Hey EF Fam,
I wrote the follow blog post in honor of my Grandfather becasue there wouldn’t be an EarthFIT if it wasn’t for him and the decisions he made in his life…
6 Powerful Life Lessons I Learned From My Grandfather… and they just might apply to fitness.
My Great great grandfather worked for a gangster…
He worked for a beer baron in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC by the name of Jimmy Donovan, who, in turn, worked for Owney Madden during the height of The Great Depression and Prohibition era until Jimmy was gunned down.
The Neighborhood was run and controlled by the Irish Mafia and Owney Madden was the ruthless ruler at the time.
To give you an idea of his ruthlessness, my great great grandfather – a tough Swede – confronted Owney Madden because Owney disrespected his daughter. Owney retaliated by hitting my great great grandfather in the head with a lead pipe, leading to his death from complications from the fatal blow.
According to Wikipedia, Madden was “Described by associates as “that banty little rooster from hell”. “Madden quickly became a fierce fighter, known for his skill with a lead pipe and gun in fights with rivals the Hudson Dusters. Madden gained the nickname “the Killer” after gunning down an Italian gang member in the streets, after which he shouted, “Owney Madden, 10th Avenue!” Despite the public nature of the murder, no witnesses came forward linking Madden to the crime.”
Owney Madded, the ruthless ruler of Hell’s Kitchen NYC
This was the lifestyle and behavior that my grandfather was exposed to as a kid growing up in Hells’ Kitchen.
My grandfather grew up as the poor kid in one of the poorest, most destitute neighborhoods EVER in NYC, raised by parents with an 8th grade education. They were so poor that they were always moving; renting out the top-floor apartments because the first few months’ rent was free and the top-floor walk up apartments were the cheapest… at least I know they were getting lots of exercise back then 🙂
Thank God my grandfather stayed on the straight and narrow path and didn’t succumb to the streets that can suck people in, chew them up and spit them out. Nor did he follow in the footsteps of my great grandfather who became an alcoholic but back then there was no such thing as “Alcoholic” so my grandfather just called him a bum.
He had a good mother and she kept him in line. He was the only kid to make it out of his neighborhood without ending up dead or in jail.
If there was ever a success story he was it. He came from nothing and built a legacy by working hard and staying positive, even amidst the dire circumstances. He was a survivor with a street education and Poppy knew what was needed to survive.
He had a knack for words and spelling ever since he was a little kid. His career started out as an Administrative Assistant to executives because of his skill as a Stenographer, he could type as fast as you could speak – 100 words a minute with 100% accuracy. He never even thought twice about higher education- it wasn’t even on the radar for a kid from Hell’s Kitchen, until he spent some time in the workforce surrounded by successful executives. He then realized education was the key to his future.
After serving in the navy during WWII, Poppy was working full time, supporting three children at the time and attending night school at NYU. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.S. in Finance.
He moved to the Bronx, which, back then was considered the suburbs. By this point he was no longer surviving, he was thriving.
He later moved his family (wife and five kids by then) to Connecticut. It was his dream to leave NYC and moving to CT back then was like moving cross-country nowadays. For a city kid from Hell’s Kitchen it was a dream come true! He had arrived.
There are many lessons that I have learned from my grandfather. Many of the lessons were based on the stories he told me, but I learned the most from how he lived his life… from his actions, they spoke volumes.
The Top 6 Life Lessons that I learned from my grandfather can be applied to fitness or any part of life in fact.
1) Move Forward and Don’t Dwell On The Past: One day I asked my grandfather about the machine gun killings in the streets of his neighborhood and what it was like to grow up around that… and he said “That Was Life, haha!” He didn’t dwell on the negativity and destructiveness that surrounded him, he laughed at it and shrugged it off. That reaction might seem maniacal but it was probably the only way to move on. He took that negativity and turned it into a positive. In fact, the family never knew about any of the bad stuff that I mentioned above, we never knew that our great great-grandfather worked for a gangster until a few years ago. Poppy never spoke of the bad times or the hardship. As far as he knew, he had a blessed life and blessed childhood and he just kept moving on and growing.
