Translator: Alina Tissera Reviewer: Ellen Maloney
Five years ago I moved to Dublin as a newly qualified personal trainer
with huge hopes, dreams, and ambitions
I've always wanted to be something special.
I even remember as a kid being sat in these sits, in this theatre
with my parents and thinking, "Someday I'm gonna speak on that stage".
I didn't know what for, but I always wanted to be "something".
After qualifying as a personal trainer, I made the move to Dublin
and I saw it as my time to shine
I thought about how they'd be so proud of me back in Galway
when I became Ireland's leading fitness guru, and I though about how proud
my family and friends would be of me when I made it in ""The Big Smoke".
I quickly found out living in Dublin, it wasn't going to be that easy
I had no community or no network there,
and I struggled to find my first few personal training clients.
Before long, I was working part-time in a clothes shop to try to pay the bills
I didn't tell people that at home,
because I didn't want them to know that I was struggling,
and I didn't want to let the dream die.
Even with that I couldn't pay the rent,
and I was borrowing money from anyone I could.
I wasn't willing to admit defeat; I didn't want to borrow money from anyone,
I didn't want to be working in a clothes shop part-time
but more than anything, I didn't want to fail.
Eventually I had to admit defeat.
On Christmas Eve, my dad rang me
inquiring as to when I'd be home to see my family for Christmas.
I tried to keep it together on the phone,
and swallowed my pride as I told him that I wasn't doing well
and I didn't have the 12 euro to get the bus fare home
I'll never forget the bus journey home.
For three hours, I cried.
Christmas Eve; the time everyone's excited to go home
and see their friends and family, and here I am; the biggest failure
the biggest looser
I put my hood up, I put my head down and just cry.
Usually if you get the bus home from Dublin to your hometown,
you meet people you know.
There was probably people I knew, but I just didn't know
what was going on outside of what was going on in my head.
I couldn't even buy a small gift for my mum
so I got a card and wrote:
"I'll take you to lunch in the new year when things are better",
and it broke my heart.
Lucky for me a friend of mine offered me some part-time work in a pizzeria,
people on Galway will know the place
It wasn't the dream for a personal trainer,
but it got me out of the house and it got me out of my own head a bit.
When I wasn't working as a waiter,
I'd walk up and down the beach for hours everyday
just looking for some revelation, some inspiration, some glimmer of hope,
and some light at the end of this dark tunnel.
More often than not I had tears streaming down my face,
still feeling like a failure.
If I'd bump into someone I knew, I'd wipe away the tears,
and make sure they knew that there was nothing wrong.
On one of this walks I had a little bit of a breakthrough.
I realized, yes, I failed on my first personal trainer business,
yes, it's a recession, but there are other people doing well,
so there must be a way.
I headed home, and with nothing to lose, I jumped to my dad's computer,
and emailed some trainers in the UK that looked like they were doing well.
I said: I'm a young trainer, I'd appreciate any advice
on how can I get this thing started.
To my surprise, one guy got back to me,
a guy called Mark Tregilgas, over in Cardiff,
who was doing really well as a trainer.
Mark said later that day, he would hop on the phone with me and give me tips,
some advice, and some encouragement,
and he did that, and it amazed me that this stranger was reaching out
and taking time for me.
That bit of belief that he instilled in me, prompted me to give it another go;
to give my dream another go.
I advertised the fitness class down on the local beach.
People later told me that was genius; outdoor training.
But I had no money for rent, so it was genius
I remember turning up the first day, and I turned up an hour early.
I had no equipment to cycle down and I put cones on the floor.
That's all I had, the little bit of equipment I had.
For an hour before the class, I walked back and forth, visualized
20, 30, maybe 40 people turning up to my class
Come seven o'clock, as it was due to start, five people turn up, only five.
To anyone else, that might have seemed like a failure,
and they might have felt dejected by that, but I was over the moon.
I cycled home faster than I'd ever cycled before,
excited to tell my mum about my new business and my five clients.
See, I was coming a personal trainer now from a different perspective.
When I lived in Dublin, I was caught in my head, I wanted to be a superstar.
I thought fitness was about push-ups, sit-ups, broccoli, and spinach;
that's all I saw
Now I'd come home and I'd hit this low point,
I realized it could be so much more, and it should be so much more.
I think we've all got three places:
our home life, our work life, and then our third place.
So for some people the third place is a yoga class or a meditation.
For other people it's, I don't know, the pub, for some people
Everyone's got somewhere they go to escape,
because home life is not always happy, work life is not always fulfilling
we've got stuff going on, we want somewhere to escape.
I knew the third place for the five people on the beach with me
was the beach with me;
that was their third place, their place to get away.
I didn't know what was going on in other areas of their life,
but I knew I could be a great part of their day,
and I try to be the best part of people's day.
The same way Mark had instilled
belief in me with that phone call when I needed it,
I said I'm going to pass that forward to these five people.
And I came back the second month to the beach
and I've got 20 people on the beach.
They start instilling this belief in each other,
it's not just me passing it over, everyone is starting, it's reciprocal
Then I come back the third month, there's 100 people on the beach.
When I came back from Dublin and said I was going to do boot camp on the beach,
people told me: you are not in California, no one's gonna train on the beach
And with 100 people, things are going so well,
I get a visit from the guards in the middle of a session.
They tell me, "Pat, at what time is this over?
