As time passes I become more and more clear just how special being an independent instructor is. When I worked in a gym, it was all about hoping that I impressed enough members to choose my class. My job was to show up and wow the people. At the first facility in which I taught, I learned how to teach. I went from zero fans to MANY fans of my classes.
Teaching at the second facility was a very different game because there was lots of pressure to have at least a certain number of people in the room and to increase numbers so that the gym made money. So I treated my classes as if I owned them. I cared deeply for my classes and did all I could to be an instructor who people chose regularly as part of their gym routine. I also became super powerful at teaching due to attending lots of trainings and applying what I learned in my classes.
The crazy thing is that I felt like I had a ceiling over my head. I worked at the will of the gym owners and so no matter how many creative ideas I had, I never felt like I could make any of them happen in the gym without a hassle and with little profit. BUT, it was there that I became masterful at teaching as well as super resourceful at learning how to teach better and better with each passing year. The proof was in having jammed packed classes and a fan base that was truly humbling.
So with that I decided to go independent and at least give myself a chance to create something great that belonged to me. I knew that I would never make any real money as a gym instructor and making money is important to me.
Since going independent, I have learned so much. First of all, numbers matter but only after quality has been in place. I have not come close to having the numbers that I had at either gym because now I am more than a fitness instructor, I am a business owner. This first 6 months has been spent learning how to do what I have never had to do so regularly: Find students. Also, I have had to create a method of operating to keep myself organized on the administrative side of a fitness business.
There is no question that I am at the least a good teacher. I teach well AND I help people get results in their health and fitness. So what use to be important which seemed to only be the number that I wrote in the gym instructor book has now evolved to something totally different. I am being stretched into the person who I know I was born to be. When people come to my classes and see small numbers, I no longer fret. I smile and know that this is the best process that I have been part of in the fitness world. I have built so many classes and know that I can do the same with this one. I just need time and time I have.
But more than growing myself as a fitness instructor, I get to grow as a fitness professional as well as a small business owner. As Maya Angelou once wrote, "I wouldn't take nothing for this journey." I am so excited about the success that lies ahead of me and give thanks the process has been a little slower than I expected because now I truly get to watch it unfold.
Giving thanks this morning. I love that I get to live my destiny in this way. <3 br="">
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