Aha!

What would you consider to be your ‘Aha!’ moment in life? Reflect for just a moment on what event or series of events lead you to where you presently are right now. What caused that moment and where would you be without it?


After completing yet another amazing, inspirational, and life-changing and monthly Boot Camp at the Professional Fitness Institute, I had an ‘Aha’ moment myself when I took a step back and reminisced how I was in the shoes of each of the remarkable students who I had the honor of spending time with this past week. I realized that just over a year ago, I was going through my own transformation without a clue of what really lied ahead for me and what destiny had laying on the table for me all along. I looked back and thought how I would have rolled my eyes and laughed had someone told me where I would be a year later.


During the week while talking to two of my best friends and brilliant coworkers, Kristina Lindquist and Alex Chavez, we got into a discussion on a book Tina highly recommended about leadership and success and what it is that might cause someone to be a leader. Interestingly enough, one of the major contributions to success is nothing short of how a person reacts to their own ‘Aha’ moment, or crucible.


In life, each person has single (or multiple) moments that come periodically every once and a while that challenge us to think on our toes and to react quickly. Most of these moments can make or break us and it’s up to us to ‘respond’ instead of ‘react’ on a whim. When the unexpected happens to us, it can be difficult if not impossible to look at it as a possible opportunity as most of the time we are caught off guard and may not notice the subliminal message behind whatever has occurred. But it is these moments that may or may not ultimately defy us as individuals and success stories. When we choose to react to these moments instead of stepping back, weighing our options, and thinking about how to respond, we are unintentionally choosing to pass up a possible life-changing/-altering moment in time.


Think about a moment when you reacted on impulse to a circumstance that affected you deeply, whether it was emotional, physical, spiritual or mental. Think about how you felt at that moment and how tousled and jumbled your thoughts were. Was the final result a positive or negative reaction? It is our natural instinct, as humans, to react to any external or internal stimuli that may put us into an extreme emotional positive or negative state. It is during these times when our ‘fight or flight’ hormones take over and our judgment and may be impaired. It is also during these times when we typically make a negative or ‘wrong’ decision as a result of not thinking things through completely. When we choose to ‘react’ instead of ‘respond’ to our crucibles, we are setting ourselves up to possibly miss a great opportunity or prospect. If we can take the time out to step back, notice when these situations arise and take a second to actually think about and ponder what is happening, we are giving ourselves the option to respond and make a resolution that will benefit us instead of put us into a disposition.


In this classic example of reaction versus response, reflect on an instance when you were so incredibly upset at the world or at a certain person and instead of taking time to sit and gather your thoughts, you begin taking out all your stress on the first person you cross paths with. How did that situation pan out? More likely than not, it was something you fully regretted after it was over because you acted completely on impulse and you weren’t ‘being yourself’. Is this ringing a bell? Sure… maybe this isn’t your ‘crucible’ per-se, but is a common denominator that frequently happens as a result of a negative reaction. A crucible can be any number of things from an unexpected opportunity, to a chance meeting with someone you can benefit from, to randomly being in the right place at the right time, to even something as simple as stepping out of your box and trying something new… and liking it. Each of these elements can be obscured in emotions and disguised as distractions, but in reality, these are the things in life we need to grasp hold of and take a moment to analyze for they could have a tremendous effect on our future and our lives as we know it. How you choose to react or respond can have either a positive or negative impact on the situation as a whole.


So, what does this ‘aha’ moment stuff have to do with success, achievement, etc… you ask? Well, a lot, actually. While many people don’t see the door opening in front of them when these situations arise, a few others can essentially use the ‘glass half full’ philosophy and find a small window of opportunity, even in situations when the outcome appears grim or even ‘impossible’. It could be a moment of clarity, a moment of inspiration or even a moment that changes your life. What these people do versus most people is they find the one positive aspect of a situation and they grasp hold of it without letting go. When things aren’t optimal, it can be difficult to remain and stay positive or have hope. It is much easier to dwell on something bad then it is to change it by doing something about it.


One of my own (many) crucibles happened right here in Las Vegas during my externship at the Professional Fitness Institute. In a time when the economy was really beginning to crack it’s whip on our country, all I could think about was how much I didn’t just want, but NEEDED to be effective in my career. I had put so much work and effort into passing one of (if not THE) most difficult exam in the personal training world and I had the most amazing training possible from both the gym I worked at (the Pennbriar Athletic Club) and an amazing privately owned personal training (only) studio that helped me discover how to apply my knowledge into practical experience (Power Personal Training), I still felt that there was an element of my life that was missing. I was happy and content, but not complete. By nature, I am not a person who enjoys being ‘comfortable’ as I have watched many people bask in their comfort and never aspire for anything more. So, naturally, I needed that ‘something more’, but felt at a loss as to where to find it. Having rarely ever left my small hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, I wasn’t expecting my solution to be so far away.


