A New Career for A New Year

Thanks for those comments, Devi, Lowell, Athel, May and Chandre. Apologies if I missed anyone. I promise it wasn't just a cheap ploy to get comments, unlike my previous attempts. I forget though that sites like Multiply are good for letting people know you've actually written a post despite 6 months' silence.

Anyway I don't really know how to write this next post without it being really long so here it is in point form. If you have any further questions, you can comment, or message or email me, and we'll go from there. But who knows, a succinct series of bullet points may just about answer all your questions.

**I'm not longer working for Donna. I stopped about a month ago. I'm not exactly changing careers, in the sense that I'm still working in the fitness industry. But rather than being a personal trainer full time I want to split my working hours between personal training and aerobics instructing.

**I'm not currently working full time. In fact I seem to be playing a combination of house wife and aerobics instructor whilst I work on re-building a new client base on the personal training side of things.

**I've been teaching on average about 5 aerobics classes per week - which is more than enough for me right now. Mainly because my feet can't really take much more at this point ... I'm waiting for the blisters on the balls of my feet to turn into calluses. That's when I'll truly know that I have tough (and slightly ugly) feet. haha.

**For anyone who might be interested in coming along to one of my classes, my weekly regular classes are:

1. Tri 20, 10am Thursdays at Bennettswood Fitness - a combination of hilo aerobics, step aerobics and upper body exercises using hand weights
2. THT (Tummies, Hips & Thighs), 7pm Tuesdays at Aqualink Nunawading
3. Coming soon... Aerobics, 6pm Wednesdays at Deakin Uni YMCA - for all students out there this is a 6 week class starting April 9th.

My days as a personal trainer are, however, far from over. More will be revealed. I must admit though that teaching aerobics is such a refreshing change.

A commonly believed myth by many is that it is easy for personal trainers to stay in shape because we are around exercise all the time. This is FALSE. Like any job it can be easy to get so busy working that you don't set aside time to look after your own health. In case you haven't noticed, most personal trainers spend their days prescribing exercise and then supervising their clients ~ we don't exercise all day long with them!

Aerobics instructor world is, however, a completely different ball game. A personal trainer can work for 40 hours per week and not necessarily do much exercise, albeit the job is more active than a typical desk job. However if an aerobics instructor works for 20 hours a week, you can safely bet that he or she exercises that many hours too!

So a combination of the two will work nicely for me. I will no longer have to go to the gym or for a run just for the sake of getting some exercise. In fact, I find I work harder in a class that I teach myself compared to one that I participate in, because I'm setting the example. Fun stuff! I know, for some of you readers it would probably be your idea of hell on earth.

Always aim for the moon...

...you may not make it, but you just might grab a star on the way by!

I love this quote. I love that recently, despite my own fears and self-doubts, I aimed for the moon. That I had friends and a husband who encouraged me to go for it, reminding me I had nothing to lose.

I am into week 3 of my job. I think it's my dream job, I really do. I wanted to work as a personal trainer, and I am being given the opportunity to. I wanted to be in a place where I could learn, learn, learn... this is the place for me.

I have learnt a lot in the short two and a half weeks that I've been at the studio, and what excites me is that I know there is so much more to learn!

New stuff that I am intrigued by:
- Single leg dead lifts using a Smith machine
- L sits
- Swiss ball pikes
- Swiss ball ab braces with the added challenge of touching my knees to the ball

Wrandom Writings

My love and gratitude to you family and friends who have offered your congratulations and support to me regarding my recent career update announcement. I love you and wouldn't be where I am today without you!

***

James has been laughing at me for the last two weeks because it suddenly occurred to him that pursuing my new career path will require me to be out of bed every morning earlier than he! James has always been a morning person. When we first got married, I definitely was not a morning person! Now, by default, I am.

***

I have only been to work for one day (yesterday) and I love it already. I love the atmosphere, the work environment, the clients and most of all, the team that works there! Everyone has been so friendly and welcoming. Can I see myself in this place for years to come? Yes!

***

It is easier to get out of bed at 5am then at 8am. It was decidedly warmer at 5am yesterday morning than any other morning that I've woken up in winter! I know that sounds weird, but Matt, one of the trainers at the studio, confirmed it - he told me that it's usually warmer at 5am in the morning and then it cools down by 8am. That's a very comforting fact for me to hold on to.

