We have HUGE NEWS to share with you.

I’ll get to it in a moment. First, let’s talk about that fun quiz almost 300 fitness professionals contributed to with your comments.

And, of course, I want to announce the winner of the sweet fitness marketing prize of 2 tickets to MEGA TRAINING 2010, 3 nights of hotel, and $100 cash.

“The Future Depends on what we do in the Present” – Ghandi

It’s a bummer it had to end.

But yesterday evening the blog comment quiz entries slowed to a trickle.

Almost 300 fitness professionals contributed their comments over the course of five days. And it was a fun ride while it lasted, right?

It’s great to stimulate the mind.

And it was cool getting that online conversation going.  Not an easy thing to do these days.

Everybody’s busy.

And…where there’s an abundance of information, there’s often a deficit of attention.

Never in our lives has there been more information accessible so quickly and easily.  Just Google it.

So I really appreciate you giving me your attention.

Because this may be the single most important piece of information I could ever share with you, and it’s not even about fitness marketing.  Imagine that.

But there is still a strategy, which I’ll explain, as well as an excellent tactic that will help you implement.

OK, so the question I asked on the quiz was…

All other things being equal (just like the two young men in Conroy’s letter), what is it that separates the “haves” from the “have nots”…

…at the most fundamental level?

And we got lots of great answers.

The most common ones, and the total number of fitness professionals with that particular answer:

Decision – 54
Desire – 37
Belief – 35
Thought – 20
Imagination – 18
Vision – 12
Want – 9
Plan – 9
Attitude – 5
Goal – 5
Intention – 4

And 36 other answers with from 1-3 people. Some examples; work, positivity, passion, mindset, responsibility, commitment, will, purpose, determination, faith, focus, courage, and more.

The Right Answer

My hope is that you will read this all the way through and think it all the way through. If you do, and then apply it, you will achieve your goals and dreams in record time.

Did you see the Ghandi quote at the top of this post?

“The Future Depends on what we do in the Present”

It’s brilliant. And it’s perfect. It cuts right to the core of the issue, and it reveals exactly what separates the ‘haves’ from the ‘have-nots’.

So the next question is…what determines what you do in the present?

Let me back up for a second, because it’s really important that you get this – that you understand it and internalize it.

When you want something, you have to take action to get it, right?

But there is a gap between your desire, and your action to manifest that desire.

Something has to happen in between in order for you to get your butt in gear.

What is it?  What is that ‘thing’ that happens to close the gap?

Since the largest segment of you answered the quiz correctly, many of you already know…

It’s decision.

You have to decide to take action.  That’s what closes the gap…and that what determines your destiny.

Anthony Robbins said it best…

“It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.”

Like Ghandi’s quote, that one from Tony is simply profound.

So, with this understanding you now have the life-changing STRATEGY.

But it’s the implementation of this decision-strategy on the TACTICAL level that makes all the difference in the world.

Consider this…

You want to lose weight.  You know that will require taking some form of action.  You decide to exercise for 30 minutes a day and eliminate simple carbs from your diet.

The first day, you hit the gym and eat clean.  Same on your next day.  On the third day, a scheduling conflict comes up. You have to decide between your workout or this other thing (whatever it is). You decide to blow off your workout.

That, my friends, in a nutshell is what separates the ‘haves’ from the ‘have-nots’.

And it is often not even that obvious.

Another example…

You’re in the middle of working on a press release for your fitness business when your phone rings. You decide to answer it, and then get drawn into a conversation. After the 15 minute conversation you’re hungry and decide to go get lunch. The opportunity to complete the press release in the time block you allotted for it…is now gone.

Now that project gets back-burnered, or you have to push off another project in order to get back and finish the press release. And the problem cascades.

Small things, you say?

Yes.  And the devil is ALWAYS in the details.

More to the point…the devil is always in the little, tiny decisions you make hundreds of times a day.

You can either kick that devil’s ass – by making sure all your little, tiny daily decisions SUPPORT YOUR GOAL…

…or else the devil will kick your ass.

Your choice. (Aha, another decision.)

On the tactical level, the difference between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ comes down to the CONSISTENCY with which you make supportive decisions.

Because consistently making supportive decisions leads to consistently taking supportive action.

“In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.” Another good one from Anthony Robbins

The decision is the TRIGGER for the action.

Do you see that?

“A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided.”
Yes, yet another great one from Tony Robbins.

