This is a very exciting time to be working in the fitness industry. The general public is embracing exercise as a desired daily habit, and there has never been so many educated and qualified coaches or trainers filling out our ranks. If our goal is truly to have more of an impact, then it’s safe to say that we are certainly headed in the right direction.

Like many trainers, while you may be nodding your head in agreement reading this you may also be feeling a little tentative about the side effects of this progress. Some examples may include Instagram coaches, online training, and new gym concepts that feel more like a dance club than a place dedicated to the fundamentals of exercises. With these types of changes in the market it doesn’t matter if you’ve been training for two years or two decades; it’s hard not to be shaken at least a little bit.

The new fitness consumer is now faced with a sea of options and it can be easy to feel the pressure of competition or market saturation. The feeling is that your opportunities are being limited or that every client acquired by another trainer or gym is one less for you. This is known as the scarcity mindset – the idea that one (of anything) for someone else means one less for us. It’s not real, but it will drag you down. Sure, the concept is real, but statistics show that there are more people in this world that need fitness than those of us that can supply it.

So, how can we cope with these feelings during times of uncertainly? First, we can acknowledge that as fitness professionals we are all in this together. Second, double-down on your authenticity because trends don’t last, but principles do. Third, embrace the abundance mindset – that there is more than enough to go around. While competition does exist in a broader sense, it is likely not what you think. The fitness professional down the block or the online trainer blowing up your newsfeed with ads are small potatoes compared to our biggest adversaries – quick fixes and misinformation.