To say I've taken a bit of a hiatus in my writing would be an understatement.
The past few months have been a whirlwind of building my business here in Manhattan, enjoying the city life as much as possible, getting adequate rest, and drinking adequate coffee to sustain #1 and #2. The general consensus is that apparently you will rest when you die, and "enough caffeine" is merely an illusion. But yay for the challenge!
On a related note, people often ask me how I like the city seeing as its been over a year now since moving from NC.
I love it.
I do.
Its chaotic, busy, will drain you,...and yet the energy of such craziness pulls and you can't help but want more. One thing I am tremendously grateful for is life in a shoe box. Sounds crazy, but when you're forced to get rid of 75% of your mess, you realize its just STUFF to begin with.
Perspective.
Nic-nacs are the decorative spawn of Satan......my grandmother just rolled over in her grave for the second time. (The first being when I fell in love with a yankee).
Now don't get me wrong, I have no intention of raising a family in this space,...there's not enough meds in the state of NY for that, however it works for now. And well, when you're paying roughly $4.50/sq ft, you realize that adding another room may force you into a questionable second job and a disappointed father.
Tempting, but no...
I am reminded of how different life is when I visit family every few months in NC. The potential for seeing a rat is relatively low (always a positive), it doesn't smell like hot poo, and nothing beats a highway drive in the afternoon with the windows down. You gotta take the good from each chapter of life and appreciate the small things. ;)
Training...
My own training is going well, and everyday I'm reminded that my body needs more care/recovery than several years ago. I say this like I'm 2 years from adult diapers and a walker, but the 'ol post-30 joints don't feel 22 anymore.
I continue to lift heavy, get in cardio when I can, and simply maintaining right now until I gear up for another strength phase in a few weeks. The biggest thing for me is making sure I get enough sleep. I'm averaging about 5 hours right now, which is not ideal at all. It leaves me looking haggard and a walking health hazard for my first 2 clients each morning.
They joke that I have zero sympathy at that time of day, and yeah they are probably correct. ha.
But cheers to getting up and starting the day off with a dose of weight-training, tough love, and desire to curse your trainer. A win for everyone!
In more exciting news, I'm currently putting together some information/curriculum if you will for newbie trainers. Beyond the textbook program design and understanding exercise variations, it deals more with the interpersonal aspect of training. Communication, body language, understanding different personalities and how that will impact your effectiveness as a coach, psychological differences in training men vs. women, etc etc...
Its jam packed full of stuff from 11 years experience and information derived from other well-respected and successful coaches in the industry.
My inspiration for this sparked as I watched trainers come in and out of the "job" one after another like it was just a pit-stop along their career path, ultimately unable to establish themselves. They were missing something. They were missing something HUGE. And regardless if they ever went back into a career in this industry, their experience with a client ultimately effects me. Why? Because I can't tell you the number of times a client has come to me with a story that begins with something along the lines of: "my last experience with a trainer was horrible,...I didn't feel like they even paid attention to me." Or, "my last trainer pushed me too hard and I always left feeling like a failure."
Whether the stories are true doesn't matter, it is how the person perceived the experience so it is ultimately their reality. Thus, it will influence their expectations in OUR session.
I get a little fired up about this because our ability to either encourage or crush self-confidence is tremendous.
All that to say, I'm working on this information to help mentor aspiring coaches,...and I always welcome client feedback, so please email me if you have some thoughts on this topic. It helps make us better coaches, and well, I can always appreciate an email titled "You are a pain in my butt,...literally."
...gotta love my folks' candidness.
Well, its back to the grind....gearing up for my evening clients. With only 3 cups of coffee today, this should be interesting for all parties involved...
