In my last post I talked about how I had reached my goal. In the past, once I reached this goal, I usually went back to my old ways, ate more, exercised less and saw the pounds on the scale go up. This time it is different. As much as I say that I only changed my outside appearance, I realize that I have changed the inside as well. My transformation has allowed me to stop focusing on myself and start helping others in reaching their goals.

A few months ago I talked about Success. I had created a fitness class that was tougher then your average class. I measured my success by the number of people who attended the class. Since then, the number of participants has decreased and it was bringing me down. But yesterday, everything changed. Yesterday, I realized that success may not be about the number of people in the class, but the quality of training they are receiving.

Let me explain.

At the beginning of the year I made my participants do a fitness test, to test their strength and stamina. I decided that every four weeks, I would repeat the fitness test to see if they were getting stronger. Last night, my regular class participants proved to me that what I was doing is working. They did more pushups, more squats then they did the first week in January. One participant held the plank 1 minute longer then he did 4 weeks ago. Call it a fluke, but it seems clear to me that what we are doing is working.

What is my point?

My point is that sometimes you have to change the way you see things to see success. I was so worried about how many people were attending my class that when the numbers decreased I felt as though I was failing. What I needed to focus on was the people who were regularly attending. Those people are seeing positive changes and getting stronger. That is success for me.

I have reached my fitness goals, and now, I have the energy to spend on helping others reach theirs. This, in turn, will keep me in check to stay healthy and strong. It’s amazing how you can help yourself, by helping others.

Don’t get me wrong, I wish there were more people attending my class. But for now, I will focus on the handful of people who return week to week and measure my success by watching them reach their goals and get stronger.

“Fans, true fans, are hard to find and precious. Just a few can change everything. What they demand, though, is generosity and bravery.”
~ Seth Godin