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As I look back on my 20+ years as a fitness professional, I feel fortunate to have been able to make a living by inspiring others to live a healthy lifestyle. This invigorates and excites me as I look forward to the many lives I can positively impact over the next 20 years. However, when I look back, I can't help but think of the things I wish I had known when I started my career more than two decades ago.
As I look back on my 20+ years as a fitness professional, I feel fortunate to be able to make a living by inspiring others to live a healthy lifestyle. This invigorates and excites me as I look forward to the many lives I can positively impact over the next 20 years. However, as I look back, I can't help but think about the things I wish I had known about a career as a training professional when I started out more than two decades ago.
While I appreciate the lengthy process of trial and error I experienced, I share some of the insights IWishI knew when I started my personal training career that I hoped to empower new health and training professionals to make an even greater lifelong impact.
Whether you're thinking about becoming a health and fitness professional or you're in the early days/weeks/years of your career, here are 20 years of insights you can put into practice today.
Business and marketing skills are crucial
When I entered the personal training profession, I was under the impression that as long as I knew a lot about exercise programming, I could go far in my career. However, I quickly learned that in order to attract clients, I needed to stand out from the crowd.
I struggled with this until I discovered the importance of marketing my services, both within the gym I worked at and to the local community. For me, this came in the form of creating valuable, consistent content (including blogs, videos, and local conversations) and making it relevant to prospects in our gym and beyond.
I had to get comfortable meeting and talking to new people in and out of the gym. I also learned that the way I looked, spoke, and acted was part of a personal “brand,” so I had to decide what that brand should represent and who exactly it should attract.
Once I learned some marketing basics and was able to fill my schedule, I discovered the inherent limitations of exchanging time for money. As a personal trainer, I was only paid for the hours I worked. Of course, there are only so many hours each of us can work in a day. If I ever wanted to help more people and make more money, I had to figure out how to use my time better.
For years, both my income and my influence remained relatively stagnant. I impacted the lives of the same number of people and got paid the same for it. If I was sick or a client went on vacation, I didn't get paid. As the cost of living continued to rise, I questioned whether I could afford to stay in my chosen career.
Luckily, I had surrounded myself with mentors who showed me how to use my experience and knowledge to create other opportunities to earn income and positively impact lives. I learned how to develop and market products that can help thousands of people. After applying to be an industry speaker several times, I was finally accepted, and I found ways to increase the value of my services so I could increase my prices.
This expansion of my business skills allowed me to not only continue to have a positive impact on my current clients, but I was now able to make an impactThousandsmore. Above all, I no longer had to ask myself whether I could stay in the job.
Investments in further training are necessary
When I started personal training, I was proud of the knowledge I had acquired during my four years of studying sports science. Additionally, I had completed a year-long internship as a resident strength and conditioning coach at the Olympic Training Center in San Diego, California and received multiple certifications from reputable organizations. What else was there to learn?
The answer? Much!
My resistance to learning from others in my early years significantly hindered my career growth. It wasn't until I found the strength to admit what I was doingnotknow that I have been able to embrace the process of developing my knowledge and approach.
I discovered that the more I was willing to learn from conferences, mentors, books, and other resources, the more opportunities I had to grow and develop. Although these investments often stretched my limited funds, they consistently produced dramatic returns.
Success doesn't come from staying the same; it comes from the ability to adapt and change. I ended up setting an annual goal to learn more, be more, and serve more than I did the year before.
You can't do it alone
Early in my career, I had a “me versus other personal trainer” mentality. After all, we were fighting for customers. Why should I share my knowledge or insights with them? Why would I want to hear what they say? I was right, they were wrong, and when clients realized this, they chose my services. I'm embarrassed to say that I adopted this mentality in the early years of my career.
Not surprisingly, I began to feel like I was on an island. Without the ability to reach others in a similar situation, it was difficult to grow. When it came to helping my clients and growing my business, the only knowledge I had to draw on was my own. However, I was hesitant to embrace the idea of seeking a mentor. I felt like I was disturbing her. Luckily, it was the advice of a mentor that allowed me to break through this “island” mentality.
Instead of hoarding my knowledge and experience, my mentor encouraged me to share it with other professionals through speaking engagements, blogs, and other platforms. I started with the gym I worked at. At the beginning I was hesitant because I didn't want to help my competition. I quickly realized that the more I shared, the more they would share with me, and I could better serve my clients and grow my career more effectively.
Ultimately, I built a network of professionals from all over the United States, which over the years expanded to include training professionals from almost every continent (sorry Antarctica!). The willingness to share my knowledge and listen to others has provided endless opportunities for both my clients and myself.
Listening is crucial
When I started personal training, I couldn't wait to share my knowledge. After all, I believed that this was primarily what clients were paying me for. Of course, this line of thinking led to a very one-sided conversation between my clients and I – “If you want to lose weight, here’s what you need to do” – and that was the end of it. When clients didn't do what I told them, I was perplexed. I judged her. I thought she was lazy. Any behavior that fell short of plan was obviously a failure of willpower and commitment, and I would turn a deaf ear to their excuses.
After a few years of frustration, I made an important discovery. When clients first come to a personal trainer, they find themselves in a very vulnerable position. You are essentially admitting defeat and needing help from this often younger, fitter person. The goals they are comfortable sharing often have more to do with convention than actual value-based needs.
For example, “I want to lose weight” is an expected goal associated with seeking the advice of a personal trainer. A new customer is generally happy to share this goal. However, a new client would feel much less comfortable saying something like, "I want to feel self-worth again. My relationships and mindset have been in a negative spiral for years, and my health is paying the price."
If a health and fitness professional is only willing to hear “I want to lose weight” and goes from there, they are missing the opportunity to address what a customer isYes, reallyWants and needs. In the previous example, a personal trainer who truly listens and observes their client, regardless of judgment, in the first few weeks together can tune in to the meaning of what the client is doingYes, reallyWants and needs. The personal trainer can then adjust their expectations, programming and approach.
It is likely that simply showing up for sessions is an important step in the right direction for the client. Maybe they need to laugh and enjoy exercise rather than following regimented protocols. When a trainer can enter what a client isYes, reallyWants and needs, the process of achieving the more objective goals becomes easier and more sustainable.
As I look forward to more than 20 years as a training professional, I hope this review has given you insight into how you can learn more, be more, and serve more each year.