Saturday the 10th of September, 2016 was a day when fears were conquered, exertions were exerted and physical and mental limits were pushed.

A Hoyles Fitness team did Tough Mudder.

It was my annual Hoyles Fitness challenge and the second time we’ve done Tough Mudder.To those who haven’t heard of it, TM is a 12 mile obstacle run where you conquer DEEP mud, water obstacles, monkey bars, ice pools, tunnels, hills and a whole host of other things.It’s the most famous adventure event on the planet.

There are those who don’t ‘get’ it, or my annual challenges. I’ve been asked why I do them on plenty of occasions. I don’t really have a single answer.

I suppose I look at it like this…

It’s my professional responsibility to be an agent for change. To be a source of positivity and encouragement. I’m outsourced confidence, there to believe in people when they don’t believe in themselves. I want to be a beneficial influence on lives and lead from the front.

I challenge people to do these kind of things and help them to complete the event.

My clients have completed triathlons, power lifting events, physique contests, cycling events, mountain climbs, taken up new sports or simply lost weight. They did the work and met the challenge – it’s my job to help them.

Personal development is something that is banded around now. Lots of people (myself included) talk about a ‘comfort zone’.

It’s easy to not push yourself, to achieve goals and to try new things.

It’s not comfortable to push your limits, but it’s most certainly rewarding.

Ask every single person who completed Tough Mudder this weekend how they felt afterwards – I’d bet my mortgage you’d hear them say they were happy, proud, ecstatic etc. I doubt many regretted their decision to take part.

I’m so proud of every member of the team this weekend. Some conquered self-doubt, others conquered fear of water and heights, one showed age is just a number. Nobody ducked a challenge and everyone earned their headband and legionnaire (TM veteran) status!

Collectively, it was a great weekend and is yet another reason I love what I do for a living.

Tough Mudder may not be your thing, but something else will be. Have a think and challenge yourself to a (phrase borrowed from my client Rupert) ‘a big, dirty goal’.

As I’ve said before on my blog…

These are the days of our lives and they are ticking away one by one. When you look back at your life, I hope you have more than countless hours in front of the TV and too many takeaways as your memories.

I know I will.

By the way, the cover pic is how we started the event. The one below is how we finished it…

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