Category: learning and living
The Confidence Competence Loop applied to Fitness
Part of what I do in my personal training business is life/business coaching. I do this with my personal training clients because all sorts of various topics come up, and it just seems like such an obvious way to make my clients’ lives better. Inevitably it ends up improving my life/career as well.
Recently I was talking with one of my clients, the president of a healthy snack food company, a guy full of challenging insights and a really good guy to boot. I had mentioned that promoting my motivational speaking/modern-day performing strongman business at the corporate level through email just wasn’t panning out. All the corporate stuff I’ve done found me which isn’t being proactive.
You know part of successfully achieving goals is being proactive and assessing whether or not the plan is working. In my case, emailing events wasn’t panning out. And from some conversations with a magician over in Vancouver…I knew I had to pick up the phone.
I hate making cold calls.
So I said to my guy…”I hate, it but I know what I have to do, I just need to get a couple under my belt and it won’t be so bad”
It can be explained in the confidence competence loop, something I first heard about from Brendon Burchard. In essence, when you first start out with something, you don’t really know what you’re doing, so you don’t feel that confidence. But then you take some action, you learn from it and you gain a bit of competence. That competence gives you a little bit more confidence so you do a little more. Then you gain a little more competence so on and so forth. That’s how you start to gain momentum. The key is to get started.
In training, it can be much the same way. You want to get in shape, but you don’t really know what to do. So you do something, it could be running, it could be joining a gym. It’s overwhelming but you start anyways and kind of figure it out as you go. Sooner or later you get a bit of success under your belt, your friends start noticing, you’re able to do things you couldn’t do before and that success compounds itself.
Nobody is expected to know it all when they first start out. As a personal trainer, there was no way I could have possibly known everything I know now with almost 20 years of accumulated knowledge. But I learned as I went and you can too.
Of course, you could also shortcut the process by having a coach that knows what works and what doesn’t. Btw, I had a coach that told me to pick up the phone…I just didn’t listen…but I learn from my mistakes.
If you’re ready to take charge of your health…and life, I offer a free trial membership at my personal training studio in Boonton. Pick up the phone and text me (like I said not a fan of phone calls…but I’ll still take them) at 973 476 5328 and just introduce yourself.
Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and moonlights as a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, and motivational speaker. In the tradition of the strongmen more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, associations, nonprofits, and government entities as well as for schools and universities. His personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville, and Parsippany New Jersey.
Highlights and Behind the Scenes from my Strongman Show in Frenchtown NJ
Hey, if you are new here thanks for stopping by. In addition to being a personal trainer with a personal training studio located on Main Street in Boonton, I also am a modern-day professional performing strongman (I perform feats of strength like bending steel and breaking chains as part of a live show). I do this alongside a motivational speech for corporations, associations, schools, fundraisers etc.
In this video, I show you highlights and behind the scenes at my most recent strongman show.
One of the common misconceptions about me is the types of people I train are hardcore. Not really, my personal training clients are all over the map. Some are young, some have more life experience. Some are multisport athletes or beauty pageant winners, some are sedentary trying to become active. All are good people and all are making progress towards whatever goal they seek.
I have a free trial so you can see if you think it’s for you. Just text me at 973 476 5328 and introduce yourself to get started.
Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and moonlights as a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, and motivational speaker. In the tradition of the strongmen more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, associations, nonprofits, and government entities as well as for schools and universities. His personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville, and Parsippany New Jersey.
Age is not a valid excuse
The last time I wrote one of these articles, I got a new client out of it and I’m excited to work with her so I figured I’d do it again. 🙂
About a week or two ago I was in my personal training studio when I noticed some guy crossing the street who looked like he was headed for my door which I keep open to keep fresh air flowing and to be more welcoming to people who are curious about what I do.
He stops in the doorway and says “Hey, didn’t realize anything was over here. How long have you been in business here?”
“I moved my training studio to Boonton about a year prior to the start of the pandemic, but I’ve been a personal trainer for about 17-18 years now.”
“Ah I wish I could, but I’m too old”
“How old are you if you don’t mind me asking”
“55”
I thought it ironic because the person I was training at the time was 58 and called him out on it and also the fact that the poster that is literally right next to the door showcases one of my former personal training clients…stating quite clearly he was 56 years old.
At the time that I was Tom’s personal trainer, he was 56. One year older than the guy appearing in my doorway. The main difference was that Tom was motivated to do something, sought out the right guidance, put in the work, and never used age as an excuse.
Just above his poster is a printout of Ken, who started weight training at the “too old in his 60’s” (I say that tongue in cheek) now he’s 68 is the strongest he’s ever been. To the left of the door is a picture of Angie who at 60 years old does chin-ups with respectable additional amounts of weight for any age.
I have another woman in her 60s who I was talking about this subject before. And she was telling me about how her doctor had mentioned strength training as helping to prevent dementia. I’ll look more into this when I get a chance.
Another former client of mine (back in the fall) got her first chin-ups the same day she welcomed her 2nd grandchild into the world.
I also have a woman in her 80s who is moving better and stronger. The one who referred her to me had said she notices the difference in the way she moves, and also in the sound of her voice.
I have numerous other examples, but let’s get to the main idea. People oftentimes think training is primarily for young people who are vain. This isn’t true. Everybody can benefit from gaining strength, therefore everyone can benefit from strength training.
Everything I do is about strength, even the body transformation programs are simply highly effective strength programs that are also useful for building muscle, burning fat, looking, and feeling great.
I have a tagline for my personal training studio.
“Strength for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”
Eric Moss Fitness
We should have the physical capability of doing what makes us happy, whether that is strutting your stuff on the beach, ballroom dancing, winning beauty pageants, playing pickleball or rolling around with the grandkids.
And if you don’t train purposefully to maintain and build physical capacity, you may find the things you enjoy slipping by without you realizing it. Use it or lose it is as they say.
Now I get it, the whole idea of getting in shape can be overwhelming and confusing with one expert seeming to contradict the others. And yes, even after 17-18 years of helping others get in shape I am still refining and perfecting my methods.
Fortunately for you, I offer a free trial at my personal training studio on Main Street in Boonton. You don’t have to be confused and overwhelmed. Just follow the plan I lay out and you’ll do great, just like all my other people do.
Send me a text at 973 476 5328 and introduce yourself to get started.
Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and moonlights as a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, and motivational speaker. In the tradition of the strongmen more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, associations, nonprofits, and government entities as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville, and Parsippany New Jersey.