Don’t Waste Your Worry – A Lesson from Gary Heavin, Founder of ‘Curves’

Recently, I had a great opportunity to meet Gary Heavin, the founder of Curves. First of all, let me say that I was very geeked. He’s an extremely successful entrepreneur. He founded a fitness company whose 2013 revenue was $52 million. Needless to say, you can learn a thing or two from a guy like that; and it’s not every day that you meet a person of his calibre. Gary was a really nice, courteous man. And, when I shook his hand I knew that there was something unique about him that sets him apart from other successful entrepreneurs. That unique something is his spirituality and faith in God. That’s what I enjoyed the most about him. He even talked about how he wants to honor God in all that he does. But, Gary said something else though that really stuck with me:

“Don’t worry about the little things. Stay focused on your purpose.”

It’s interesting to me that he mentioned purpose because that’s exactly what I encourage people to pursue. There are so many things in life that fight for our attention on a daily basis. There is a lot of noise that surround us every day- noise from work, home, family, church, business, friends, problems… I could go on and on. What we really need to learn how to do is turn down the volume of that noise and turn up the volume of our purpose. When your purpose is louder than the noise, you don’t have to worry about the little things that create that noise.

If you will be transparent and honest for a minute, you often find yourself worrying so much over things that ale you. Whether it’s money, marriage, work or otherwise. If you just take a step back and look at those things from an objective viewpoint, you will see how little those things really are in comparison to what you were put on this earth to do.

When you pursue your life’s purpose, you’ll discover that success is inevitable. Now does that mean it will it be easy? Absolutely not. But, it will most definitely be worth it. So, my question to you is: what is your purpose and are you pursuing it?

Gary Heavin, founder of Curves, and Cortney Westbrook

 

This Is What Helped Me to Stop Procrastinating…

In high school and college I was really into working out, lifting weights and exercising. Then… I got married. Lol! When I got married, my wife cooked every single night and needless to say I stopped working out. In our 5th year of marriage is when I really started gaining weight, particularly in the abdomen area. You, too? Yeah I know! Lol!

When I started gaining this unwanted and unneeded weight, not only did I notice it, but my wife started to notice as well. But, the difference is, she actually likes it. (that’s another post)

My problem has historically been inconsistency. I would work out for a few days and stop. I would set workout and exercise goals and never accomplish them. Then, I’d start feeling like a horrible person because I wasn’t making progress. And, the cycle would repeat.

Then I realized that I didn’t want it bad enough. I had to make up in my mind that if I want to change I have to put in the work.

So, here are the thoughts that have been getting me through my workouts:

“Cortney, if you keep doing the same thing that you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten.”

I’m sure you’ve heard that saying before it doesn’t really hit home until it’s relative to something that’s going on in your personal life. And, for me it’s working out/exercise. I’ve always eaten sugary desserts because I thought, well I’m slim so it won’t hurt me. I’ve always started and stopped working out because I didn’t take it serious enough. Then one day I looked in the mirror and seriously didn’t like what I saw.

To get me through the actual workouts, I’ve been telling myself:

“Push until you can’t push anymore. Is that really the last one you can do, or do you have more? Work until you can’t work anymore! Cortney, you gotta keep pushing because you gotta change. If you want results you have to push yourself past your comfort zone. Push until you absolutely can’t do another single rep.”

Those very thoughts have gotten me through my home workouts and to stop procrastinating. I hope you can take what encouraged me and use apply it to whatever area of your personal life you’re struggling with.

Hope that helps. Thanks for reading and watching.