When I woke up this morning, it seemed just like any other Wednesday morning.
I didn't even realize that it had been four years since July 13, 2007: the day we opened the doors at Cressey Performance. I would have blown right through today if my business partner, Pete, hadn't reminded me of July 13's significance when I came in to the office today.
On our first anniversary in 2008, I was absolutely swamped, as we'd just moved into a larger facility. I was 100% aware of the significance of the day, but literally didn't have time to enjoy it.
On the second anniversary, things had settled down a bit, and I wrote up a blog to celebrate the day: The Two Year Mark.
Last year, on the third anniversary, I went "all in" and wrote up this bad boy: Three Years of Cressey Performance: The Right Reasons and the Right Way.
This year, I celebrating by simply forgetting.
Is this my first "over 30" moment, or is there something to be said for the fact that I forgot?
This has been, unarguably, our best year on a variety of fronts. Some highlights:
Tim Collins - one of our first pro guys and longest tenured clients - went to the big leagues this year. The same goes for guys like Cory Gearrin, Steve Cishek, and Trystan Magnuson. We also saw more professional athletes (and clients overall) than any other year before.
Tyler Beede - also a long-time Cressey Performer - was drafted in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft...and we celebrated in my living room.
Tyler was one of 12 players with CP ties taken in this year's draft.
Over 30 CP athletes in the Class of 2011 signed letters of intent to play Division 1 baseball.
We expanded our staff to include some great people who complemented our existing skill sets and program offerings nicely.
We added about 1,000 square feet more office space and polished up our look with some new paint and more framed/autographed jerseys on the walls. I even got my own office - which is shared with our new mascot, Tank, of course:
Most importantly, though, we continued to have an absolute blast each and every day we came to "work" - and that, to me, is what it's all about. We made new friends and further developed already-existing friendships. The CP family grew, and we offered a service to people that helped them get to where they wanted to be.
You'll notice I didn't mention financial gain - and the reason is pretty simple; I view it as secondary. It's the destination, and I'm a lot more concerned about the process. Cultivate relationships, deliver a quality service, and genuinely care, and the money will take care of itself. Before the business gurus out there start crapping on me, I'll add that our business has grown by more than 30% over the past year in spite of the fact that I usually forget that I'm supposed to receive a paycheck at month's end. Pete just surprises me with it.
Don't get me wrong; you need effective business systems to make things work. If you're an organizational disaster and can't make your rent, it's going to be pretty hard to put on a happy face and make someone's day with your smile. However, the overwhelming majority of "savvy business decisions" are actually a combination of common sense, courtesy, and a genuine desire to help someone.
Most of the people that ask us business questions want to know how much we charge, how much our rent is, how we schedule, what our hours are, who painted Tony's t-shirt on him, what our start-up costs were, and why we don't use electronic funds transfer (EFT). What they should be asking us:
1. How do you remember so many people's names?
2. How can you possibly know everyone's health history who walks through your door?
3. How do you write individual strength and conditioning programs for everyone?
4. What do you do to build relationships?
5. How do you find time to get to so many baseball games?
6. How do you do to educate and retain staff?
7. How is it that all of your clients seem to be friends with each other? (As a little aside to this point, Tim Collins was at the facility the past two days while home for the all-star break, and he greeted every person who walked through the office door. He even answered the phone for us twice. That's big-league customer service.)
There are some brilliant business consultants out there. Pat Rigsby and Alwyn Cosgrove, for instance, are super bright guys and great friends who have helped loads of fitness professionals increase their incomes and improve their quality of life. They are also the first guys to tell you that if you don't know how to cultivate relationships and treat people right, then you're studying for the wrong test by looking for the perfect business plan.
Spend more time focusing on the process, and worry less about the destination. Four years from now, you'll probably enjoy your "job" a lot more - both psychologically and monetarily - and have a lot more friends and experiences that make you smile each time you think of them. You'll probably even forget it's your business' anniversary!
Thank you, as always, to everyone for all your support.
As a mini-celebration of this day, I'll do a little promo: if you purchase a CP hat HERE before Friday (July 15) at midnight, I'll send along a video of a 37-minute staff in-service I did on shoulder assessment that's uploaded to the 'web.
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This past weekend was really special for me, as I got to watch about two dozen Cressey Performance athletes go out and win the Massachusetts Division 1 State Championship for Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.
While we work with kids from dozens of high schools in the area, L-S baseball was the first program that “took a chance” on me when I was the new guy in town, and from that initial group of guys grew the Cressey Performance “baseball empire” that now includes loads of professional and college players. I’ve become great friends with the entire coaching staff, and the players’ families have really adopted my wife and me as part of the L-S baseball community.
This year’s senior class included kids who actually started training with us in eighth grade, and therefore marked the first class of guys who spent their entire high school careers with us at Cressey Performance. In thinking back on the progress one athlete, Adam Ravenelle, made over those four years, I felt compelled to write this blog.
