The Right Decision
February 2024 - the gym update with two squat racks designated for barbell training
This past week, I listened to a Rich Roll podcast with a segment that really resonated with me. His guest on this particular episode was Dr. Ellen Langer - aka, “Harvard’s Mother of Mindfulness.”
Without having read her book, her research in psychology, and specifically, mindfulness, is intriguing. The particular idea that grabbed my attention from the podcast was around making the “right” decisions.
She says, “We’re so focused on constantly trying to make the right decision instead of making the decision right.” She goes on to say that in many instances, we’d be further ahead to make a decision at random - everything from which candy bar to eat to who to marry and start a life with. Now, while I’m not sold on the latter, I think the concept is certainly fascinating, and I have an example of how I think it applies to what I’m currently working through with The 1440.
The sentiment of this idea is that we can only live one life, and there’s really no way of knowing the possible outcome of one decision versus the other. For example, in my past life I was torn between going to Laurier or Queens. Luckily, I had a great student-athlete experience at Laurier. I spent no time wondering what things would have been like if I decided to go to Queens. But what if I really didn’t enjoy Laurier? It would have been easy to think that I made the wrong decision and should have gone to Queens instead. But who’s to say that Queens would have been any better?
I think this same sentiment is where the expression “hindsight is twenty-twenty” stems from. It’s easy to look back on your life and see how different decisions might have led to different outcomes, but you can only make that analysis based on the outcomes you experienced and how you feel about them.
On the heels of my grandfather’s funeral last weekend, I’ve been thinking a lot about the giant he really was. He accomplished so much in his life, not the least of which was being a wonderful father to 3 children, and the best grandpa to 8 grandchildren. But perhaps the most impressive thing about him was that he lived with no regret. Even after a massive stroke at 82 years old, he remained an eternal optimist. He talked about how he was going to walk again, drive his old Triumph TR4, and get out fishing at the lake. Buddy was living proof that a life well lived involves making decisions right.
Dr. Langer says that living with regret is living mindlessly because we have such little control over the outcomes of so many of our decisions.
Here’s the current example from my business:
2023 was The 1440’s best year to date. I started working with a mentor that I met with every month. His expertise and the accountability that our monthly meetings provided helped me get more focused on operational excellence and the things that really matter in my business.
In an effort to keep growing the business in 2024, we started to evaluate the feasibility of offering 2-on-1 personal training sessions in my space. This would involve capacity considerations, making changes to the physical space, and getting clear on messaging and whether or not this would align to my vision for the business.
I agonized over making this decision for several months. In that process, I learned that I was resistant to change, and worried about what could potentially go wrong. What would my clients think? Do they want 2-on-1 training? What if it fails?
Eventually, with enough encouragement from my mentor and other trusted advisors in my network, I decided that making the change and providing this new offering was worth a shot. By December, I had reorganized the gym and communicated the changes to my existing clients. In January, I had my first 2-on-1 personal training session, and contrary to my “what if” worries, it was successful.
Before you stop reading and assume that things have taken off completely and now I’m running the business of my dreams, that’s not entirely true, either.
There is no instant gratification in a business like this. It takes months to change a business model and then several more months to evaluate the effectiveness of those changes. While I’m still pushing towards increasing my capacity and running more 2-on-1 personal training, the transition is slow.
In these last few weeks, I’ve wondered if I made the right decision at the end of last year. The changes I made to the space meant that I had to get rid of some equipment that I really enjoyed training with. During the times where I’ve wanted to use those pieces of equipment or preferred the old layout - coupled with the reality that my very recent business changes hadn’t yet propelled The 1440 to the moon - I’ve felt regret.
I’ve also wondered how things would be different if I remained a coach in the CrossFit community or what my day-to-day would look like if I had stuck it out as a varsity strength & conditioning coach at Laurier. Or what if I had stayed in the tech industry?
For me, this line of thought is really where the essence of Dr. Langer’s message comes through. Have I made the right decisions? I think I have, but that doesn’t make me immune to wondering “what if?” Furthermore, I realized I have this massive opportunity right in front of me to make my decision right.
The gym is awesome. I believe that the 2-on-1 offering is a great evolution for The 1440, and the sessions I’m running each week continue to confirm that decision. This new model is completely in line with my vision for The 1440 and my purpose as a strength coach - to teach as many people as possible how to lift weights.
You get 1440 minutes every single day. Don’t worry about making the right decision; instead, make the decision right.