A leap of faith
I'm asking you to take a leap, and try something new. So it's only fair that I do the same. In fact this is a story about the last time I took a big leap of faith in a company called Dent. I have always been extremely passionate about helping people to rediscover exercise. I get excited when people come through the door and they feel uninspired, and bored about the thought of working out.
I LOVE the idea of being someones motivation train!
It gets exhausting but it's worth it when I see the incredible changes in my clients. So, back to Dent. I was first told about the company when my sister encouraged me to go. Here's something you need to know about my sister and I: We are like chalk and cheese! I live in the gym, wear workout clothes at every available moment and have a small heart attack at the thought of being in a room of successful, suit wearing people. My sister loves the city, she looks beautiful in whatever she wears and regularly talks in front of hundreds of business people, about her business focus of property. Oh, and another thing. At the time she suggested it to me, she was making what I earn in a year, every week. I felt truly terrified at the thought of even going to the open day for this course, but she encouraged me, and I accepted it. We went together to the open day and I got the biggest buzz I'd had for a long time. It opened my eyes to the possibilities that I could actually make a decent living out of my passion.
Within the talk, they used an example of another personal trainer, who had gone from charging £30 per hour, stacking out his diary and becoming completely exhausted from the whole experience - to travelling the world, training people as he went, and charging whatever he wanted to. Because he could.
I had to learn how to do this!
I had a realisation that day. I started training people in 2009. That's a long time ago. I charged £30 per hour, per client. At that point in 2018, I was still earning £30 per hour, per client. The gym was charging £80, and I was getting £30. I'd accepted this, up until that point. However, suddenly it wasn't OK. My wage hadn't increased in almost ten years! I knew I had improved as a coach though: A better listener, a better teacher. I could read through any excuse and find a way to overturn it. This day was the beginning of my mindset overhaul, and it changed my life. But it would never have happened if I'd listened to my fears.
Being accepted onto Dent's Threshold Accelerator is not easy, in fact only about 5% of the people that first contact the company are approved, for a variety of reasons. I knew then, that one of them had to be me.
Following the open day, I went for a boardroom meeting headed up by Daniel Priestly, one of Dent's directors. I was TERRIFIED. As I walked to the venue, I couldn't stop sweating, and shaking. I had no idea how I was going to get through a whole meeting. Put me in the cage any day!
Somehow I got through it, and came out of it even more excited about life than I had been before. I felt confident that I would be selected to take part in the program.
Honestly, at this stage, I had nothing to lose. If I wasn't the right fit for it, then I would just carry on as I was (just a little bit more disappointed with myself for not making it) but if I was, it could actually change my life.
As of course, by this point, you will have worked out that I did in fact get on to the program, and am now over half way through it.
The course has changed my life in a multitude of ways. The most significant to me, is the way my confidence in my work has increased. I'm not a mediocre personal trainer, competing with twenty other unexceptional trainers for clients in a space the size of a bathtub. I am a damn good trainer, with twelve years of experience in coaching, and twenty years worth of experience in teaching. Oh yeah, and I am a professional mixed martial artist. How many other people can say those things about themselves?
This newfound pride, along with the encouragement of Daniel (and a few others) was what gave me the confidence to establish HHH Self Defence. I'm so unbelievably glad that I did!
The more I think about it, the more I think about where I would be now, still miserably living in London, fighting for clients that paid a premium price (that I saw a small fraction of).
Now, I get to do all the things I love: I train as much as I want (as much as I'm physically capable of!). I get to spend QUALITY time with my clients, building a relationship with each and every one. I'm also able to relax and enjoy myself when I see my family, which is something I've long dreamed of.
I hope you can learn from my experience, that taking a leap of faith can open up a whole new world for you. You might feel apprehensive, or even just plain scared, but I promise you, making that first step will feel extraordinarily liberating.
Rediscover your fitness by entering the next 30 day challenge here.
