“GOOOOODMORNING!!! One morrrre dayyyy!!!”… This is the sound on my voicemail at exactly 5:30 in the morning from my best friend in Kansas City, Casey Arnold, who just couldn’t wait to tell me how excited she was to fly in for the next week to work Boot Camp at the Professional Fitness Institute… What are friends for, right?
Living in Las Vegas for a lot of people can be extremely overwhelming and, at times, way too much fun. It’s a huge city where anything goes, and where you really have to accept that you will be exposed to just about everything and anything, regardless of whether or not you go out of your way for it. It is a land of opportunity as it is a city that thrives off trends and in always making things bigger, better, faster and stronger than the rest of the world. Because of the magnitude and charade of people and places here, many people can’t resist Vegas’s many temptations and from one extreme to the next, it truly isn’t a place for the faint at heart.
I feel fortunate to be in an industry where it hasn’t been too much of a struggle to find those individuals in the area who truly have the world’s best intentions at heart. Although my own intentions for moving out to Vegas were work and opportunity related, living in a big city is a new experience for me and I know that it can at times be extremely discouraging trying to find like-minded individuals who share your same morals and who you can develop a lasting relationship with when you know absolutely nothing about them going in. Upon first moving to Las Vegas, I had known a select few individuals whom I had connected with previously and was very content in knowing because they were people whom I had learned to greatly respect, look up to, and appreciate more than words can explain. Since the actual move itself, I have been incredibly blessed to meet and work with some of the most amazing professionals in the industry and some of the most humble and big-hearted people imaginable who are always doing everything under the sun for everyone around them… myself included.
Each month, I have the great opportunity to devote almost an entire week to instructing Boot Camp at the Professional Fitness Institute where working over 80 hours in 6 days is completely normal and you get to spend each of these days submerged in a different experience each time with different people. Although each Boot Camp is a new adventure to behold and relish, the one thing that remains constant is spending each of these hours and days with my ‘family’ of best friends, who also do a great job posing as co-workers. Each day of Boot Camp, it is our job to work together to find a way to make sure each of these crazy days goes according to plan and to always be there to back each other up and to push each other forward. Although it is the student’s time to shine, it is a big part of our job to help show them the light. I remember the first time meeting each of my co-workers and I remember how challenging it was at first to become accustomed to working such long days so many days in a row and in getting used to working so closely with people whom I was still getting to know. I remember fighting with fatigue (although this still happens on occasion!), and I remember the first time I ever gave a lecture in front of a group of our students. Most importantly, I remember the people who were there to back me up through each hardship, accomplishment, and experience, and whose presence has helped me to become a better person. Without these individuals who were and still are willing to open their hearts and arms to me, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.
When you are working so closely with people so many hours of the day, you really have no room to hide any flaws. You can’t go home during the day to shake off a trouble or a ‘bad’ day, you have to stick it out and find ways to brush it off and deal with it after you are off the clock. Being vulnerable is something that puts everyone out of their comfort zone, and vulnerability is one of the most difficult things to share with people as it makes you susceptible to ‘weakness’. What we often don’t realize, however, is that our natural strengths aren’t always what make us ‘strong’, and that oftentimes it is in overcoming our ‘weaknesses’ that create the strength we can use to grow as individuals. Strength can only be found in any facet in life through an ‘obstacle’ or a challenge. One isn’t born strong, but gains strength through experience, hardships, overcoming negativity or a negative situation and in facing Fear head-on. This is also a great test of the strength of a friendship or relationship as only those who truly have your best intentions in mind will be there to catch you when you fall and help guide you back on your toes. So often we believe it is the opposite and that vulnerability makes us ‘weak’, but it’s really amazing what you can find out about yourself and others when something less than desirable happens in life. Working with these incredible individuals has truly taught me the value of true friendship and the true meanings of encouragement, support, motivation and how important it is to surround yourself with the right people when you are making transitions and attempting to grow as a person in any way, shape or form.
As each month goes on, I get more and more eager to work with and spend time with my ‘family’ of Professional Trainers, and the days don’t seem quite as long when you are around those people you love and when you know you are doing something to progress not just yourself and your own endeavors, but when you are making a difference in the lives of other people as well. Although I am a work in progress and am no where near where my aspirations lie, I have grown so much over a short period simply by being around the people who have helped guide me in my journey to help me reach and accomplish my goals and who have been there for me in the midst of all the hardships, troubles, joys, triumphs and successions I have gone through. And they have done it earnestly and without judgment or bias.