***

Getting this new job has given me a new motivation to complete my studies and do them well. There came a point during the course when I had just had enough of assignments. The first few study topics were fantastic, but when I discovered that one of my most recent assignments was to write up a business plan, I felt this was a bit of a waste of my time, simply because at this point in my career I am not thinking about business, and whatever business plan I come up with now will probably have changed once I've gained some experience. Now, I have a new drive to complete the task at hand, even though, secretly, I would rather be reading more books on exercise and nutrition instead.

***

I unexpectedly ran into my new friends at the gym today. I met them about 3 weeks ago, and usually see them on Thursdays but discovered today that they also train on Tuesdays. This turned out to be a good thing because one of them spotted my bench presses for me. I haven't done bench presses for 2 weeks so I really needed that extra assurance. Thanks, Dave!

***

If you're sick and tired of the same old push ups, try something new - put your feet on a Swiss ball and it won't be long before you notice the increase in difficulty. The closer you put your feet together, the more challenging the exercise. This is my new favourite exercise.

***

It just started raining like cats and dogs outside. Definitely heavier than I've seen in a while. This could be a fantastic opportunity to test out how well my spunky new Nike+ running jacket protects my iPod, but I just don't feel like getting wet right now. Plus, I have to go write up that business plan.

Reflections on a Sudden Career Move

If you read my post on May 16, followed by the email I sent tonight, you may be wondering - what happened to the job at the gym? All this time, that's the job I've been talking about, so where did this seemingly out-of-the-blue change spring out from?

The studio where I start next week is indeed different to the gym. The opportunity had presented itself quite suddenly. It was announced in one of my lectures last week ~ my immediate reaction was that there was no way I would be considered for, let alone offered, the job that was being advertised. It just sounded too good for me. And yet there were butterflies in my stomach when I read the job description and requirements. It sounded like it was describing me!

My thoughts turned to the gym ~ wouldn't it be unfaithful to send in an application for a different job? Didn't Glen tell me several months ago that faithful staff were difficult to find?

I expressed my fears and doubts to James and Daniela ~ they both encouraged me to go for it. After all, what did I have to lose? So I decided to give it a go. But then, on May 16, I was given my gym uniform! Doubts re-presented themselves. But James and Dan's encouragements echoed in my head, along with that gut-wrenching feeling that this was just something I was supposed to do!

So, the same night that I received my gym uniform, I submitted my resume to the studio.

I felt a bit guilty, but then appeased myself with thoughts that nothing would probably come of my submission. How wrong was I!

The very next morning, I received a call from the studio - they wanted an interview with me. I accepted, still thinking that the competition for the job was probably quite high, and glad for at least the opportunity to meet and talk to an industry leader and expert in person.

Five days later, I went to the interview. I was invited back the following morning to observe what the work environment was like during one of their busiest operation times. At the end of that observation time, I was asked if I wanted the job. Was she serious? Was she REALLY offering me this job? Was I awake or dreaming? Of course I wanted it!

I was excited about this opportunity. But you know what blessed me so much? She and her team were excited to have me... wow!

In the five days between the phone call and the interview, I visited several libraries to try and borrow as many books as possible that had been written by the woman who owns the studio. I thought that I could gain some insight into how she thinks and what her values and philosophies are by reading some of her books.

The more I read, the more I liked. Every impression of her that her books were giving me was positive. She was someone I wanted to emulate, a role model I wanted to learn from.

At the gym, I knew that with time, I would settle into the job, even though my first impressions were a little uneasy (for no particular reason and at no personal reflection upon anyone who works there - maybe it was simply how my personality meshed with the work environment). However, in the studio, I just felt that the working environment would be one in which I would not just grow, but flourish. For me, the job at the gym was a good offer. But the studio offer was a great one.

At a personal level, the choice was easy. The logistics were not - yesterday I went to the gym and told the manager of the job I had been offered. He wasn't very happy. Who would be? I felt terrible. I felt that I had given him the impression I would be working there, and then didn't follow through. The truth was that my full intention had been to work there. I hadn't been looking elsewhere, I had never considered looking elsewhere and giving myself a list of options. But "elsewhere" literally placed itself in my lap.

