David Damiani teacher turned personal trainer, provides training and fitness services to clients in and around Toronto. He focuses on individualized programs based on clients’ personal health objectives, including fitness level assessment, progress monitoring, and guided assistance to improve exercise efficiency and minimize risk. Mr. Damiani has certifications in First Aid and CPR, coaching theory, nutrition, strength and conditioning, and corrective exercises. Earlier in his career, David Damiani served as a teacher in the Toronto Catholic District School Board between November 2012 and March 2026.
Mr. Damiani also works as a tennis coach at Valley Club in Toronto. He also provides private and semi-private lessons and leads weekly adult clinics. He previously served as a sports coach at Tenten Sports between 2008 and 2018. During this time, he coached kids ages 4 to 15 in different sports, including basketball, soccer, volleyball, and floor hockey.
In his free time, Mr. Damiani enjoys engaging in sporting activities, especially athletics. He ran weekly practices in preparation for the 2022 Maccabiah Games in Israel. The 45-sport event, also known as the Jewish Olympics, draws over 10,000 Jewish athletes from over 80 countries.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
I wake up, do my red-light therapy, get ready for work, grab my belongings, drive to work. After work, I coach tennis for a couple of hours and then I go to the gym to work out. Come home and prepare dinner with my girlfriend, eat dinner, go for a walk if the weather is nice. Come back home and shower and prepare the next day’s lunch, then we will watch a show on TV and then sleep.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Bringing ideas to life requires turning inspiration into action through a structured but flexible process. The most effective path involves brain-dumping your thoughts; breaking the concept into a low-cost, manageable first step; seeking feedback from target audiences rather than friends; and iterating until completion.
What’s one trend that excites you?
One exciting trend these days is the advancement of technology. It is unbelievable how technology has changed our lives. For example, one could use their cell phones for practically anything now-adays. Sending emails, searching the Internet, calling or texting someone anywhere in the world have all become so easy with the recent advancement of technology. In another example, the changes technology has made for transportation is incredible. Before, all cars and transportation used to run on fuel; now, we are seeing hybrid, as well as fully electric options available. These vehicles can be equipped with options such as self-drive mode (where the driver doesn’t have to touch the steering wheel or gas). Or if the car is parked in the blazing sun, the HVAC system automatically turns on to keep the interior from reaching uncomfortable and dangerous temperatures.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
One habit that helps me be productive is doing a short “priority reset” before starting work each day.
Instead of jumping into messages or reacting to whatever appears first, spend five to 10 minutes deciding:
• What are the one to three outcomes that actually matter today?
• What task would make the day feel successful even if everything else slipped?
• What’s likely to distract or derail you?
Then block time for the most important task before lower-value work expands to fill the day.
This habit works because productivity is usually less about working harder and more about reducing decision drift. Without a reset, it’s easy to spend hours being busy but not moving anything important forward.
A simple structure:
• One deep task (high impact).
• One maintenance task (admin, email, logistics).
• One growth task (learning, networking, experimenting).
Another useful rule: avoid checking communication apps immediately after waking up. Protecting the first focused hour of the day can dramatically improve concentration and momentum.
What advice would you give your younger self?
One advice I would give my younger self is to take care of your health. Taking care of physical and mental health usually works best when you focus on a few repeatable basics instead of chasing perfect routines.
Physical Health:
• Sleep consistently: Aim for enough sleep on a regular schedule. Sleep affects energy, mood, focus, appetite and recovery more than almost anything else.
• Move daily: You don’t need extreme workouts. Walking, strength training, stretching, sports or cycling all help. Consistency matters more than intensity.
• Eat mostly whole foods: Prioritize protein, fruits, vegetables, fibre and hydration. You don’t need perfection—just a sustainable baseline.
• Get sunlight and fresh air: Even short outdoor time can improve energy and regulate sleep.
• Reduce chronic stress on the body: Too much sitting, poor sleep, constant stimulation and overwork accumulate over time.
