I want to help you establish the cornerstone of your fitness business and career. I want to help you find your "why."

Your why is literally why you do what you do. It's what allows you to wake up before 6 a.m. and train well into the evening. It's also what will help you become very wealthy.

You see, finding your why allows you to have laser focus on your goal. It keeps you from drifting off course, which is just as important as anything you do.

The reason you must "get this" is because in an internet-land of continual product launches and business coaches offering you the next "product du jour" you must be able to resist jumping from bandwagon to bandwagon.

Remember, it's so much easier to be successful at completing ONE goal at a time than it is to spread your attention over a half dozen things. I would personally go so far as to say it is NOT possible to be truly great at a half dozen things. Which leads me to my next point of you being you ...

Don't decide to write an eBook or shoot a DVD and decide to become an online marketer if your true passion is in training clients. And likewise, if your passion is writing then shift your primary focus on that. But don't be mediocre at both.

So how do you become wildly successful to the point that referrals and clients come to you instead of you chasing them down?

The answer is simple, but the success of that answer is reserved for a chosen few. Here's why: When you've found your "why" you know exactly what needs to happen next. You simply see your goals in crystal clarity.

Here's what I mean. Let's say you love one-on-one training (like me) because you get to personally affect the lives of the individuals you work with on a profound level. You get to meet with them every week and listen to their personal struggles and triumphs as they work to create a new lifestyle geared towards healthy living and transforming their body. You get to see them literally lose pant sizes before your eyes and track their progress and report back to them with it. You get to see the smile on their face when they ultimately reach their goal and realize it was all worth it.

That's what a why sounds like.

Now in this example, you share your client’s goal of helping them reach their milestones, so going the extra mile like emailing them and keeping in touch with them between sessions (even though you're not technically directly paid for it) is just part of living your why.

You can also see how if someone offered you a course on how to make six figures running bootcamps you would turn it down. Why? Because it doesn't fit with YOUR why, if one-on-one training is your passion. If money is your passion then hop right on that next bandwagon. However, if you follow your why and you over-deliver with energetic and compassionate training sessions you WILL eventually become wealthy by living your passion.

The reason for this is that people who are living their why are contagious -- their zest for life and energy rubs off and inspires others, which in turn gets people talking. This is how you get massive referrals without even asking.

Should you ask for referrals and create a system to maximize referrals in your business? Absolutely. But if you're going the extra mile and training with passion you'll run head first into success either way.

The bottom line is that if you love bootcamps be the best bootcamp trainer you can be. And likewise, if you're a semi-private, small group, or one-on-one fitness professional then stick to what you love. Do not let anyone sway what your gut tells you what you should be doing. You may make some quick money following the latest “scheme” but eventually that business will fail since it was based on making money first and helping others second.

And finally here are some "whys" to get your heart and mind thinking about what resonates with you:

- Training seniors
- Post rehab
- Sport conditioning for volleyball athletes
- Youth athletic training
- Women's weight loss
- Fighting depression through exercise
- Exercise for cancer patients
- Dramatic body transformation
- Overall healthy lifestyle coaching
- Bootcamp conditioning
- Postural alignment
- Flexibility and biomechanics

The list is obviously unlimited and these are just a few examples to get you started. Plus, what I've found is that it's best to just begin training clients and then as you begin to work with more and more people your why sometimes appears right before your eyes without you having to go find it.

I hope this post allows you to realize that it's okay to be you and not pretend to be someone you're not just to make money or follow a hot trend you think you should jump onto. All that matters for long-term emotional and financial success is finding your why and living it out everyday.


Stephen Cabral has consulted for MTV, Maxim, Men's Health, NutritionData, SELF, Women's Day, as well as dozens of others. He was named the PFP 2011 Trainer of the Year. He is also a fitness writer, author, studio owner, and the founder of Personal Training Business School. His free fitness business video series, proven strategies and success tips can be found athttp://PersonalTrainingBusinessSchool.com