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"How A DEAD FLY Taught Me The Secrets Of Personal Training Success"
Not that long ago, I was sitting in the reception of one of my personal training studios. It was a nice day so we had the studio door open to let in some `real' air and freshen up the place a little.
As I sat there watching people come in and out for their training sessions I noticed a large, black fly had flown in and after buzzing around for a few minutes and finding nothing of interest, it decided to leave.
It flew right past my head and with a `thump', hit the plate glass window before bouncing off and falling to the floor in a daze.
After a few seconds of circling around on the floor it took off again and took what I can only describe as a 'run-up' (flyup?) at the window in a greater attempt to get through the barrier that was keeping it from its goal of the outside world.
With an even louder `thump' the fly went down again and spent more time on the floor.
Well, to cut a long story short, that fly got up again and again and again and pounded at that window with all of its might for over 10 minutes before I had to get up and take care of a customer.
About 30 minutes later I sat back down in the same spot having totally forgotten about the fly and went back to my `people watching' when, out of the corner of my eye I saw the fly laying at the base of the window on its back, legs in the air.
It was dead.
Now, usually the death of a fly is not worthy of remembrance but this one I will always remember because its death taught me one of the greatest success lessons I've ever learned and I continue to reap the benefits of its teaching to this day.
(In fact, just before posting this message today I realised that I'd forgotten the lesson I'd been taught and realised why I'd been feeling a little stressed and frustrated today)
What Did It Teach Me?
That Working HARDER Simply Doesn't Work!
You see, in theory, that little fly was doing everything right. (According to the goal setting experts anyway)
It had a clearly defined goal − To get out.
It had passion − It risked and eventually paid with its life.
It was willing to work as hard as necessary to bring about its goal.
In fact, that little bug kind of reminded me of Me!
Actually, not only did it remind me of me, but of many, great personal trainers
that I'd met who knew what they wanted, had passion and were willing to work as hard as necessary to achieve their dreams but who were, over and over again bashing their heads in on the same invisible barrier that did for that fly.
And whilst it may not have ended in physical death for the trainer (I hope not!), nearly always it ends in the death of their hopes and dreams which, to me at least, is pretty much the same thing.
No, at that very moment it was clear to me that working harder would only ever
take me so far but that, if I were willing to do what the fly and so many other people were unwilling to do, I could achieve far more than I was that time.
All I Had To Do Was...
Change My Strategy!
You see, that's where that little fly had gone wrong and, truth be told, where I had gone wrong so many times, (including this morning!) is that it doggedly stuck to the same strategy even once it had failed to work.
Instead of flying 5 feet over to the open door to its freedom and whatever life awaited it beyond that invisible barrier, it continued to bang its head off of the window and, despite the fact that it was giving it everything it had and despite being so close to reaching its goal... failed miserably.
Just 5 feet in another direction would have made all the difference.
I'm sure you get the moral of the story but let me spell it out for you just in case...
If you think that working harder is going to get you what you want, you're probably wrong (unless you're really lazy already). If that were true then builders, scaffolders and any number of manual workers would be millionaires, right?
Hard work can only ever get you so far.
You've got to work smart.
You've got to look for a strategy that works and USE it rather than dogmatically sticking to one that you've become accustomed to or, like that fly, you'll end up on your back, legs in the air with nothing to show for all your time, all your efforts, all your money.
Only YOU know if your strategy is right or not.
If you're consistently achieving more, earning more and having more of the lifestyle that you always dreamed of then your strategy works. Keep using it and yes, in this case, work harder at perfecting it.
If, on the other hand, you're struggling with your income, your expenses, your time, your relationships and your health then there's no ifs or buts about it, your strategy is plain wrong.
Stop trying to make it work on muscle alone. Working harder won't get you what you want. Quit what doesn't work and start over.
So, c'mon then, what's NOT working for you? Identifying it is the starting step to change, so spill the beans : )
Dax Moy
Fitness Marketing Made Simple
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at www.personaltrainersuccess.ning.com TODAY and switch from working harder to working
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