Step Into the Arena

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt

If there’s one thing I’ve grown comfortable with over the last decade it is the feeling of vulnerability. It is the feeling of putting myself out there, working, learning, stumbling, failing and getting back up to do it all over again. With each attempt and willingness to fail you will get more accustom to the feeling, you will start to build up your armor of experience and just embrace the opportunity to be in the arena.

How Will You Take Failing?

In 2014 I landed my first job as a full-time personal trainer and group exercise instructor at The Fitness Academy in Shrewsbury. I had been teaching yoga for a year already and had some experience with private personal training clients but I had yet to teach any bootcamp style classes. Since at this gym, teaching classes was done by the personal trainers, and it was consistent income I agreed to teach whatever style asked of me. When it came to circuit metabolic classes I did well but I also agreed to teach the Power Hour class. This was power lifting, which technically I knew how to teach because I had studied it but I was not a power lifter and was uncomfortable with this type of training. That discomfort came through in my teaching, and after a few weeks several of the members threatened to leave the gym if I was not removed from teaching the class. My then manager took away all of my classes, just removed them from my schedule and told me that due to the complaints he received, he couldn’t risk keeping me on as an instructor. I had found out about this loss moments before I was to teach one of my classes which he then promptly gave to another trainer. I was absolutely mortified, my confidence in my abilities as a trainer and instructor took a huge blow.

I will admit many of the members who had taken my other classes spoke up in my defense, but my manager would not budge, so for the next month I had to go to work, train my clients and teach the one yoga class I was allowed to retain. But that was not all, because there is also one very important aspect of being a successful personal trainer and that is you must be someone who others want to not only work with but spend time with. This means while almost all of the members knew what had transpired, I had to come to work with a smile on my face and a carefree attitude acting like nothing had ever happened. Eventually my manager realized that perhaps it was an over-reaction and he started putting me back on the schedule. What I learned is that if I’m not only uncomfortable but also have no passion for what I’m being asked to do then allowing myself to be vulnerable up front, admit my lack of experience and knowledge is the arena I need to step into.

Own it Wholeheartedly

It’s early spring 2019, I’m promoting a brand-new program at BSC. The Health Coaching program was one that I created on my own, thus there was no corporate support for advertising or anyone I could model myself after. I had been with BSC Wayland for several years as one of their top trainers, but this was a completely new approach to helping our members, and some had even referred to it as voodoo. I know first-hand that personal training isn’t the golden key to everyone achieving their greatest health. I had clients that were wildly successful but I also had clients whose goals were weight reduction, would train with me once a week, not show up on their own and eat poorly on a consistent basis. One training session a week is not going to transform you. Health Coaching was a way for me to work with someone on actual behavior change, to help them become more aware of the choices they were making outside of the gym, and to create the identity of who they’re really meant to be.

I had flyers and boards dedicated to promoting my new program with little to no response. I knew I had to physically stand behind it, so, I stood alone behind a table, waiting to discuss the Health Coaching Program with any members who needed a towel or wanted a clementine. I stood there because I believed in what I had learned from my NASM BCS certification, I had used the techniques on myself and proved that if followed they truly worked. I chatted, smiled and tried to inform others of what I was offering. It may seem simple but it’s not, many are watching you, wondering if you will (or wanting you to) fail, thinking that it’s just another scheme to make money when my true intentions have always been in helping others become the absolute best version of themselves. There were several days during the first six weeks that I sobbed, full on body shaking sobs, this was all me, this was truly ALL ME, meaning the concepts used in Health Coaching: psychology, habit change, self-monitoring, self-love, accountability and self-reflection were ideas that I fully believed in.

By the end of 2019 I had 18 members in my program, some were madly successful (life changed after two sessions), some left the program earlier than they should have (behavior change can take up to 254 days), some were resistant and unwilling to allow for the self-reflection that was needed and some succeed in areas that were more important than just weight.

I have now stepped into the biggest arena of my life, I am fully standing on my own, building my own business failing and succeeding on a daily basis. Some days I leave the arena chin high, eyes forward and sure of foot, other days I’m crawling, covered in blood and sweat, with a tear streaked face looking for a place to close my eyes and lick my wounds until my next bout. Regardless of how the day ends I will always keep stepping into the Colosseum of my life. This is my life, this is my story and with each battle, with each win and each defeat I know that I’d rather be in the ring then on the side lines. This is the match you want to star in, not just watch.

Elizabeth SimmonsMay 24, 20201 Comment