Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
As I was being forced into an agonising position to do more repeats of an excercise than my body really wanted to do, I reflected on what made me crazy enough to have a personal trainer? For me, at this time, there are lots of good reasons:
- I get to do things I wouldn’t normally do
- I get pushed, and therefore improve my fitness/flexibility
- I get set challenges and targets
- I see the world from a different perspective
- It forces a discipline on me that I couldn’t sustain on my own
- I get into a regular pattern of exercise
- I learn new skills that stop me getting bored
- I occasionally get some praise for improving
- I am taught how to do things correctly
- I learn what I do wrong and what to focus upon for best results
That is a list of 10, straight off the top of my head. There are undoubtly more .
Then my reflection took another turn. Would I pay to have someone train my brain rather than my body. Someone to set me intellectual challenges, set me things to read, questions to reflect upon, research to do, maybe things to write. The overwhelming answer was yes I would do that 1 : 1 and enjoy it for all the reasons I enjoy physical training. And there might, actually, be even more good reason to have a personal mental trainer: to challenge, to help me improve, to force me into a disciplined approach and to help me get focus and help me stay mentally flexible and alert.
There has to be a market for this and there has to be a demand out there. I can’t be a lone figure pummelling my brain in the darkness and longing for a bit of light? More than life coaching, or more specific than life coaching? You tell me.