As our membership number entered the 90's today, the dynamics of our crew only continues to widen but at the same time it stays the same in that it's getting thicker and stronger too. We've got an amazing crew of members and it's pretty cool to see the friendships develop among them, them becoming more comfortable and trusting of us and to see them really taking on a sense of ownership of our club. Our boxing club really has become like a clubhouse for many and I see it in the fact that many of our members drop by to say hi, some even come by on their lunch break while others hang out long after or before training.
Everyday is NOT the same, surely not, especially now that we're running our own boxing club. Some days are better than others but all are really good. Today was really great. It all started off when I dropped by the shop of one of our members. He runs a phone shop that a couple of our members work at and it's on route to our club. No sooner did we leave his shop but then he came to our club, just to chat.
Mid afternoon hit a temporary rough spot when the humidity and heat of the mid day heat proved to be too much for a couple of our members training. One member just refused to give up but at the cost of almost fainting so I stopped everyone. Made everyone at the club join me at the juice bar for some much needed, much deserved Popsicles. After a little pick-me-upper, it was back to training hard and letting the sweet sweat flow freely.
I've been accused lately for being too "soft" on the non-Korean members and too hard on the Koreans so tonight I thought I'd put my boxercise class participants through a little bit of Hell and back. The result -- 1 puked and two almost.
Two points for me this week and it's ONLY Wednesday!!! Points are kind of an inside joke between Snickers and I. You get points for pushing members to the point of puking. I know, I know, it's not exactly good to puke but I tell you this, it's absolutely incredible to see just how far members push themselves when you throw them a bit of motivation and encouraging words... yelling also helps. I've made two members puke this week, one on Monday and one today, and that's a lot considering the average is about one a week. I scored another point too today, a third point, when I made one of my members cry. I should note here that when I talk about points it's not out of pride for myself, that's totally not it, instead it's because I am proud for those particular members. Take for example the member I made cry tonight. I won't get into the details about it but will say that this member cried as a result of their weigh-in. They've been training so incredibly hard at Hulk's but their weigh-in was quite disappointing because they haven't been eating up to par with their training. I'm always stressing the importance of eating clean and getting in your protein; sometimes I feel I stress it to the point of nagging them regarding it. So after they stepped off the scale and saw the result of not keeping up with their clean eating, they were disappointed, naturally and so was I. Of course I want all my members to succeed and I take it very personal both their success and set backs but I refuse to say they've failed or have failures. Something is only a failure if you give up and refuse to use it as a lesson to continue on and learn from.
It was a bittersweet moment for this member when they cried because I know they want it so much -- they clearly want to change and they're quite passionate and driven to change. I definitely can relate with their disappointment but I was proud to see this particular member so hungry for change. I know so many of my members can relate with this member but I can't help but one specific member would want it as much. Today I made a conscious decision to give up on one member I was so determined to help, so determined and eager to change in fact that I put their "goal weight due date" on my cell phone background screen. This particular member just doesn't want to change though. They've been MIA at Hulk's for well over a month and it's rather upsetting because, if they continue on the path they are going, I seriously doubt if they'll live a long life. The weight they are carrying is excessively way too much but in a way it's become my weight to carry because I've been stressed out regarding why they haven't been coming to training. I can't preoccupy myself with this member anymore. They have to want it for themselves and paying me doesn't mean getting out of caring or putting in the effort. I have way too many members to concern myself about and way too many members that are deserving of my attention, effort, time and compassion. I refuse to divide myself among people that don't care, that's not fair -- not fair to me and not fair to my other members! I came about this decision tonight when I was sitting ringside with one of my favourite G-Boys.
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