As most of you know, I am a Certified Fitness Trainer as well as a Certified Life Coach. Now some may wonder why to be certified in both. Actually, there are, in my opinion very significant reasons. Let me share them. When someone begins to weightlift or Cardio train for that matter, it is important, to begin with, the fundamentals. When I weight-train someone, I have them start with a broomstick! Why, because it’s important to learn and maintain good form.

At times I’ve noticed that trainers at a fitness gym will pile on the weight on a newbie or have them exhaust themselves doing cardio. That never made sense to me. Human beings are motivated by two basic instincts – and everything boils down to these two – pain and pleasure. Most of us will strive for pleasure (whatever that pleasurable experience happens to be) but all humans will do anything to avoid pain! Think of a toothache. The cavity hurts but most people will avoid going to the dentist until the pain becomes unbearable.

You just don’t continue to live in pain if you are physically able to correct the situation. When the newcomer to the gym goes home, lactic acid begins to build up in the muscles used. They were, for want of a better word, beat up by their ‘trainer’. Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) becomes prevalent and they, like most, say -forget this!! And never return to the gym! Now, if they were taught to use an empty bar, or they were given a certain number of seconds on a cardio machine, they will build up gradually, increase their stamina as well as the poundage and eventually increase muscle mass. This is known as foundational work. That is learning to do the move the right way as well as the smartest way. This is the most intelligent way.

Now, let me ask you to replace the word weightlifting with selling. Handing over a bunch of house accounts or new leads to someone just entering the business is a recipe for disaster – unless they have been foundationally prepared for selling. Learning sales is a calling. It becomes art and eventually becomes a way of life. But this all is possible by learning, and expanding upon, the basics. In other words, foundational.

The crazy thing is that many who have been in business for a long time sometimes begin to take shortcuts again. The methods work so well they stop doing them. They ditch the fundamentals, having the mindset of “I don’t need to do this stuff.” Take a look at their production numbers after a while. If you are not foundationally prepared, sales become brutal because….you don’t make any! Dry spells are common, however, they can at least be minimized somewhat with proper training and having a strong foundation. I know how similar weightlifting and sales are because you need to be committed to doing things right as well as being consistent. You need to have inner strength. Weightlifting is a lot about your mind. If you walk up to the Squat rack saying, “I’m not in the mood today”, or “this is really heavy” I promise you won’t accomplish the move. In fact, with that mindset, you could get hurt, maybe even seriously injured. Now, if you get up tomorrow morning saying “I’m not in the mood today” or “It’s’ gonna be a tuff day. I don’t think I will do much today” What do you think will be the results? Am I saying that to be good in sales you should weight train? No. But I can tell you without a doubt the two mindsets are entwined. Both take tremendous focus, and I can assure you that if you decide to begin training it will enhance your sales abilities. When you accomplish a difficult move, lift what was once a too-heavy weight, or see the results (after a few months) in the mirror, you will say to yourself “If I could do this, I can do anything.” I am not writing this through research BTW. has done and continue to apply this principle in my life, so I know it works.

Over these past months, I have not written much about exercise, weight training, or body building but I will begin to do so periodically because I just cannot overstate the importance of doing one and it has a totally beneficial effect on the other. Not everyone will adhere to this of course, but I promise you that those that do will see an increase, not only in their musculoskeletal system but in their commission check as well…..I promise! Asking God’s blessings over you today……..