I’ve always been better at writing than I am a speaker (not to say I’m an awesome writer, just goes to show how I’m not very competent at speaking). I have a lot to say so I can ramble and go on for hours, there is no “backspace” option to delete the gibberish and mumbling that sometimes comes out of my mouth and in addition, my ADD allows my mind to drift while I’m speaking and I’ll more often than not forget what I was originally talking about! With that long run on sentence said I wanted to take the time write about Prototype. It’s been a while since I wrote up a piece on CFP and I believe it’s fitting with recent changes to put things into perspective and remind myself what CFP is all about.
It’s always been hard to put a finger on what has made Prototype what it is today. I often get asked the question, “what makes your gym different than the other CrossFit gyms?”. Well, I can never speak for other CrossFit affiliates and I guess I can talk about some of the bells and whistles at our facility (Coaches, programming, amenities etc) but that describes what is in our facility not what makes CFP, CFP. I’m talking about the heart that beats inside our walls and what has made it what it is today.
A little less than 4 years ago when we opened up our doors, we created our list of core values. We were going to keep it at 5 but made it 6 instead because it was too challenging to narrow everything down. What we came up with was a culmination of our personal core values and more importantly what we wanted our facility to represent. Those 6 core values are as follows: Family, integrity, excellence, helping others, fun and growth. I can go on and explain what each one of these really means but if you are a member at our facility this needs no explanation.
One factor that we didn’t anticipate in our business plan was how our facility was going to function as a community. For those of you who don’t know where we came from before CFP, Brian and myself were personal trainers at a big fitness facility not too far away from where CFP stands today. Several of our clients and acquaintances at that facility followed us to our new location. Many of them never experienced group based fitness before as many were use to the 1-1 environment of personal training. Nevertheless, those people believed in what we were doing and trusted our judgement so they dove right in and we started our Prototype with close to 50 active members.
Now I mention the word community for a reason because this is what I believe differentiates our gym from other gym’s. It’s a common word and phrase used throughout CrossFit as the CrossFit community as a whole has grown substantially in the last 10 years. Yet the strength of each individual CrossFit gym’s community is different. What I have come to realize and see (and also hear from our members) is that our community is the best part of CFP. It’s been integral to our growth and success as a facility which is surrounded by other affiliates within a 10 mile radius. “Why are you part of CFP?” I have asked in the past and the majority have spoken about the people and the community. So I pose these questions: “Why has our community become so strong? Why do people take so much pride in being part of our facility? Why do people love coming so much? Well, I think I have figured it out.”
Thomas Dreier said “The world is a great mirror. It reflects back to you what you are. If you are loving, if you are friendly, if you are helpful, the world will prove to be loving and friendly and helpful in return. The world is what you are” this is in essence the law of attraction. What I believe is that once we opened our doors our mindset was and still is; “care first and help others”. Every single person at our facility, in my mind, embodies this mindset. If you’re are a member at CFP can you think of a time where you helped someone out that is also a member at CFP? Helped them put away a bar or clean off a board? Helped them move into their new house? Watched their kids while they were busy? Were a shoulder to cry on during a tough time? Good people attract good people. If doing good and being a good person is something that is of value to you chances are you are at CFP leading that life everyday.
To dive into this a little deeper, one aspect of CFP that fascinates me is the connection between people. I’ve never seen people get along as well as those at CFP. Where else can you find a teenage kid hanging out after class to chatting it up with a group of adults? Where do you find such a wide range of people all getting along and being friendly on a day to day basis? I’ve written about this in my article “11 tips to being happier“: if you notice when you walk down the street, how many people are smiling? Take a step inside our doors and see how many people are smiling, laughing and having a good time nearly everyday. It’s incredible. I’m not boasting or being over zealous about our gym I’m proud of what it has become.
Good people attract good people. Be a good person and be part of a community where people only truly want the best for you and for you to succeed.
-Coach Mike