There are several factors to consider when it comes to being a successful personal trainer. Getting your certification and starting the journey of becoming a personal trainer can be a daunting one. It requires a lot of hard work and studying, and you will constantly build valuable skills to help your clients reach their goals.
Finding the best personal trainer certification that works for you and your goals will always be one of the most significant parts of this journey. However, once you have your certification and begin your career in personal training, it can still feel intimidating.
4 Ways to Stay Motivated as a Beginner Personal Trainer
If you are a beginner personal trainer, here are some great ways to help keep you motivated to keep working hard and reach the success you want!
Keep a Journal
Keeping a journal can have a lot of incredible benefits. Not only can this simple discipline help you minimize anxiety and promote confidence, but it can help you keep yourself accountable. Often when a person starts a new journey, like being a beginner personal trainer, it can be easy to feel lost. There are so many new skills, clients, and situations that you can begin not to recognize all your hard work and progress.
When this happens, it’s all too easy to begin to doubt or get discouraged. Taking time to journal regularly and keep track can help you stay accountable for your growth and give you the perspective you need to stay motivated. The best part about keeping a journal is that there is no right or wrong way to do it. If you want to sit down with pen and paper at your favorite coffee shop once a week and simply write for one hour, do it. If you feel like a smaller, daily commitment, like five minutes each morning, is more helpful, try it out.
If you have never developed the skill of journaling before, then know that there is a fair amount of trial and error that comes with the territory. Don’t be afraid to try out new things and if it doesn’t work out or doesn’t feel like it clicks with you or your schedule, try something else. Regularly giving yourself a chance to pause and step back and see how far you’ve come is a powerful way to stay motivated as a beginner personal trainer.
Don’t Neglect Your Fitness
People who get into the fitness industry as certified personal trainers are usually very passionate. This is an excellent thing because their passion is what can fuel and encourage their clients to be successful. However, sometimes that passion can overextend, and it’s possible to feel burnt out.
This is why taking precautions not to neglect your fitness journey is critical. You will spend a lot of time with your clients in the gym. Find ways to make sure you keep yourself workout out and being healthy. Sometimes this might look like pairing down on the number of clients or keeping certain times of the week blocked off.
Another essential thing to remember when becoming a certified personal trainer is that you need to practice self-care. Because you are constantly looking after your clients and helping them navigate their fitness journeys, neglecting self-care as much as your fitness can be accessible, find ways to regularly check in on your fitness and self-care journey and keep yourself healthy and away from burnout.
Find a Mentor
The success of a personal trainer relies heavily on their mastery of many skills. They have to have a robust and thorough knowledge of exercise and fitness, and there are also several critical soft skills. This can be a lot for a beginner to get their mind around, and finding a mentor could be a great way of staying motivated.
Finding a way to connect regularly with someone who knows the ropes and can give you constructive, encouraging feedback can help you stay motivated. A mentor who has experienced what you are experiencing can help you get the clarity and perspective you need.
Leave Work at Work
Personal training is a lot of one-on-one time with clients you will care about. Part of being a good trainer is having a vested interest in your client’s success. That being said, keeping strict boundaries around your personal life is essential. Don’t take your client’s issues, problems, or challenges home with you. Leave these things at work and practice unplugging from the gym and focusing on yourself when you aren’t at work.
Conclusion
Staying motivated as a beginner personal trainer is essential for not only your success but the success of your clients. With these four tips, you can start to work through the challenges of beginning a career in this satisfying field of work.