We are coming back for you, don't go anywhere."
You can imagine my clients are wondering what was going on.
The guards pull up at the end of the session, put down the window,
They say, "Pat lock your bike, grab your things,
you have to come with us."
My heart sinks.
I turn around to pick up my things.
As I do they start laughing hysterically, they say,
"We've a big guy in the back that needs to get in shape, will you look after him?"
I've gone from this guy with no belief, to five clients to 20 clients,
to 100 clients, now I've got the guards on my side.
Feeling indestructible.
There was a man that used to walk his dog along the beach every day
and always look over. and he was too stubborn to come and ask, I think.
Eventually, curiosity got the better of him.
"100 people on the beach; what's this all about?"
He came and asked, he said, "What is this?"
I said, "It's a fitness class, we train three times a week,
we give nutritional support, we give online support,
we make people strong; we make people feel good
It's 75 euro a month.
His jaw hit the floor.
He said, "You mean to tell me, you expect me to pay 75 euro
to train in the cold, in the rain, on the beach?
When I could pay the same and get a hot shower,
a pool, a sauna, and a Jacuzzi?"
In his local gym, because what he didn't understand
was that it wasn't about the push ups, the sit ups, the squats.
From a distance, you saw a group doing exercises
and running between cones,
but really what it was about was words that were being said
and beliefs that was being instilled.
I knew that the people that were coming to train
needed a little bit of encouragement and acknowledgement;
they needed compliments, they needed just little things.
Again, maybe there was other stuff going on
in their lives that I didnt' know about.
Maybe they were the same as me walking the beach lost, isolated,
lonely and depressed, wiping back tears when I met people so no one would know
there was something wrong.
So I made a conscious effort, every time they come and train with me
I'm going to make them feel good.
And it became, like I say, this culture of belief.
Everyone started thinking they could do anything,
we've got hundreds of people now on the beach
People started achieving amazing things in fitness,
which is expected with a fitness class,
but more than that, we started seeing people leaving abusive relationships,
starting new relationships, new careers, new businesses;
the confidence was just amazing.
With the fitness improvement, some people decided to set a big goal.
Well, I set the goal for them.
I pushed it out them them, I told them " 22 km obstacle course,
I'd like you to try it.
There's barbed wire, there's ice baths,
there's some climbing walls, there's some climbing ropes,
and other obstacles along the way, but you'll be fine."
I get a handful of clients that jump on this, say they want to do it.
But I stand back, and an amazing thing happens.
The little nudge that Mark gave me on the phone four years ago
prompted me to start with five people.
And now I watch my clients start to nudge each other.
Suddenly it's, "Well if I'm okay to do this, you'll be okay too."
It just starts to grow; we've got 100 people for this mud run
we've got 200 people for this mud run, we have 300...
A small gym in the west of Ireland end up bringing 540 people
to an adventure race, the biggest team ever, worldwide, for an adventure race,
and raised 165,000 euro for cystic fibrosis in the process.
I told you about promising my mum lunch
in the new year when things were better.
I finally got to bring her for lunch and it was the "Best of Galway Awards",
and they acknowledged me as the best gym.
But I never had a gym, I didn't have saunas, steam rooms, and hot showers.
I didn't have marketing budgets and teams; I had nothing.
Only a beach, and a whole lot of people that felt like they belong to something
and they felt the sense of belief in themselves.
And that's what it's all about.
Four years ago, I was at my lowest point.
Lost, isolated, lonely, depressed, emotionally broken, walking the beach,
not seeing any hope, desperate.
And a stranger made a phone call to me,
and that gave me the belief to try something one more time,
to give my dream one more chance.
I went to the beach and I tried to give that to five more people.
That one conversation resulted in hundred of clients in Galway,
and that one conversation resulted in thousands of clients online.
That one conversation resulted in a quarter of a million for charity,
and that one conversation resulted in 200,000 people a day
now see my updates about hope, and belief, and belonging,
and all these things every day.
That's the power that one conversation can have, and one interaction can have.
Because we never know what's going on in other people's lives.
People mask things when they're feeling lost or they're feeling alone,
or whatever they're feeling,
and I know that one conversation can change things.
One smile, one compliment, one acknowledgement;
something small to change someone's day can change someone's life.
So four years ago Mark gave me a little nudge that sparked this domino effect,
that I'm hoping I can give everyone in here, a little nudge today
to further the domino effect,
so that we can change people's lives.
I thought, going to Dublin, that you had to be a superstar,
you had to be a celebrity, you had to be all these things,
a millionaire, then you can effect change.
I talked about my mum and bringing her to the awards,
and hitting my lowest point and not being able to buy her a present;
and now I just share something my dad told me
again, when I was at my lowest point.
Dad told me that regardless of your current position in life,
you're in a position to help other people, so don't wait.
And that's my prompt today.
Don't think you're not good enough to affect change;
don't think that you can't change people's lives.
One smile, one acknowledgement, one compliment, taking an interest;
that's how we change lives.
I have learned a lot of things in four years,
but the biggest thing I've learned is that the world is a mirror,
and when you go out there and you smile at people
and take an interest in people and converse with people
and you believe in people,
even when you don't believe in yourself; your whole world changes.
So, like I said, or like my dad said,
regardless of your current position in life,
you are in the position to help other people
Don't wait.
Thank you.
(Applause)