I appreciate the positive impact having coaches who care around you can have. My husband and I are both coaches. Both my kids are competitive athletes. Growing up, I was always an active kid. Things I did the most included swim team, tennis, gymnastics, golf, and a long list of playing a little of a lot of things. One thing, more than most other aspects, that can make all the difference in the enjoyment of participation in any chosen activity is knowing your coach cares. I try to be the kind of coach I would want to have for myself or my family members.
This question asked me to tell you about an enemy and how I overcame it - a turning point. Once upon a time I would have tried to come up with the perfect answer - stretched my brain and reached for straws that might make for an interesting response about overcoming an enemy and the resulting turning point in my life. But that is honestly not the lens through which I view my life. The truth is, my life doesn’t have a big turning point. It has never been boring, but there has been no major ah ha breakthrough turn around. Plenty of slight pivots, but for the most part, my life experience has been that everything tends to curve toward being alright, even when particular moments are hard. I expect some days to be easy, some days to be hard, some days to feel like I am unstoppable, and some days to challenge me to my core. And I expect every day in between all of that. I don’t have what I would call enemies, though I do have negative people/situations I have walked away from and certain aspects of my own person that are not as bright and shiny of my pride points. I certainly wouldn’t go so far as to declare I have conquered any of that stuff. Things that are truly hard in my life will probably always be hard. They’re not going anywhere. I’m good at some things and not as great at other things. But that’s ok. My partnership with my hard stuff shapes part of who I am. Put your focus on things that serve you and your best interests, do your best to be honest and know where you struggle, give yourself grace, do better when you can.
There’s no way to answer these things without sounding cliche. I love witnessing the small victories. I love being there to help someone learn something new or learn the next piece of something. PRs are always fun to see. And when people surprise themselves by doing something they thought they never could, it is amazing fun for everyone present. But aside from those obvious things, I enjoy coaching because it is a fun job to have. All people have good days and bad days, but when members make the choice to come to the gym, they typically show up with the mindset that the gym is going to be one of the highlights of their day - whether they are already having a good day, or sometimes just hoping to turn a lousy day into a better day. It’s nice to be a part off that kind of energy.
