Meet Matt Pallardy | One of the happiest people you’ll ever meet. Father. Owner of Self Made Mission Bay.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Matt Pallardy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matt, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
Health and happiness. Without your health, you can’t really focus on and enjoy anything else. Think about the last time you were sick, I mean really sick, were you really focused on hitting your next goal? Were you really thinking about how you can help others? Were you really thinking about building a bigger and brighter future? Being healthy is the baseline that allows you to do everything else. Without getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, consuming the proper nutrition, and exercising regularly, you aren’t setting yourself up to maximize your potential. You don’t want to be the richest man in the graveyard. That is why health is so important!

Once you’re healthy, your opportunities are endless. To me, nothing is more important from there than being happy and spreading joy to those you come into contact with. All of those amazing things that sound so wonderful like fast cars and a big house to go along with your yacht are completely useless if you’re not happy and enjoying life! What good is endless wealth if you’re miserable? The practice of mindfulness (or being in the present moment) is a massive leap in the right direction if you want to be happy; people get worried about the future or anxious about the past. The present moment, if you can truly live in it, will always bring you joy. To go along with mindfulness, focusing on the immense amount of things that are already wonderful in your life (or being grateful) will put you into a state of happiness. If you’re blessed enough to even have access to reading this article then you’ve got countless blessings around you that we often take for granted, right down to the running water coming out of your sink.

Once you’re healthy and happy, achieving everything you’ve ever wanted becomes immensely easier, and you get to enjoy the whole ride!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I own a private training facility full of entrepreneurs, called Self Made Training Facility in Mission Bay. What I love the most about my business is the people that are involved in it every day. I have over 40 personal trainers that run their businesses out of my facility, and the energy that they bring every day is what attracts so many amazing people and makes my life so incredible. I’m so proud of every one of them for their ability to withstand the most difficult time for our industry when their entire livelihood was in jeopardy due to high pressure to close down all in person fitness. They realized that what they do is so much more than just get people healthy and fit; it’s some peoples only escape mentally and can literally save someone’s life as well as massively improve the quality of someone’s life along with their family.

There have been countless challenges along the way, none bigger than California attempting to close down small businesses and especially gyms. Running any business is highly competitive and unfortunately most businesses don’t even last for a year, let alone end up thriving and enjoying themselves like we do!

I truly believe that the only way to fail is the quit. As long as you keep trying, then you haven’t failed. You must be flexible in your approach but relentless towards your goal. Every so called failure is an opportunity to learn and attack your goals from a new angle. I’ll say this again because it’s worth repeating: the only way to truly fail is to quit.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
San Diego has it all, you can do just about anything! I would take them to glider port for a sunset at some point, somehow it’s a hidden gem that not enough people know about when compared to sunset cliffs. We would hike Cowles mountain and play a round of golf at Torrey Pines. We would eat some delicious pizza at Filippi’s, then again at Giant Bambino’s.

Everyone of my friends would come join me at Self Made Training Facility for a workout and hang out with my daughter Audrey, she’s the princess of Self Made.

Of course, we would have to sprint into the Pacific Ocean, something that everyone should do at least once. It’s freezing but exhilarating, truly an experience of living life!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins is the best book I’ve ever come across. I read it once per year. If you read this book and actually do everything that it asks you to do, then you can’t help but improve the quality of your life.

I also must shoutout my beautiful and loving fiancé, Briana Celia. I’d be lost without you. I love you.

Instagram: @Matt_Pallardy