Thank You 2017

By Terrance Wilkerson 2017 was honestly one of the best and most successful years of my life. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the turnout of my year and looking at how my stars are aligned for 2018, it looks like I’ll be continuing off this same momentum. I learned a lot about myself this year. As cliché as it may sound, if you believe you can achieve. I went from never wanting to go to college to now carrying over a 3.5 GPA and landing a big internship for myself in 2018. I stopped letting fear get in the way of my judgment and it started creating more opportunity for myself, no surprise there. Oftentimes we scare ourselves thinking of what will go wrong, but don’t motivate ourselves on the things that will go right. We’re afraid to fail, but in all honestly that’s a part of life. If you don’t fail at something, then you are not trying hard enough. We learn the most from our failures. It’s like the question you get wrong on a test and find the answer for afterwards. You never forget the answer to that question once you go back and correct it. Go out there, set a goal and if you fail, get your ass back up and work harder. If you’re passionate about this goal it doesn’t matter if you fail one time or fifteen times, you keep getting back up and work towards it. There’s no better feeling than the feeling of accomplishment. Another thing I did was just surround myself with more people who are smarter, more successful than me, and goal oriented. I live by the saying, “you only get as far as the people you talk to for no reason”. When I heard that saying it stuck with me. It makes a lot of sense. It goes back to the whole "you are a product of your own environment" theory. You have to surround yourself with the mindset and lifestyle you want to live, but always be humble and remember where you come from. It’s important that you stay true to yourself through your journey. I’ve built relationships with my professors, business owners, and hungry go-getter individuals with a "never quit" mentality. This is motivation for me.  Setting a goal, achieving it, and being happy; that’s what it all boils down to. What makes you happy? Is this a question that you ask yourself? If you do, do you know the answer? It sounds like a simple question, but it’s not so simple. Oftentimes, we live our life doing things that don’t make us happy just to get by. Granted everyone’s life has different circumstances that don’t allow people to make the decisions and choices that they would like to make, but wouldn’t you want to eventually put yourself in a position to live out the life that would make you happy? This is also something I learned this year. I was working seven days a week for a while in 2016 and into 2017 for some time and was not giving myself any time. I was managing my time very poorly and I was getting demotivated. There were times I would come into the gym and not even want to train my clients for the day. Anyone who knows me knows my passion for fitness and training. For me to feel that way I knew I had to make some changes. Work wasn’t worth me losing my sanity and happiness. I now give myself a day off every week and it makes the world of difference for me. Like I said earlier, I had a really good 2017 and I want to thank everyone who was a part of my year. From my loved ones, to my gym family, to my colleagues and professors, and of course my clients. I pay attention to a lot; I’m always listening and soaking in information. I know when to be a student, and I feel that’s a very important trait to have in life. To all my clients I want to thank you for an amazing year. This has been a great year for training. I’ve seen tremendous results this year from people losing over 50lbs, increasing their deadlift max to over 300lbs, and others just simply building up a healthier more functional body than they have ever had before. There’s nothing like someone coming saying they have back pain and in a couple months later saying that they don’t feel a thing. Not only do I see the physical changes, but I can see the mental changes in you guys that a progress picture or video can’t show. I learn from you guys just as much as you learn from me. One of my favorite moments was the deadlift party that we had in November (link for video below!). 18 of us were all deadlifting big numbers and breaking personal boundaries. The energy in the gym was insane. To Apollon, thank you for giving me a platform to build. Always thankful for the love and support. I’ve been at Apollon since I was 18 and weighing 132lbs soaking wet as a member to now being 25 weighing 170lbs (mainly muscle lol) and now a respected trainer in the gym. As I say goodbye to 2017, I welcome 2018. I’m prepared for the bumps, bruises, failures, successes, and accomplishments that come with the year. I’m ready for whatever the New Year has to offer. To everyone out there, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Checkout the deadlift party we had right over at Apollon Gym! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ablLvM_eKZY&t=73s