One of the things we have to remember as trainers and healthcare professionals and providers is that each of our clients are going to be coming to us with less-than-greater belief in themselves or in their competence in accomplishing their goals. If they felt satisfied or that they could accomplish their goals on their own, they wouldn’t have any desire to seek you and/or your services. The fact that they even step one foot into a facility to get help speaks volumes already regarding the fact that whatever they are doing outside of your doors just isn’t working. Admitting vulnerability isn’t something people typically do naturally unless provoked by something in their lives and it is especially rare for someone to openly admit vulnerability to a complete stranger, which is essentially what each potential client is doing when taking that step into a new facility or environment. We have to look at these situations and revert back to a time when we, ourselves, had to step into an unknown situation and be fostered by gaining experience and guidance through vulnerability. As a plant cannot grow without water, we cannot grow either personally or professionally by standing still. Our clients are no different in this way. We all had to start where we were standing in each of our own life’s endeavors and without putting one foot in front of the other, we would never have gotten from point A to point B by any stretch of the imagination. We have to put ourselves out there and reach out to receive the guidance of someone or something else, whether it’s through someone directly in front of you or through other viable resources you have access to in regards to your chosen venture. As human beings, we naturally gravitate towards making great first impressions and in showing ourselves in our greatest light when meeting someone for the first time. Our clients will be coming to us many times broken down, frustrated, depressed, sick, unhealthy, unmotivated, lacking confidence, and the list goes on. They are going to be feeling their worst and they are going to be afraid and fearful of where they are now, who they may be now, and where the road ahead may take them. We have to be willing to lift them up to help them find and discover their inner strength, beauty and confidence and help them to find their path to greatness to be the best they can be. You ARE their motivation, their savior, their inspiration, their leader, their therapist and their friend and confident.
Moving was, and still is, a humbling experience to me because it forced me out of my comfort zone and to admit that I needed help. Reaching out to people 3,000 miles cross-country was at times really difficult, but I was able to step my foot into the right doors to let the right people know that I really needed them to help me.
One of the other things my move humbled me to was the two extremes of being completely terrified and being completely excited to begin a new life. On one hand, it was the most excitement I had ever felt as it was beyond intense to know I was uprooting everything I had come to know as ‘comfortable’ and ‘home’ to be somewhere completely foreign and far from where I was prior. On the other hand, because this was such a change and because it opposed everything I had known up until the moment I moved, it was equally terrifying venturing into the ‘unknown’. One of the things I had to realize quickly was that success is NOT comfortable. It’s not meant to be. If it were, there would be no holding one-self back from taking risks, and more people would be taking action. This, however, isn’t the case, because it’s not our natural and desirable state to strive to be uncomfortable. We are creatures of habit, routine and COMFORT and we naturally fear stepping out of the box. Success isn’t easy and you will fall more times than you find yourself standing, however, the outcome for perseverance is always, always success and all it takes is that ONE single time for all the pieces to fall into place and for all the stars to align themselves. Our clients and patients will be experiencing the same things. They are stepping into OUR comfort zone and out of their own. They are taking a risk and are excited and terrified all at once. Making-over your life isn’t something that happens overnight and the thought of hard work over a lifetime can, in itself, be pretty intimidating at times. We must never forget our own struggles and should use these experiences to humble ourselves into understanding and empathizing with those who are at a crossroad and who are teetering on both extremes of excitement and terror. Never allow yourself to get too comfortable yourself. Step into the shoes of people in all walks of life and let them know you are there for them and not against them. Compassion, understanding, belief, motivation and support are KEY to success in this industry. Help them to see the light and train them to keep their eye on it at all times. Starting from the bottom and working your way to the top is never an easy challenge to conquer.
Remember where you started and never forget where you began. Be humble and recognize the time to be vulnerable and to encourage and embrace vulnerability in both yourself and others. Your own success might depend on it.
Until next time, Faithful Reader…
“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it.”
- Danny Kaye
“Example sheds a genial ray which men are apt to borrow, so first improve yourself today, and then your friends tomorrow.”
-Anonymous
“The test we must set for ourselves is not to march alone but to march in such a way that others will wish to join us.”
- Hubert Humphrey, U.S. vice president, senator
“Change does not change tradition. It strengthens it. Change is a challenge and an opportunity; not a threat.”
-Prince Philip of England
"I understand now that the vulnerability I've always felt is the greatest strength a person can have. You can't experience life without feeling life. What I've learned is that being vulnerable to somebody you love is not a weakness, it's a strength."
-Elisabeth Shue
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