2) Focus on the good things in life and ignore the “bad”: With that being said nothing is good or bad in life, it’s all perception and my grandfather had a unique way of perceiving that everything “is wonderful and marvelous”. He would say all the time, “isn’t that marvelous!” in his deep New York accent. I once asked my grandfather about growing up in Hell’s Kitchen during The Depression in a poor neighborhood and he said “People said we were poor but we were all poor in our neighborhood.” He brushed it off as if it were nothing. He never let it bother him. He didn’t have a “sad story” of a harsh upbringing. I asked if he ever had any bad memories and he said no, his childhood was very happy. I would sometimes tell my friends that my grandfather was delusional positive but in reality he only focused on the good things in his life and ignored the bad things. He knew dwelling on the negative was a waste of time. Bad things never happened in his world, he only remembered the good. This helped him tremendously on his path to success and is a testament speaking positively and seeing the good in the world will attract exactly that.
3) It is never too late: My grandfather started his own company when most people retire – 65 years of age. It is the same in fitness, people think it is too late to start a health and fitness regimen, but the truth, is we all have a lot of living to do if we decide we want to. It never crossed his mind that he was too old or too weak; he was indestructible and life was great!
4) Only see the good in the world and stay positive: Every time I see my grandfather he would start telling me how great I am for all the accomplishments I have had in my life (however little they might be to me). He would say to other people in the room, “Ian had 7 goals in a soccer game when he was younger and the score was 7-2, isn’t that phenomenal, that’s incredible”. Then he would go on to tell how lovely and smart and successful all his other grandchildren are and their accomplishments. He would always see the best in everyone and people loved him for it and that is why people loved to be around him. He vibrated positivity and he knew that complaining would get you nowhere. He knew not to focus on the negative things. He would always tell me to read How To Win Friends And Influence People, which I did, and it had a huge impact on my life and how I interact with people.
5) Always make time to dance and sing: Even into his late eighties and early 90’s my grandfather loved to go out dancing, he would also play the piano and sing. Although he might have been considered a workaholic, he always made time to dance! If you don’t use it you lose it. Here is a video of him at 96 playing the piano when his mind was deteriorating.
6) Nothing is impossible, No excuses: He never believed that his body was deteriorating. In fact, I think he thought he was immortal because even after 2 hip replacements, knee replacements and being almost bedridden, he still thought he was going to swing a gold club or play tennis soon. He would say, “As soon as my knee gets better I will be out there swinging a club.” This may have been delusional but I believe it is what kept him alive for so long, that and a loving family. His mind was a positivity machine and nothing was going to stop him.
In fitness, we hear excuses all day long for the most trivial things and as the saying goes, you can either make excuses or make it happen, but you can’t do both.
I owe a huge part of who I am to my grandfather. I can see many of his traits in myself and I am super grateful for that. I was inspired by my grandfathers attitude and mindset, they were big catalysts for me opening EarthFIT, so if you like EarthFIT, you can thank my Grandfather who has now passed on to other side. Many of his physical genes were passed down to me and is the reason I was so athletic and perfect for a leader in fitness. You can see that in some of the pictures in the video below.
Although he never talked too much about the bad things growing up, I know he must have been one “tough mo-fo” mentally and physically to make it out of the literal hell that was Hell’s Kitchen unscathed. I like to think that those genes helped me through some tough times in my life and brought me to where I am today, with the ability to help people become mentally and physically tougher and healthier through a health and fitness program like EarthFIT. I am so grateful to be able to do what I do and I thank my Grandfather for that and you can too if you like EarthFIT.
You see there is so much to be grateful for 🙂
In honor of my grandfathers passing, it is time for me – and I encourage you – to keep moving forward, continue to work hard, create a legacy and walk positively and confidently towards the future of our dreams. These 6 lessons are not a bad place to start 🙂
Committed to your success,
P.S. Jason Bell’s A.R.T. (Active Release Technique) massage is more in demand than expected. We will be modifying the schedule for current ART clients and next week he will be working between Habersham and Lady’s Island. Currently he is already filled up except 1 or 2 time slots. We will let you know when he opens up his schedule again.
YES! Contact me today to schedule a FREE no obligation consultation and trial workout.