Attitude Controls Everything

Attitude turns the same moment into either a problem or a lesson, and we explore how to train that choice on purpose. With our friends from Grand River CrossFit, we connect gym mindset, coachability, business resilience, and a few surprisingly effective tricks for shifting your mood fast. 
• choosing “I get to do this” over dread and drag 
• noticing how one negative person can pull a team down 
• fixed mindset versus open mindset and what coachability looks like 
• trusting coaches and using failure as part of progress 
• using vivid cues to make technique finally click 
• understanding confirmation bias and how beliefs shape what you notice 
• learning from COVID pivots through systems, mentoring, and better decisions 
• changing state with posture, body language, and a deliberate grin 
• feeding your attitude through community, coaching, and competing with yourself 
And if you have any suggestions, go to the website beabetteryou.ca/podcast  Let us know what you you want us to talk about and who else you want us to talk with 

Have a question, a comment, or want to find out more? go to https://www.beabetteryou.ca/

Podcast thoughtfully produced by https://www.isleofsound.ca/

Transcript

Straight Up Talk Introduction

SPEAKER_02 0:00

This is straight up talk with Sharon and Peter. We are both proud Brits and Canadians. This is a no-nonsense weekly podcast about people, life, leadership, and all sorts of stuff. We don't always agree. Two people can walk into exactly the same situation and walk out with completely different experiences. One sees opportunity, one sees obstacles, one sees a lesson, one sees a problem. The situation didn't change, the attitude did. Is attitude something we're born with or something that we can train?

Meeting The CrossFit Podcast Crew

SPEAKER_02 0:42

Hello, I'm Sharon from Straight Up Talk, and this is P. Johnson. And today we are joined, I'm very excited about this, by our comrades from CrossFit.

SPEAKER_08 0:57

Well, are we? Are we friends?

SPEAKER_07 0:59

I think friends. Are we Russian?

SPEAKER_02 1:05

Who run their own podcast? And this was uh inspiration for us, and it's keeping it real. So I would like to introduce Nairi, Fiona, and Greg. So Nairi, please go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

Well, thank you for uh coming over to our place and uh hosting the podcast at uh what Greg calls the Ponderosa or what we call the uh worldwide headquarters of Grand River CrossFit. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 1:31

You what do you want me to say?

SPEAKER_03 1:32

I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 1:34

I'm Greg, I'm the head coach at uh Grand River CrossFit. That's about all I know.

SPEAKER_03 1:39

That's all and uh Fiona and I started this project during COVID, and uh I mean here we are some 200 episodes later, and I mean you said you have 15 followers, and maybe we have 16, 17 on YouTube. 50 of followers. Oh, okay. We haven't done it. There you go.

SPEAKER_07 1:56

We haven't done YouTube, yeah. But we got somebody in what, like Cambodia or Africa, Ireland, Germany.

SPEAKER_03 2:03

It's kind of interesting when you see the stats, but yeah, it's fun. Yeah.

The Gym Mindset That Changes Everything

SPEAKER_02 2:07

So I thought attitude was a great topic to have because it's something that affects however we are, wherever we are, in your business life, in your home life, and at the gym. And I know that we've had a lot of discussions about attitude at the gym. Yes, indeed.

SPEAKER_06 2:25

So, Greg, I'd like to ask you, like always comes right to me, right, Lisa. What kind of craps are you gonna say today?

SPEAKER_02 2:33

Well, well, because you have um strong views and Gregisms, yeah. Yeah, and greatisms.

SPEAKER_05 2:40

Not only that, it's like attitude, I think, is one of those things that you know when you when you're brought up, you learn your attitude a little bit, right? But then it kind of goes, you know, kind of meanders around. So but I think coming to the gym, you gotta have the attitude that I I would rather you have a great attitude coming into it, right? You know, not thinking it's work, you know, thinking this I get to do this every day, right? Instead of having, you know, oh I gotta go to the gym, you know, where it kind of drags, drags your ass a little bit. You know, if you if you come into the gym with a with a good attitude, thinking, you know, this is something I get to do every day, it's fun, I want to do it, and you're up for the challenge, makes everything so much easier. You come in like freaking dragging your ass saying, oh my god, I'm here again, like what's this gonna be like today? It's you're making everybody else and yourself drag right down.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

So that's and and I I think that there was there was because I've been doing CrossFit for three years now, and there was a time where I came in and I was I was like, Oh, really bad attitude. Yeah, and I can't remember whether it was either you or Nairie that that sort of said, you know, basically slap yourself upside your head, give your head a shake, yeah. It's ten minutes out your freaking days. You know what, you're absolutely right. So and and the cherry picking of of workouts, it's like what's the point in that? So it's a real attitude shift, makes the world of difference. Oh, huge. 100%.

