As we end another amazing six week bootcamp the phrase “Quitters never win and Winners never quit” comes to mind. I have witnessed all age and fitness levels come through our bootcamp and there is something to this phrase.
Let me first define “Winning”. For me, winning means accomplishing a long-sought after goal. It means working at something that is important to you and accepting setbacks, even failures along the way. It means tweaking, fixing and often redoing something if necessary and continuing to move forward. It means NEVER giving up. It means sticking to it, until the outcome is achieved. Winning means being NO MESS!
At the beginning of this bootcamp many of you participated in the Super Bowl Top Ten Workout either in person or watching LIVE, where I hit the stage as one of the Top Ten Trainers in Atlanta. This was such an honor for me and I knew a lot of eyes would be on Tadda’s Fitness, so I had to give my best. I didn’t take for granted that I have literally conducted thousands of workouts, I only had 5 minutes to shine. I received my assignment the night before the big event and rehearsed until I was hearing the music in my sleep and seeing the steps in my dreams. I recovered my body and consumed the proper nutrients and hydration in preparation for a successful performance. When I hit the stage the next day, I started by introducing myself and stating that I knew I was NO MESS! I also wanted the audience to know that they were NO MESS! So I started a chant where I lead with “I am” and the crowd would yell back “NO MESS”! The crowd was so hyped, that by the time I finished, my 5 minutes would be remembered for years to come. I ended my workout by chanting three times “I am…NO MESS” and then dropped the mic. A mic drop wasn’t something I had ever done before or ever thought about doing. It was an in the moment feeling, I wasn’t being cocky, I felt like I had won a personal gold medal. I had a proud WINNING moment!
There has been much research over the years as to why certain people are successful and others aren’t. Just think how when it comes to fitness, some people meet their goals and others continue to fall short.
The answer? NO MESS! No Mess as I define it, is the perseverance and passion to accomplish long-term goals. No Mess entails working long and hard toward a personal goal, regardless of disappointments, plateaus, delays or even denials along the way. People with a No Mess attitude, approach a problem or goal as a marathon, not a sprint. Short burst of intensity don’t do it. Successful people are committed to the long haul.
After each bootcamp we celebrate our winners (our MIC droppers) in certain categories. 60-year-old Richard Vasser for losing 20.3 LBs in 6 weeks and becoming our Biggest Loser while enduring his chronic knee pain. Christy Flynn and Tamara Harris for winning Most Fit at 85%. However, there are many other MIC droppers in this bootcamp that you may not hear about. We have our Linda Long who goes above a beyond spreading her love for TFC to any and everyone willing to listen, even people in her nail or hair salon. Linda has referred over 20 people to TFC. Or mother and son first time bootcampers, Audrey and Chaz for always coming in smiling, supporting and pushing one another. Or Craig another first time bootcamper who beat stage four cancer. Craig joined TFC to gain weight after a massive weight loss due to his 7 months of aggressive chemotherapy and radiation treatments. He also joined to gain more mobility, this is an example of a No Mess and winning attitude. Finally there’s, Cynthia Benton who has been attending TFC bootcamp for one year. Cynthia started on the Blue team, then advanced to Green and started this camp needing to knock off 2 minutes of her 2-mile run time to make it to the Yellow team. On our final run, Cynthia proved she has a No Mess attitude. With bad knees and all Cynthia knew it would be difficult challenge however, as she came through the finish line I could see her figuratively dropping her MIC, and with tears of joy she made it to Yellow!
If you want to be wildly successful at your career, achieving your fitness goals, or at whatever goal you set, it takes discipline, follow-through, focus, a NO MESS spirit and the belief that your MIC is worth dropping. Winners never quit, they just drop the MIC! No Mess!