Mental Health:
• Protect your attention: Constant notifications and endless scrolling can fragment focus and increase anxiety. Create periods of uninterrupted time.
• Maintain real relationships: Regular conversations, friendships and community are strongly linked to emotional resilience.
• Have something meaningful to work toward: Purpose doesn’t have to be dramatic—learning, creating, helping others, building a career or improving yourself all count.
• Rest without guilt: Recovery is productive. Mental exhaustion often looks like lack of motivation.
• Notice patterns, not just moods: Your sleep, environment, stress, food and routines often influence how you feel more than you realize.
Tell us something you believe that almost nobody agrees with you on.
Something that almost nobody agrees with me on can be the importance of prioritizing one’s sleep and rest.
1. Brain Function and Memory
While you sleep, your brain is highly active; it processes and stores memories, strengthens learning and problem-solving skills, and clears waste products that build up during the day. Without enough sleep, concentration, decision-making and creativity drop quickly.
2. Physical Health
Sleep plays a key role in immune system strength (helps fight infections), muscle repair and growth, and hormone regulation. Chronic sleep deprivation is linked to conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
3. Emotional Well-being
Lack of sleep affects mood more than people realize: increased irritability and stress, higher risk of anxiety and depression, and poor emotional control. Sleep helps regulate brain chemicals that influence how you feel.
4. Energy & Daily Performance
Good sleep improves reaction time, focus and productivity, physical performance (important for athletes and students alike).
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
One thing that I repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do is to be physically active.
1. Improves Physical Health
Exercise strengthens:
• The heart and lungs.
• Muscles and bones.
• The immune system.
Regular activity lowers the risk of conditions such as:
• Heart disease.
• Type 2 diabetes.
• High blood pressure.
• Obesity.
2. Boosts Mental Health
Physical activity helps the brain by:
• Reducing stress and anxiety.
• Improving mood through the release of endorphins.
• Increasing self-confidence.
• Helping reduce symptoms of depression.
Even a short walk can improve mental well-being.
3. Increases Energy and Fitness
Being active improves:
• Strength and endurance.
• Flexibility and balance.
• Overall energy levels.
People who exercise regularly often feel less tired during the day.
4. Helps With Weight Management
Physical activity burns calories and supports a healthy metabolism. Combined with good nutrition, it helps maintain a healthy weight.
5. Supports Better Sleep
Regular exercise can help people fall asleep faster and improve sleep quality.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
When I feel overwhelmed or unfocused, I often take a break from the task. This can be in many ways. For instance, I will often go work out or take a walk outside when I feel like I am feeling anxious or nervous about something. Often, I may listen to music or a motivational podcast to help me refocus my mind and help me to gather my thoughts again. Talking to a family member or friend often helps me to get my thoughts out and express myself openly.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
One strategy that has helped me grow my business or advance my career has been to establish good relationships or rapports with everyone around me. When coming into contact with someone, it is always important to be respectful and attentive to them. If it was someone of higher position, I would ask them for advice or try to engage in conversation with them to gain insight from someone different than myself. In addition, taking business cards or contact information from these people have allowed me to reach out to them if I ever am in need in the future.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
One failure in my career was taking on too many responsibilities at once during a major project. I wanted to prove that I could handle everything myself, so I avoided delegating tasks and underestimated the time needed to complete the work. As a result, the project fell behind schedule, communication within the team suffered and the final outcome did not meet expectations.
To overcome this, I first accepted responsibility for the mistakes instead of making excuses. I spoke with my team and supervisor, created a clearer plan, prioritized the most important tasks and started delegating work more effectively. I also improved my time management and communication skills by using regular check-ins and setting realistic deadlines.
The experience taught me several important lessons:
• Teamwork and delegation are essential for success.
• Good communication prevents misunderstandings and delays.
• Asking for help is a strength, not a weakness.
• Planning and organization are just as important as hard work.
