Where has this year gone? It feels like yesterday that I was on holidays experiencing a New Year’s Eve in Sri Lanka. That been said it has truly been a fantastic year for me teaching, working and creating new projects and businesses. This blog is a recap of things I have learnt, challenges I have had and risks I have taken that have been the driving force behind the motivation moving forward in to 2017.

Our lives are challenging and busy, we all want to maintain our fitness, feel productive and be happy. It doesn’t matter if I am running holiday programs with my good mate Aaron Sawers for My Sport Buddy or running a boot camp for adults, I have learnt that if you can make something fun and engaging then you will be successful in whatever you do. By making most of my teaching, fitness sessions and workshops game orientated I have found that people of all ages absolutely love it. If you are having fun and trying to beat yourself or work as a team you will be successful. So the biggest tip I can give everyone from 2016 is that whatever you do, make sure its engaging, fun and that it is some form of game. You will always have clients coming back, and people will be happy.

2016 has also been a year where I have taken a number of risks. I have learnt that failure or setbacks are opportunities to step back, reassess and find perspective. Some of the risks I have taken this year have not worked out well at all. I have had 9 of my apps taken of the app store, simply because they were rubbish ha ha. This now is quite funny and I laugh about it. The ones I still have on the app store though are great, and I am extremely proud of them.

I started a full fitness member’s subscription website, it was a huge process and was 9 months in the making. This was completely new to me and its still not perfect, as I am always looking at how I can improve. It has also been amazing to have one of my good friends Cameron Anderson involved with this venture, I love working with friends to create something special. The best thing is that it has been created and is been used by teachers and personal trainers all around the world. That in itself is something I am proud of.

Podcasting is something I have also been keen to start doing, and this year I started two different podcasts. One came about when I sent an email to another online fitness business owner Kyle Wood from bootcampideas.com. Not in my wildest dreams did I think that a simple email could have lead too so much. Together we created The Trainers Tribe, 20 plus podcast episodes, local and international workshops and much more. But the big thing for me is that now I have a fantastic friend in Kyle and also his lovely wife Zoe. This all came about as I wanted to start a podcast, but instead of just a podcast I now have so much more. So the big message hear is try something new, put yourself out there as you will be surprised with the amazing things that are possible. 2017 is already shaping up to be huge with The Trainers Tribe with more international workshops and two projects we think will help shape and support the fitness industry.

The second podcast I started was also a new business that I formed as part of Energetic Education. This has been really hard to find time for, but its something that has been extremely rewarding, not only with a cool new podcast, but also running workshops and speaking at conferences in Australia and around the world. The highlight of this would have to be the Connected PE conference in Dubai. This was truly an amazing experience; I am looking forward to presenting again in 2017. I would like to thank Jarrod Robinson and Amy Justin for giving me this opportunity.

The final message is one that has been three years in the making. I started DSPT (Dale Sidebottom Personal Training) three years ago. This was just a dream, and I started with 8 friends and ran free boot camps three mornings a week. As this week comes to a close it will be my third year running the business that is now Bottoms Up Fitness. offering up to 6 different boot camps. It has not always been smooth sailing though, especially the first 6 months embracing Melbourne’s winter mornings. I had two clients in both my amazing sisters, they stuck with me through what were some cold miserable mornings. There were many times when I thought about just quitting and throwing in the towel, but I didn’t. I would get up at 5am each morning and have fun and engaging sessions planned. It hasn’t been until two weeks ago when we held our yearly Bottoms Up Christmas break up, I was able to look back and see 30 plus people at the Richmond Bowls Club all having fun, socialising and connecting through our amazing business. This was a moment that I will never forget and one that I am so proud of. It would never have happened without my two loyal sisters, so thank you very much Hannah and Kayla.

The big message that I wanted to take from all this, is not that I want to brag about things that I have done or business’s that I have started. I am trying to say that 2016 has been very rewarding for me, simply because I have taken risks, and backed myself in. I have done a number of things that have made me step out of my comfort zone and that’s why I am very proud of what I have been able to achieve. As I look forward to 2017 its important to take time to look at the year you have had and what you have achieved. If you have ideas and dreams but have not taken a risk, then I suggest you write down some simple goals. Having something to work towards is great as you will be happier, more motivated in life and be a better person. Thank you to everyone who has helped me throughout 2016, your support has been truly amazing. Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

You can stop reading now, this next part is for our Members and the fitness games that I have uploaded to our Members Zone:

Fitness icebreaker – Minute to win it

Boxing game – Yahtzee boxing

Team game – Flag fitness fun

 

If you would like to check out anything I have mentioned above here are the links:

The Trainers Tribe website and podcast 

Members Zone fitness 

My Sport Buddy

Bottoms Up Fitness

BreakAppz