Here’s a couple comments from two guys who got the answer to the quiz right. They do a great job.

Randy Gruezo and Brett Matthews both put it most succinctly…

Randy: Decision = cutting off all other possibilities. Allows you to focus on one thing only.

Brett: DECISION. Nothing can occur until you make a decision to do it.
(Brett, I grabbed the Ghandi quote off your website. It’s perfect. Thanks.)

Take a look at how Eric Anderson answered the quiz. This is spot-on:

“Decision. We decide, whether we are aware of it or not, to do or not do, choose or not choose whatever happens to us. Life is not really an accident or surprise…for the most part. I am where I am today due to the choices I have made along the way. Good, bad or indifferent, it is what it is. We can blame others, our environment, our fears, but we ultimately choose the path we take. Until we take responsibility for our actions, and accept that, we simply can’t move on. And, even if I don’t want to admit it, when I find myself becoming indecisive, it’s only because I have chosen to be!! Ain’t that a kick in the pants!”

On the lighter side, Tom (who didn’t leave his last name) also got it right and added this tid-bit…

“Eric I WANT that prize and I’ve decided I’m going to get it. My plan is to track you down. And my actions will be based on how cooperative you are in handing it over But seriously Eric great idea running this little topic/quiz you attracted a lot of cool people with a lot of cool answers. Peace my friend with kindest regards, Tom.

I also really like what Matthew Hickey wrote:

“First, my answer to your riddle is we must make a decision before we take actions. We make hundreds and hundreds of decisions or choices before we take any type of action. Successful people do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do…they make that choice, they decide not to go the extra mile, they decide to not paint a vision for the future but successful people have a strong belief in themselves, they make decisions based on positive (at least they hope) outcomes and the vision they have painted for themselves and strive to achieve.”

Great comments. Thanks gang.

The List of Fitness Professionals Who Got The Answer Right…And The Winner of the Sweet Fitness Marketing Prize

Plus…HUGE NEWS below

1. Dane Mitchell
2. Chris Tuck
3. Noel Chelliah
4. Dean Jolly
5. Matt ___?
6. Vern Gauthier
7. David Hoffmaster
8. Ron Farrington
9. Georgette Pan
10. Ron Embaugh
11. Chris DeLeon
12. Emile Jarreau
13. Kevin Lau
14. Linda Mallard
15. Bethany Geary
16. Jeff Tomaszewski
17. Mark Hill
18. Jim ___?
19. Paul Wright
20. Randy Gruezo
21. Tiffany Todd
22. Nathan Jordan
23. Peter ____?
24. Patrick Streppel
25. Chris Gray
26. Paul Straw
27. Jason Long
28. Rick Caputo
29. Shondelle Solomon
30. Capri Ford
31. Dave Prois
32. Joel T.
33. Tom ____?
34. Anthony ____?
35. Cynthia ____?
36. Peter Holmes
37. Patricia Gibson
38. Cath ____?
39. Zach Little
40. Tom ____?
41. Arden Straw
42. Scott ____?
43. Damien Woodson
44. Billy Colburn
45. Bill ____?
46. Dee Whittington
47. Rick Copley
48. Kimberly Guido
49. Brandon Flowers
50. Brett Matthews
51. Eric Anderson
52. Ruben Carillo
53. Matthew Hickey
54. Ann-Marie Giglio

Congratulations to all of you. Nice job!

So what we did was put all the winner’s names in a big bowl and then I had my dog, Apollo, stick his nose in the bowl (there was a treat at the bottom). When he lifted his head with the treat in his mouth, one piece of paper was stuck to his nose with the name of our winner…

MARK HILL
Lifestyles Fitness

Applause!  Congratulations Mark!  We’ll be in touch to hook you up with your free tickets to MEGA TRAINING, free hotel and $100 cash.

Which, coincidentally (wink) leads me to the…

FREAKIN HUGE NEWS.

And a little decision you have to make right away that we’ve now made so incredibly simple for you.

Go here for the HUGE NEWS and to make your easy-peezy decision.

P.S. As Socrates said, “Know Thyself.” It is the KEY to the door of abundance. Because when you stop to think about the daily decisions you are making – recognizing them in the moment – and correcting them (if need be) to make them supportive of the actions you know you must take to move forward towards your goals…then you have as complete and total control as you can possibly get over your destiny.

“We are all self-made, but only the successful will admit it.”

Onward…to the mac-daddy news.