Fixed Mindset Versus Being Coached

SPEAKER_03 4:10

Yeah, and I think for when I think of attitude, I think it's the idea of being a fixed mindset or an open mindset. So if somebody's willing to learn, then they'll take instruction a far better than somebody who can have a fixed or closed mindset. So but those same two people could come in with a good attitude in so much that they're willing to work. I mean, I can think of examples of somebody who's got a closed mindset or is not willing to be coached but still puts a great effort in. That person is hard to I I mean, they're easy to deal with in so much that you know they're gonna work, but they're hard to coach because they're not willing to take instruction.

SPEAKER_06 4:44

Yeah, they're it's frustrating. It's frustrating from a coaching perspective.

SPEAKER_03 4:47

But from an attitude perspective, you know, they're all right as an attitude, like they're always willing to do the work, they're just not necessarily willing to improve their technique. But um, you know, somebody with an open mindset who's willing to learn, who knows that it's a process. Right. That you know, I mean, look dead look at deadlists from the other day. Yes, you know, you after three years, the finally a clue or a cue kicked, you know, click in your head and yeah, it worked. But it takes time, and so I think the attitude is it has to be a learning experience, and you have to be open to new ideas and new possibilities.

SPEAKER_02 5:19

Absolutely, and it's about the thing that that that clicks in in your brain about being open to because for some reason every time we were doing deadlifts, would I've done them a fair few times, but my brain would be like, I don't know what I'm doing. But then finally it clicked when Greg's analogy of you know, imagine you've got a flashlight, I mean stuck up your bum and it's it's lighting the wall behind you. It's like okay, I get that now. So I I like that analogy. Fiona, your thoughts on attitude.

SPEAKER_07 5:48

Well, um, I think being open to like you you gotta trust the fact that the coaches have gone and they've done the the work to get certified. So you have to take what they say, you know, and trust that they're they're they know what they're doing. So that makes your attitude better that you can proceed and do and learn new things. But it's also okay to fail. Like if you're trying something, you're gonna fail. You know, there's people that don't maybe like to fail, but then that's their ego too, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 6:25

But I think it makes you a better person too, because then you know that you're at least trying and challenging yourself. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

And Peter.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

Well, what helped me was uh what helped me was when I first started going to the gym was I used to see Shannon come home all the time feeling like she's achieved something, you know. And she she kept saying to me, Why don't you come? Why don't you come? I was like, uh I'm happy going to the Yay and well, and you know, they got a swimming pool. I like it there, and you know, but I didn't really

Trust The Process And Fail Well

SPEAKER_01 6:55

like it there, if I'm honest. I didn't really achieve anything there. I didn't probably was no better the day I left from the first day I walked from the door. And then she said, Oh, you'll learn a lot here. They do they got special classes, they got two good coaches, three good coaches, and uh you know, so my attitude changed because I I could see how much Sharon was enjoying it, and she came home all the you know ever all the time after every gym session. Oh Pete, you've got to come along, you've got to come along. And then finally, we had that introduction where it's the Friends Week, yeah. Yeah, and that you know, and I I think I approached it with the right attitude. Yes, you I was a little bit apprehensive, I was a little bit if I'm if I'm honest, I was a little bit scared.

SPEAKER_03 7:32

You should be though. Oh, that's it.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Yeah, I hadn't done it, I hadn't done proper weights for years, you know.

SPEAKER_07 7:36

Yeah, I'm still scared, and I've been doing it for years sometimes.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

Absolutely. Well I I also want to ask you, just moving off of CrossFit for a second, we were talking about we were talking about attitude and in your business when you you were moving. So talk talk about that.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Yeah, I mean what I you know what I did for 35 years of my life m in the moving business, and um even before I had my own company, I used to work for other companies, and you'd get some guys and they would bring the whole team down because they they would you you know, you'd you'd go into work one day and you'd look at the worksheet and you're like, oh, where are we today? Oh, we're going to a big five-bedroom house in Hampstead, and we've got to pack everything away. We've only got two days to pack it, and we've only got they're moving down to Cornwall. We've got to come back on by Thursday night to start another job on Friday. And you'd get some of these guys would tackle it like you know, like they were in the army, you know. You know, we've got to go and take these guys, and you know, they had a great attitude to it. And some guys would just go, oh, you know, it's a fire booth for mouse. How are we gonna fit all that in three days? You know, what are they what do they think we are? Robots and that and we had one guy in particular, Glenn. He was

Attitude On Tough Moving Jobs

SPEAKER_01 8:45

doesn't matter what you did, he was a great, he was a great moving guy, he was big, fit guy, big strong, tough guy, but his attitude stunk, and every job he approached, it was like he brought the team down.

