Phil Kaplan's Speaks to Personal Trainers

OK, I didn't jump. I didn't even go up to the roof. But I wanted to. I want to scream and shout from as high a platform as I can . . . it's time to change the Personal Training paradigm once and for all . . . and the doors are swinging wide open revealing an incredible new platform for change.

Although the emotional part of my brain is still yelling,"get up on the roof you coward," the sensible part of my brain is winning with "you'll reach more people with an email and nobody will throw a straight-jacket on you." You're receiving this only because in this rare instance, sensibility won out over emotion.

For the last 24 months I've fielded many of the "where are you . . . " and "when are you . . . . " questions. "Where are you going to appear next?" "When are you coming to Houston?"

Admittedly, I’ve been quiet. I went from 56 speaking appearances in a year to 4. I dug my heels into my health club to reconnect with my team and the clients we reach. Most of all, after 25 years in this industry, I stayed away from the limelight and used my time to study. Now, after two intense years of in-the-trenches study and application, I am again ready to hit the road, to crank out articles, to interact with fitness professionals and consumers worldwide, and to change not only the industry for the better, but to help connect the medical and fitness paradigms to fill the gaping hole between medicine and cure.

I have gained extreme new insights into genetic potential. I’ve come to amass a completely new understanding of disease and cure, and I’ve worked with mind-experts to create strategies and protocols that allow for an unbreakable bond between a fitness professional’s message of truth and a client in need.

What I’m most excited about is, as I fuel the newly enhanced passion, as I meet, interact with, and empower fitness professionals, I have an ally . . . the strongest ally I know. Kelli Calabrese has connected on this project at a level of such commitment and intensity we couldn’t call the mission anything other than an uprising.

No, no, I don’t mean we’re going to free prisoners or conquer kingdoms, but we are going to build a platform, a platform upon which a new breed of fitness professional shall proudly stand, practice, and prosper. The uprising is not selfish in nature, but I believe it to be the most altruistic project I’ve ever undertaken. Yes, we will prosper as fitness professionals, but we’ll do so only by bringing a new level of well being to virtually everyone we touch.

Don’t worry. I’m not going off the deep end. Remember, I avoided the roof. I'm nowhere near the limits of sanity yet. I know the goals seem lofty . . . changing populations, uprisings, industry upheavals . . . but think carefully. Shouldn't the goals for what may be the most noble and critical profession in affecting the health and well-being of an oversick overfat nation be lofty?

Our society is plagued by obesity, blood sugar irregularities, thyroid issues, and a host of conditions that become categorized as “syndromes,” and we may very well have the solution to the great majority of these ailments. We as a society of fitness professionals, must respect the virtues of Western medicine, must applaud the surgeons, diagnosticians, and practitioners who restore people to health, and we must align with those admirable professionals in a complementary manner that delivers quality of life to the largest audience ever in need. Over the past two years I've used control groups, conducted research, aligned with medical experts, and connected with biochemists and as a result the goals that may appear stratospheric seem so achievable it would prove criminal not to pursue them.

Here’s the bottom line message. If you are legitimately applying professional skills to better the lives of others, you fail not only yourself, but your potential clients if you fail to find a solid system of career growth. In other words, if you master a power that can benefit thousands, shouldn't you consider an obligation to use that power to its maximum potential? I know as trainers driven by "client-hour-dollars" we run the risk of burnout without a growth plan, but a part of the "system," a part of the career development strategy I've learned to share, involves growth without added stress. I've termed it effortless prosperity, and it's real for those willing to devote some time to learning and applying.

If you are legitimately changing bodies and lives for the better, and you find a comfortable growth plan, you deserve to be compensated in line with the good you do for others. If you are willing to step beyond “taking people through workouts,” and recognize that you can get inside their heads and their hearts to bring about immeasurable change, then you deserve abundance and prosperity. Neither of these pursuits are selfish for an individual committed to serving others. The more you amass, the more power you have to reach greater numbers of people with an ever-enhanced message. Kelli and I intend to share, without reservation, keys to abundance and prosperity for fitness professionals.

WHAT??!?!? NO BULLET POINTS?!?!?

I know the drill here. I’ve been a student of marketing and copywriting since I was in my teens. I know the “power” of listing all the “benefits” of my offering. If I were to follow convention I’d tell you about the millions you could earn, the miracles you can bring about, the vacations you can take, and the life you can lead. Sorry. No bullet points. This isn’t an offering. It’s an alert. It’s a calling for fitness professionals seeking excellence to consider that there may be something beyond what is conventionally viewed as “personal training” and that the “something” may be here, may be proven, and may be fully replicable. Over the months to come, Kelli and I will build “the Platform,” and at this very moment we’re developing a tour plan for the next 24 months.

THE BENEVOLENT UPRISING TOUR will offer a level of interaction unprecedented. Each workshop (one per city) will be open to only 12 – 15 credentialed fitness professionals. Registration will close out two months prior to the event, and over the two-month period, Kelli and I will get to know, via email and teleconference, every participant. We’ll spend a full 6-hours, live with the intimate group, addressing not only the tools and strategies that will elevate you professionally, but also addressing your personal implementation of the growth system.

As we go through our site selection, we invite you to post a request to come to a city near you. The volume of requests will play a role in helping us determine precisely where the tour leads us.

PROSPERITY – NOW!

Over the previous months, we’ve been refining a program that only Kelli and I can produce. We’ve combined our real-world experience both as trainers and as educators of trainers, and have prepared a program titled, “Personal Training: The Prosperity Formula.” This is not a conglomeration of random marketing ideas, nor is it theoretical in nature. It’s a delivery of the mindset that has allowed true fitness professionals to find continuous growth, emotionally, financially, and spiritually, and a strategic overview of how you can instantly move away from the frustrations most trainers face. You’ll learn to command what you’re worth and love every minute of it.

The Prosperity Formula will be released in hard copy in early 2009, featuring a manual and six audio CD’s, but you can get the electronic version now, download it instantly, and plant the seeds of Personal Training Prosperity right now.

Find details on Personal Training Prosperity.

OH . . . AND IF YOU WANT TO BLOW IT UP NOW . . . REALLY BLOW IT UP NOW . . .

BE BETTER THAN EVER!

As I’ve been in my “hunker down, research and learn” mode, I’ve remained connected with two dozen committed trainers applying proven techniques of career betterment. The Be Better Project is a project I’m more proud of than anything I’ve done to date with fitness professionals. It allows me to connect with a small group of fitness professionals from around the continent in a forum where via teleconference and internet I serve as a master coach and everyone involved benefits from the like-minded thinking. Each group has a start date and end date and the curriculum runs 8 months. The next group, Be Better IV, begins in July. There are only 4 openings. If you have interest in learning more, click here when you have some time to read, to think, and to ask yourself a few of the hard questions related to your future.

I walked outside, climbed up on the roof, and started jumping like a madman.

It's time for Fitness Professionals to Change The Universe!