20 Things Successful Gym Owners Do Everyday Part 1
I was recently reading a post entitled: “20 Things The Rich Do Everyday” on Dave Ramsey’s Website. If you’re not familiar with Ramsey and his teachings his website is truly worth giving a close inspection if you’re a small business owner or gym owner. He writes about finance and emphasizes getting out of debt and building wealth.
When this first came out, it seemed to spark controversy because of the direct percentage comparison with the poor. Regardless, these are great healthy habits to incorporate not only into your own personal life but also carry it over reasonably into a gym operation. The way I see it is that it’s a matter of leadership when it comes to gym ownership. You have to lead by example and this list gives some pretty good ways to set the example.
This particular article started me thinking about how these twenty rules can be applied specifically to the realm of gym owners and their fitness centers. So what follows is my own version. These are directed to owners and operators of small independent gyms. They are intended to translate the points in the articles based on my own successes in gym ownership and personal development.
There is so much to cover here that I’ve broken it into two parts and I am posting ten things now and the rest in a second post later.
- Now, this is just my take on the article that Dave Ramsey linked to. It’s not the definitive work in the field of successful gym management. If you disagree about anything that follows I would be glad to hear about it in the comments.
What Percentage of The Wealthy Do What…
1. 70% eat fewer than 300 junk food calories a day and only 23% gamble
Try to eat less than 300 calories worth of junk food per day and, for goodness sake, stay away from gambling. You may not be aware of it but your employees are watching and they’ll be influenced by your example. These sorts of things are also disqualifiers; if you’re associated with unhealthy behaviors you’ll lose credibility with your people.
2. 80% are focused on accomplishing a single goal
Get focused on achieving one major goal. A singular focus will multiply your energies and actions and you are much more likely to achieve a large singular goal on which you concentrate all of your attention.
3. 76% exercise aerobically four days a week
Set aside time in your day to do your fitness routine. It’s too easy to get sidetracked by all those urgent tasks that are crying out for your attention. Make sure you prioritize the important things first, not the loudest. For a gym owner that has to mean doing aerobic exercise at least four times a week. After all, you’re in the gym already, right? Your subordinates will notice if you can’t organize your own exercise routine.
4. 63% listen to audio books during commute to work
Expand your personal knowledge by listening to audio books. Take the time when you’re commuting or working out. Get a little brain food while you’re doing things that don’t tax your intellect. Audio books are a great way to keep up with ideas and the world around when you don’t have time to sit and read a book.
5. 81% maintain a to-do list
Keep a to-do list to organize and prioritize your important events and tasks. If you have it written down you’ll avoid leaving something out and you’ll get everything done faster.
6. 63% encourage their children to read two or more non-fiction books a month
Get your staff on the same path of improved knowledge and development. Encourage them to read non-fiction books and listen to audio books.
7. 70% encourage their children to volunteer 10 hours or more a month
Organize a volunteer promotion and get involved and encourage your staff to as well. As they will be paid, it’s just the encouragement of being involved with helping those in the community that need it.
8. 80% make Happy Birthday calls
Network for positive affect. Recognize your staff on birthdays and send members a note on theirs, to show that you care enough to recognize obvious milestones in people’s’ lives.
9. 67% write down their goals
Write down your goals and review them occasionally to remind yourself where you want to go. A map isn’t any use unless you stop and take your bearings.
10. 88% read 30 minutes or more each day for education or career
Set aside at least thirty minutes per day to read non-fiction to increase your personal knowledge and awareness.
So there are the first ten things that successful gym owners do every day. I will soon post the other ten things that successful gym owners do every day.
Gym Insight
Thank you for reading our blog. This interesting article originally ran May13, 2015. We re-ran it because it’s never too late to start thinking like a millionaire. We know you’re always striving to be and do better than the year before and the best way is to learn new strategies is from following successful people. We feel the same way. As a gym management software company, we strive to create the easiest-to-use, most affordable software product on the planet. Built and designed by health club owners, Gym Insight gives you intuitive software with a rich depth of capability – inputting, managing, understanding, and most importantly, using your customer data has never been simpler. Call us today at 1-855-for-gyms and ask for Anthony Pasquale, our head sales guy. He’ll point you in the right direction.