How do you know if being a personal trainer is your true calling? Are you sure it is what you were meant to do? The following are 10 indicators that will help you answer these questions.
1. You can't wait to get out of bed in the morning
If you dread the sound of the alarm clock going off, then you probably are not in the right profession. Personal training should be considered a privilege. You have the ability to help people achieve their fitness goals and look and feel their absolute best. What better reason is there than this to start your day with enthusiasm?
2. You look forward to your clients' training sessions
If you find yourself saying you would rather do something else than train your clients, then that will be evident during their sessions. Personal training should not be a process where you just show up and go through the motions. Your clients' sessions should be considered an opportunity for you to share your experience, knowledge and love of fitness during each and every session.
3. You encourage questions from your personal training clients
If you are bothered when your clients ask questions during their sessions, as long as they are about fitness, nutrition or their specific exercise program, then you should look at this from a different perspective. Your clients ask questions because they consider you an expert and hold your qualifications in high regard. Therefore, think of yourself as a teacher as well as a trainer. Offer everything you can so your clients understand why they are doing what they are doing and how it will ultimately benefit them.
4. You offer help to all who ask
If you get annoyed when people who are not your clients ask you for help with their exercise routine, then view this as an opportunity to more fully impact others and potentially expand your client base. In the personal training profession, as in life, you get what you give. By going out of your way to serve others, good things will eventually come back to you. Whether it is in the form of gratitude, new business or referrals, your generosity will not go unnoticed or unrewarded.
5. You consider what you do your passion
If you look at personal training as a job, then it will feel that way. On the other hand, if personal training is truly your passion, then what you do will not feel like work. Businessman and columnist Harvey Mackay once said, "Find something you love to do and you'll never have to work a day in your life." This is absolutely true. What more can anyone ask for than to have a passion, have the ability to help people with that passion, and make a living doing it?
6. You don't train clients only for the money
If your number one priority is to make money, then personal training may not be for you. Not that you cannot make money, and possibly even a lot of it, because you certainly can. The most successful personal trainers will tell you, however, that they chose their profession because above all else, they love what they do. If you love what you do, then you will likely be great at it, and if you are great at anything, then people will stand in line to pay for your services.
7. You continue to educate yourself
If you see continuing education as an obstacle toward maintaining your personal training certification, then you should alter your view. As a certified personal trainer, you have the opportunity to attend a multitude of events, seminars, tradeshows and workshops as well as take a plethora of classes and courses that will help you learn, grow and become better at what you do. In addition, they will often inspire you to continue to inspire others in pursuit of their fitness goals.
8. You maintain your fitness level
If you do not exercise and eat right, then trying to motivate others to live a healthy lifestyle may be somewhat of a challenge. As a personal trainer, you should lead by example. Although you do not have to be Mr. or Ms. Olympia, you should definitely be fit. Training people to do what you do is more powerful than training them to do what you say. Looking the part and having the ability to perform the exercises you teach will go a long way in earning their respect.
9. You feel blessed to do what you do
If you feel anything other than blessed to be a personal trainer, then you probably do not comprehend the lasting impression you can have on other people. In this profession, you have the ability to help people overcome physical, medical and emotional struggles. You have the opportunity to change people's lives, as well as the lives of those around them, in so many ways. For this, you should feel blessed, and you should also be extremely grateful.
10. You go to sleep at night with a sense of fulfillment
If you do not rest your head on your pillow at the end of the day feeling fulfilled, then maybe you should try something different. More than likely, however, after jumping out of bed in the morning, enthusiastically training your clients, gladly answering their questions, eagerly offering your help to others, living your passion, not training just for the money, continuing to educate yourself, maintaining your fitness level, and feeling blessed to do what you do, you will end your day with a strong sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.
In the end, a quote by Julia Cameron, teacher, author, artist, poet, playwright, novelist, filmmaker, composer and journalist sums it up best: "What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us."
Jeff Rosenblum, BS, is an ACE-certified personal trainer and president of Posture Plus Fitness in Atlanta, Georgia (www.postureplusfitness.com), providing in-home and on-location personal training, group presentations and corporate wellness programs.
