How many days, weeks, months or years have you been teaching? What makes you get up and do what you do every single day?
Is it habit? Do you have no other choice right now? Do you love what you are doing but you feel you need a bit more guidance to really hone in on your teaching skills or movement knowledge?
Any one of the above would make each and every session that you give that much more challenging. There has to be an easier way.
I remember when I started teaching, I did what I thought I should be doing. I often felt lost when a client would ask me why they experience certain exercises in certain ways. I actually felt stupid, stupid, stupid! What I thought I would be able to do and what I actually was able of doing at that stage was vastly different. I needed more. I needed to know more, be more, learn more, do more and just feel like I was giving my best at each and every class that I gave.
So why this blog post….because I see it all the time. New instructors want to be on the same level as those who have been teaching for years. They are so focused on what the other instructors or professionals around them are doing that they loose focus on what they are doing themselves. Its always a competition instead of a journey of wanting to get better at what they are doing. So what is the next step..…they give up. Throw in the towel….they think that they will never be as good as the others so why bother.
WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!
But if you have made that choice then that is what it will be. You will never be as good as the others because you have already given up. What about putting some effort in from your side. Not 50%, 80%, or even 90%……You need to put in 110%.
When I went on this journey myself I really felt like I needed to know more and due to this I made it my mission to study whenever I could. I put so much effort into my work, day and night without expectations of when I will be at my best.
Just ‘what more can I learn today?’
Ask, ask, ask, try, try, try, be there, be there, be there….that is what is missing today. The dedication….How can you succeed if you are not willing to put in the time and effort? Do you think that a surgeon can perform an operation because he put in a few hours of effort into his studies….Hell No…he studied and practiced his ass off!
So we should do the same. Who says we cannot make a success of the movement industry? It is the fastest growing industry today. There are so many people that we can learn from but are we blinded by ourselves, are we too shy to ask stupid questions or have we thrown in the towel?
If you are in a learning environment then you are so extremely lucky. The questions is…do you know that? Some professionals are left to their own devices and just have to get on with it…but others are fortunate. But for some reason take this for granted or they do not know how lucky they are.
In the old days….we had to work our way up…it was called hard work. Nothing was handed to us on a silver platter unless you were lucky enough to be born into riches. The same rules apply today but the difference today is the attitudes. I am worth more…I deserve more….I want more….I, I, I….Huh? How long have you been working for? How much effort have you put into your work? What have you contributed to the company that you work for?
There are so many posts of treat your employees well…and I totally agree. You must look after them…but where are the posts of treat your employer and colleagues well because they took a chance and hired you.
It is now up to us as workers of this world to do a job and to do it well. Make it work….take the time and effort, plan your classes, ask questions, care for your employees, employers, clients and colleagues…
That is the tough part…the world has gone slightly mad and we are all about I, I, I and I.
Some things cannot be taught to most people but there are the select few who are craving guidance. If you are the guide, then give it all you have. If you need guidance, then ask.
This will help you to make the best of your classes and career, build yourself up and finally get that paycheck that you were hoping for.
That is the Healthy Truth!
