No one plans to have an accident. There are circumstances where you truly are in the wrong place at the wrong time, such as the middle of an intersection when a drunk driver falls asleep behind the wheel, runs the red light and broadsides you. Life does contain random, unfortunate occurrences, and things happen that are beyond our control.
But that’s not what the law of accidents is about - it’s really a psychological principle where people believe that things in life happen outside of their thinking and acting, that they are helpless to circumstances such as a bad landlord, faulty exercise equipment, unfaithful clients, deceitful employees or a sinking economy. If you live by this principle, you feel as if things happen to you randomly.
Trainers who live this way live the life of a victim. I know one; we’ll call him Andy. Andy invested in a boot camp turnkey program that had brought great success, income and recognition to over 300 fitness pros. After the investment, Andy decided his area could not support the camp, it would take clients away from his personal training business, he wouldn’t want to wake up that early, his location was not well-suited, and so on. He was negative, pessimistic and, ultimately, became worthless in building the program. He made every excuse for why people would not attend his boot camp. As you can imagine, the boot camp attendance was way below its potential. Andy chose to be a victim of his own accidents.
You can shift from the law of accidents to the law of control. It can start with something as simple as saying to yourself, “This is unacceptable! I hate where I am now! I don’t want to be here anymore. The good news is that if I just think differently, the answers are within my reach.”
Identify the areas of your business life where you feel dissatisfied and feel like there is nothing you can do about it. What one change can you make to put you back in the driver’s seat? Even if it seems radical, identify a positive outcome, and determine the steps necessary to regain control. Then resolve to take a step forward.
I speak to too many trainers who are dissatisfied and are letting their talents become wasted as career opportunities are bypassed. How great would it be to apply fruitful consequences to your life that were a result of living with intentionality rather than by accident? How nice would it be to get in a groove and truly enjoy what you do and be rewarded for it? Remember that you are completely responsible for everything that you are and that you become and achieve.
In Hebrew, the word “coincidence” does not exist. That means there are no accidents.
Kelli Calabrese, MS, is the master coach for Be Better Projects, and she is the master trainer for Adventure Boot Camp and IMPACT (Intense Mixed Performance Accelerated Cross Training). For more information, go online to www.BeBetterAcademy.com or go to www.KelliCalabrese.com.
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Dec. 28 2009
