Tuesday, May 26, 2009

On teaching Spinning - A student made my day today!

Last night I went into the Spin room to practice two of my WSSC sessions and test the music ( a nice 2-hr workout while it was pouring rain outside). I loved the way the music came out for How Big is Your Why, but I'm so glad I rode to my new playlist for The LT Field Test - it didn't work out as I had planned, so it's back to the drawing board for that one (I liked a lot of what I used last year, so I may use most of that again).

The How Big is Your Why profile and session is about goals, but not just setting them - it's about going in deep to uncover your most compelling reason for achieving them. Your "Why" must be BIG in order for you to overcome all the obstacles that get in your way - and all our goals, as in all our lives, are always beset by obstacles that try to pull us, or push us, off our paths. The deeper your passion, the bigger your "Why", the easier it will be to ignore those deterrents. Your "Why" is the embers that keeps that passion burning. If you aren't totally convinced, on a deep subconscious level, that you can and will achieve this goal, those embers will fizzle out and that's the reason we end up not achieving what we say we want in our lives.

And then we find an excuse, like, "oh, I guess it wasn't meant to happen", or "the economy sucks" or "I guess I don't have the willpower like those other people do" or "I'm not good enough".

(ooops, I'm revealing a little too much about this session. More later!)

On to the subject of this post...

This morning, I taught at 6 am. There is a fairly new woman in class who's been coming for about 4 months. She's adorable and is always smiling. Her name is Sophia and she is from Mexico, married to an American.

This morning as she came in, she grabbed my elbow and said, "Can I tell you, you inspire me to get up in the morning! Normally I hate getting up early. But I told my husband, 'You have to experience her class! She inspires me so much! She makes you want to do really well. I want to do what she is doing when she is teaching!' Thank you so much Jennifer!"

Wow, she made my day! In fact, she made my year. 

THAT is my "Why"! That is the reason I get up at 5:30 even when it's pouring rain as it was this morning and I was so comfortable in my my warm bed. That is why I love to teach, why I write this blog with all this free content, why I do interviews with John at the ICI Podcast, why I love to present at conferences. That is what motivates me. The fitness from teaching is nice, but it's a secondary benefit. The money...well, it pays for my music and perhaps a few other things. But hearing a comment like that, to know I've made a difference in someone's life as a student, or as an instructor, reading some of your comments, especially after my last post (special thanks to Le, Melissa and Shannon for your kind words) - that is why! You all are my "Why"!

So I thank you all. And I thank all my students. And I once again thank Johnny G from the bottom of my heart for creating this amazing program we call Spinning.

Stay tuned next week for updates on all my sessions, including the profile and more thoughts on How Big is Your Why.

3 comments:

lamspin said...

You said it all beautifully and for me too! I had similar comments when I taught the early classes.. They woke up to ride with me and then went home go back to bed… They came because I was there. You made me cry knowing I walk the same path behind you—tears of connection and happiness.
Yes, "...making a difference in someone's life..." is the best reward for any instructor/coach.
I think we found our dharma.
Le

Jennifer Sage said...

Sigh...thanks Le, yet again.

I will be challenged however, when we move 20-minutes away, and I'll have to get up at 5:10 instead of 5:30 for this 6 am class!

But then again, I used to say 5:30 was impossible, and now I do it 2-3 times a week.

Shannon said...

Wow that is a big "Why" moment when a student says that.

Yesterday I was teaching and looked up for a second and was in awe of my posee members working so hard. They ARE WHY I do it and continue on. See ya soon.