SPEAKER_05 8:57

Yeah, Derby Downer, Derby Downer.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

Oh yeah, yeah, we fired him, you know, you just got rid of him because he was yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:04

So so I was looking at the neuroscience of this, and your brain looks for evidence to support what you already believe, it's called confirmation bias. So if you think I'm too old, people are idiots, nothing ever works out, this workout is gonna suck. Your brain starts collecting evidence to prove that you're right, and the opposite is also true. If you think, let's see what happens, I can probably figure this out. There may be an opportunity here. Your brain starts noticing different information. So, question for the group Have you ever gone into something convinced it was going to be terrible and then discovered you were completely wrong? Ooh, oh boy, but that's one of those you know what I would say the whole COVID experience, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:49

Because I mean that's a whole other podcast, but everything for like we changed so much in the business from you know out of necessity, but in retrospect, I mean it was actually a phenomenal time for us.

SPEAKER_05 10:03

It was, and we went into that thinking, and I thought, oh, we're gonna be able to do that. Well, we thought we were gonna lose everything. And then after that, when it went longer, I thought, oh my god, what we're gonna lose everything, we thought we were gonna lose everything, and it totally changed us. Honestly, like it was um and we're we're way better now than we were back. 100% 20 years ago.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

What was the thing that was a tipping point?

SPEAKER_03 10:23

What made you better? Well, it was a couple things. Um, so I Greg about six months in, you got a job at like what was your dream job, but that's you know, another thing.

Confirmation Bias And COVID Reframes

SPEAKER_03 10:35

Um I said, I think I'm gonna hire somebody to clean the gym. And Greg's like, no, I don't know. I said, No, it's already done. Which is how I tend to do things. Yeah, and then we um so we were forced to do things that maybe we were resistant to prior to COVID, like changing to group classes and and doing some of these uh more streamlined things of more systems, more systems develop systems, and then I thought, you know what? Because now I was mostly running the business by myself with Greg being gone at a full-time job. And so I said, you know what? I think we need business mentoring. And he's like, Oh, I don't know. I said, No, already done, already made the decision. But that and so we've stuck with like number one, the cleaning, you know, because it's one thing that we don't have to do, but also the business mentorship, and so it's doubled our business, it's doubled our business, it's made everything so much better. That I mean, COVID for all the people who complain and bitch and bike, oh, COVID was so terrible. It was actually one of the best things that ever happened to us. It changed a lot of things, and we were fearless because of oh, we can just blame it on COVID.

SPEAKER_05 11:36

It was wonderful, and I was really resistant because I had to drop the martial arts because I couldn't teach for the stuff. Yeah, we lost half of our business. I was like, what am I gonna do? Like I have to I have to go work. Like we're losing half our business. Like actually more than half. It was three quarters of the business. We had more martial arts students than I had gym members then. And now we have Well, we have no martial arts students. We have no martial arts students, and we have basically I had about 75 martial arts members, and we had about 30, 30 gym members, right? So now it we have a hundred gym members, right? Without having to have the martial arts there.

SPEAKER_03 12:14

So I mean you had all this media and how like it was all doom and gloom. And I mean, yeah, we had those moments of just like, oh my god, what the hell? How is this gonna work? But in the end, I mean, we really just kind of you know put our blinders on and just kept going. And I mean, honestly, it was the best thing that ever happened to our business.

SPEAKER_02 12:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 12:32

Incredible story. Fear or anything, mine's boring compared to theirs.

SPEAKER_02 12:37

But you know, it could never be boring.

SPEAKER_03 12:39

But you also wrote it with us, like you were there through the whole thing, right? So, I mean, and that's the other thing, too. We've had so many members stick with us through that whole time. So, but you saw the back end of it too, so yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 12:51

I mean, I tried to do the at-home workouts, but I just I don't have the motivation. Like, I remember us doing the stuff on the computers. Trying to do a workout, and I'm like, oh, I don't have it. This is stupid. I can't.

SPEAKER_03 13:03

It was stupid.

SPEAKER_02 13:04

I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 13:06

We were off and on for two years.

