Well, a rather large and sudden change in the direction of my life occured last week. As you may or may not know, I was employed at a bike shop by the name of Gears, here in Mississauga On, Canada. As you also may or may not know, I have been in the process of launching my own side business, coaching/personal training and offering fitness and physiological assessments. I've invested a bunch of personal capital in some great equipment(NewLeaf, Computrainer) and alot of time and money in education and certification. Part of my goal was to create my own little niche in the industry and to create a name for myself, and part of my goal was to help add benefit and exposure to the store.
I totally misjudged on the latter of those two. I had a long conversation with the store owners last week, brought them up to speed on where it was all going, what I could offer them and the clientelle, where I wanted to take it, and it turns out they have no interest in having that kind of fitness service through the shop(odd to me as they have a 35 bike spin studio in the store). They felt my project was a conflict of interest and that if I wasn't willing to simply be a bike salesperson for them and nothing more, then maybe I should move on and pursue my own goals on my own time.
It seems my own ambition has gotten the better of me yet again, for I am now self-employed(unemployed) far faster than any schedule I had layed out for myself. I've gone through a very wide range of emotions over this past weekend. Fear, anger, sadness, panic(never knew what a panic attack was until saturday), disbelief...you get the idea. I think if it hadn't been for my GF's support I may have slipped into a minor depression. But thanks to her, and alot of introspection, I've realized now that I simply have two choices...make it work, or wallow in self pity and be a victim. And really, when you look at those two choices, I really have only one.
So it's time to keep on keepin on now. No more tears, no more bitterness, just take what I've started and make it better than I imagined, faster than I planned.
Thanks for reading, this is part of my catharsis, the final step to keeping on, get it out, accept it, move on from it. I have been thrown a roadblock, but I'm determined to make the most of the road I am now on.
So, as for an ethics disclaimer for my opinions from this day forward, I no longer have any ties to the bike industry in an retail capacity. Any recommendations I may offer are based solely on personal experience, with no sales bias involved.
And with that, it's time to go make my own way in this world. Something I've wanted to do for awhile, but was too scared to see the first step. I've been shoved into motion now, and the only thing to do is keep putting one foot in front of the other on down the road.
Peace to my fellow gentle tribespeople...
Ian MacLean
http://www.imfit.ca
Success comes when fear of failure goes
I totally misjudged on the latter of those two. I had a long conversation with the store owners last week, brought them up to speed on where it was all going, what I could offer them and the clientelle, where I wanted to take it, and it turns out they have no interest in having that kind of fitness service through the shop(odd to me as they have a 35 bike spin studio in the store). They felt my project was a conflict of interest and that if I wasn't willing to simply be a bike salesperson for them and nothing more, then maybe I should move on and pursue my own goals on my own time.
It seems my own ambition has gotten the better of me yet again, for I am now self-employed(unemployed) far faster than any schedule I had layed out for myself. I've gone through a very wide range of emotions over this past weekend. Fear, anger, sadness, panic(never knew what a panic attack was until saturday), disbelief...you get the idea. I think if it hadn't been for my GF's support I may have slipped into a minor depression. But thanks to her, and alot of introspection, I've realized now that I simply have two choices...make it work, or wallow in self pity and be a victim. And really, when you look at those two choices, I really have only one.
So it's time to keep on keepin on now. No more tears, no more bitterness, just take what I've started and make it better than I imagined, faster than I planned.
Thanks for reading, this is part of my catharsis, the final step to keeping on, get it out, accept it, move on from it. I have been thrown a roadblock, but I'm determined to make the most of the road I am now on.
So, as for an ethics disclaimer for my opinions from this day forward, I no longer have any ties to the bike industry in an retail capacity. Any recommendations I may offer are based solely on personal experience, with no sales bias involved.
And with that, it's time to go make my own way in this world. Something I've wanted to do for awhile, but was too scared to see the first step. I've been shoved into motion now, and the only thing to do is keep putting one foot in front of the other on down the road.
Peace to my fellow gentle tribespeople...
Ian MacLean
http://www.imfit.ca
Success comes when fear of failure goes