1. You can't wait to get out of bed in the morning
If you dread the sound of the alarm clock going off, then you probably are not in the right profession. Personal training should be considered a privilege. You have the ability to help people achieve their fitness goals and look and feel their absolute best. What better reason is there than this to start your day with enthusiasm?
2. You look forward to your clients' training sessions
If you find yourself saying you would rather do something else than train your clients, then that will be evident during their sessions. Personal training should not be a process where you just show up and go through the motions. Your clients' sessions should be considered an opportunity for you to share your experience, knowledge and love of fitness during each and every session.
3. You encourage questions from your personal training clients
If you are bothered when your clients ask questions during their sessions, as long as they are about fitness, nutrition or their specific exercise program, then you should look at this from a different perspective. Your clients ask questions because they consider you an expert and hold your qualifications in high regard. Therefore, think of yourself as a teacher as well as a trainer. Offer everything you can so your clients understand why they are doing what they are doing and how it will ultimately benefit them.
4. You offer help to all who ask
If you get annoyed when people who are not your clients ask you for help with their exercise routine, then view this as an opportunity to more fully impact others and potentially expand your client base. In the personal training profession, as in life, you get what you give. By going out of your way to serve others, good things will eventually come back to you. Whether it is in the form of gratitude, new business or referrals, your generosity will not go unnoticed or unrewarded.
5. You consider what you do your passion
If you look at personal training as a job, then it will feel that way. On the other hand, if personal training is truly your passion, then what you do will not feel like work. Businessman and columnist Harvey Mackay once said, "Find something you love to do and you'll never have to work a day in your life." This is absolutely true. What more can anyone ask for than to have a passion, have the ability to help people with that passion, and make a living doing it?
6. You don't train clients only for the money
If your number one priority is to make money, then personal training may not be for you. Not that you cannot make money, and possibly even a lot of it, because you certainly can. The most successful personal trainers will tell you, however, that they chose their profession because above all else, they love what they do. If you love what you do, then you will likely be great at it, and if you are great at anything, then people will stand in line to pay for your services.
7. You continue to educate yourself
If you see continuing education as an obstacle toward maintaining your personal training certification, then you should alter your view. As a certified personal trainer, you have the opportunity to attend a multitude of events, seminars, tradeshows and workshops as well as take a plethora of classes and courses that will help you learn, grow and become better at what you do. In addition, they will often inspire you to continue to inspire others in pursuit of their fitness goals.
8. You maintain your fitness level
If you do not exercise and eat right, then trying to motivate others to live a healthy lifestyle may be somewhat of a challenge. As a personal trainer, you should lead by example. Although you do not have to be Mr. or Ms. Olympia, you should definitely be fit. Training people to do what you do is more powerful than training them to do what you say. Looking the part and having the ability to perform the exercises you teach will go a long way in earning their respect.
9. You feel blessed to do what you do
If you feel anything other than blessed to be a personal trainer, then you probably do not comprehend the lasting impression you can have on other people. In this profession, you have the ability to help people overcome physical, medical and emotional struggles. You have the opportunity to change people's lives, as well as the lives of those around them, in so many ways. For this, you should feel blessed, and you should also be extremely grateful.
10. You go to sleep at night with a sense of fulfillment
If you do not rest your head on your pillow at the end of the day feeling fulfilled, then maybe you should try something different. More than likely, however, after jumping out of bed in the morning, enthusiastically training your clients, gladly answering their questions, eagerly offering your help to others, living your passion, not training just for the money, continuing to educate yourself, maintaining your fitness level, and feeling blessed to do what you do, you will end your day with a strong sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.
In the end, a quote by Julia Cameron, teacher, author, artist, poet, playwright, novelist, filmmaker, composer and journalist sums it up best: "What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us."
Jeff Rosenblum, BS, is an ACE-certified personal trainer and president of Posture Plus Fitness in Atlanta, Georgia (www.postureplusfitness.com), providing in-home and on-location personal training, group presentations and corporate wellness programs.
