Unite to Make a Difference in Your Life and Those in Your Circle of Influence
By Kelli Calabrese
This is installment # 4 of the Balancing Act which started out with acronym FOCUS where “F” represented your “F”uture as fitness professional,“O” signified “O”bserving what is going on in your life, and “C” the critical success step in “C”lairfying what it is that truly makes you happy and being clear on what you desire to accomplish. Now that you have more clarity, you can move forward to “Unifying” in order to move another step forward in achieving a balanced and prosperous life.
Unifying involves aligning with those around you who can help to build your arsenal of tools to make a difference in not only what happens, but how it happens. A majority of people go with the flow and they hang around with people who go with the flow. “Like attracts like” as my wise grandmother would say meaning that we attract people who we identity with, who look like us, have similar values, similar economics and similar philosophies. If you subscribe to the philosophy that the economy is down, costs of living and business are outrageous and the sky is falling, it’s likely you have friends who will commiserate with you.
To the contrast, if you are seeking abundance, moving forward with prosperity and balance as your motivators and have a positive self outlook, you are more apt to attract those same like minded individuals. Specific to personal training, if you continue to strive to be the best personal fitness professional, you are likely to attract the best chiropractor, massage therapist, orthopedist, business advisors and associates to unite with and strengthen your fitness empire.
You may be thinking, Kelli, I don’t want to build an empire, I just want to pay my bills and have enough left over for a new hi-def TV and an annual vacation. That may be okay for now, but I am urging you to dream bigger and begin to look at who you already know that would be an ally, who can unite your efforts with in order to grow your fitness business, better serve your clients and allow you to pay it forward.
When you are seeking to unite with those at your level and even above you, it’s going to take some stretching beyond your comfort level. Some of us are naturals at networking and others are terrified. If you want to grow faster than you can on your own, if what you are currently doing is not working or is missing some critical components, it’s necessary to stretch to align with others with who you can benefit from each others businesses.
When I had my last personal training studio, fifty percent of my new customers came from referrals from a biochemist and a chiropractor. Uniting with those two professionals cost nothing and being associated with these two individuals elevated my position as an expert trainer, it generated profit for my studio, opened up opportunities for me to work with medical professionals, reach new clientele, refer clients back to them, speak jointly at various engagements and extend my comfort level as a trainer.
If unifying with likeminded medical, health, wellness and business professionals is beyond your current comfort level, reconsider! First break off any unhealthy or unproductive unions so that you can make room for meeting fantastic new people. Be on the look out for experts and connectors who can help to elevate your business and who need your fitness skills. Work on your networking skills, thinking about who you know who you can help and who can help you. Strike up a conversation and have a goal in mind as to where it can lead.
Typically personal trainers see other trainers as a competitive threat, however even aligning with another fitness professional who has a different skill set than yours can be the thing that helps you to grow personally and professionally. Instead of seeing others as a threat or being paranoid that they are out to steal your business, carefully keep your options open and remember there is strength and power in numbers.
Look for next month’s issue on the final step in FOCUS – Success Planning.
Kelli Calabrese is the co-author of Personal Training – The Prosperity Formula. Go to www.CalabreseConsulting.com for info on this career escalating program and the monthly coaching offer. Kelli@KelliCalabrese.com