Like many of you, I’ve made A LOT of mistakes in my life.

Like many of you, I’ve done A LOT of stupid shit in my life.

And Like many of you, I have A LOT of regrets in my life.

However, just like many of you, all the mistakes I made and stupid shit I did has helped me transform into the person I am today. And although that person continues to make mistakes and do stupid shit, I’m now able to move forward without feeling any regrets.

Education

I’ll be honest, I never took school seriously. I rarely if ever went to school at all. Well, that’s not completely true. I had a fairly good attendance record from Kindergarten to Grade 7. But as soon as Grade 8 hit, all shit officially hit the fan along with it. I remember having competitions with my friends to see who could miss the most amount of classes on their report cards for each term. Skipping school was a badge of honour for me that I wore proudly.

The only time I ever saw an A on my report card was in P.E. Class. And even then during my last two years of high school, I didn’t even go to P.E. Class. Instead I made a deal with my Gym Teacher that rather than play pointless games like softball or dodgeball, I wanted to use my time wisely and use the gym next to our school to workout with weights. My Gym Teacher reluctantly agreed to this arraignment at first, however, once he began to notice my results and see how committed I was to transforming my physique, he supported me 100%.

Business

I’ve never told the entire story of how I became a Personal Trainer. And perhaps one day I will (most likely on my exit meeting though). But I will tell you that I had no aspirations to work in the fitness industry and never even dreamed of owning and operating my very own small business.

And if there was ever a person that was so ill-equipped (both mentally and financially) to become an Entrepreneur it was me. When I started my company Forever Fit Performance back in 2005, I had ZERO business experience whatsoever. I didn’t know the first thing about creating a business name, obtaining a business license, what a GST number was, or how the hell I was supposed to record and submit my income. Oh, and I also had no clue as to how to market, grow and operate a company all on my own.

I did however have one asset that I was able to use to keep me afloat during those first few years when I struggled to build a roster of clients. And that asset was dealing and connecting with people. Growing up I had always worked in restaurants and nightclubs. While working in these restaurants and nightclubs, I learned how to interact with multiply different types of personalities. I also learned how to troubleshoot and multitask while providing high quality customer service. At the time, I didn’t realize how crucial the asset of developing people skills was going to become for my future. And to be honest, it’s the number one asset that saved and built my business to where it’s at today.

Life

On Christmas Day this year, I was scrolling through my Instagram Newsfeed and couldn’t believe how many of my online friends are now married and/or have kids of their own. It seems like just yesterday I was making some of those very same mistakes and doing all that stupid shit that I mentioned earlier with some of these very same people. As I continued to scroll and “like” my friends’ Christmas family photos I couldn’t help but feel that perhaps I was missing out.

Did I make a mistake in my earlier years by focusing too much on my business and not enough on my personal life?

Should I have made more time to focus on building meaningful relationships rather than dashing to the nearest exit door when they became too real for me to commit myself to?

Have I failed at life?

These are all questions I pondered as I left my home to go and train my legs at my gym on Christmas Morning.

Moral of My Story

I don’t have one.

Like many of you, I have sacrificed A LOT to be where I am today. I own and operate a very successful Personal Training Business. I enjoy what I do for a living. I have an amazing roster of clients who support me and I am forever grateful to have that support.

I’ve always been one to advocate ignoring life’s insignificant short-term gratifications to achieve long-term satisfaction. However looking back, if I only knew then what I know today, I think I would have slowed down and taken the time to truly see how insignificant those short-term gratifications were.

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.”
Albert Einstein

Yours in Good Health,

Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance