I spent many years on the gym floor.
Leaders, CEOs, directors, and every type of executive all passed through the gym doors.
Some of them just to use the sauna!
But mostly to release some of the stress of the day. Or to pump themselves up before heading into it.
I was a fitness coach for BP (British Petroleum) at their HQ site in London and was fortunate enough to work with some leading professionals.
At first (as a freshly trained 18 or 19 year old) I was overwhelmed.
Their status and experience were on a completely different level to what I had ever been around.
My job was to start conversations, offer support on techniques and help them develop a fitness plan.
I ended up working with many as their personal trainer.
£15 an hour I made, with the gym taking the much bigger portion. But I didn’t care, I loved it.
The exercises were just the tip of the iceberg.
The gym and fitness were my home, and they still are today.
I went into sessions with clients focused on producing the best plan and giving the best advice I could on increasing strength and fitness.
It was the best job.
But what I loved the most was what I could learn from the top professionals and high performers leading such an enormous company.
I also had a curiosity to know about their habits and why they visit the gym.
This is what I learned.
They weren’t there to look better.
They didn’t come to develop and show off a six-pack.
They had little interest in being able to flex their muscles in the office or at the beach. (Sure, these were bonuses some did achieve!)
But the sole reason they showed up consistently in the gym was to perform better.
Not perform the workouts. But to perform in their work and for their teams.
More significantly to perform for their families, their partners or their kids.
This, at the time, fascinated me.
I was only interested in flexing my muscles at the beach!!
What they wanted, what they needed wasn’t showy.
It was energy. Then it was clarity, presence, focus. To perform better day in and day out, under relentless demands.
Not just in the office. But in every part of their lives.
I remember Jake, a COO saying to me: “If I’m not any good for me, how will I ever be any for anyone else? I have to show up, and well”.
Another senior director when I asked her why she works out so consistently, shared “I have no choice. If my energy and focus aren’t on point I don’t stand a chance of leading a 50 person team, and then looking after two kids.
Being on the gym floor was the best schooling I ever had.
My foundation as a coach hasn’t changed much since those early days in the gym.
Nowadays coaching effective communication and public speaking I have seen how these two areas completely align.
I use so many of the tools on the stage as I did in the gym.
You cannot command a room, deliver a powerful keynote, inspire a team or have a meaningful conversation if your battery is completely empty.
If you’re physically not prepared, you won’t be mentally either.
The first thing we always start with in a session is an energy check.
Because if they are communicating without it nothing else matters much.
Presence, calmness, confidence, delivery.
They all exist through energy.
Here is what I’ve learned through all of this.
In any area of life, if we want to show up as our best (or somewhere close) for our work, our community and our loved ones - we have to put ourselves first.
Through investing into our body and into our energy.
It all starts with a quality level of fitness.
Good fitness creates an abundance of energy.
It creates clarity, focus, productivity, output.
It’s the direct path to better outcomes in every part of life.
Moreover, it is a direct path to a far more joyful life.
So the first thing I tell anyone looking to improve as a communicator, a performer, a partner - or who simply wants to get a little better in any domain of their life - make fitness your priority.
Everything else is downstream.
Create energy.
Create impact.
Thanks for reading.
With Love. Nick x
PS: Running Minds is back with its next signature event in June!
The subject is on finding purpose with scientist and profesor of happiness .
If you’re in Madrid you will not want to miss this one! Get your ticket now.