So whilst there is a small ache in my heart because I feel that I have set up someone's expectations at the gym only to let him down, I know that the job at the studio is the path that I am meant to take. I just know it in my heart.

And if I am to follow my dreams and make them into reality, there is nothing more I can do at this point in time other than to follow my heart. Even though, sometimes, that can hurt in some places.

Announcement (Career Update)

An email that I sent out to everyone in my address book tonight:

Dear Friends and Family,

Apologies for the impersonal nature of this mass email but I knew of no other way to spread my great news as quickly as effectively as this. Some of you may be receiving this "out of the blue" because we haven't been in touch for months or maybe years... if so, I miss you and hope you are doing well! You're on my email list because you're still important to me even though I've done a terrible job of keeping in touch.

Most of you will already know that early this year I commenced part-time study to become a qualified Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer. Most of you will also be aware that I would be finishing the course around this time of year. In actual fact, I attended my final class just this past Monday! I still have a few assignments and exams to complete in order to receive my official qualification, but I'm almost there!

The purpose of this email is to let you know about my next career move. Early this week I was given the opportunity of attending an interview for a position as a Personal Trainer in a private studio based in Toorak. When I first heard that they were seeking a Trainer, my initial reaction was, "there's no way I would get a job like that!". I had in my heart settled for a "normal gym job" in one or maybe two different local gyms. However, I decided to give it a go - Thank you to the friends and family members who encouraged me to take a shot at it.

I am sure you can guess the outcome seeing as I am sending this email: I got the job! I will be working part-time to begin with for several months during which I will be a "trainee trainer" - i.e. I won't yet train clients but I will be trained in how the studio operates and their style of training people. If all goes well, after this training period I will be unleashed as a full-time trainer.

I am extremely excited about this opportunity that I have been given. My passion for promoting health and wellness in individual lifestyles has only grown with time. The woman who owns and operates the studio has at least 20 years' experience in the fitness industry and is widely known to many as a leader and expert in the field. What I am most excited about is the opportunity to learn anything and everything that I can from the wealth of knowledge that she and the rest of her training team are offering me as a new employee - I want to be great at what I do, so who better to learn from than other great people who have gone way before me.

Thank you for your love, encouragement and support. Without you backing me, I wouldn't have had this opportunity to step into doing something I am passionate about and will thoroughly enjoy.

much love,
Fiona

"Graduation" - !!!

Glen sat me down tonight and asked if I would be willing to do a permanent roster shift - every second Saturday morning, commencing two weekends from tonight. Of course I said yes! Minutes later, he declared that he was putting me through my graduation ceremony. He opened a cupboard which was filled with boxes...

I thought to myself, "Oh, right, he's inducting me in as a newbie by getting me to clean out and organize this cupboard."

But actually it was much nicer than that - I got to rummage through the boxes and pick out my uniform!

Wanna see pics? Here they are!

1. With my jacket on:


2. Without my jacket on:


3. James and I were so impressed with the apparent growth in size of my bicep since the last time I took bicep-flexing pics, that we had to take another, more revealing photo:

4. And finally, my favourite ~ the don't-I-look-cool-with-my-jacket-over-my-shoulder pose:

Bee Stings? Forget it!

Did my First Aid course today which is a requirement to be registered as a Fitness Instructor. I guess they must automatically expect us to pass because I received my certificate, hand-delivered to me by my instructor, before I'd even packed my bag ready to leave at the end of the day.

The exam consisted of 50 multiple choice questions. I got 49 correct. So if you choke, or need CPR, or have an embedded object in your arm and lots of blood pouring out of the wound, according to my test results I should be competent enough to give you First Aid.

...but if you get stung by a bee, watch out! That was the question I got wrong.

Work Experience

I just got back from my first shift at the gym. You've been wondering when I was finally going to start, so there's your answer. I haven't finished my classes yet though - these next three weeks I will work a total of 6 shifts as a part of my training to complete my course.

The Group Fitness Instructor course didn't end up going ahead. Instead, I'll probably be signing up for a course that commences in September. Maybe it was a God-send, because I had a chat tonight with a fitness instructor ~ his opinion was that the September course is the best one around and he had very high recommendations for it.