Since then, I have approached projects with better balance, stronger collaboration and a greater understanding of leadership and accountability.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
One business idea I’d gladly give away is a subscription-based healthy living support service for busy people.
The idea is simple: many people want to eat better, exercise regularly and improve their sleep, but they struggle with time, motivation and planning. This service would provide:
• Personalized weekly workout plans.
• Simple meal suggestions and grocery lists.
• Sleep and wellness tips.
• Daily reminders and progress tracking through an app or text messages.
The business could operate online with affordable monthly subscriptions, making it accessible to students, professionals and families. You could also partner with local gyms, nutritionists or wellness coaches to expand services.
Why I think it has potential:
• Health and wellness continue to grow globally.
• Many people prefer convenient digital support.
• It can start small with low startup costs and scale over time.
The biggest lesson behind this idea is that successful businesses often solve everyday problems in simple, practical ways.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
One piece of software that helps me stay productive is Notion.
I use it as an all-in-one workspace to organize tasks, notes, schedules and project plans. Instead of keeping information in different apps, I can manage everything in one place.
Here’s how I use it:
• Task Management: Creating daily to-do lists and tracking deadlines.
• Note-Taking: Storing meeting notes, ideas and research.
• Project Planning: Organizing projects with timelines, checklists and progress updates.
• Collaboration: Sharing pages with team members to improve communication and teamwork.
What makes Notion especially useful is its flexibility. It can be customized for personal productivity, schoolwork or business projects. By keeping information organized and easy to access, it helps reduce distractions and improves efficiency.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
The best $100 I recently spent was on a personal training course. This has allowed me to be a certified personal trainer.
1. Personalized Fitness Plans:
Everyone has different goals, fitness levels and physical abilities. Personal trainers create customized workout programs based on a person’s needs, whether the goal is weight loss, muscle gain, improved athletic performance or better overall health.
2. Proper Technique and Safety:
Trainers teach the correct way to perform exercises, which helps prevent injuries, improve workout effectiveness and build confidence in the gym. Good form is especially important for beginners and people recovering from injuries.
3. Motivation and Accountability:
Many people struggle to stay consistent with exercise. Personal trainers encourage clients to stay committed, track progress, and help people push beyond their comfort zones safely. Having someone hold you accountable often increases motivation and discipline.
4. Faster and Better Results:
Because trainers understand fitness principles and program design, they can help clients use time more efficiently, avoid ineffective workouts and reach goals more quickly.
5. Education About Healthy Living:
Personal trainers often provide advice about exercise habits, recovery and stretching, healthy lifestyle choices and basic nutrition guidance.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
One of my favourite books that I have read is the book “Never Finished: Unshackle Your Mind and Win the War Within.”
1. Mental Strength:
Goggins emphasizes that the mind often gives up before the body does. He encourages readers to face discomfort, embrace challenges and build resilience through hard experiences.
2. Self-Discipline:
The book stresses the importance of consistency, hard work and taking responsibility for your actions. Goggins believes discipline creates freedom and confidence.
3. Continuous Growth:
The title “Never Finished” reflects the idea that success is not a final destination, there is always room for improvement, and personal development is a lifelong process.
4. Overcoming Fear and Limits:
Goggins challenges readers to confront fear of failure, self-doubt, and excuses and comfort zones. He encourages people to discover what they are truly capable of.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
A series that I recently enjoyed was “Landman.” The story is set in the oil fields of West Texas and explores the high-stakes world of the modern oil industry. It focuses on billionaire oil companies, roughneck workers, land deals and power struggles, and wealth, politics, and family conflicts.
“Landman” combines intense drama, realistic working-class settings, family tension, crime and corporate conflict, and themes of ambition, power and survival. It shares a similar tone of rugged drama, strong personalities, and modern American power struggles.
Key learnings
- Sufficient and restful sleep is important for every aspect of life, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
- Surround yourself with good and positive people that will encourage and motivate you to be a better person.
- Be kind and humble around others.