As trainers, how do you stay motivated?
I know that I have to get my own exercise in early in the day or chances are, it won’t happen. I remind myself how good it feels to do that for myself (and no one else can do it for me). Plus, I enjoy the extra energy it gives me. Who doesn’t need extra energy? I also know that if I let it slide for a day or two, it is sometimes harder to get back into my routine. It is so much easier to try to get something in every day!
My motivation comes from several different avenues. One way that I stay motivated is I have a very active dog so knowing that I have to exercise her is part of my motivation to get up and go on my morning jogs. I also have personally lost 100 pounds and not wanting to put it back on is another part of my motivation to stay on track with my diet and workouts. The last two ways that I stay motivated is I have a very active friend that will trains with me from time to time and pushes me to keep up with my workouts and healthy diet and last and probably most driving form of motivation is the fact that I will not be a hypocrite. I feel that I should model a healthy lifestyle if I am teaching clients how to have a healthy lifestyle.
By looking for and appreciation the small positive changes that I see in my clients! My clients are the entire reason that I got into this profession, and so when I see a client make a small positive change that makes a big change in their lives, it really motivates me to continue to help people in this way. It also motivates me when I see someone who is just starting out on the road to health and fitness, and who NEEDS my help. I love helping people and that is what motivates me.
LaRue, CSCS
www.lecfitness.com
[email protected]
I stay motivated by taking classes from other instructors or exchanging training sessions with other personal trainers. Not only does this help give me additional ideas for my client training sessions, but enables me to be the student for a change. Additionally, attending conferences provides great motivation as I learn from industry experts.
Andrea,
I love this question. It can be stressful dealing with the demands and responsibilites of your personal life while having obligations to others (helping out your fellow man).
I get through it by reminding myself that every day has a lesson. I know that tomorrow I will have learned something new that I didn’t know today. Whether it’s good or bad, I know that my new knowledge will only add to my quality of life and my ability to understand this life a little bit better. I have stopped taking myself too seriously. I still try very hard at most everything I get involved in, but I have learned to accept failure as a part of life, and I look at every failure as a lesson learned. It’s like of like LaRue said a while back on another question about certification exams. If you go into the test knowing that you won’t get every question right, it takes some of the pressure off.
I have learned to appreciate the small successes in life; it makes everything else so much easier to accept. At the end of the day, being able to sit down and say, “you know what, I’ve done my best today” is what keeps me going. Knowing that I put forth my best effort today gets me through to tomorrow.