Personal Fitness Professional - January/February 2009 - (Page 16)

[BE BETTER] BY PHIL KAPLAN THIS YEAR, COMMIT TO REAL HUMAN CONNECTION I t’s a new year, and the annual evolution of our marketplace is unnervingly predictable. Thanksgiving came with gluttony and was followed by guilt and an abandonment of any and all ﬁtness eﬀorts. Personal trainers cried poverty — alas, it was “the holidays.” As Americans progressed through parties, family functions and dysfunctions and assorted observances of merriment, the great salvation ﬁnally arrived: the new year. January! It’s time to celebrate! Health clubs prosper. Diet centers rejoice. Personal trainers breathe their collective sigh of relief. The clients have returned! Who loses? Most people lose. Pity the consumers who wind up attaching false hope to ﬂawed attempts. Consider the dieters who starve through the ﬁrst weeks of the year only to wind up hating their scales in February and March. As our session logs ﬁll, we, as personal trainers, celebrate. We revel in the spirit of resolution regardless of how long it lasts or how well it works. But let’s not blindly celebrate the false sense of abundance that comes with the return of clients. Let’s do something better: Let’s connect with those who we might otherwise fail to reach. The human connection we too often trade for text messages, indiﬀerence and neglect can bring greater reward than any 10 marketing campaigns and a proﬁtable new year combined. This perspective isn’t a new arrival for me. It’s been crystallizing for months. As 2008 ended, something prompted me to reach out, put aside all of the clutter, the work, the obligation and the urgency and dial some phone numbers I hadn’t dialed in a while. I experienced extreme sorrow as I reconnected with friends and colleagues who had diﬃcult life struggles in 2008. Incredibly, as sadness gave way to human connection, I traded sorrow for a burning hope, a ﬂaming sense of new possibility for those I reconnected with. Some of them suﬀered ill health and clearly needed a resurgence of joy and a reconnection with purpose. Others needed to remember how capable they were of overcoming obstacles. Ultimately, as the emotions mingled, I felt immense gratitude. That experience of reaching out has been stunningly revitalizing. I’m embarrassed that I had to be reminded how valuable a simple, “I’m thinking about you” can be. As we enter 2009, my most overriding emotion can be summarized in three words: I am thankful. Thankful for all the joy and reward that has found its way into my life. My personal challenges are trivial when weighed against the ability we all have to pursue betterment. The title of this column, “Be Better,” is representative of my personal mantra, my theme for both trainers who seek career growth and consumers and clients who seek physical excellence. It’s easy to say, “We can all be better,” but it’s the willingness to assume a new perspective, the willingness to move toward a better outcome, that allows the future reﬂection to prove it true. As personal trainers, we have the power of passion, the power of inﬂuence and the power of caring. Too often we neglect to maximize those JAN-FEB2009 · WWW.FIT-PRO.COM powers. While we share a deep-rooted concern for others, we may at times get caught up in the quest to learn new methods of optimizing muscular balance, seek out marketing strategies that send new clients our way or become overridden with a competitive, critical spirit that plagues too many personal training teams in commercial health clubs. In this new year, make the phone call you know you should make. I’m not asking you to send an email; connect, if not in person, via telephone. I’m urging you to embrace the power of human connection. I urge you to ﬁnd laughter with those who need it, to lend a hand to someone who doesn’t expect it and to reframe your own personal issues as opportunities for growth. The perspectives you adopt, such as hope and promise, are choices. The actions you take in the days and weeks to come are the determinants of the quality of life you’ll enjoy throughout 2009. The decisions you make today will contribute to the intensity of the adventure you’re about to experience over I’m embarrassed that I had to be reminded how valuable a simple, “I’m thinking about you” can be. the course of the four seasons to come. The greater importance you place upon your own ability to function and perform at your best, the greater joy you bring to those who rely upon you as well as those you love. The power to master 2009 goes far beyond another resolution. You can chart the course and love every minute of it. You can choose your emotions. You can choose your health. You can choose your body. There isn’t any need, nor is there any value, in emotions such as envy and regret. There isn’t any value in self-criticism and desperate resolution. Don’t resolve, commit — really commit. That doesn’t mean be perfect. We are prone to human fallibility, and perfection is a quest that only leads to a sense of failure. I welcome the privilege to contribute to the thrilling futures of those prepared to re-examine their own potential in what promises to be a landmark year. Don’t be perfect. Just be better, always better. Phil Kaplan has been a personal ﬁtness trainer for 25 years and receives awards and acclaim for his programs aimed at propelling ﬁtness professionals to new levels of success. Visit www.bebetteracademy.com or read additional articles at www.philkaplan.com. 16 http://www.bebetteracademy.com http://www.philkaplan.com http://WWW.FIT-PRO.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Personal Fitness Professional - January/February 2009

Personal Fitness Professional - January/February 2009 Contents Letter from the Editor, Writers Ready to Rock the Podium What It Takes to Change Fitness Marketing Makeover Be Better Top Club Building a Base of Special Populations The Balancing Act Take Action! Nutrition Solutions Datebook Journey to Success New on the Market The Four P's Exercising Your Influence No More Pain in the Back!

Personal Fitness Professional - January/February 2009

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