[Just borrowing the slogan from this momentous inauguration day in the US; I can hardly contain the joy I am feeling for our country, the world and our future! Yes we can!]
I've been a little pre-occupied lately (with my bike tour business, with promoting my ebook, with building a new house, with life, with skiing, with the inauguration, etc), and I've been intending to write my next post on building your self-confidence to become more of a coach. But it's proving to be harder (and more time consuming) than I imagined, because there's so much I want to share with you! (ahhh, perhaps the subject of another e-book!)
In my last post I prompted you to do a little self-reflection and ask yourself:
Do YOU perceive yourself as a coach?
Do you believe that you CAN be a coach?
It all comes down to self-confidence and believing that you have a lot to offer your students. If you don't believe it yourself, how could they possibly consider you a coach?
I feel this subject is a very important one, and I don't want to write a quick, glib post on how to build your self-confidence; I need to put a little more time into it. So, I'll feed you my ideas on building your self-confidence as an instructor (whether a newbie or veteran) a little at a time. And I will intersperse it with some other timely information that I've been intending on talking about, and that is the controversial subject of aerobic base building.
So, keep coming back, keep posting your fantastic comments, keep believing in yourself, and keep empowering your students to go beyond their self-perceived limitations.
That goes for you as well: you never know your limits until you surpass them, so keep surpassing them!
If you have not read the comments from my last post, go back and do so. You'll find some great reflections by instructors on whether they perceive themselves as coaches. I guarantee you'll learn a lot from their comments.
One of my favorites:
They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Think about this the next time you teach.
Yes you can!
Nothing limits us except ourselves, for the truest aspect of every person is unbounded potential.Deepak Chopra
Everything you want is just outside your comfort zone.Robert Allen
Yours,
Jennifer
PS I am joining all the girls from my book club tonight at an inauguration party, and to us it's the biggest party of the year. I feel that today is the most important day of the decade, perhaps even my lifetime. It's a non-partisan belief that this is the step in the right direction to fix this country, our economy, our earth, and our place in the world! I just hope I can get up for my 6 a.m. class tomorrow without too much difficulty!
8 comments:
I open your blog at least 3x/day to check if you have a new post, and to read the others' comments. The more I read the more I learn. I will use your advice to us to coach in my next class: "You never know your limits until you surpass them, so keep surpassing them!" Thank you, Jennifer.
I am a Canadian but I am very excited for your President OBAMA. My first perception of him is his positive energy that "attracts" the people, and guess what? All will be UP from now!
Have a great time at your party!
Le
Jennifer,
Yes we can, indeed. I'm looking forward to hearing more about becoming a coach and also about the "dreaded" aerobic base building.
Tonight I did a fantastic "Barack the Ride" in honor of this historic day and it was a moving workout that everyone enjoyed. It's so great to be able to succeed as an instructor, and also get in those coaching or teach-able moments.
So, anyone in doubt- Yes you can... Yes, we can :)
Confidence is a huge issue for me…sometimes I have a hard time teaching—even when I am prepared. It is hard for me not to feel judged when I am in the front of the class. I got into spinning to manage my weight and although I am heavier than I want to be, I know I am strong and fit. I try to keep in mind that I am a good role model. However, I am always aware that don’t look like the other instructors who are also personal trainers with very little body fat. I know the problem is inside me and I know it affects my confidence and therefore my ability to coach.
Do you ever have this problem?
Do your hang-ups ever get in the way?
Controversial Base Building? I would love to get your take on that. I'm actually doing it for the first time right now. I have dismissed it in the past but I this year I thought would give it a try. I read an article recently called Zone 3 Hero and I swear the guy was writing about me. Thanks Coach! ;)
Controversial? You're not going to ruin my periodisation by telling me it's not needed, are you? ;-)
I'm doing four months of the stuff with my classes. They know that it's all LSD-style riding until at least Easter.
I figured that word "controversial" would raise some eyebrows! Don't worry, I'm not going to dis it myself. At one club I'm deep in the middle, at another we start next week (a little late IMO but I'm not the Spinning director there anymore). But it is controversial in the "fitness" realm vs the "athlete" realm.
In my opinion, we're all athletes, even our enthusiasts! And we can all benefit from it. More later...
Hi Jen!
I love your blog! and read it religiously. You have such great ideas.
I just registered for my first WSSC and am so excited to take your workshops!
On that note- do you know of anyone who is going and needs a room-mate? I'm in search of one.
Carly :)
Hi Carly,
thanks, I'm so glad you enjoy this blog!
You might be able to find a roommate at the WSSC site www.wsscmiami.com. You can sign up (it's like Facebook for WSSC fans) and there's a thread about roommates.
You can also go to www.pedal-on.com and www.innercycling.com and look on the forums there. Sign up and post that you're seeking a roommate - I know a lot of people from these forums are!
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