How I Failed as a Trainer and the Lessons I Learned

Today, I want to get personal and share some stories from my journey as a trainer. These are the mistakes my clients and I have made and the lessons we returned with. Failure is a better teacher then success which is why in a time where social media only perpetuates perfection, here are the core moments that changed me into the coach I am now.

My First Client and How I Lost Her After One Session

Let me start with a lesson that can benefit anyone, especially if you’re into fitness and goal-setting. When I began my career, I was excited and eager to impress my clients. One of my first clients told me she liked hard workouts, so I gave her the toughest one I could think of. Within the first 30 minutes, she was on the verge of throwing up. We still had half the session left, and I had no idea what to do. I ended up stretching with her for the remaining time just to fill the hour she paid for. Looking back, I realize how misguided that was.

Here’s what I learned: Anyone can train hard and not get the results they want. Training hard doesn’t mean pushing until you puke; it means being conscious of your goals and being specific with your exercise routine.

It's easy to assume that people want the most intense experience possible, especially if they say they enjoy hard workouts. But intensity alone doesn’t guarantee results. Effective training requires a balance of effort and strategic planning. It's about understanding what you want to achieve and tailoring your workouts to meet those specific goals. Whether it’s mastering a new technique, improving range of motion, or increasing time under tension, the key is to train smart, not just hard.

Getting too Comfortable

Another tough lesson came from working with a client who was consistent at first but eventually fell into a rut. She wanted to lose weight, and we made some diet changes, but then she started getting complacent. I saw it happening but avoided the hard conversations. Weeks turned into months with no progress, and she eventually quit, feeling like she wasn’t getting any benefit.

This taught me the importance of being honest and upfront, even when it’s uncomfortable. Avoiding tough conversations only makes things worse in the long run. Now, I address issues right away, discuss sustainable changes, and hold my clients accountable. This approach has helped me retain more clients and deepen my relationships with them.

No More Time to Get Better

The most common problem for busy professionals and working parents is that there isn't enough time to exercise and eat healthy. My business became my kid. I have to constantly take care of it and fulfill each job while spending time with my family, have peace of mind and handle all personal matters. 

As my gym grew, I found myself overwhelmed with more clients and the operational side of things. I make it a priority to not lose control of my personal life so my ability to focus on training clients slipped, leading to unhappy clients and even a re-aggravated injury for one of them.

This was a wake-up call.

I realized I didn't have enough time to run a business and have a good personal life. I needed to get it back but how?

Then I learned "the buyback principle" from Dan Martell - a business building expert. It simply using services and staff to take care of the tasks that bring you the least joy, do not help you physically or financially and do not cost more then I can afford. Essentially, people who own businesses but do everything within it are still employees. You're trading time for time. If you have a well-paying job and make money, then you should spend it to buy back your time to do things that matter the most to you. I hired experts to clean,  admin assistant to take care of invoicing and a social media marketer to promote my gym. I also started using automation tools like Wave to create invoices and Acuity so clients can schedule and reschedule sessions on their own. Suddenly each week, I had about 10-15 more hours to play with and fit in tasks that are most important to me right now. It actually helped me make more money even though I was in the gym less. This made me realize that we don't have a time problem but rather we have a time management problem.

The lesson: Fitness has a similar parallel. If you care about living longer to share more moments with family and friends.... if you care about being a capable and independent person with a banging body well into your old age... then you need to make time for the tasks necessary to achieve your goal.

Conclusion

We all make mistakes, but they are also our greatest teachers. By sharing these stories, I hope to encourage you to reflect on your journey, learn from your missteps, and keep striving for improvement. It’s not about how hard you fall but how you rise and learn from those experiences.

Stay healthy, stay wealthy, and keep pushing forward.