Why values matter
Find the values that you define yourself by and you will find it easier to make decisions, move past mental roadblocks and achieve your goals as a personal trainer.
If you don’t know your top 5 values, you don’t know who you are.
To have success and fulfilment in what you do, as a personal trainer or PT business owner, you must do what is in alignment with and an expression of your core values.
The people who succeed in life don’t pin-ball around at the mercy of every external circumstance. They possess clarity around who they are, what behaviours they intentionally choose to engage in, and are consciously aware of limiting thoughts and mechanisms to help them live an aligned, meaningful and purposeful life. We do this by avoiding a fixed and creating an ownership mindset.
Our values are the wheel that steers our personal trainer ship. They provide us with intrinsic motivation and are the difference between sitting on the sidelines wishing you could do what others do, and getting in there and doing it yourself.
What are values?
For the purpose of this blog, we’ll be focusing on ‘Principal Values’. These are a list of core values each of us holds in high importance.
Everyone’s values are different but when we facilitate an expression of these values, we get a feeling of ease and purpose and a sense of alignment.
Examples of some Principles Core Values
GRATITUDE: To be thankful for and appreciative of the good things in my life
GROWTH & LEARNING: To continue to learn and develop in new areas, formally and informally
CONTRIBUTION: To contribute and give back to the wider world
COURAGE: To be brave and stand up in the face of fear or difficulty
Your principle core values can remain the same for a lifetime but they may change depending on where you’re at in your life. It is totally fine to revisit and review them.
What values are important to you right now as a personal trainer? Take a moment to jot down your top five. They could be things like honesty, accountability, open-mindedness, continual evolution or generosity.
Applying your values
Personal trainers who are genuinely successful and happy seem to have found a way to make every part of what they do align with their core values.
The most successful strategy we’ve found for achieving this is the Stop, Ask, How, Apply Method.
STOP: When you have a decision to make, big or small, get off autopilot and be conscious of your thoughts.
ASK: Which decision aligns with my core values?
HOW: Define specifically which values you’re expressing and how
APPLY: Make an informed decision based on which option best suits your core values
For example:
STOP: I’m supposed to create seven social media posts today for my PT page, but I can do it next week.
ASK: Core values include integrity, contribution, growth & learning and persistence. By not living up to your promise, you’re going against some of these values. It may be uncomfortable but the action itself aligns with your values
HOW:
Integrity - I said I would, and I keep my word
Contribution - My PT clients will benefit from my input
Growth & Learning - I want to move forward in my knowledge and marketing experience
Persistence - I know this strategy will pay off for my personal training business.
APPLY: The clear choice now is to honour your commitment to sticking with a personal trainer social media schedule
Go deeper
By now you should be able to see the benefits of knowing your core values and ensuring what you do day to day aligns with them.
To continue to expand your understanding of the values, jump on Audible and get your hands on ‘The Values Factor’ by Dr John DeMartini.
We recommend using Audible and listening to the entire book at 1.25x speed.