SPEAKER_02 13:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 13:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:09

Well, I mean, because well, for we were obviously in Canada, and uh when when co COVID

Systems And Mentoring That Doubled Growth

SPEAKER_02 13:15

hit, because I'd had very busy years as as you know, and I decided I'm not gonna say yes to everything, because I had decided in 2018 I'm gonna say yes to everything, and I did I had an incredibly really good year for one person, but I by the end of it I was toast. So 2019 and I wrote the book, and that you know, best seller on Amazon. Then 2020 hit, and it's like crikey, you know. All of a sudden, people don't want to be in person. So, luckily, I had one client who said, Okay, pivot, we're gonna do trainings online. So, I was able to develop trainings online, and your your attitude, I think it's the only thing that is important because there are things that happen to us that you we can't change. The only thing that we have control over is how we approach them, yeah. And if you you you decide, you get to decide every day is this gonna be a shitty day or is this gonna be a good day? And I I I've done some neuro linguistic programming training, and one thing I do, I find myself sometimes when I'm feeling low, I find my body language I sort of slump and I go small, and I reel, and that's when and I'm I feel glum. So here's here I'll give you a trick that it works. This is stupid, but I love it, it works. Go outside, look up at the sky and go and do a big ass stupid grin. It works because well that's not what she was doing the other day because there's a whole thing, it's cause and effect, yeah. Right? So your brain doesn't know the difference between something that's real and something that you're thinking about, so and also um you know the super imposes, which is a great podcast. I've forgotten

Body Language Tricks To Shift Mood

SPEAKER_02 15:05

the name of the woman right now, but when you do something to make yourself feel better, you feel better, you switch your attitude, and it it makes a world of difference into how you approach things. 100%.

SPEAKER_05 15:19

Yeah, definitely. Oh, yeah, for sure. For sure. You know, I know I know some days when I'm feeling, you know, kind of crappy and I start coaching. You know, by the time I'm done coaching, I feel great because now I'm interacting with a whole bunch of other people. I'm trying to make things funny, you know. I'm trying to do things so brighten somebody out. I want to make that person's hour the best hour of their day. So that's why I want to make sure that I'm always on that position. But yeah, sometimes going into it, you feel kind of, oh geez, you know, I don't want to. Yeah, when you feel something big, when you feel yeah, and when you feel shitty, and then you but I know that I need to I need to make sure that I'm at that that level that I can make everybody else have that good day, and then I feel great afterwards, and also that hour isn't about you, it's about people who are there.

SPEAKER_07 16:03

So I don't want them to see, you know, but you're influencing them and making them have a good day. Yeah, and that's that's the thing.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

And everybody else in the gym influences each other. One that one of the things I love about it, I'm competitive by nature. Right, we've had this conversation before. Um, I'm not at the age now where I can compete with 30-year-olds, but it doesn't matter about that because I'm competing with myself, getting myself stronger. Um, if we if I was working out on my own, I wouldn't work out as hard. No. You don't do it because I don't see the people around me that that encourage like with Vlori and not only that, you would you would you would hit your comfort zone and you would stay there.

SPEAKER_05 16:41

Exactly. Right? You wouldn't get uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_07 16:43

That's right. Yeah. You take longer breaks. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, exactly, right? You wouldn't be giving yourself

Community Energy And Competing With Yourself

SPEAKER_07 16:50

that push that you do when you're there.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

So I think I think attitude and and well one of the things, because uh you have a tendency sometimes to to be a bit negative.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

Oh no, I don't.

SPEAKER_03 17:04

There's a red Pollyanna over there.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

No, no, yeah, I that that would be a fair comment, yeah. But um, I mean, yeah, like I I take a lot of take a lot of my stuff from you. You you you're always positive, so if I'm feeling shit, I sometimes turn around and look at Sharon and I think life isn't too isn't too bad, is it?

SPEAKER_08 17:25

Can it say things could be worse, I could be on dumbbell talks, will be willing injury, willing to travel.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Dunvil darn. Okay, well I'm loving 65-year-old. On that note, on the beach, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 17:47

Do you like peanut colour? Getting corn in the room.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

On that note,

Takeaways And How To Send Suggestions

SPEAKER_02 17:55

the big takeaway for me this week is attitude controls everything. It's about how you show up to every aspect of your life and you are in control of it every step of the way. Peter, your big takeaway.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

Well, I'll keep it nice and simple again. Just try and be positive, and um, you know, you can there's always you could always be in a worse situation. So you know, and I and you know, like living review makes me that way.

SPEAKER_08 18:22

I'm not sure that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02 18:28

Okay, anybody else have any final thoughts? Wow, I think uh Peter summed up right there. All right, well, it's good night from me.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

It's good night for me.

SPEAKER_02 18:41

I forgot to say though.

unknown 18:42

What?

SPEAKER_02 18:43

Podcast thoughtfully produced by the Art of Sound.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

By the art of sound.

SPEAKER_02 18:47

And if you have any suggestions, go to the website ba betteru.ca backslash podcast. Let us know what you you want us to talk about and who else you want us to talk with because this is Sabina Okay, thank you guys. Good night for me again.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Good night from me. Good night.