On Adam’s first day at CP, he looked pretty intimidated – just like any 14-year-old would when stepping into a weight room for the first time. However, when I went to do his shoulder assessment, I quickly realized that he’d fit in just fine. When I found that he had almost 140 degrees of external rotation in his throwing shoulder, I turned to my business partner and commented that he had “a big league shoulder” and that if he was willing to put in the work, he’d be a pretty good pitcher (even though he was a shortstop/third basemen at the time).
Four years later, with a fastball in the low 90s, Adam is a 44th round draft pick of the Yankees and a State Champion with a baseball scholarship to Vanderbilt. He’s pitched at Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, and at all the major competitions – Area Codes, East Coast Pro, USA Baseball Tournament of Stars – that an accomplished player could attend.
You know what, though? These accomplishments didn't magically happen; rather, there were thousands of small, but extremely significant moments along the way that took Adam from a "kid with a good shoulder" to the athlete he is today. There were all the days when he came in to get his arm stretched out the day after a start, and all the times that he came in to lift on a Sunday afternoon in-season when he could just have skipped lifting during the season, like many players ignorantly do. There were all the meals he ate along the way to gaining over 50 pounds – even though he wasn’t hungry, most of the time. In fact, sometimes we even made him attack loaves of bread in the office before he was allowed to leave.
Adam was really a microcosm of the entire state championship Lincoln-Sudbury team. LS has now won 11 straight league titles and three of the last seven state championships, yet their head coach, Kirk Fredericks, called this “the best practice team” he’s ever had. In other words, they did the little things well day-to-day in order to succeed. They never skipped steps.
They also didn’t have a single player miss a game due to injury over the course of the entire season. Their consistency not only afforded them the best possible outcome, but kept them healthy in the process.
It was a remarkably fresh breath of air for me. I’ve seen a change in young athletes over the past few years where they all want something badly – whether it’s a state championship, college scholarship, or a trip to the big leagues – but very few kids really seem willing to put in the work to get it. The fitness world isn’t much different; many folks want the fastest way to drop 30 pounds before a wedding or trip to the beach, but all the while ignore the valuable lessons to be learned and habits to be acquired along the way. They want the destination, but don't care for the process.
Tim Collins didn’t go to the big leagues because he was more gifted than anyone else. He went to the big leagues because he was the first guy back to train at the end of every minor league season, and he lived at the gym and did absolutely everything each of his coaches told him to do.
Tyler Beede wasn’t born a first round draft pick. He earned it by learning to command his fastball and develop his change-up when all the other kids thought it would be fun to screw around with curveballs when they were 11. He made himself into a first round pick, in part, by driving 40 minutes to CP, training, and driving 40 minutes home 3-4 days per week for the past three years - also gaining almost 50 pounds in the process.
Jordan Cote didn’t just get called in the 3rd round by the Yankees or win the New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year award this year because he was 6-6 and “projectable.” He worked to get it by driving two hours every Saturday morning for the past two years to throw and train at CP at 9AM when everyone else his age was sleeping in. And that’s why he went from 185 pounds to 218 pounds over the course of 18 months – almost half of which was during the in-season period. He also drove a long way to play for the New England Ruffnecks program, which is 2.5 hours away in Massachusetts - but consistently produces some of the best talent in New England.
In no way am I saying that Cressey Performance alone was responsible for these guys’ success, nor are these the only guys who did what it took to succeed in recent months. Rather, I’m showing you that in two aspects of their preparation – training and nutrition – they did the little things that it took to excel. They certainly did the same with on-field practice, school work, and community service to get to where they are. There were obviously end goals in mind, but they never interfered with accomplishing day-to-day, hour-to-hour, and moment-to-moment objectives.
To that end, the next time you find yourself fantasizing about your athletic dreams or fitness goals, take a step back and consider whether you’re doing what you need to do in the present to get to where you need to be.
Are you waking up ten minutes early so that you can have a good breakfast before you go to school, or are you the guy that simply complains that you “don’t have time” for a good breakfast?
Are you blocking off an hour in your day to go to the gym, or are you going to allow it to fill up with other obligations that can’t possibly be more important than your health?
Are you dropping hundreds of dollars on showcases when you should be spending time developing your abilities by taking ground balls and batting practice, long tossing, strength training, and working on your mobility?
There is no single way to get to where you want to be. Likewise, there is no magic pill. It takes time, consistency, attention to detail, and an appreciation of what must get done in the short term in order to attain long-term success.
Now, shouldn’t you be doing something right now to get closer to your long-term goals?
Congratulations, Lincoln-Sudbury baseball, and thank you – both for the lessons you’ve taught us and for having us along for the ride!
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Yesterday was a pretty awesome day at the office, as a bunch of "Cressey Performers" went out and won the Massachusetts Division 1 State Championship for Lincoln-Sudbury. Here's a video of the final out and mayhem that ensued:
Many of the seniors on this team have been with us throughout their entire high school careers, so it was absolutely awesome to see them go out in style in their last high school game. Congratulations, guys, and thanks for all the memories!
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