This week’s guest on our podcast Breakthrough Barriers with Damali was Cathy LaCognata. Cathy is the owner of the gym Training for Warriors. She refers to the gym as a transformation center, a dojo, a place of enlightenment. They focus on helping people change mind, body and soul. Cathy enjoys being a part of this process and finds happiness in helping people build self confidence. 

Our first caller on the show was thinking of opening up his own gym and was wondering the best way to go about it. He was also wondering what would be the best equipment to order for a new-age type gym.

Cathy shared with us that she started at the bottom inside the gym industry and even though that is not necessary, it is important to know every aspect of the ins and out of the business. If you know how everything works, you will be better prepared to run your business. It will make you an exceptional boss.

It is best to have a partnership when opening a gym. You want a corporate structure that is already in place and you can use a legal advisor for help. Consider location when opening your gym, you want to be in an area that is accessible to people. When hiring staff, build from within. People who know their craft are important, but qualities like passion, people skills and empathy are equally essential. 

As far as equipment goes, Cathy says she has all types of equipment available at her gym, old and new. Full body mobility is something she incorporates and all the workouts are class based, which promote peer motivation. 

Have a niche. Always show appreciation and gratitude for those who help your gym, or any business you’re running, to be successful. 

Our second caller had a more personal question. She wanted to know how to get over the fear of confronting someone with an issue in any environment, workplace, at home or even out in the world.

Here are 10 tips for dealing with confrontation:

1. Be open to having a conversation, don’t shut it down
2.  Don’t have a conversation with a defensive attitude. 
3. Try to lead with a question (not in an interrogative tone). Questions will allow the person to feel you’re on the same side as them and will allow the conversation to get a lot further. 
4. Think of how you and the person can collaborate and work together to figure it out.
5. Let the conversation be one-on-one to create a more trusting and comfortable environment. 
6. Try not to think of it as a confrontation as this instantly creates fear, instead see it as a problem-solving conversation.
7. Even a conversation can give us anxiety if the topic is important enough. Practice tactics like taking deep breaths, physically grounding yourself and trying to reconnect beforehand.  
8. The more you practice having these difficult conversations, the better you’ll get at them.
9. When you’re upset, you tend to only be able to see things your way, try hard to keep an open mind. 
10. Be authentic in your delivery.

Do you have any barriers that we can help you break through?  If so, you can leave a brief message at 646-363-6322 or comment below on our interactive blog. 

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Best Wishes,

The Breakthrough Blogger