Be Big, Be a Builder – A People Builder

In my experience, the best results and workouts come from creating an atmosphere of encouragement, in the gym, at work and in relationships. You’ll be surprised at just how many times the encouragement that you send out to others will come back to you multiplied.

You’ll find that helping others win in life, realize their dreams, achieve their goals and helping them be all they can be––is extremely rewarding. We each have skills, influence, position and knowledge that we can impart to others. We can open doors for them and help launch them into fulfilling their destiny.

When you give more than you expect, you end up getting more than you could hope for or ever want.

People ask me “How did you get the opportunity to train with so many Champions from the past: Danny Padilla, Bill Grant, Rick Valente, Samir Bannout, Mike & Ray Mentzer, Rory Leidelmeyer, Benny Podda and Bob Cicherillo? My answer is; I carried the same encouragement into Gold’s Gym Venice as I did in my basement gym when my buddies and I trained together growing up.

A good friend, Jim Cirillo reminded me about those basement workouts in high school. He said “Dave, just when I was about to give up… you’d lean in and say… “Be Big, Be a Builder. I’ll always remember that.” We got the phrase from WCMF radio station in Rochester, NY. It was their motto during the 70’s. Of course, we related to it because of the correlation with bodybuilding. The full story went much deeper. It was about building people. It was about laboring towards a worthwhile goal. It was about making long-lasting impressions on others. We didn’t realize it at the time but it made a long-lasting impression on us as well. And of course it helped crank up our intensity during a lot of gut-busting workouts. Here it is in its entirety. Enjoy…

“The impression you and your friends have on others is based on what you do, to teach, to create, to accomplish, or to build…

…whether you dig the trench for the foundation for a building; whether you lay the last brick on its top; whether you work with a pick and shovel, or with tools and the machines, or work in the offices or sell the products or services of industry… whether you grow, prepare or harvest the very food we eat… whether you are a homebuilder… or an educator, teaching and influencing others… no matter what you are or what you do, if you are a builder, you are one to be long remembered. Those who attempted to destroy the pyramids of Egypt were despised and soon forgotten… those thousands who labored to build them will never be forgotten… Be Big, Be a Builder!”