2 years ago I was blessed with an opportunity to start and run my own business.

It was scary, but something in me knew it was the right thing to do. Fear can be tremendously cold and overwhelming but instead of running from it, we should learn to understand it. Fear is nothing but the gap between where you are and where you’re going.

I had so many people doubt me, tell me to get a real job, tell me “there are so many personal trainers, you won’t make any money…”

Good thing I’m not a personal trainer.

I have grown to despise that term. I’m a friend, a husband, a father, and someone that loves to help people. There is so much more to it than personal training. Let me go on a rant here.

“Personal Trainer” means nothing to me.

I have multiple certifications and some are great, but they did nothing but give me a few tools to help others. Any one that breathes and can read can be a personal trainer. No certification will prepare you for the hours of hands-on application, reading, refining, learning from others, watching, late nights, getting under the bar, experiments, mistakes, and then doing it all over again that it takes to really become a true professional. To learn and understand the human body inside and out is a journey and the destination is unkown. It is a never-ending quest and this world is rampant with people that have no idea what they are doing out there teaching other people the same thing.

My first paycheck was for $60… I can’t believe that. My mentor and I laughed so hard about that over lunch, and well, now it’s considerably more. The point is we all have start somewhere. I’m able to support my family and do what I love! I have matured and grown so much as a person and professional. It hasn’t been easy–there are ups and downs, but you should always follow your passion.

Growth is essential. If you’re not constantly challenged in life, you will never reach your true potential or find your purpose. I have learned it has nothing to do with a certification, a meal plan, or exercise program. It’s all about leadership, teaching, motivating, and listening. You have to be creative, you can never stop pushing yourself; every single day you should be getting smarter and stronger in some way. If you don’t, you are cheating yourself out of really living. So many people have got caught up in life that they really aren’t living anymore.

There is a science to it and you can never fall away from the principles. I love the quote: “Find what you love and let it kill you.” Never underestimate the impact you have on other people’s lives. If you are a Personal Trainer, don’t just train and write meal plans; start a culture, a community, be open, love, laugh, lead by example (this one is huge). Most people want to connect and belong. This why all these body wrap, supershake, ridiculous companies make so much money off people. People want to belong to something to feel a sense a community.

If you are attempting to teach the squat and you can’t squat your body weight you should probably re-evaluate yourself. Do not get comfortable this leads to laziness and complacency. I don’t have it all figured out I still learn everyday but I am so far from where I was. We will never master life, or the human body. How can you master something that constantly changes. Instead love and embrace change. LEARN, GROW, REPEAT. Sincerely care about others. I don’t have a job, I have a passion and life I love.

When it comes to training, watch assess, re-asses, look for movement patterns and understand them. It’s not about weight. People like to isolate the human body, but they fail to see it works as a system. There is no such thing as an isolated movement. The body does not understand individual muscles. It understands movement patterns. Everything is connected, so why wouldn’t you train that way. Teach people to love nutritious food, and to move… obesity problem solved.

Finally, stop celebrating mediocrity! This is a disease! It teaches people that they are entitled, that the world owes them something. That’s a bunch of crap. You have to work hard for what you want; the world won’t hand you anything. The mind, body, and spirit are all deeply connected if one suffers the others suffer. The body is a system remember so train all of these equally for me it means daily stimulation of my mind through knowledge, my body thought movement and training, and my spirit with mediation and prayer.

I hope you guys learned something and if you need any help, if you want to get stronger, feel better, move better, I can and will help you.

Stay Strong, Stay Motivated – Ryan K