#FILEX2017 Insights From Troy Morgan Of Willows Health & Lifestyle Centre
Why do I attend FILEX?
FILEX is always an amazing experience filled with opportunities and possibilities. I first started going to FILEX in the 90s and like so many delegates, the sessions I tended to choose reflected where I was at in my career. From when I first started in the industry, consuming as many programming sessions as possible was vital to me, as my belief was that the better technically I became, the sooner success would fall into place. I learned that to succeed in the fitness industry takes so much more than one aspect of skill, just as I came to understand that to design a well-balanced program for my clients meant understanding many facets of health and wellbeing. I wish I’d learnt sooner to challenge myself more at FILEX and attended sessions outside my specific area of interest, to attend sessions where I wouldn’t be surrounded by like-minded people and to push the boundaries of my comfort zone. So number one reason for attending FILEX is challenging my status quo.
Takeaways
Once I had a clear reason for attending FILEX, my takeaways from FILEX became so much more meaningful and my network of connections became so much wider. Every year FILEX provides such an amazing opportunity to network and connect with people that helps you to form peer-to-peer mentoring support which I believe is so important in today’s increasingly competitive and disruptive business world. I would challenge you each year to set a target to connect with new people and particularly people from outside your normal circle of influence. My number one take away from FILEX in fitness-speak is to implement the theory of progressive overload to your session choices and networking opportunities, each year pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone and thought processes.
Whilst I attended some fantastic sessions this year, my greatest session takeaways came from Dr Michelle Segar at this year’s Business Summit. In her session, Dr Segar created a compelling case for a new approach about how as an industry we connect clients and members to our products and to their own wellbeing. The presentation challenged me to consider that if my businesses are to have a long-lasting impact on people’s lives, I need to continue to gain understanding about how long-lasting change is nurtured, focus individuals on self-awareness and self-care skills, while creating frameworks which allow people to use self-regulatory skills leading them to effectively sustain wellbeing change.
My personal comfort zone session push came in the keynote session Yoga to prevent injury and enhance performance by Tiffany Cruikshank. I believed (whether true or not) I was the only non-yogi in the room and must have formed a sight to the many experienced yoga instructors as I tried to manipulate my very much inflexible body into inhuman positions during the practical aspects of the session. The theory behind the session challenged my thinking, both from my sports science background and also as an athlete. The simple practical reminders really hit the mark particularly when incorporating yoga into my sports training program to remember that I am there to use yoga to make me better at my sport, not to be the best at yoga and to be okay with that. Apparently Yoga is not about winning – who would have thought – a challenging concept to grasp for any competitive sports person!
As I now return to my normal career and business life, it is important to implement the lessons learned from this year’s FILEX experience. For me that is acknowledging that to succeed at anything in life, understanding that information is only the first step. It’s not about knowing something that creates the success, it’s about consistent action over time. For me it is about creating space after each FILEX to reflect and plan about what I wish to implement from the experience and what daily practices do I need to do to create the behaviours that eventually lead to the desired outcomes.
The question for me is next year as I prepare for FILEX 2018 is this: Did I grab the opportunities and possibilities FILEX 2017 created for me or did I just use up memory space in my iCloud with the notes taken?
Active Management Note
Troy Morgan is from Willows Health & Lifestyle Centre in Toowoomba. He is also a member of the Club Owners Industry Leaders Roundtable. To find out more about the Industry Leaders Roundtable for Club Owners and Personal Trainers, go to www.IndustryLeadersRoundtable.com.au
Justin is the Managing Director of Active Management, which he began January 2004. He offers coaching to businesses worldwide in everything from start up and design to marketing and sales systems. Justin also facilitates four Australian and New Zealand ‘fitness industry roundtables’ events, which allows him to see a huge cross section of business models.