Going into personal training: any advice?

[DanielWallen]

Hello,

I'm a past-member of Corporate America--in fact, I worked in a financial institution for roughly 4 years, and this was very unsatisfying for me. Being chained to a desk often left me emotionally drained and in general bummed-out.

Getting in decent shape, and the vast improvements in health/happiness/confidence that came with this, has given me a strong desire to help other people with their weight. I feel like my personal struggles with this would enable me to truly relate to and help people with the same struggle. I realize this career change would certainly equal a cut in pay, but living a life with purpose and happiness is far more important to me than money.

That said: if any of you are personal trainers, do you have any advice for someone completely new to this? Any successes or failures you'd be willing to share, that might help me get started? It's what I truly want to do, but of course, it also must pay the bills, as rent unfortunately doesn't pay for itself. I'd truly appreciate any input you might have!

[CowboyMisterIndependent]

I don't know really much of anything about personal training, but I do know this: if you want to work in a field where your income depends on your interactions with people, make sure that you've intentionally studied books like "How to Win Friends and Influence People", "How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling", "Personality Plus", and "How to Have Power and Confidence in Dealing with People." Even if you're an effective communicator, those books will help you understand other people and how they see you and what they want. Understanding how to get your clients what they want in a way that's challenging but not off-putting to them is probably going to be key to you establishing a successful personal training career, and a lot of it will hinge on your soft skills with people.

[Kishi]

At the same time, as someone who's going into the field himself, all the soft skills you learn to deal with people have to be based in your own enthusiasm. Not just for what you do, but for what they want to accomplish. That will carry you farther than any 'skill' or 'tactic' ever will, and if you read those books you'll see that genuine excitement is the bedrock of those techniques.