So, last July, I came out and my ‘crucible’ presented itself to me in the form of a select few individuals who gave me the best experience I had ever had in my entire lifetime. It was one of those things where you just know it was meant to be. The central void in my solar plexus was suddenly filled to the top and spilling over in the time I spent in Vegas, and as my time here dwindled I knew I had to return home. And I did. But I returned home even more ambitious and knew that against all odds, I was going to move to Las Vegas. I realized so heavily while I was out here that what I, personally, desire above all else in this world is to have an impact on as many people’s lives as I possibly can, and I realized that I just simply wasn’t able to reach enough people back home. In learning about the declining health status and the growing epidemics plaguing the nation and the world, I just couldn’t sit back and watch it happen. It wasn’t even an option. When I discovered the need for great professionals (and not just great professionals, but great FEMALE professionals) in the industry, it became physically, mentally and emotionally impossible for me to not desire with all my heart to help contribute to filling this gap. The ‘Aha’ bug had hit me, and it hit me hard. How was I going to get the word out? It was so strange how overpowering this desire was and it was only getting stronger by the day. I found my calling, but I was living 3,000 miles away from my destiny. I felt that my potential to grow in my chosen industry was stunted by residing in such a small town. Coming to Las Vegas helped me realize the potential of living in a huge city with limitless opportunity and room to grow. In the months that followed after my return home, I hit a few brick walls that I knew could make or break me and I decided to make a conscious effort to analyze every situation and take careful time to positively respond to them and not negatively react. The bumps in the road were extremely intense and Life truly did it’s best in trying to push me down and keep me down. But the thing that helped me push through wasn’t the fact that I was able to internally digest and recognize a life-changing opportunity that I wanted so greatly; it was the fact that I decided to run full-speed ahead to what I wanted and desired without putting a limitation on what I, or anyone else, deemed ‘possible’. When you are able to picture something so clearly in your mind time after time, it no longer is surrounded by boundaries. I took my ‘Aha’ moment and I decided to make it drive my aspiration forward. In going home, the temptation lied in just packing up and coming out post-haste… The problem at hand was that if I would have reacted impulsively to this stimulus, I knew I wouldn’t have been prepared for the long-haul. So, although it wasn’t by any means easy, I took the next 8 months to game-plan and find the most effective time and way to make a successful move. In planning for anything long-term, the best thing we can do is not jump into something impulsively without looking at all the consequences and repercussions that may arise.


Albert Einstein, himself, had his own ‘Aha Moment’ before he discovered the equivalence principle, which was a foundation for his General Theory of Relativity. Einstein, whom at the time was 28, was working a dead-end job completely unrelated to physics as a patent examiner when one day a random thought came to his mind, “…if a person were in free-fall, he or she would not feel their own weight…”. This thought spawned one of the greatest theories of all time. This thought was also later described by Einstein as, “the happiest thought in my life.”


If Einstein had decided to let this thought pass by without taking time to process it and to put into action a way to make it applicable to life, who KNOWS where we would be! Every person in the world has had crucibles happen to them throughout their lives. Leaders and people of success aren’t the ones who take a look around them and contently wait for things to happen. They are the ones who search for that window of opportunity, no matter how small, and do the things that others either fear doing, haven’t thought of doing, or aren’t doing.


In a final example, I want you, Faithful Reader, to realize the potential you have right at your disposal in creating your own crucible. An innovation in itself, Connect To Fitness was an ‘idea’ thought up by a man who was able to recognize the state of the health, wellness and fitness industry, and who was willing to step up the plate to do something about it. CTF President, Dr. Darian Parker, had an enormous idea that seemed crazy enough to work. So, did he sit back and wait for something to happen or for someone else to step up to the plate? No. He took a significant amount of time to find out how to respond to this idea he just couldn’t shake. And it was designed for you, Faithful Reader, to be able to channel and create your own crucibles and ‘Aha’s’ into reality. Envision your ideal future exactly how you want it to be and ask yourself what you are doing right now to turn it into reality. Nothing has to be ideal in life, and nothing is impossible if we can just believe in ourselves, our potential and in our ideas. If everyone believed only in the impossible, life as we know it would cease to exist. Connect To Fitness has been making incredible strides in connecting professionals from all over the Vegas Valley together for one common cause: To improve this industry in every facet. Just as I always say, ‘There is no such thing as a self made man.’ This couldn’t ring more true and we are going to great lengths in proving this each day. If you haven’t yet come to one of our events, you are truly missing out on a great opportunity to meet with the people of your area who share like interests and goals and also in getting to see and visit different locations and facilities around Vegas that are making strides as well. The events are a blast and it has been an honor to meet with so many amazing professionals who are motivated to see through their crucibles to the end. There has never been a more crucial time in the health, wellness, and fitness profession to unite and give rise to something so big that the world will have no choice but to listen. It’s up to you to take that initiative, that one step forward. Get out of your comfort zone and set your sights on the change you wish you see in this world. Become those thoughts and ideas and let them propel you forward. Alone, we are only one voice, one idea. Together, we are a million voices strong and unstoppable.


How would your life look years down the road if you decided to take that leap of faith into pursuing and ‘responding’ to your crucible(s)? Alone, we are only one voice, one idea. But together, we are a million voices strong and unstoppable.


Until next time, Faithful Reader…


“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” –Steve Jobs


“Discovery consists of seeing what everybody else has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.” -Albert von Szent-Gyorgy


“The human body has two ends on it: one to create with and one to sit on. Sometimes people get their ends reversed. When this happens they need a kick in the seat of their pants.” –Roger von Oech