Today I celebrate my 36th year as a health & fitness professional. On January 27th, 2020, I celebrated not only my 30th anniversary, but also the fact that I felt like I had finally built the business I had always dreamed of. I was my own boss, a true solo-prenuer, I had control over my schedule, confidently charged premium prices, and working with wonderful client’s. In great shape at a comfortable 205lbs (and very proud that I could keep my jeans up without a belt), happy, I slept like a baby knowing that I was the “Master of My Universe.” Life Was Good! 2 months later the Covid-19 pandemic hit hard and I had no choice but to shut down. All of my client’s older than 50 (some in their 70’s and 80’s) it would have been potentially life-threatening to see them in-person. Locked-down, isolated, solo I was… With no end in sight, I had to figure out how I was going to save my business. Not having much experience with the virtual world, I jumped in head first, and also let my client’s know that if they wanted to join me we’d have to figure this out together. No social media presence, a mentor, a coach, colleagues, a team or a community I could lean on… I’ve never felt so professionally alone. The long-standing relationships that I’ve been able to establish with all of my client’s is probably the thing I am most proud of, and I say with confidence is what saved my business. So it was greeted with joyous relief but not surprise, when most said they’d be willing to explore the virtual world together. The pandemic dragged on and on with no end in sight, clearly the business that I had spent 30 years building was not to return. It had to change and I had to change if we were going to survive. Sleeping like a baby no more, stressed beyond belief, and while I did not stop working out, not having access to a gym set me back. Add to that, that I was basically walking in the dark trying to figure out what were next steps to keep my business afloat. Life Was Not Good!

Since we don’t record our meetings, I thought this would be a good go to reference and reminder of the importance our self-care plays in our overall success at achieving our goals, combating overwhelm and stress, and maintaining a high quality of life as we navigate our current environment and the years to come. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/carlos-a-reyes-01706a22_ageless-performance-after-50-strength-sleep-activity-7386027702044233729-QPVZ?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAASiyZMBZ92Jqm_6UgC6I91w5-30-btaC5Y

For those of us who remember when our fellow coach John Duane was struggling with the decision on whether they should go off on their own and start their own private wealth consulting firm — Let’s congratulate him and celebrate the first year anniversary of his BrookBridge Private Wealth firm. @John Furth, @Jonathan Phillips , @Alan Byrne , @Neil Pessin

@Jonathan Phillips @John Furth @Alan Byrne @Neil Pessin

Since we went down the AI rabbit hole at our last group meeting I thought I’d share this just in case any of us are using AI for research related content. P.S. I know of a couple of people who have been recently burned by false AI information. Not to mention the recent HHS Make America Healthy Again report that was full of inaccuracies, false data, and non-existent citations. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ultimate-fact-checking-prompt-mitch-jackson-i561c?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&utm_campaign=share_via