From Burn Out to Alignment: Part 2
By: Dave Glaser
Tags: Mens Health, Coaching, Mental Health, Workout, Burnout

Thank you everyone who reached out after my last email with words of encouragement and support! That’s one of the reasons I love the fitness industry now more than ever before; the number of growth minded trainers that are available to connect with that are going through the same thing is outstanding!

If I weren’t able to take anything away from my hiatus from the fitness industry, then all that work I did to climb back from the abyss would have been for nothing. I got into this business over seven years ago to impact lives through fitness and nutrition and that purpose is what I have returned to in order to take huge strides forward.

Today, I’d like to take a moment to share the Top 3 Things in learned from my time off from coaching.

#1-When I take on too much responsibility, my coaching suffers. I was a studio owner for three years and in that time, I wore many hats. Head trainer, CFO, CEO, janitor, and maintenance guy. I was burnt out and it showed in my coaching, program design, and passion with clients. They began to leave one by one and I was heart broken. But I was stubborn too.

I kept piling on more tasks, responsibilities, and social engagements to pursue clients for the online program. I was chasing opportunities and it was wearing on me because it wasn’t as natural as it once was… say in the beginning of my career when confidence and enthusiasm were high.

Eventually, I said “Fuck it” and took my foot off the gas and took a new approach. I was going to let clients come to me, seek out my expertise, and be open to coaching those that were truly ready to work hard for the results. You know what? It worked. I began to relax and enjoy the conversations around weight loss, sports performance, and limiting beliefs.



#2- I missed the act of coaching in-person clients. About four months after I closed the physical location of Fit Life Champions, a professional soccer player reached out over Instagram and asked me if I was available to train him during the off season. He must have seen the posts I had made over the years with Andrew, a standout defender from Lakewood High School, and now at West Point Academy.

Abraham is 17 and has a contract with the Colorado Rapids as their backup goalie. I vetted him as a legitimate lead and had him set up a phone consultation to learn more and negotiate terms that would fit my schedule. We connected quickly and he made his first month’s payment in full BEFORE we met for the consultation and goal setting.

What I learned over the next 8 weeks is that I truly enjoyed and missed working with elite athletes in person. We developed a strong coach/client relationship and we improved his strength, power, speed and agility while preventing injury with change of direction work. What I gained most, however, was a reignited passion for serving clients with my expertise and enthusiasm for coaching. But I needed a period of rest before I could return to be my best.

#3- I felt as if I was out of alignment for a really long time. I was mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted during the most challenging part of my mid-life crisis which happened to be right after I closed the gym. For the next few months, I sought out spiritual solutions to the feeling of being out of alignment with my true self.

Even the professional relationships I was trying to build were forced and stressing me out. That is, until I chose to sit back, lighten up, and become less invested in the outcome. I began to believe that “staying in my lane of expertise” was the best path forward to finding authenticity.

I reconnected with my original purpose by working with Abraham and a couple other amazing clients in person. It was a way to gently ease back into the industry while earning an income, eliminating responsibilities, and taking all the pressure off my shoulders so that I could be an impactful coach again.

All in all, these three lessons are the most important thing I felt I could share with you from my journey to help you avoid going though the same pitfalls I experienced. Burn out. Stress. Lacking passion.

You are not alone and looking back, I wish I had reached out earlier to you all for support!

Thanks for listening and continuing to serve your clients every day while trying to juggle life, family, and a purpose filled career. I’d like to know.

What are you struggling with in your business or life as a personal trainer right now?

If you haven’t read the full story of how I got into the industry over seven years ago, check out my free book, Aspire Higher by clicking here now!