We were lucky to catch up with Austin Gelhar recently and have shared our conversation below.
Austin, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I really don’t think there are many things that any of us are inherently born with. I actually would argue that there’s no such thing as a prodigy or that natural gifting makes someone successful. The attributes and skills required for someone to be great are learned, they’re built through experiences and people. Confidence and self belief are no different. I fully believe that confidence is a skill that anyone can learn. You just have to be willing to learn.
I remember 8th grade being in middle school and feeling so self conscious and insecure. It was
like I had finally become self aware and I realized that I was different than other students. You see growing up I went to a small private school where none of my classes were larger than 8 people. Everyone knew everyone and there weren’t really any outsiders. 8th grade I decided to make the switch to public school and boy was that a shock. I didn’t know anyone. I was completely out of my element and had know idea how to find connection.
Enter one of the first mentors in my life. I was at a youth camp and he was one of the youth leaders. The first day he came right up to me and introduced himself. It was quite a shock for me because I had just spent the last year of school very much getting made of fun and not being accepted. Quickly our friendship began and he became like an older brother to me. Under his mentorship/friendship I learned how to love myself and express myself as myself without fear of what other might think. It was so powerful and I can’t thank him enough for helping me come out of the shell and the walls that I had built around myself. He singlehandedly changed my trajectory in high school and now I can fondly look back at that season of life so happy at the friends I had made and the life I got to experience.
The second big moment for me came when I really started leaning into working out and health and fitness in general. Obviously seeing my body change and put on muscle is a huge confidence booster in itself, but more than that, the habits and disciplines I learned through fitness really changed every area of my life. I became someone who can be strong. I became someone who can be consistent and stick to a plan. I became someone who can use self control and delay fast gratification for something better. I became someone who didn’t give up because things got hard or I was to busy. All the skills that allowed me to succeed in health and fitness I applied to other areas of my life. I started seeing more success in my work life, in my relationships, and in my over all life goals. It was powerful. I wasn’t made to simply exist, but I could thrive. I could pursue the best version of myself and actually start seeing that become my reality.
All this didn’t happen overnight. It took months and years of me changing my thoughts and habits and it’s still on going. I’m still working on myself and growing. Sometimes its uncomfortable and challenging, but I love it because I’m strong enough to take it. Because I’ve learned how to believe in myself. I wouldn’t change my experiences, because they are the very things that got me to where I am at today!
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Because mentorship and fitness were so impactful in my life, I made it my life career. I started my coaching company called AG Fitness in 2018. Now I get to help people build the body of their dreams and reclaim their confidence through health and fitness. Everyday I get to teach people the skills to become the version of themselves that they always wanted to be. I do this through primarily helping individuals in there mid 20s to mid 40s restore their health and than apply those same skills to other areas of their lives. Through virtual 1 on 1 coaching we focus on effective workouts, sustainable nutrition, and building successful habits and disciplines. After doing this now for 6 years I still feel so blessed with every success story and person I get to help! I currently have 3 spots open, so if you’re someone that this has resonated with, I would love to set up a free call with you and help create a game plan so that you can see lasting success. So many people are caught in a spiral of self doubt or don’t have the skills yet to see their health and fitness goals get reached. This doesn’t have to be you. You can learn the skills. You can find real results, and who knows, you might even become the person you always wanted to be. I’m here for the conversation if you are.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I really believe that above all else consistency and community have impacted my life by far the most. Consistency means 2 things to me also so let me tie that in to it make it 3 qualities/areas of knowledge haha. First, consistency is not about perfect action it’s about imperfect action On long enough timeline of good decisions you can’t lose. You keep trying, you don’t give up, you get back up after you fall down, you course correct after straying from the path. All of this ends in success. It has to. The only people who fail are the ones who give up.
Secondly, consistency means dependable to me. You say what you mean and you do what you say. Again, even if it’s not perfect, you show up anyways. You show up for yourself, you show up for those around you. This causes you to become someone who can be counted on by others and most importantly you can count on yourself.
Finally community. We don’t live our lives in a vacuum. We are constantly surrounded by others. Who you surround yourself directly impacts your dreams and whether or not they become your reality. We need support. We need community. We need other people we can count on to lift us up when we fall. This also means you’re going to lose some friends along the way. The reality is, when you start pursuing your dreams, not everyone is going to understand or want to support you. That’s ok. Surround yourself with people who want to grow with you because if you don’t, you will never grow.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
Being a business owner and also having a family can be a lot. Sometimes it feels like everything is going wrong and that there’s not enough time to get everything done that needs to be done, or not enough time to make quality memories with my family. To be honest, every week there’s opportunities for me to feel overwhelmed and anxious. I truly believe that the thing that has helped me stay centered more than anything else is my belief in God. He absolutely has been a centering and joyful presence in and out of every season. Every morning I wake up I spend the first 30 minutes or so in meditation, prayer, and journaling. Connecting myself to Him and connecting myself to myself. I really believe that practicing these things and having a belief of some sort is powerful. Even if you’re not a person of faith, taking the first 30 minutes of your day to center yourself can change everything. Instead of focusing on everything you can’t control, practice releasing it and than focussing on whatever is true, whatever is good, whatever that can bring you peace and joy. I promise if you take the time and do this, you will become unshakable and even though things are overwhelming, you can still find peace.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.austingelhar.com
- Instagram: @austingelhar
- Facebook: AG Fitness
- Youtube: Austin Gelhar
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