❤️‍🩹💡 Helping People, Help People: A Conversation with Josh Reid Jones

“People flourish when they’re seen, supported, and given the tools to succeed. If we want to improve mental health outcomes or physical performance, we have to look at the environments people live in. That’s where change happens.”

Q: What’s the biggest misconception about doing good in 2025?
Josh: That we should focus on the attempt, and the ease with which someone can contribute to doing 'something', over the outcome and quality of help for the people and communities we are seeking to support. Too many interventions and messages are focused on ensuring that the primary focus of quality help, is looking for lowest common denominator short-term activities that anyone can do. As opposed to looking for the best possible kind of comprehensive help for people who need it and ensuring that the highest standards of care and expertise are allocated to those outcomes. Consistency and excellence are the keys to great results in pretty much everything, including helping others. The 'quick-fix', 'quick result' fallacy is as alive and well in social impact, as it is in fitness unfortunately. We all have the capacity to do incredible amounts of good, but to do good - better, like all things, takes concentrated effort, time and the pursuit of excellence. I work to guide people along that path, while keeping them on that path!

Q: What does “Helping People, Help People” actually look like in practice?
Josh: One thing we do is to break 'help' into two main categories, Human Help, and Logistics. Logistics are the material needs, the knowledge, the access and infrastructure that individuals or communities need to make progress from where they are, to where they want to be. The human help is the people, trust, community and relationships around them that support them on that journey. We identify gaps in these kinds of help around those in need, and start to fill them, connecting people and resources to where they are most useful, and most needed.
We identify the best ways that those looking to help can contribute, and we identify the ways in which those in need of help need support, working always to fill gaps and create avenues to opportunity for those in need, and those looking to do good.

Q: How can gyms, health professionals, or everyday people contribute meaningfully to community wellbeing?
Josh: Through care, and consideration for their clients and communities. Through constantly making an effort to be better and do better by them. By practicing what they preach, and not selling snake-oil or quick fixes to people. Fitness and social impact have a lot in common, in that 30 day programs are unlikely to change someone's entire life forever, but a regular practice of showing up and doing your best and paying attention to the work and the people around you, will set you up for success.

Q: What do you wish more people understood about long-term impact?
Josh: That it is long-term! Good help and good support usually requires a long-term commitment. It's really hard to change someone's life in one meeting, or one piece of advice. If you have the chance to be a good influence, a good support and to be around for someone for the long-term, you give yourself the best chance of actually being able to really positively impact their life and support them meaningfully. Find the path that allows you to remain impactful and contributing for a long time, over the path that focuses on short-term intensity - most of the time, that will be the correct path.