In the world today, there are many different careers. There are the traditional ones – such as doctor, lawyer and accountant. There are those ones which stem from the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), such as social media manager as well as jobs that involve high levels of creativity and problem-solving.
Some jobs, unfortunately, won’t survive 4IR. An example of a job such as this is data capturing. A computer can perform a job such as this with a higher degree of accuracy than a human being is. Other jobs which also involve repetitive motions will most probably not survive. However, one career that will definitely survive is personal training. Here’s why.
A health-conscious nation
We were having a discussion in the office last week about a new medical series on television. In one scene, the doctors were trying to find a cure for a particular disease. The problem was that the symptoms were not associated with any of the diseases that we see today. One of the doctors made the remark that there are a lot more diseases today than there were 50 years ago.
Although this may be a fictionalised account of the medical industry, the core message still rings true. As the pace of life quickens, the more diseases appear. What may have been a simple disease a century ago has mutated and become more resistant to the medicine that we have to fight it.
Thanks to increased work pressures and stress, our immune systems are becoming weaker. As such, we don’t have the in-built ability to fight off these diseases. One of the best methods of improving our immunity and decrease our stress levels is through exercise. When we perform physical activity, our brains release feel-good hormones. These hormones increase our sense of well-being and reduce feelings of stress.
As people the world over are increasingly turning to the gym and the sports track, they are finding that they need someone who will be able to guide them in developing the best possible exercise plan. They don’t have the time to research different types of exercises to do and spend hours and hours in the gym hoping to get a result. Thus, they turn to a personal trainer who is extremely skilled and qualified in assisting clients with their exercise plans. People will only become more health conscious which means that personal trainers will always have a job.
Control of your time
One of the greatest drawbacks of working for someone else is that you don’t have control over your own time. You can’t just decide to go and watch your kid’s soccer match or grab a spontaneous movie on a Tuesday afternoon. If you want to do this, you must make arrangements, in advance, with your boss. In addition, you need to see if you have leave and if your work is up to date.
A career in personal training means that you have control over your time. You obviously have to pitch up for your clients’ sessions however if you don’t have a client you don’t have to be at the gym. You can be doing anything else that you want to do. For example, a lot of personal trainers use the time that they are not training clients to develop workout plans, develop new strategies for their fitness marketing as well as taking online clients.
Earn what you want
Perhaps the best thing about being a personal trainer is that you can effectively write your own paycheck. No, we don’t mean that you must put a gun to the head of the gym owner at the end of every month and demand a certain salary! What we mean is that personal trainers essentially run their own businesses. The more that they work, the more that they earn.
But the clients will not just fall into your lap. You need to be constantly promoting yourself and your business so that people know who you are and the services that you offer so that when the time comes for them to hire a personal trainer, you’re at the top of the list!
So, if you love fitness and want to help other people live the fitness lifestyle, you should seriously think about becoming a personal trainer! It will be the best decision that you ever make.
