Three rules for living well with Danny Kennedy

For a long time, the number one thing I’ve prioritised in my life is making memories. You could have everything in the world, but if you have no one to share with, it's quite sad. That has really become clear during the pandemic lockdown. I’m in a beautiful apartment with nice views – nothing to complain about, really – except that I’ve been locked down away from my family and it’s hard being apart from them.

What I’ve learnt from Danny Kennedy, founder of Danny Kennedy Fitness and my awesome personal trainer, is that you have to make the most of what you’ve got. That’s not the same as being content with what you’re given, that means controlling the things you can control and not dwelling on the rest.

Succeeding through failure

When Danny was in high school in Horsham, regional Victoria, he was an athlete who played heaps of different sports. He loved basketball but found it hard to gain traction and had just decided to give up basketball in favour of football when the Australian Basketball College called him up to train in Melbourne.

“I had so many disappointments in my junior career. I missed out on so many opportunities. I missed so many teams. I got cut from so many selections,” he says of needing resilience. “It built the foundations for the qualities that I have now.”

Getting selected to go to Melbourne was huge. He uprooted his life and, at 18, moved to the city and trained with the college for two years. Then an ankle injury cut short his professional basketball career.

“When I had my ankle reconstruction, I was so depressed. It was devastating, but it was the biggest blessing because that's what put me on the path that I'm on now. I wouldn't have done any of the stuff that I've done so far. I wouldn't have met any of the people that I've met so far, if it hadn't been for that,” Danny explains.

Danny had completed his personal training qualifications in parallel to his high school studies (“just so I could have something if I needed it later on in life”) and it was this that helped him in his recovery.

“My mindset was totally on what I wanted to do with my basketball. All of a sudden not being able to do it at all, I sat at home and felt sorry for myself. But after that, I started to realise that I had to focus on what I could control, because everything else is just a waste of energy. So I put all of my focus into what I could do. I realised that I had my personal training qualification,” he says.

“It comes down to what I do and the effort I put in. And I think that's why I'm so in love with what I do. I’m so in love with helping other people… If you put in the work, you'll see the results.”

Since then he’s become a personal trainer to a range of household name athletes – and me. But he hasn’t stopped there, he also posts free workouts and tips on his website, and has a podcast. I went on as a special guest and he encouraged me to start mine.

“I find podcasting so enjoyable because you can just have conversations and someone could hear it and it could be the one thing that they needed to hear,” says Danny. “It could completely be a game changer for them.”

He’s also taken on some massive challenges. Last year he signed up to fight in a professional boxing match. The catch? He’s never been a boxer. He didn’t even start with amateurs. So he went through training camp to get him up to the level.

“Whatever I do, I try and just go all in,” he says. “If you're setting ridiculous goals that aren't achievable, it can be disappointing. But if you're setting big goals to reach for, even if you fail, the things that you're going to achieve along the way are so much higher than if you set yourself some mediocre goal and achieve it.”

And that brings us to where physical and mental health meet and how it factors into success.

“Every single person that I've spoken to that is in the mental health industry talks about how important physical health is to improving your mental health and vice versa,” says Danny. “I don't think I've ever come across anyone that has been significantly successful that doesn't prioritise their health.”

His three rules for living well:

1.    “Knowing what your passion is and knowing your purpose, because that's what's going to fuel you to keep going.”

2.    Serve others. “If you're serving others, what you put out will come back – the rest will come, the money will come, the success will come.”

3.    And the most underrated out of all of them? “Consistency. I'm a huge believer in doing the small things exceptionally well on a daily basis.”

But don’t forget the thing that caps it off: reflection. “It's all well and good to achieve all the success and knock off all your goals, but if you don't actually stop to enjoy it, then are you really that successful?”

Improve your outlook with Danny as he talks about how mental and physical health are intertwined in Episode 14 of the From Thousands to Millions podcast.

Listen via Apple https://apple.co/3aPdB6z / Spotify https://spoti.fi/2RemJcX and all great podcast apps.