James Beattie


Andy Smith


or no intentional thought that went into my career path. My ambitions were vague and unfocused. I have always believed in on-going


education and certification to grow each area of my wheel of life. I partici- pated in a program called “Outcomes” with Dennis Becker early in my career and found it most helpful and motivat- ing in creating a path, determining the obstacles and attaining my goals. Thirty years later I find myself in


another course – “Effective Personal Productivity” – which is re-defining my goals, and helping me to visualize my future and focus on success. My advice to my younger self would


be to work hard at identifying the goals I want to meet, whether they be financial, family, social, health or spiritual. Visualize the outcome and strive


toward those goals in every waking minute.


“Success is the progressive realization of worthwhile, predetermined personal goals.” ~ Paul J. Meyer


in university and growing in the orga- nization in which I had my first fitness job. I managed to move up and grow and develop – but I didn’t have a plan or goal. There were no specific action steps


W


hen I started in the fit- ness industry in 1984, I was intent on honing my technical skills acquired


Andy Smith owner, eMbody Fitness Clubs Toronto Coach, LMI Canada


I


abilities. For example, instead of just enrolling in a BA program at universi- ty, I could have taken business courses or even recreation courses, with the hopes of developing my skills for a spe- cific profession. Although I learned many of these skills later on, knowing this in high school would have saved time, effort and money. I know now that today nearly every


job requires you to do some amount of networking and connecting with peo- ple, customers, employees or employ- ers. Every person of my current age (33) who has a job usually has found it through a contact or special refer- ence from someone known to them. It is rare that employees are selected at interviews based solely on credentials. Students should be made aware of this as soon as they hit working age or even in high school. It would save ev- eryone a lot of time, effort and money. The last thing, of course, is don’t


pay attention to what others think of you.


James Beattie manager, Recreaplex Inc. Dalhousie, N.B.


f I could go back in time, I would definitely tell myself to have more fun and enjoy life a bit more than I did. I grew up in a small rural


French community, where the list of things to do was not exhaustive. The only way to have fun was to ride a bi- cycle or watch others play hockey. I should have tried to take acting or even dance or public speaking classes. I would also instruct myself to


take measured chances based on my NEXT ISSUE’S QUESTION:


If you could improve/ change one area within your organization, what would it be and why?


To respond to this question or to suggest a question for a future Q&A, contact Stephen Longwell at stephen@fitnet.ca.


March/April 2017 Fitness Business Canada 13


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