The Year So Far…
It has been a strange year already and we still have a few unpredictable months ahead before we can say 2020 is behind us. It’s fair to say that I have not been on my social media, or website management game of recent, and today I wanted to share a few thoughts why that is and how I see the winter months ahead of us.
At Fundamentally FIT things have been far kinder in terms of how we have managed to weather the unpredictability thus far, compared to others.
Early into lockdown, I was able to move a reasonable portion of our services online and deliver coaching and PT sessions via live streaming on Zoom. I want to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all my amazing clients who have supported me throughout the year, especially those during the lockdown itself.
As we moved into June, I was able to start working with more clients outside and restarted my in-home training or gardens due to the rules at the time. For me, this was a return to the roots of the business and was one of the ways in which the company was founded almost seven years ago. In the old days, I would load up the car with bands and weights and train clients in the parks, their gardens, and at the beach. Fast forward to 2020 and the car is now a fully kitted out van and I have swapped the parks and beach for clients gardens until the studio could reopen.
After lockdown, it was so nice to see people and to get back out into the world. It was even nicer to see more and more of my clients returning either in person or online.
At the end of July, I was able to open the doors to the studio and with that, the last few clients who had been in hibernation since March were able to return.
From July onwards things became quite tricky for me. I now had far more people using my mobile services than I would typically book into my diary. I was also seeing more people in the studio and I still had a number of clients still opting to stick with online training for a host of different reasons, many just love the ease and simplicity of the service.
The split nature of my services led to quite a few logistical challenges with tricky diary juggling and very long days, but despite all the long hours, I was so happy to see the business picking itself up and being able to help my clients once more.
As I moved into August and September things have become far busier than normal with many new clients and some of the longest hours since setting up the business.
All of this has been very welcome both as a business owner but also personally because I do very much love my job and being able to help people enhance their health and fitness. The flip side to this is that I have had little to no time for my usual social media schedule. I also found that after rebuilding my website during the lockdown and my time spent coaching online, I have led to a serious case of tech/ internet fatigue.
The other reason for my social media absence has been due to some of the more heated and unhelpful conversations taking place online just now. While I make a point of not getting drawn into online debates (arguments) and instead focus on my clients, or what is positive and can be achieved, I did and still do find social media to be a draining space just now.
It is an understandable time of national and personal anxiety and the concept of a looming winter makes great headlines for selling newspapers or driving clicks to websites, it does not however help people find balance, enhance their mindset or bolster resilience and, importantly be a little kinder to each other, and so I have taken a leave of absence for the past 6-8 weeks or so.
In general I don’t plan to return to social media in a very big way for the remainder of the year and instead intend on writing more content for the new Fundamentally FIT website. I will be sharing some one-off content, new winter readiness videos and all the content people have come to expect, just under one roof (www.fundamentallyfit.co.uk).
I will still be around on the Fundamentally FIT facebook page but please note that it will be far easier to reach me directly at Andy@fundamentallyfit.co.uk
What about winter?
Ahh, the winter, I have a lot of thoughts about this and I will be sharing them in a later post, however…
The winter will unquestionably bring new challenges both personally and from the business side of things. My first intention is to prioritise the health of myself and my wife. We have set ourselves a winter training plan and my work commitments are scheduled around these, not the other way around, you should try to do the same.
The business is likely to come under renewed pressures as the nature of the pandemic develops. This is most likely going to lead to some restrictions on home visits, or potentially a partial suspension of live training. If this is the case, then I will move more of my service back online until such time as I can return to more normal service again.
I am investigating the possibility of offering a subscription service for both my nutrition coaching and my catalog of workout videos for people to do at home, and I am hoping I will finish the Fundamentally FIT Weight Loss Fundamentals book by the end of the year.
Regardless of what the winter brings, spring will come again and Fundamentally FIT will still be here. I have no doubt difficulties lie ahead and I would recommend that you all take some time to prioritise your own health, especially during those times when it can feel almost overwhelming. I am no stranger to dark days, and I assure you that they do indeed get better.
Attitude is a little thing that makes a BIG difference.” “Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.” “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” “Everyone has his day, and some days last longer than others
Winston Churchill
Stay Strong, Stay Safe, and let’s kick this winter in the ass!
Andy
