Don Saladino is a guy I’ve wanted to meet and train with for a while now. He’s a legend in the fitness industry, a husband and father, fellow Long Islander (I grew up there) and trainer to some of the quintessential midlife males like Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds.
He’s also in his late 40s and jacked, still playing hockey and maximizing midlife himself. A while back I saw that he was speaking at STRONG NY, an event put on by my friend Kenny Santucci, so I called Kenny and asked to attend. He was cool enough to hook me up with a VIP ticket and I booked my flight. I figured I’d get my five minutes or so with Don sometime during the event and if I was lucky, maybe get his contact information and look to develop a bit of a relationship, have him on the podcast and the rest would be history.
That’s how I make the future up in my head anyway and then go about how to manifest it.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But as The Great One Wayne Gretzky says, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. And that’s one of the messages here. Keep shooting.
Now back to my trip to NYC.
I go to the VIP pre-party the night before the event and Don’s there. I obviously don’t know him at this point, but fortunately for me he’s talking to my friend Gabrielle Lyon who’s also speaking at the event so it’s the ideal time for me to walk up and say hello. I greet Dr. G, get the hug and she introduces me to Don. Don and Gabrielle are close so the warm intro does wonders and breaks down the barrier. I’m not particularly good at cocktail parties so I wrapped it up pretty quickly hoping I’d made a good impression and didn’t overstay my welcome. Then I said goodnight and left early because when I go to these things, I like to get up early and get my workout in before everyone else. I figured at an event called STRONG NYC, I’d want to show up feeling rested, energized and strong.
The event was starting at 10am so I set my alarm for 6:30am and hit the gym. When I walked in, who did I see?
Don Saladino and Gunnar Peterson (the other legend I wanted to meet at the event).
So now it’s just the three of us in this small hotel gym. Don introduces me to Gunnar and invites me to join their workout. We hit a very simple, “just knock out some basics” workout and as we’re wrapping up, they ask me if I want to join them for breakfast.
Easiest “yes” ever and we’re in an Uber to a diner. I’m watching what these guys do for their warmup and workout. Now I’m watching what they order for breakfast; eggs, pancakes, turkey bacon, oatmeal, coffee…And we’re talking about all things family, fitness, fun and so on.
At this point, I don’t even have to go to the event. I’ve gotten everything I was hoping for already. We’ve exchanged numbers, I’m feeling pretty good about myself and it’s not even 9am yet.
The reason? The gym and the fact that we have similar habits.
Frankly, it wasn’t a surprise these guys were in the gym – it’d be a surprise if they weren’t. That’s the way I want to operate. So that’s what I did. And because of that, something good happened. That’s how you create your own luck. I followed up with Don a couple weeks later about taking him up on his invite to train at his private barn, which came up over breakfast. He graciously said yes.
We picked a day and I brought a few guys from my inner circle group. We trained, recorded a podcast and hung out all day. Sometimes, what you envision actually happens.
