We were lucky to catch up with Gene Williams recently and have shared our conversation below.
Gene , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
My resilience comes from having to endure abuse, bullying, and being ostracized from a young age, and then getting into an abusive, toxic marriage from the age of 22 to 39 years of age. It taught me how to be self-reliant, and look for love and acceptance in myself, first, before looking outwardly for that reflection in someone else.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
By day, I am a fitness professional/entrepreneur. I have several certifications that I have earned over a 20+ year span. I am a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Yoga-Pilates Instructor, Certified 200 Hour Yoga Instructor, Certified Pranayama Instructor(50 Hours), and Certified Nutritional Counselor. With these tools, I am blessed to have the ability to help heal and improve the lives of my clients and my community. It brings me joy to see how my clients utilize the tools that I have equipped them with to improve their lives, in a holistic manner.
By night, I am the lead singer and rhythm guitar player of an eclectic soulful rock band, G Wiz and The Soular System. Music has always been a source of peace and joy for me, throughout my life, from as early as I can remember. I consider my band to be a “super band”, of sorts, because each and every member is extremely talented and has their own ground-breaking music circulating. When we come together, there is an otherworldly synergy every single time.
We just released our music video for our second single, “Stand Up!”, specifically on YouTube. ( https://youtu.be/n6sALrTFg-E?si=WZ7pebv6v55RXPSX ). It’s a socially-conscious song encouraging the listeners to come together, and speak out against injustice, in all forms. We are in the process of completing our first studio album, “TLUCCO(Occult)”, at this time, while performing regularly.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
One quality that I strongly possess, to both my benefit and detriment, is my resilience, which can shadow as stubbornness. Once I get my mind fixed on something, I am going to see it all the way through to the end.
Second quality that I would say has been impactful in my journey is discipline/consistency. I am a FIRM believer that you can become great at anything that you do every single day, with no days off. It takes discipline to do something consistently, whether you want to or not.
Stories like those of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant locked away in the gym, for hours on end, practicing on certain shoots and envisioning their responses to certain scenarios up to 1,000 times have always inspired me deeply. Both were students of the game, and they were creative enough to adapt to unplanned scenarios, as a direct result of their discipline.
Third quality that I identify with deeply is adaptability. You can plan as much as you please, but life always has a “curve ball” lurking. The best I can say is, expect the “curve ball”, breath deeply, and stay present in the moment. It’s easier to make adjustments when you are in a calm, clear headspace.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
I would say that one of my biggest areas of growth would be finding a way to practice healthy nonattachment in trying times. I am currently going through one of the biggest changes in my life, and with it came a lot of loss. Loss of familiarity, loss of friendships, and loss of integral relationships with people that I adore. In order to not go completely into my “sunken place”, I had to learn to not attach a sense of identity with things outside of myself, which is difficult yet extremely freeing. Ultimately, there is only so much that is under our personal control, which is us and our reactions to things out of our control. The serenity prayer comes to mind in tough times.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @GWizAndTheSoularSystem & @PremierFitnessMemphis
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/n6sALrTFg-E?si=WZ7pebv6v55RXPSX