My FitNation Course... the saga begins!

Ah, yes, the anticipated post that is going to tell you all about how my FitNation course is going. Well, I've had two lectures now. The course consists of 5 modules, and every module comprises 1 to 6 lectures. To complete every module I need to submit assignments and also sit exams.

My first module is already 2/3 of the way through, i.e. I've attended 2 of the 3 lectures. My first assignment deadline and exam is a week from tomorrow... can you believe it?!

So this is shaping up to be a pretty fast-paced 14 weeks, with lots of information to learn and process in my brain within a relatively short period of time. I'm only into my first week and already I'm quite tired between balancing course attendance, study (which I've not had a chance to do much of) and also part-time work at Meal Magic.

Thankfully, this first module is relatively easy for me because of my science background. The module topic: Nutrition and Body Fat Management. Most of the nutrition stuff I've either already learnt in high school and university biology classes, and anything additional I've probably already read around the place because it's a topic of interest to me.

My next module however will not be so easy - Anatomy!

*******

Here's a story from my first night's attendance which I know you will enjoy:

One of our classroom activities was to pair up and interview our partners regarding what we'd consumed in the past 24 hours. I interviewed my partner first, and was astounded by the amount of food he consumed!

As for me... well, it is here that I have a confession to make: I lied... just a little! But a lie, no matter how small, is still a lie. *sigh*

Let me explain myself...

After interviewing my partner and learning how much he'd eaten, I began to feel insecure about what I'd eaten, and worried that he would think I ate too little. You see, our lectures start at 6pm on Mondays, so to get there on time I had to leave home by 5pm, which meant a really early dinner at 4:40pm! Lectures don't end until 10pm which would be too late to eat dinner.

So at lunchtime that day, I didn't really eat much, just a hot cross bun. I wasn't really hungry and I knew I'd be eating again in only a few hours. So what did I lie about? Well, when I was interviewed I added an extra sandwich for good measure - a salmon sandwich with cream cheese, to be exact. I just felt I had to... I mean, my partner ate 3 ham sandwiches with salad plus a muesli bar and an apple! What was I to do?

Yes, yes, I know. I'm a bad person. What can I say? But I have now appeased my conscience a little by confessing this lie in public. Actually, I appeased it as soon as I confessed my sin to James the next morning.

Go ahead, have a laugh. James certainly did.

The Countdown is Over!

It says zero! But there's still 6 1/2 hours to go before my course officially starts at 6pm. In the meantime I have a bunch of errands to run today so it should pass the time rather quickly.

ARGH!!! This is so exciting!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a Blog Post

I haven't blogged in almost two weeks. That's not like me. It's because I've been a little uninspired lately. Most of the time I have so many things swimming around in my head that I want to post about, and I have to focus myself and pick one topic at a time only.

But lately I've been uninspired because I've been... unemployed. I've been in between jobs (waiting for the right time to start a part-time job). And, more importantly, I've been waiting for my fitness course to start!

As of right now the countdown says 4 days, 2 hours, 11 minutes, 58 seconds. It's so far away! Ugh.

But it's getting nearer even as I type. Now it says 4 days, 2 hours, 8 minutes, 42 seconds.

Actually, the countdown is 18 hours fast, because it will hit zero as soon as the clock ticks past midnight on Sunday night/Monday morning.

The correct starting time is 6pm. Monday 19 February. I can't wait!

Job Opportunities

Next week, I have an appointment to see the manager of the gym where I work out. We're going to talk about job opportunities.

I have no idea whether I can get a job at a gym before I have gained my qualifications or whether I need to wait til after my course ends (which is not until June). The fact that he's willing to meet with me next week, with my course still a few weeks away from commencing (see countdown above!), suggests that I may be able to get something before I'm qualified and thus work my way towards actually instructing and training after I've finished my course.

I hope so!

My books!

I just got home, and I had to post a photo of my newly acquired prize:

Today was my last full day of work in the office and I was beginning to wonder what to do with my time next week, but looks like I can get started reading already. YAY!!!

It's here!

James just told me that that my package from FitNation is sitting at my house waiting for me right now! In fact, it arrived at 11am this morning (which was before I even wrote that last post).

