How to Take Your Business from Mediocrity to Badass (Parts 1-3)

Is it possible to take your business from mediocrity to greatness?

It sure as hell is, and I’m gonna teach you how to get there. In fact, I made a list of the 12 most common traits of mediocrity, along with traits of bad-assery to replace them with.

Whether you’re a beginning entrepreneur or an established fitness pro, you need to study this list. There are always areas we can improve in and blind spots we don’t see in ourselves.

On that note, let’s talk about overcoming those 12 traits of mediocrity and becoming the best version of yourself possible.

 

Show Gratitude

Mediocrity trait number one is a lack of gratitude. photodune-604490-question-marks-xs-300x208-9XPdYb.jpg

I’ve gotta tell you, those who lack gratitude are usually those who are negative, who are cynical, who have low self-esteem, who have low self-confidence. They’re always focusing on the things they don’t have, or the things they want, or how they’re a victim.

The fix? Easy. Show gratitude, even for the small things.

Listen, I am grateful that I woke up this morning and got a workout in. I am grateful that I have an amazing team that I can trust with my business. I am grateful that I have my health, because all the money in the world means nothing without my health.

The moment someone stops showing gratitude is the moment they start taking things for granted. And once they start taking things for granted, they start slipping into mediocrity.

Show gratitude, and show it often. That’s what the high performers do.

 

Build Others Up

Mediocre entrepreneurs also tend to gossip and talk shit. They get excited about either hearing or spreading gossip.

Gossip does a lot of damage to your own reputation, and it can hurt other people as well.

The fix? Build others up. Rather than talk shit, encourage your team.

I like to say that you should praise in public and correct in private. Praise them so that your entire boot camp or gym session can hear you brag about them. And for those times you need to correct a client, it should always come from a good place, knowing that you want that person to grow from the experience.

Never badmouth a client, even behind their back. If they’re really your fitness family, you’ll do everything you can to appreciate them.

 

Never Play the Victim

Having a victim mindset is yet another trait of mediocrity.

So many people out there consider themselves victims. Things always happen to them, and they swear they have no control over their lives.

I’ve got an idea. You’re not the victim. You are the controller of the outcome.

The fix? If you just take control and claim responsibility of your life, you’ll realize that there’s no need to play the victim. In fact, things don’t happen to you. You let things happen to you.

All you have to do is reframe the way you look at things.

Not getting as many leads from your funnel as you’d like? You’re not a victim, and you certainly aren’t helpless, so go out there and adjust.

Get out of the victim mindset and get into the mindset of being a dominator, someone who has full control of their outcome. You’ll have a lot more freedom, opportunity, money, and impact in life.

 

Take Extreme Ownership

This one is very closely related to the last trait. People who don’t like personal responsibility and ownership swim in the sea of mediocrity.

Let me tell you, some of the most mediocre, average, regular people that I’ve met in life are people who are unwilling to take responsibility.

The fix? Take extreme ownership, just like Jocko Willink describes in his book, Extreme Ownership. Every single thing that happens in your life is a byproduct of an action or decision that you make.

A client of yours has a bad experience with a coach? It’s on you to hire better. Getting complaints about how unclean the facility is? It’s on you to man up and take responsibility, even if you weren’t the one directly in charge of cleaning the building.

If you’re willing to take that level of ownership and responsibility, you then become a person who controls their own outcome. And I can tell you this: the more you can control the outcomes in your life, the better life becomes.

 

Be Optimistic

Is your glass half empty or half full?

In business, it’s important to maintain an optimistic mindset. You have to look out for opportunity, even in the worst of situations.

If someone sees a half empty glass, they go, “That’s exactly the amount of water I needed anyways.” But having that kind of mindset is a sign of mediocrity.

The fix? Rather than harbor a pessimistic or negative mindset, reframe everything in a positive light.

Need to talk to one of your trainers that’s always late to the gym? Rather than dread the conversation, think of it as a pivotal moment in their growth as a human being. The way you approach that situation has a massive effect on whether it turns out how you’d hope or not.

 

Don’t Assume Anything

Mediocre entrepreneurs—and people, at that—make assumptions.

I don’t know about you, but most of the time when I make assumptions about people or situations, they’re usually wrong and I end up looking like a dipshit.

The fix? Rather than make assumptions about people, or things, or opportunities, open up the lines of communication and actually ask questions of the people around you.

Don’t just assume that your clients are having an amazing experience at your gym or studio. Ask them whether they’re enjoying their experience, what you can do to improve it, how comfortable they feel with your trainers, etc. That will uncover any issues they may have that you can address before they choose to leave.

 

Surround Yourself with Positive People

Mediocrity trait #7: hanging out with low tone people.You have to surround yourself with positive people.

I learned about this concept of tone matching from a book I once read. Here’s the gist: people who have a low tone are kind of like Eeyore.

Remember how Tigger was always happy and bouncing around and enthusiastic, but Eeyore was always down and in the dumps? Well, if you hang around with low tone or negative energy people—people who are Eeyores—then soon you’ll become an Eeyore too.

The fix? If your circle of influence is positive and abundance-minded, then that’s who you’ll become. At the end of the day, you show me your network and I’ll show you your net worth.

So again, seek out positive mentors. Hire A+ team members to run your business. Keep around the people that build you up and don’t tear you down.

