DREAM. PURSUE. COMMIT. SACRIFICE. REALIZE.

By Steve” Coach Fury” Holiner

MFF Kaiju Herder, Master RKC, OS Lead Instructor, Master DVRT.

Dream. Pursue. Commit. Sacrifice. Realize.

Those five words were my last Facebook post before announcing that I was officially leaving my career in Visual Effects to make things happen as a Strength Coach. In a Steven Pressfield sense, you can say that this was the post in which Coach Fury TURNED PRO.

That was five years ago today.

I have always been a dreamer plagued by big ideas and little follow through. I had built a respected name for myself in the Visual Effects/Advertising Industry. Through my VFX career I made incredible friends and had the ability to own an apartment and raise my two young kids. I loved visual effects, until I didn’t.

I wanted something more. I wanted to do something different. I wanted to help people. I wanted to be happy. I wanted to be free.

The deeper I fell in love with strength training the more I realized that I was onto something. With strength, I found a purpose.  With strength I found my calling. I finally found my DREAM. More importantly, as an adult, I had the ability to follow through with it.

Leading into New Years Day 2011, I told myself that I would PURSUE this dream as hard as possible with the goal of becoming a fulltime strength coach. Essentially, I worked 7 days a week as a coach AND a visual effects guy. By late April, I couldn’t book any more sessions. My schedule was full. It was a great problem to have except for one thing… my kids never saw me. I knew I couldn’t maintain this double life. I had to COMMIT to the dream. I had to jump into the unknown. 

Financial security went out the door the moment I quit my job. I was all in. I had to SACRIFICE big elements of the life I had and the person I was. My budget tightened insanely. I invested in education, teaching and training opportunities. I taught any class I could traveled around the city carrying bells to private sessions and started Coach Fury's Kettlebell Club in Brooklyn. I went all in. I gave up a lot in the process. My friends know how much I sacrificed on this journey. That will be a topic to discuss in another post.

For now, I want to focus on the amazing things I’ve been able to REALIZE on this journey. It is insane how many people I’ve had the joy of meeting, training and learning with. This pursuit of my dream has brought me all over the United States, Canada and Japan. This dream took me to Mark Fisher Fitness. MFF constantly pushes me to become a better coach and human. I also have this incredible opportunity to have leadership roles in the RKC, Original Strength and DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training.

My Mark Fisher Fitness family.

I have to give huge thanks to everyone that has supported me on this life mission. Special shout outs go to my lady Kim Darmstadt and my kids, my Mom and Dad, Jen, Mark Fisher and every single human at MFF, Steve Milles and the Five Points Academy crew, John DuCane and my RKC/Dragon Door team, Josh Henkin, Jessica Bento, James Newman and the DVRT gang, Tim Anderson, Dani Almeyda, Geoff Neupert, John Usedom and the Original Strength posse and Phil Scarito, John Heinz, Jon Engum and my SFG buddies, Sal and Jen at Body Reserve. You have all played key roles in this adventure.  Sorry for all the shout outs, but this did not happen in a vacuum. I am grateful for some many people. Extra special love goes to anyone that I ever taught, assisted, had a class or a session with. Thank you for allowing me to stay in the game!

I love getting to teach and meet people. 

Geeky as I am, I somehow missed that I posted this on May the Fourth. That seems fitting. The force seems to be with me on this.

Follow your dreams.

Dream. Pursue. Commit. Sacrifice. Realize.

About an hour later I posted this:

It really is amazing where life can take us. 

Thanks for your time.

-Fury out

Steve “Coach Fury” Holiner’s superhero headquarters is Mark Fisher Fitness in NYC. Fury’s also a Master RKC, and Original Strength Lead Instructor and a Master DVRT. He is available for classes, semi-privates, instructor training and programming at MFF. Check out coachfury.com, facebook.com/coachfury Instagram@iamcoachfury and Twitter @coachfury for more info.