
we are, man, super excited about

it.

We're talking about it all the
time.

We're got our staff excited.

We got all kinds of crazy things
planned for it.

But at the end of the day, we're
gonna have some fun because it's

a you know a themed event.

But at the end of the day, what
we're really trying to do is

give you the skills and
knowledge that you need to grow

your gym.

Right?

We're gonna help you.

The tagline of the event is be
the boss your business needs.

And that's what I want to do in
the three days is help you

become a better boss.

Help you be a more confident
person, help you be a more

confident leader, help level up
the people around you.

And again, if you become a
better leader and the people

around you get better, you're
gonna have a better business.

And that's really what it's
about.

We're gonna learn, you know, I'm
bringing Mike Waldron in, who's

my CFO.

He's gonna teach you how to know
your numbers.

I cannot tell you, man, you want
to be more confident.

You will be more certain and
feel more in control of your

business than you ever have if
you start really getting a grip

on your financials.

There's probably nothing that
causes gym owners more stress

than not knowing what the fuck's
going on with their numbers.

They're like, I don't even know
what's going on.

And then they see their bank
account going down and going in

the right direction or
stalemating, and they have no

reason and they have no idea
why.

And they have no idea why,
because they don't know how to

look at data.

They don't know the numbers.

They don't know what's
happening.

And so one of the this is one of
the biggest pieces that you

need.

We got Thomas Plummer speaking.

Thomas Plummer is the legend.

The fitness business legend, the
godfather of fitness business is

Tom Plummer.

I'm super excited for you guys
to see him in person.

Got G.R.

Hoff from Jim Member Machine.

I believe this is the best
marketing agency in the fitness

industry.

Guys, like super wealth of
knowledge about how to generate

more leads with digital.

Those are my three guests, and
obviously the SPF team is in

will be in full force.

Joe Hashi, Carly, Leo, Ben
Stocks will be speaking about

social media and email
marketing.

It's going to be a really great
event.

And I really hope if you're
listening to this and you own a

gym and you want an event that's
really going to help you get

clear, get focused, increase
your increase your confidence.

Like, I promise you, you you'll
you'll come to this event,

you'll learn skills, you'll
develop, you'll get knowledge,

you will, you know, I don't know
if I'll be able to teaching any

breathing and meditation stuff
at the event.

I don't think I will.

I mean, obviously, if you want
to grab me on a break and I can

teach some stuff to you, that's
fine too.

But at the end of the day,
you're going to be, you know,

hanging around for a weekend
with a bunch of people that are

excited about business, they're
excited about gym ownership,

they're excited about life, and
just want to win.

And that's an environment you
want to put yourself in.

So if you're listening to this
and you're running your business

all by yourself, and you're the
only voice that you have is the

voice inside your head, meaning
you're not having outside

conversations with other
business owners and other gym

owners, you're not discussing
the challenges and the problems

and the things that you're
facing, that's causing a lot of

inner turmoil and inner stress
for you.

And sometimes the best thing to
do is get outside the four walls

of your gym.

That's a lot of times where the
breakthroughs happen.

Some of the breakthroughs happen
when we get on the plane or we

get in the hotel, we get outside
the four walls and start

thinking about what our business
needs.

Start thinking about what you
need to do to take your

leadership to the next level.

It's going to be an amazing
event.

I'm super excited for it.

So grateful for this opportunity
to coach business owners.

I love the fitness industry.

I was talking to my guys today.

It's like what we do matters so
much.

It's like so important.

It's like what we do is so
important to provide a place

where people can get healthy and
fit and strong and confident and

you know feel better about
themselves.

It's like, and that transfers to
their families, and just you get

to do that.

You get to rest your head on the
pillow at night knowing that

you're providing value to
people's lives.

And you know what I what you
also need and deserve is to make

a lot of money at the same time.

And that's what's not happening.

There's a lot of people that are
doing what that are loving

changing lives and they're doing
it, but there's not enough

people very happy with their
financial situation, and it's

causing them a lot of stress.

And so if that's you, I want you
to come.

I want you to come to Gimpranos
because you never know who

you're going to meet.

You never know what you're going
to learn.

And for the risk of a plane
flight and a very cheap ticket,

and if you're listening to this
before January 31st, you better

jump because the price is
jumping big time.

It's a Tony Perso, it's a Tony
Soprano price increase on

January 31st.

So you better get in early.

Gimpranos.com.

Link is in the show notes.

I want to see you there.

Vinny Soprano is requesting your
presence at Gimpranos.

Check out the link, read the
page, read all the stuff.

Reach out to me personally if
you want to.

Vince at GabrielFitness.com,
happy to chat with you if you

want to chat with me first.

But gimpranos.com, get all the
info, and hopefully I will see

you there.

Peace, man.