by Phil Kaplan   There’s a part of your brain that seeks comfort.  It works with your emotional experiential memory to protect you.  It steers you away from danger, from risk, from impending pain.  It’s the part of your brain that causes you to react when a wasp flies across your field of vision.  It’s the part of your brain that allows you to jump before you have time to think if a 45 pound dumbbell is powered by gravity heading toward your foot.    If you were a cave dweller living in a place and time where a baby T-Rex might opt to nibble your head off for breakfast, this part of your brain would be something you’d be extremely thankful for.   Here’s the challenge.  You’re a fitness professional, not a cave dweller.  You want to make a difference.  You want to help people improve their lives.  You want to see what you’re really capable of.  You want things to be “better” than they are right now.    Unfortunately, the reptilian brain, the home of your survival-driven neural mechanism, doesn’t understand “better.”  It understands “safe.”   For cave dwellers “safe” was survival.    For fitness professionals “safe” is death.    Not death as in the end of life, but rather career death, a point in time where a personal trainer decides it’s time to do “something else.”    It happens often.  It happens to some of the best trainers.  It happens for some in a very short time span, for others it takes years of struggle for the official burial of the personal training career.    During the period between motivation and abandonment, most will perform at a level where they delude themselves into believing they’re exceptional performers by drawing comparisons to those trainers who find rep counting the task at hand.  As a result, what is mistakenly viewed as extraordinary is typically a tiptoe along the line of mediocrity.   Following mediocrity is safe.    Following convention is safe.    Remember what I just said about "safe."    I'm opening the door for 20 trainers to break out of the safety of convention.  Before I get to the invitation and the opportunity, I want you to understand the flaws in the current paradigm.     par·a·digm (par'?-dim', -dim') - A set of rules, assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them

The set of rules under which the present field of fitness professionals abide and operate compose a paradigm that is set up to encourage mediocrity, to chip away at passion, and to prevent ongoing betterment   (Translation: the present system sucks).   Fitness professionals seeking “safety” wind up operating under the predominating paradigm.    They discount their fees.  That’s safe.  It takes away the risk of having to actually believe that they have extreme value.    They conduct free sessions, free consultations, or free assessments.  That’s safe.  Nobody openly rejects a freebie.    They justify those things they may even perceive as impotent by convincing themselves that “the club owner says we have to” means they do in fact “have to.”   Should I go on? Could there be more?    Yes, and yes.   They minimize their nutritional advice, as they’ve heard that dispensing nutritional wisdom opens up some liability issues, or worse yet they espouse random nutritional gems that contradict the prescriptions of their peers, leaving clients frustrated and confused.    They point fingers of blame at clients who fail to see results, indicting a lack of willpower or commitment for the perceived failure.    They work within the safety of a health club environment, taking clients through workouts, reminding themselves that they’re doing what they love and remaining careful not to rattle any cages.   A Broken Paradigm Creates a Psychological Phenomenon   What I find an amazing phenomenon is the willingness of so many certified hard-working personal trainers to allow denial to clog the forefront of their thinking, failing to hold up the mirror and question whether they are among the many caught up in wanting for more, but unwilling to leave the protective cave.   As you read this be honest with yourself.    “Safe” is not a criticism, but a state of being, and if comfort is the value you most treasure, appreciate that you can be content with modest achievement and welcome both the challenges and rewards that come with safety.    If you are someone who wants to break away from the chains of comfort, to see what you’re really capable of . . . click here, let your mind wander and read the remainder of this article introspectively determining if you are in fact one of the few I’m looking to connect.