 

Have an Abundance Mindset

The reality is that scarcity is just one way of looking at things. See things from an abundant perspective and notice how different your outlook on success becomes.

So let me ask you: do you look at things through an abundant filter or through a poverty filter?

You ever met someone with a scarcity mindset? Someone who thinks, “There’s not enough to go around. If you win, then that means I have to lose.” Maybe they always blame others instead of taking full responsibility themselves.

Here’s the thing: when you start thinking scarcity, you start manifesting scarcity. But the opposite is true too…

The fix? Think abundantly! If I win, it doesn’t mean that you have to lose. We can both win together. The pie we share can become infinitely bigger if you’re willing to look at it that way.

When you do, you and your business will be anything but mediocre.

 

Change Your Belief Systems

The 9th trait of mediocrity is being unwilling to change your belief systems. Most of the time people’s limiting belief systems sabotage their outcomes.

So many fitness entrepreneurs put this glass ceiling on themselves and don’t believe they can earn any more money. I’ve met so many people who complain about the economy and the competition, even though the economy is booming. People have more money to spend than they had in 2008, 2010, 2012.

The economy’s not tough right now. The economy’s easy. Unemployment is at its lowest rates. The competition is high because people have money, and they’re willing to spend it. And people are creating businesses to take that money in exchange for value.

The fix? You need to bust through that glass ceiling! Never let those limiting beliefs affect your outcome, because you have full control over your success, your path, and your influence.

Back when I was a personal trainer, I used to think, “Man, most trainers make 30 to 40 thousand dollars a year,” so my limited belief system allowed me to make only 30 or 40 thousand dollars a year.

It wasn’t until my mentor, Jim Franco ,who was a personal training client, and millionaire, told me, “Hey, why do you live such a life of mediocrity? You don’t have to accept that. You could own 5, 6, 10, 20 gyms, and you could have personal trainers working for you.

Before long, I had five gyms, and I had personal trainers working for me, and I was making seven figures, all because I removed my limiting belief system about the type of money that I could earn in the fitness industry.

If you change your belief systems, you will change your outcome. Simple as that.

 

Always Communicate

The 10th trait of mediocrity is poor communication.

A Harvard study done a couple years ago reported that 85% of small businesses erode, or don’t reach their fullest potential, because of poor communication between the owner and the manager, or the manager and their staff. So think about this: where in your life are you failing to communicate properly? Is it your relationships? Is it work? Is it coworkers? Is it a business partnership?

The fix? It’s time to man up and start having clear, open, honest communication instead of holding it in and being passive aggressive towards others, instead of being resentful towards someone, instead of being adversarial towards people.

If you just communicate openly and go, “Hey, man. What you said hurt my feelings,” or, “What you said made me assume this. Is this how you’re trying to make me feel?” then you’ve opened the lines of communication, and you’re gonna have a better relationship with that person.

Keep the lines of communication and get what you want out of life.

 

Strategically Respond

Mediocrity trait number 11 is emotional reactiveness.

Someone with this trait emotionally reacts when something goes wrong. Rather than compose themselves to respond, they react and make irrational decisions out of haste.

The fix? Strategically respond.

Look, things are always gonna go wrongs for you as a high performer, as someone who’s trying to launch a business or get an idea off the ground. So any time the poop hits the fan, you can either emotionally react or strategically respond.

Last year, we had a Christmas party for our headquarters on a Sunday night. Monday morning, we come to work, and our headquarters has been broken in to.

At that point, I could either emotionally react and freak out and put my entire staff in a frenzy, and no one’s gonna get shit done, or I could respond strategically.

And so, we responded strategically. We fixed that broken window, we got the cops out here, and we took inventory of what got stolen. Everyone else went upstairs to work, make money, change lives, and make an impact.

See, the more you can control your emotional reactions and instead respond, the more you take control back. And when you take control back, you become more successful in life.

 

Be Open to New Ideas

Finally, the 12th trait of mediocrity is having a closed-off mindset.

Someone with a closed-off mindset says, “Bro, I’m just this way. This is how I was raised. This is how my culture is. This is how my nationality is.” This applies directly to the fitness business too; some entrepreneurs refuse to learn new technology like Snapchat and Instagram and Facebook, and their industries leave them behind as a result.

People like that are assholes, let me tell you right now, because the world evolves. People change. Someone who was a jerk to you once could now be a decent person.

The fix? Be more open-minded!

See, the person with an open mindset says, “You know what? I’m an open vessel. I’m willing to learn, to change my belief systems, my actions, and my habits.”

Be open-minded in learning new things and watch your personal and professional growth accelerate because of it.

 

What to Do Now…

So now you know the 12 traits of mediocrity. If any one of these traits resonates with you, then do something about it.

Go to people that you trust and say, “Hey man. I want honest feedback. I have a feeling I’m scarcity minded. I have a feeling that I communicate poorly. I have a feeling that I emotionally react. Can you help me through the process and give me honest feedback? Can you call me out when I emotionally react? Can you let me know when I’m not communicating openly?”

And if you ask for feedback, you’ll get it. The trick is to not look at the feedback as personal criticism, because if you take it as personal criticism then you go fists up and get defensive. Instead, look at feedback as an opportunity to make corrections and to evolve as a better human.

Once you do, you’ll thrive like never before in both your personal and professional life.

 

Committed to your success,

Bedros