For almost 12 months, between 2013-14 I lived in Las Vegas, NV. I quit my decent paying job as a funeral director and embalmer and took my quarter life crisis sabbatical in the desert. There were many things that lead up to the move, but the driving factor was being tired of a 24/7 job taking away my time. Being on call as a funeral director in Illinois means you can’t really have a life outside of work because you can’t control when people die. It can be in the middle of the new Avengers movie, your anniversary dinner, or a set of heavy squats going down and up like butter.
I got one too many death calls and decided enough is enough. I was never going to accomplish my fitness goals if I couldn’t plan my work outs and make them happen. After some discussion with my girlfriend at the time (now wife), roommates, and family, I made the enormous decision to quit the funeral industry and join two of my best friends and move to Vegas. I wanted to play more music and finally get under 200 lbs. I knew if I got under 200, I would be jacked, ripped, cut, and all the desirable adjectives Men’s Health magazine uses to describe the perfect man (*cough* Ryan Gosling).
However, I was in for a rude awakening. Powerlifter, Pro Bodybuilder, and coach Ryan Doris (@thenattypro) said it best when he said, “Don't fake passion. One day you'll meet someone in your field who is truly passionate and you'll be fucking embarrassed”. Well, I met that someone and I was fucking embarrassed. I faced the harsh reality that my friends were better than me, plain and simple. In no small part this was because they had more passion for the craft. They practiced every day. They created pieces, changed what they created, started all over. They did this over and over again and never gave up. The difference between us was they loved the process; I just loved the outcome. I loved playing in a band and being on stage, but I didn’t love the work that went into creating music in the same way they did because I just wasn’t passionate enough about it.
While my friends were honing their craft, I was reading bodybuilding.com message boards trying to figure out why I wasn’t losing any more weight even though I was strict with my diet and “clean eating” just wasn’t working like it used to for me. I played a little bit of music and created a couple of pretty bomb mash-ups, but my focus started to gravitate towards nutrition and training. To make ends meet, I got a job at a supplement store. My curiosity about the fitness world really started to take off. I decided to get more serious about fitness and got certified as a personal trainer. I had my fun playing around and it was time to choose a career path. So, my friends and I moved back to the Midwest where I promptly got a job as a personal trainer at a chain gym and began my career.
Being a new trainer at a chain gym is great for a lot of reasons, but one of the main ones is the people you meet. You have those people who become trainers because they have a long history of experience in the gym and know what it takes to succeed. We’ll call them “the passionate”. Then, you have those naturally gifted athletes who are used to succeeding in everything involving physical activity and think that personal training will be an easy paycheck. Let’s call this group “the apathetic”. The apathetic have the shortest-lived training careers. My theory is that it’s because they realize pretty quickly they don’t have the grit and stamina it takes to get their clients through the highs and lows of their fitness journeys.
There is nothing wrong with these trainers. In my experience, the apathetic do want to help, they just don’t have all the tools yet. Just as I had thought my greatest passion and purpose in life was to make a career out of playing music, the apathetic also realize their true passion isn’t what they originally thought. Don’t get me wrong, music will always hold a special place in my heart and I wouldn’t trade my music degree for anything. Just like these trainers will continue to be active throughout their lives – it’s a part of them.
If you’re looking for someone who has the passion it takes to inspire you and keep you going, you need to find one of the passionate. Find a trainer who knows not only the “what” and “why” of your training program, but also understands you as an individual and knows what exercises and nutrition plan will work best for you, specifically.
Anyone can Google a fat loss plan or prescribe cookie cutter circuits that make you want to die. But someone who is truly passionate about training will listen to you. They will make you believe that you can achieve your goals and will eagerly help you get there. They won’t tell you what to do but they will show you how to do it and they’ll show you in the most optimal way for you. The passionate don’t know everything and will be honest when they don’t know. Their passion will drive them to research, read studies, listen to podcasts, attend fitness summits and conferences, and continually learn more.
I wish I could’ve told myself during my quarter life crisis to be more flexible. Life happens and you have to accept that you aren’t going to be perfect all the time. You will have to re-arrange your workouts and you will have times where you can’t eat perfectly, but you learn to adjust. Currently, I work fitness into my life, not work my life around fitness. I give myself two flexible rest days in addition to my 5 working days. If something comes up and I can’t work out that day, I’m able to prioritize what’s more important in that moment and still reach my goals in the long run.
The moral of the story? Be consistent, but be flexible.
P.S. My friends are still making some pretty sick music, and you should check them out!
Polterguts - STL Hardcore - Polterguts Spotify
Filibusta - Funkified EDM - Filibusta Spotify
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Fitness is something that I found when I was over 300#. It changed my life, my hobbies, and my career. I want to help as many people as possible fit fitness into their life.
Do you need some guidance on how to best make fitness work in your life? Email me and we can set up a time to go over what will work best for you to reach your goals.
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