A letter from OPEX Fitness Founder and CCP Instructor James FitzGerald.

The word “balance” gets thrown around a lot in both fitness and career advice as essential for longevity and growth, but it’s something that many coaches struggle to implement.

I agree that striving for balance is essential if you want to avoid burnout and have a lasting and fulfilling career as a fitness coach—but do you actually know how to create balance in your day-to-day life?

While there’s certainly a systems and time management side to balance, I believe that you can’t have balance if you don’t know what you’re striving for.

A coach who isn’t excited about what they do on a daily basis will not last in the industry. 

Every job, even if you love it, will have its shares of frustrations and bad days. It takes defining your vision to keep the fire burning through the ups and downs.

A professional coach, the kind that I’m proud to develop through OPEX CCP, finds daily fulfillment by connecting with the vision of Teach, Learn, Move and Create.

Teaching, learning, moving, and creating. These four elements are a guiding light for fitness professionals. They act as a code of conduct to fulfill your role as a coach. They are a checklist, providing checks and balances for fostering balance in your work life. 

I believe that fitness coaching is a wonderful career because of the multiple roles you must embody inside the job title “coach”. Teach, Learn, Move, Create is how you measure whether you’re serving each of these important roles so you can cultivate balance in your coaching.

TEACH: As a coach you are a teacher, educating your clients and community on how to pursue fitness for life. Without striving to mentor others you will lose fulfillment and enjoyment.

LEARN: Are you consistently seeking out new knowledge from which to hone your craft? The best coaches never remain complacent in their understanding of fitness.

MOVE: Do you practice what you preach in exercise, nutrition, and lifestyle? Live your fitness life in accordance with what you believe and your clients will respect you.

CREATE:  As a coach, you can live this principle through designing your client’s individual training, lifestyle, and nutrition programs. 

From my experience mentoring thousands of fitness coaches through the OPEX Coaching Certificate Program (CCP), work/life balance as a coach boils down to far more than just dialing in your routine.

You need to ensure that you’re practicing Teach, Learn, Move and Create as a part of this routine, every day. This will keep you connected to your passion, even on long days and when working with challenging clients.

Coaching is an honorable career and can offer variety, daily education and growth, and flexibility and balance. 

In the OPEX Coaching Certificate Program (CCP), I mentor coaches like you to build a sustainable career as a personalized fitness coach. In CCP you’ll learn how to get great results for any client, and also how to develop your vision for a successful career.

Enrollment is now open for my next CCP mentorship group. Click the button below to start moving towards balance in your coaching career.