Separation

Before I started my short journey as a personal trainer I had this philosophy: I felt my role as a trainer was to, in a sense, put myself out of business. I felt I had an educational/inspirational role in which I would give clients the knowledge and tools to lead an active and healthy lifestyle. My ultimate goal would be to build their self efficacy up, teach them how to exercise according to different goals, and leave them to go out in the world a confident and physically active person (hopefully a regular gym attendee). Looking back on this thought after some experience in the real world, it does seem a bit idealistic...
However, upon resigning my position at the gym recently (in favor of dedicating my time and energy to post secondary education in kinesiology) I return to these thoughts and consider them alongside the new practical knowledge I've gained over the summer. Although I enjoyed educating and training my clients, I felt I was stepping outside my comfort zone with sales to the point of unacceptable stress (unhappiness, lack of motivation, fatigue, etc.). The business aspect of training and I do not get along and with that in mind I apologize if the following paragraph has moments of exagerated negativity. To sell training, and then to build a business off of it, requires a step in the exact opposite direction of my philosophy (stated earlier). In order to convince people who otherwise would not consider personal training, to invest in their health, one effective method is to remind them of their past failures. Basically try to convince them that without a trainer they are a useless blob of fat and a liability using the gym equipment (only in much nicer words of course). BUT
According to exercise intervention studies, those people who were most successful at starting and maintaining an exercise program were those who were reminded of their successes (in order to increase self efficacy). Sales and self efficacy seem to be enemies (except increasing confidence in one's own buying ability). To maintain clientele, personal trainers are "attempting" to make their clients dependent on them. You NEED a trainer or you won't come to the gym. You NEED a trainer or you might do the exercise incorrectly. You NEED a trainer or you will exercise inefficiently and never attain your goals (and so on). Although my boss tried to fix my attitude and told me I needed to be more confident and to change my mind set to think that all the people needed my help, I still felt I was simply selling dependency. I felt defeated when my clients did not renew (even though they continued to work out on their own with a plethora of new exercises to choose from). The sales mind set faught constantly with my personal philosophy. No longer was it important that my client learned how to exercise, gained confidence in the gym, or developed a new habit... now it was all about sales and renewing. It was this feeling of defeat (in addition to terrible hours), even as I gripped my philosophy with weakening white knuckles, that eventually led to my decision to leave. Now that I've vented this story, here is my slightly less dramatic conclusion:

I admire personal trainers who are able to sell training because without this there would not be a chance for my philosophy even to be initiated. The truth is, most trainers dislike sales just as much as people hate being sold to. But, it is a sad fact that the majority of folks would not consider this option unless they were forced to sit in a cubicle with a personal trainer at a gym while they awkwardly present a sales pitch and prices, reminding them of personal failures and painting bleak futures. Unfortunately, in reality, some people do need to be reminded of failures in order to make a change. Building a person's self efficacy while training with them is then of the utmost importance. BUT renewal, although an important part of the personal training business (thus income) is not as important. The best success story is not to renew someone over and over for the rest of their able lives, but to have "created" a self sufficient, confident physically active individual capable of setting an example. That is why I feel my philosophy will ultimatetly lead me on to better things.