I can't believe he didn't tell me, he knows how excited I was yesterday about getting that stuff! His explanation was that it would have just been too distracting for me today... whatever! ;P

He's right... I still have band practise tonight and so won't be home until 10pm, I'm going to be thinking about what's in that box all night long. *sigh*

A new blog addition...

You may already know that I have a second blog which is my Dream Diary. Well I am giving up that blog, and instead will merge it into this one. Any posts from that blog can now be found here (or will be after I've copied and pasted them all across). They are labelled "fi's dream diary" of course, so if you do want to read on back issues of Dream Diary, choose "fi's dream diary" from the "all things F" list in the left column. Ah, yes... can you tell I have teacher tendencies?

Now, to start the ball rolling...

New, exciting dream diary update: I faxed my enrolment form to FitNation yesterday! After faxing it in, of course that doesn't actually enrol me into the course until they have processed my form, I still felt enrolled!

This morning I got an email from Australian Air Express saying that a 3kg shipment from FitNation is on its way to me... so that must mean NOW I'm officially enrolled, and on top of that my learning materials are on their way to my doorstep!

ARGH, I can't wait!!!!! Feb 19, here I come!

Silly me

For two entire weeks now my most recent dream diary post has made a fool of me to the entire world, and not one single person told me... until today.

I meant champing at the bit! James is sitting right in front of me now laughing his head off.

How Ironic

The irony of having a dream diary is that if you are busy living out your dream, you may not have time to write in your dream diary.

I have been busy at work training the girl who is taking over my position. This week I came to the sudden realization that yesterday was supposed to be my last full-time day in the office with her ~ next week all staff are required to be at a 2007 planning retreat, at a location 3 hours' drive from Melbourne, and the following week is Christmas so the office is closed until the new year.

So in January, instead of making the clean break I had hoped to, I will still be at the office part-time (one day a week) to tie off the loose ends in the training process.

How ironic that I need to work part-time in January 2007, because I couldn't finish training my replacement during 2006, because I was required to be at a staff retreat, the purpose of which is to plan for 2007.

On a brighter note, I spoke on the phone today to the CEO of the training school with which I will be studying to get my fitness qualifications. Nice guy. The course starts in February ~ hopefully I won't be so busy tying up loose ends at my old job in order to move a step forward towards The Dream that I don't have time to submit the application form I need to submit to be allowed to take that step.

I can't wait to move on. I feel like a horse biting at the champ, waiting to start the race...

Encouragement

Today a lady from my church who has three young (and gorgeous) daughters, and whom I admire very much, approached me after the morning service.

She shared with me that she, too, has had an interest in working in the fitness industry. However her own internal voices told her that she doesn't have the right personality for it. Since learning that I am moving in this direction from the beginning of next year, she has been inspired to re-visit this dream of hers, do some research, and possibly do a course next year too.

It is such an encouragement to me to know that simply by daring to pursue my dreams, and sharing this pursuit with others, they are being encouraged to do so too!

Fitness Instructor Courses

I got information for fitness instructor courses in the mail earlier this week. The next course intake commences in February. It seems like so long away, I almost feel like I can't wait that long because I'm so keen to get started now.

However in terms of my current job, I must finish strong and it will probably take until the end of this year to train the girl who is taking over my job. So really, with that in perspective a February start is quite good timing.

It's a New Season

If you noticed how late I posted that last blog and also this one (around the midnight hours) it's because I've been a very busy bee lately. This week Kellie, who will be taking over my job, started her training with me at the office.

That's right, it's official! She's taking my job, I'm training her to replace me! Wow, I'm actually training someone to replace me. Which means I'm working myself out of a job. This job. Which means that weeks from now, I won't be working in this job. Wow!

HOW EXCITING!! It's a new season, it's a new day, a season of power is coming my way!

But this training season is oh, so daunting because I never realised just how much I do and know... from nothing, I created and developed many of the systems I use and because I created them from nothing I understand them intimately and now have to explain not just how to use them but how to understand them to someone else, something I've never had to do before. I've been "doing" much of it for so long that now I really do run on autopilot.

In only two days I am beginning to realise how big the task of "passing the baton" on is going to be.

However it's also exciting ~ I can already tell that Kellie is going to be great at this job, and probably even better than me! It will truly be a win-win situation for everyone involved. Yay