That has rung true through all his career paths: in the classroom, on the cricket field, as a coach and now in the gym.
The former Otago Volt took a leap of faith at the end of last year, leaving his post as deputy principal of St Kevin’s College to dive into personal training and coaching alongside his wife, Mel.
She had been working as a nutritionist and personal trainer in North Otago, and after taking over the Oamaru Rowing Club gym lease just over a year ago, her workload started to boom and Smith decided to jump on board.
‘‘It’s been busy — but it’s a different busy to a school environment, for sure,’’ Smith said.
‘‘It’s fantastic. I’m really enjoying it.’’
Looking to support more of North Otago’s sporting youth, Smith has taken over their youth academies — which were piloted last year — targeted at helping students with fitness goals, strength and conditioning and everything that comes with being an athlete.
The programme is also supported by former Otago Black Cap Shayne O’Connor, who will provide workshops on leadership and accountability, and Dr Scott Pierce, from Illinois State University, to help with mental skills, and they have been working alongside Craig Harrison, a leading coach and scientist in youth athlete development.
The senior academy attracted 34 athletes from year 11 to year 13, while the junior programme had about 50 athletes split between year 7 and 8 and year 9 and 10 cohorts.
‘‘We’re in a gym but we’re not using a lot of the traditional gym equipment that the older kids are.
‘‘It’s about making it fun and engaging and getting the kids to move well.
‘‘It’s not about trying to make them all professional athletes, but we want to just get them to reach their potential.’’
Growth across all programmes has led to them creating their own gym, the Athlete Foundry, scheduled to open in April.
The new facility will be open to everyone, but will also have areas dedicated to youth, including turfs and youth specific equipment.
‘‘I just wanted a space where we could have dedicated to ourselves,’’ Smith said.
‘‘Looking forward to getting into that space. A bit of work between now and then but it’s exciting.’’
They will also continue to train clients and run the rowing club facility, he said.
Returning to the gym has been ‘‘full circle’’ for Smith, who studied strength and conditioning before cricket and life took over.
But the fundamental skills he learned through his tenure with the Volts had set him up well to guide the next generation, he said.
‘‘The other side of it is, being involved in that team, in particular, you learn to get into routines and understand pressure.
‘‘Just being able to work with the kids and give them an understanding of how to push themselves to be better is something that I’m definitely keen on doing.’’
Stepping away from the classroom after 10 years also gave him more flexibility with their children, Louie, 11, Mason, 9, and Albie, 5 — Smith has been helping coach junior cricket at Valley and North Otago representative development sides — and help his community in a new light.
‘‘Both myself and Mel are born and bred in North Otago.
‘‘We’re fairly passionate about seeing people in the North Otago region doing well, whether that’s in the sporting sense or in another sense.’’
