A story of being ready when opportunity knocks
by Coach Jimmy Hays Nelson
This past week I was totally pampered at the Beachbody Coach Success Club Trip at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL. Beachbody, the company behind Insanity, P90X, TurboFire, and Brazil Butt Lift, rewarded its qualifying Coaches with a free trip to Orlando for training, fun, and of course …. world class workouts with Insanity workout creator, Shaun T. Looking over the schedule I was stoked to see THREE Shaun T Workouts on the docket. Sunrise Insanity workouts in the middle of Epcot before the park opened … are you kidding me? I was so stoked. Then the excitement grew even more when those of us who were Elite Beachbody Coaches got a sneak peek of the new Shaun T workout program, FOCUS T25! So not only was I going to get to workout with my buddy and fitness mentor, I was also going to get to experience some new Focus T25 moves. I was ready to Power Jump to the moon!
I will ‘focus’ on my T25 review a little later this week. This is more a tale of being ready when opportunity knocks. For the last two months I have really been pushing myself in my workouts to prepare for the Beachbody Insanity Master Trainer auditions, the launch of the Insanity Certification, and the creation of D.I.G., our new Dallas Insanity Group.
I felt that in order to give my best to those who would be looking to me for leadership and guidance, I had to truly push myself to the brink. If I was going to ask them to Dig Deeper, I had to remind myself what it felt like to feel like you can’t go on…to experience that critical moment where you decide if you are going to quit or break thru a barrier today. Little did I know that those 6am sessions in my home gym by myself would pay very public dividends.
It was still dark outside as we all found our spots in front of the stage in the middle of Epcot. As we danced around to the pre-show music trying to stay warm, the group of over 1000 Beachbody Coaches got very animated as Shaun T and his ‘Shantourage’ took the stage. He told us all good morning, and before I knew what happened, he was asking the crowd who was the guy in the Insanity Workouts with the ‘Good Squats’?! The next thing I knew, Shaun T was telling me to get on stage because I would be doing today’s Focus T25 Workout with him on stage. Even though I had never done this workout, I was stoked to jump on stage and give it my best. Many people might have been terrified in this situation, but I wasn’t! Why? Because I knew I was ready. The past 2 months of training by myself when no one was around, no audience, with no immediate gratification was now about payoff when opportunity knocked.
As you can see from these pictures, I had a blast. Now I won’t lie, there were moments when I wanted to take a break! There were even a few times when I wasn’t sure I was gonna make it through to the end. But in those moments, I would silently remind myself that this is no different than being at home at 6:00am. The stage, the crowd, Shaun T himself right next to me …. at the end of the day didn’t matter because I was ready! As an Insanity Coach who has the experience of also being featured in the Insanity workout DVDs, I know first hand that working out with Shaun T in person is a lesson in learning what the phrase DIG DEEPER truly means! I try to instill that experience into my Insanity Online Coach Group clients so they can break through their plateaus to see results they may not have thought possible. Your ‘Opportunity Knocks’ moment may not be fitness related. You may not be called on stage by Shaun T to do a live Focus T25 or Insanity Workout. But what it is in your life that you know the extra effort when no one is watching will ultimately pay huge dividends in the future? Perhaps its going the extra mile at your job even though it may not initially mean a pay raise. Is it going the extra mile with your family even in times when you feel they should be the ones helping you more? I invite you to stop by my Facebook Page and let me know what you are doing to prepare so you can rock your on-stage moment when Opportunity Knocks!
