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The Garage Gym Standard of Performance:
The Garage Gym Standard of Performance: The Foundation of 100%.
Culture and community are hot buzzwords in 2026.
They’re very hard to define, but easy to feel, and thrown out by most businesses these days as a competitive advantage.
Our culture this… our great community that.
All well intended, and sometimes true, but we feel most of it is fluff.
—
In 2025 we created The Garage Gym Standard of Performance.
It reads:
Make someone's day.
Communicate clearly.
Maintain focus.
Follow through.
Take pride in my effort.
Never complain.
Demonstrate loyalty.
Be deeply committed to learning.
Control the controllables.
Be unreasonable in the pursuit of my 100%.
It started with a book
I read The Standard of Performance by Bill Walsh. If you don't know the name, Bill Walsh was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers during one of the greatest dynasties in NFL history.
While Bill Walsh is remembered for the trophies, he’s also widely known for his philosophy.
My interpretation of his belief was simple:
Don't focus on the scoreboard or obsess over wins and losses.
Instead, build a standard of performance of how you show up every single day.
Execute that standard to the best of your ability…
and the score will take care of itself.
The idea resonated with me deeply.
Because it's not just a football philosophy - it's a life philosophy.
Focus on the inputs. Control what you can control. Execute them fully, consistently, without complaint. And trust the results will follow.
& if they don’t ?
You probably need to revise The Standard of Performance.
Our mission at The Garage Gym is to help our people pursue the 100% best version of themselves, and our own Standard of Performance would help in that effort.
Why write a Standard of Performance ?
It gives us something to point to and hold ourselves accountable.
We’re all guilty of well intended commitments… somehow slipping through the cracks.
The Garage Gym Standard of Performance was created to evaluate all our decisions - in and out of the gym - through.
The goal ?
To support us on our pursuit of 100%.
Why did we put it on the wall ?
Because we mean it.
Most gyms have a random generic quote plastered on the wall… which may look cool but might not have any substance to the mission of the business.
That’s fine… we just wanted to go a level deeper.
It's an invitation to our members to commit to the same Standard we now hold ourselves to.
The pursuit of your 100% isn't just something that happens in a single training session.
It’s a lifelong commitment to the best version of you.
The best version of you requires all 10 points of The Standard of Performance.
Sure, we’re suckers for a cool mural…
but more importantly it's a daily reminder to commit to the best version of you.
What each line actually means
***There is no order of priority.
- Make someone's day.
Core to The Garage Gym is a neighborly approach to life. Seek to make someone else’s day better because you were a part of it.
- Communicate clearly.
Challenge yourself to communicate with clarity, direction, and intent.
- Maintain focus.
Important to anything worth doing. Commit to focused effort on the things that matter.
- Follow through.
Keep the commitments you make to yourself and others and see them through to completion. This is a cheat code to building self confidence and a reputation you’re proud of.
- Take pride in my effort.
Separate from the outcome. Sleep good at night knowing that the effort you gave was your best.
- Never complain.
This is just the worst. Complaining will never help anything.
- Demonstrate loyalty.
To the people you care about, to your larger community, and to your own goals. Show up for others the way you wish they’d show up for you.
- Be deeply committed to learning.
No one knows it all (or ever will). Commit to a lifetime of learning.
- Control the controllables.
You can't control everything. But - you can control your effort, attitude, preparation, and how you treat people. Give 100% effort to what you can control.
- Be unreasonable in the pursuit of my 100%.
The line that started it all
There is a 100% version of you - Physically, Mentally, Socially - inside you desperate to come alive.
That pursuit is going to require you to be unreasonable.
Most people are reasonable:
- They stop when it gets hard.
- They settle when good enough shows up.
- They talk themselves out of the extra rep, the early morning, or the difficult conversation that might actually change things.
We don't think that's living at your best.
The Garage Gym exists to provide the environment, community, and Standard to pursue something more - the best version of you.
Bill Walsh built dynasties by getting his team to focus on the standard instead of the scoreboard.
We think you can do the same thing.
Not with a football team, but with your life.
If The Garage Gym Standard of Performance resonates with you:
Apply to explore your 100%: thegaragegym.co/get-started
The Garage Gym has locations in Westfield, NJ and Little Silver, NJ.