Coming back as a Personal Trainer in Eagan
Making the return as a personal trainer in Eagan.
The times have changed. I started my business, Elite Personal Training in Eagan back in 2008. Successfully ran my business and had a blast doing so until 2018. A seemingly solid job offer that was too good to refuse came up and I took an office job that had a role of health and wellness built in. Full benefits, and potential was presumed as unlimited. In reality, it ended up destroying my soul. I am so not built for the cubes. I got to build out a gym which was fun but after that…Every single day I would catch myself dreaming of being outside. Getting back into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Playing soccer with my son. Perhaps Training clients on a run or pushing a sled. Going for a bike ride at Lebanon. Even having some free time between clients to bring the pup to the dog park. That was all gone. I felt it eating away at my inner adventurer and nature loving self. Those were the exact reasons I had started my own biz in the first place. Shit. Not a good spot to be for me. A bit like caging up my dog or any wild animal for 14+ hrs a day. Bummed. Almost claustrophobic. Even outside of the cage, not the same. Not eating like normal. Craving interaction with real people(It was like a scene out of Office Space, daily meetings with enormous amounts of administrative BS, that is a massive productivity black hole, and an office culture that felt like it was 1998) Needing natural light vs fake fluorescent light. I needed to get back to being a free range human. I was not genetically adapted over 1000’s of years to just sit inside on a chair or stand and stare at a screen that long. Even prisoners get recess and go play basketball, lift weights, perhaps get into a good scrap in the yard. So be it. It’s real, not just staring at a screen. I took that job in hopes of setting up a substantial financial future for my son and the family as a whole. When in fact, that job was diminishing the very thing I was trying to prop up and taking away more time with my family than ever before. 14+ hour days plus Saturdays. (Exactly like Lumberg asking for Saturday and Sunday) Yikes. I was noticeably more irritable at home, not eating(NOT normal for me!) constantly distracted, and not very present or in the moment. This was the exact opposite of health and wellness. There was also quiet hours from 9–4. Not joking…If you know me, or anyone with any kind of a personality, this was absolutely brutal. Add in the passive aggressiveness of messaging and e-mails and my brain starts to step back and take a look at the big picture. This isn’t a place for creativity or any type of independent human to thrive in. Quite the opposite actually. I’ve spent too much time in a library at school. I realized I have got to get out of this place. Time to enjoy life. If you can’t enjoy the present, you are missing out on some of the most valuable moments of your life.
This past winter aka the polar vortex, I was shoveling the driveway with my 3 year old son, and he was following me down the driveway. Awesome. He finished his pass right behind me, tossed the snow over his shoulder and started following again. Wtf was that?!? I was in awe as I realized I’ve never seen him do that, ever, and these little things are going to fly by whether I’m there or not. I would prefer to be there, and if there’s one thing I’ve ever heard that makes my heart hurt, it’s the phrase “I wish I would’ve spent more time with my kids” OUCH.....I’ve trained plenty of people and eventually get to know them pretty well. Many of the older clients say the same thing. It’s the time they can’t get back. Nobody has said “oh I wish I would’ve skipped family time to make a bit more money” In the end you don’t get to take any of that with you, and all you get is what you experience in this wild ride called life. I am extremely lucky and to be able to get back into personal training out of Minnesota Top Team with the most gracious owners that run a wonderful gym. Beyond grateful for that and to have clients that are ready to get back at it. I couldn’t be happier to be doing something I love and am extremely passionate about. No more quiet hours and a schedule that allows copious amounts of adventures, outdoors, and family time. What a wonderful world!
