A few years ago I thought I was living the fitness dream. I owned my own successful gym in Los Angeles. Major movie stars were being photographed with the gym’s logo splashed across their chests. My training schedule was packed with A-list celebrities. I was turning down clients I would have killed to work with just a few years earlier.

Most important to me personally, I had created a business in the heart of aesthetically obsessed Hollywood dedicated to real, sustainable health. And, despite the odds, it had thrived. I was honoring my deepest convictions about what fitness really means, and I was being appreciated for it. This was the dream, right?

 

I wasn’t so sure anymore. I was beginning to understand how easily living the dream can start to feel like negotiating a nightmare. In the mysterious realm of sleep or in the hyperconscious reality of a demanding career, the quality of the experience comes down to the amount of control you have over the story. I needed to retake control of my professional life.

I am a personal trainer because I believe with every ounce of conviction that we direct the story of our health. Not completely, of course. None of us can cheat death, and none of us has perfect genes. But few of us exercise the real control we have over our physical health and, consequently, our ultimate fulfillment.

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If you’re reading this, you probably already know how important it is to plan for your health. What you probably don’t know is that planning for your career works exactly the same way.

 

Without a fitness plan you won't see much improvement in your health. Without a business plan you can't expect improvement in your career. You will almost certainly end up feeling like I did: stuck on an endless professional treadmill with the dream you’re living slowly taking on the qualities of a nightmare.

 

I kept my gym running like a precision timepiece. I took pride in my skills and the fact that I answered only to myself. I set my own hours. Nobody stood in the way of my reaping the rewards of committed work.

 

Yet I began to realize that setting my own hours meant nothing if I was working all the time. Being in demand meant nothing if I didn’t know how to channel the new opportunities into greater success. And running an enterprise devoted to real, sustainable health was pointless if it meant giving up the freedom to achieve it for myself.

 

It was at this point that I met Lalo. I don’t take these kinds of coincidences lightly. Just as I was beginning to understand how badly I needed to plan my business, life introduced me to an expert on the topic.

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Up to that point hard work, determination, and a core belief in sharing the benefits of long-term health with others had been my business plan. But I had no idea what to do with the success that followed. Marketing myself and my ideas intelligently, managing my time in a way that increased my personal freedom instead of limiting it, working smarter instead of working harder, especially by developing sources of passive income... These concepts were, if not entirely foreign to me, certainly unexplored.

Just as I help clients understand they can control their health, Lalo helped me understand I can control my career. I credit his wisdom, insight, and practical advice with improving the way I plan for success.

 

Since first meeting Lalo I have made a lot of changes. I no longer run the gym that ran me ragged. I have tailored my clientele to better suit my holistic objectives, and I train them in a gym I created in my home. I have reduced the professional responsibilities I found unrewarding and increased my responsibilities to the clients I serve, leaving me feeling more personally fulfilled. And I began tapping into a source of passive income by developing and launching my own fitness app.

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I’m delighted Lalo has chosen to share his vital knowledge with a wider audience. Your Fitness Career Bootcamp has something valuable to teach you regardless of your place on the fitness career path. As someone who has benefitted directly from much of the practical wisdom Lalo offers, I know that if you follow the advice Lalo gives you, you will never lose control of your professional story. You will truly be living the dream. In good health,

Christine Hazelton ACSM, NSCA-CPT
Trained Matt Damon for his “Bourne” series.