Positive Influences

I 'm a pretty lucky person.  I have met and interacted with several fitness professionals and strength coaches who have made me better at what I love to do - train people.

I also have a fiance who had developed a passion for getting strong, eating right, and living a healthy life.  I have improved as a person, trainer/coach, and lifter because of people who are the closet to me as well as people I have never met face to face.

Would I be as driven as I am today if I didn't read blogs and articles written by great trainers and coaches? NO.

Would I enjoy putting as many hours as I do into work, education, and my own training if I didn't have a fiance who was fully supportive. NO, of course not.

I have a great time working, learning, and lifting and all of those things make me a much happier person.  As crazy as it sounds, I look forward to working- not just because I get a chance to make other people better.  I make myself better.

I am, by no means, where I want to be when it comes to training and coaching, but I'm on my way.  I am not where I want to be physically and I still have a lot of strength goals I would like to achieve, but I am pretty happy where I am, I've worked hard to get here.

Some of the coaches I have met in person were really instrumental in my professional development . I admire the results they get with their clients and the way they conduct themselves professionally.  I take their advice to heart and read books they recommend and decipher the information they hand down and tailor it to fit my needs.

The first big name strength coach I met in person was Mike Boyle.  I met Mike at the 2005 ECA conference in Miami Beach, FL.  I was at the point of my training career where I was stuck in a rut with effective programming for my clients. I wasn't progressing and I needed a spark.  Mike made me think about training in a whole different perspective.  I have been at 2 other conferences where Mike Boyle was a presenter, he was very entertaining and dropped a ton of knowledge bombs on the audience.

There have been several other coaches who I have met along the way, and a lot more fitness professionals who I plan on interacting with in the upcoming years.  I really do learn something new everyday in regards to training and nutrition and it's because the professionals that I admire are constantly learning and informing others about valuable information. 

I don't want this to turn in to a name dropping post about who I've met in person and who I communicate with on-line.  My main intention is to influence my readers to find positive influences who share their passion.  It might not be exercise, it might be in a field such as finance, medicine, or law.

Get in touch with someone who is at the top of  your field of work or study. Discover how they got to the top and what it would take for you to get there. Find out what books, journals, or seminars they recommend and utilize that information to continue your education. With all of the social network sites and the ability to pretty much contact anyone through the internet, you really don't have an excuse.

Find someone close to you,  a friend, co-worker, family member, or significant other who will encourage you to reach your goals.  It would be ideal for that person to help you surpass your goals and achieve a level of greatness you did not know existed.

Like I said, I got lucky. My future wife enjoys lifting weights and is diligent about staying in shape. She enjoys various forms of exercise and she is always up for a physical challenge.  I am even entertaining the idea of bringing my fiance to a few "hands on" conferences so she can continue to improve her lifting technique and be taught by some of the best in the profession. 

If you look at the success of the top professionals of any industry, many of them had someone who helped pave the way for them reach their level of greatness.  To reach high level of success at any field it takes a huge individual effort, however motivation from others around you will make the journey more feasible. If you truly want to excel at something the more positive connections you have the greater your chances are at reaching the top tier of your profession or field of study.  

A while back I wrote a blog about negative influences.  When you look at the people you are close to, are the majority a positive or negative influence on your life?  Are they looking out for your success or encouraging you to achieve great things?  Or, do they try to bring you down to their level so they feel better about themselves?

If you are satisfied with being average there is no need to examine what type of influences you surround yourself with.  If you want to be better then you ever imagined it's time to develop a close circle of people who will encourage you to discover your ultimate level of success.