It was the third time that Jenna popped up on my calendar.
The first time we had a call scheduled for early January (a famously busy time in the gym business) and she just flat out no-showed.
The second time was three months later. Her confirmation text accompanied an apology for not showing up for the first call but, apparently, the time she booked wasn’t going to work for her. A sudden meeting popped up on her calendar.
I sent her the rescheduling link.
Nothing happened.
The third time was nearly a year after the initial call was scheduled.
This time, she got on the phone.
We jokingly addressed the elephant in the room. That we’d been trying to have this call for a year before getting down to business.
Jenna’s goals were fairly typical. She wanted to get stronger but didn’t really know her way around a weight room. She wouldn’t mind losing a few pounds. Her doctor kept telling her that since she is showing some early signs of osteoporosis and that it runs in her family she should start resistance training.
These are all very valid reasons to get involved in a program and I took the time to explain what we do and how I thought we’d be able to help her. I answered all her questions and we even discussed potential next steps.
And then I heard the five dreaded words.
“Let me think about it.”
Let me start by saying this, there is nothing wrong with thinking about a decision. Particularly one that is going to cost you time or money or effort. And, in this case, what I was proposing was going to cost Jenna all three.
I’ve said this before but it bears repeating, when you are looking for a gym or a coach or any other expert that you are hiring to help you, you should be skeptical. You should take your time, research your options and feel great about your decision. Because once you’ve done that you should feel very confident in engaging in the process.
But Jenna already knew she wanted to train with us. She’d been circling around it for a year. She had the time, she had the money, she had the diagnosis. She lived close by, she watched all the Instagram videos, the scheduling was convenient, she was able to afford it.
What Jenna suffered from was the greatest obstacle we face as a business and as an industry. It isn’t competing gyms or marketing strategy or the latest trends. It is inaction.
To put this into perspective, in the US where people are more likely to have access to and join a gym than any other country - whether that be a training facility like ours or a yoga studio or a Planet Fitness - you are five times more likely to be not exercising at all than you are to be doing any of it.
Inaction is our biggest competition.
And certainly there are reasons well beyond just the simple paralysis by overanalysis that Jenna was experiencing. Socio-economic factors, lack of spousal or family support, injury or illness. The list goes on.
But it’s also worth noting that inaction can plague so many aspects of our lives that it becomes a habit holding us back from reaching our goals and desires and dreams.
Starting a blog, changing careers, getting stronger, losing 10 pounds, moving out of your hometown where nothing ever happens. None of this is going to happen by not doing it.
I say this as a risk-averse person myself, you have to put yourself in the game.
And that’s exactly what Jenna did. She was one of the rare people who thought about it, actually called me back and got started. It’s been nearly two years now since she no-showed on our first call and nearly a year since she’s been in the gym.
She just received her 100 session congratulations card and signed the “wall of fame” plate we have in the gym.
I saw her recently and congratulated her.
“Dan, it’s been great,” she said. “I should have started earlier.”
She paused for a second and looked me square in the face.
“Nothing happens when nothing happens.”
I wish she’d told me that sooner.