As a professional fitness coach, you know that the small changes your client makes today won’t result in the realization of their goal tomorrow.
You know that getting a 2 pound deadlift PR today won’t payoff with 6-pack abs tomorrow.
You know that eating a serving of veggies at one meal today won’t result in the weight goal they set on day 1 being achieved tomorrow.
You know that sleeping an extra thirty minutes tonight won’t magically result in newfound, lasting happiness when they wake up tomorrow.
You know all these things to be true, but yet you will continue to coach your clients on taking these small, seemingly inconsequential steps, day after day, because you are a professional. And as a professional you know that these steps are sustainable and will add up to big changes over a long time.
You understand and coach the difference between things that are urgent (short-term payoff) versus important (sustainable long-term payoff).
You do this for each of your clients, because you know that this is what works.
So I’ve got a question: Why, then, do you not treat your own professional development in the same way?
If you are serious about being a professional, then you have to do the important things. The things that don’t have a payoff tomorrow. This is part of the unwritten agreement that professionals in any industry have with one another.
So, what should you do?
Invest time to understand your short comings as a coach and then research the best option to shoring up your weaknesses. Not the cheapest, not the quickest, not the path of least resistance. The best, whatever that may be.
How do you know what the best option is for you?
Talk to the coaches who have been around, in the trenches, as a professional for a decade or more. The ones who rely on their ability to be great at their job to put food on their table. Ask them where you should go to get better.
(Spoiler alert – you don’t need more technical knowledge. Learning more about hip and knee angles, chest up, and knees out, sets and reps, or energy systems won’t take you further than you are today.)
Along with this, make the investment (monetarily speaking) in yourself with your own money. Don’t leave it up to your gym owner (if you work for one) to pay for this or expect that he or she should. The payoff is yours and yours alone. Just like when a client accomplishes their goal, it is theirs to own. They did the work. You played your role as the guide, but they did the hard thing. They made the change.
Treat yourself no different. Invest in yourself. Its not urgent. It won’t payoff today or tomorrow.
But it’s important. It will payoff in the long run.
Two-Brain Coaching exists to help people better themselves as professionals in the fitness space. We’d love to talk to you about how we can help. It might be taking one of our courses, or it might not. Book a free call to talk to us. Our team will be honest and point you in the direction that is best for you.
The urgent will always be there to steal your time. It’s up to you to make time for the important things. Those are the ones that will last a lifetime.