As Mark Twain would put it “find a job you enjoy doing and you will never have to work a day in your life”. If you happen to love working out, or you are a fitness enthusiast who loves to stay in the gym longer than anybody else, or simply an advocate of fitness, would you consider a career in fitness? Would you become a professional fitness trainer?
Have you been thinking about getting a job or even to test the waters?
Should I go? Should I stay? Should I do it? If I leave. If I don’t do it. What if? If you’ve been asking yourself and your career every day with these questions. Here are 9 things you may want to think about when considering a job as a professional fitness trainer.
- Too comfortable. You’ve been in your job long enough to realise you could do better between that your 9-5 job. The days are longer than you are expecting and all you can think of is going to the gym. There is no better way than following your dreams and the right time might be now.
- Your passion is helping people. It puts a smile in your face when you people seek your advice in fitness. You feel rewarded when people reach their fitness goal with your help.
- Turning your hobby into a career. When you do things repeatedly you may end up losing your passion. One of the downsides of turning a hobby into a career is when it becomes mundane. When it suddenly becomes a chore and it feels like work. As a personal trainer, you need to find that burning passion and convert your energy not only to motivate your clients but to motivate yourself as well.
- Do it for love. If money is your motivation, forget about turning your hobby into a career. Do it for love, do it to help people achieve their fitness goal. Do it to empower individuals who look up to you as their fitness instructor, their fitness guru. If money is your measure for success you’ll end up not getting validated. The fitness industry is a competitive niche. If you are just starting you need to build a network before you’ll get there.
- Test the waters. If you are testing the waters do not leave your job just yet. Hang on a little bit longer until you are ready. Know when you quit, know when to hand in your resignation. Your 2-week notice might be too short of a period. You have bills to pay and you need to eat, as simple as that.
- Research. The easiest way to lose is to go on a battle not armed and not ready. Do your research. Read about profiles of personal trainers you look up to, read about their career, how they started and how they made it to the industry. Chances are they started from nothing just like you. You may also approach personal trainers in your local gym for tips and insights of their career as a fitness trainer.
- Know your options. Whether you are a hobbyist or looking into changing your career, a decision to brand yourself a professional trainer is a huge step. Weigh your pros and cons. List the possibilities and the challenges. Be true to yourself, be honest about your list. If you are biased about the pros or the cons of being a personal trainer you’ll end up not getting the right decision. List your drawbacks, the time and energy you’ll spend should you decide to be one. Write them down, list them in a piece of paper.
Know your constraints but also know your strengths. These 2 should help you come up with your list.
- Get support from people close to you. What are family and friends for, right? If you have spare time, gather your closest friends and family. Set a time for them to act as their personal trainer. Ask them for feedback. The situation is most likely different from your actual clients but you have the feel of what it takes to be a personal trainer. You may also volunteer a few hours of your time a week to help out in your local gym. Not only you’ll get the experience but this could land you a potential client.
- If at first, you don’t success, try again. If you have not seen results in your first try, try again. The fitness sector in Australia has never been more popular. Some estimates put its value at around 1.3bn Australian dollars and a massive 20,000 fitness graduates each year.
But do not let this number discourage you, in fact, make this your motivation to stand out, know how you are a professional fitness trainer and make it your brand. Know your goals, focus on it, and work hard.
