Here's part 2 of that original post from our original blog:
"
Post 2 How I got here, part 2
Good morning from the beautiful Pacific Northwest!
Today, I really wanted to give you some ideas of how I do personal training, (albeit very, very brief!). As you may recall from my last blog entry, I had been a personal trainer to pay my way through bible college and seminary. It was during this time that I began to develop my own unique way to help people. I had been getting great results with my clients when my fellow trainers noticed that I didn't just count their reps or make them sweat. I actually communicated with my clients. We TALKED. I listened. And together we would seek out and find answers to things that had been holding them back for years--and then we would together come up with action plans for them. One of my first training mentors, Ian Rubin, later took me aside and just said simply, "You empowered them."
(I have to warn you, I am going to be about spiritual things here--about God. And I may throw out some terms that others may consider New Agey, like holistic. If you are not a Christian, don't freak and check out, hear me out. If you are a Christian, don't freak and check out, hear me out.)
I continued doing what I was doing--sometimes struggling with how I knew to do it (ultimately, I knew it came from God--but aside from that--ya got me...). It wasn't until years later when I was co-teaching a class on small group leadership when I came across the answer. I was struggling teaching the self-care portion when our family friend, Sharon Correll helped me refine what I do.
One of the things I realized is that in my training system there are four distinct, holistic parts. I feel that to empower people to experience true change, not only physically, but in their entire life, we have to focus on these four parts (in order): spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical.
Quite simply, things that affect us in the spiritual realm will have the most profound effect on us. Please note that I use the term, spiritual. I use this general term because, quite frankly, I don't limit its use to the divine. Instead, I use it to generally refer to those things that affect us on a higher level. I could be referring to your goals--what is your sense of destiny--or of your purpose--are you living a life consistent with these things?
Or, if you are a Christian--what are your God-given goals--what is your sense of a God-given destiny? Do you have a sense of a calling--a sense of a God-given purpose in your life? Are you living a life that is consistent with all of these things?
(Are you seeing a bit of a trend here?)
One of the things that I have discovered throughout the years is that to the degree that you are experiencing a disconnect between your values and the actions of your life--or a disconnect between God and the actions of your life--to that degree, you experience cognitive dissonance. In counseling terms, cognitive dissonance is the excessive mental stress and discomfort experienced by an individual who (1) holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time or (2) is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values. This stress and discomfort may also arise within an individual who holds a belief and performs a contradictory action or reaction.
Whew! Still with me? Good! Hang in there!
As we begin to look at the chaos in the spiritual side of things, we fall back to one of concepts found in Michael Dye's book, The Genesis Process:
"Belief systems create emotions which drive behaviors"
Let me cut through all that goobly goo for you. The stress that is caused in the spiritual, mental, and emotion realms cause reactions in the physical realm. This why you can be busting your butt in the gym while your life is spinning out of control and still not be experiencing your fitness goals. And, at the worst, you get an injury that drives you out of the gym. AND, you decide, the heck with this and give up--sentencing yourself to the pain that you feel destined to.
May I say, as gently but as yet as firmly as I can: You can do better than that...YOU ARE BETTER THAN THAT!
Yes, my friends, it can be hard. It can even be painful. Change can be painful. You may just want to work out...I just want to lose a few pounds...
Yes. I understand all that. Been there, done that. But the sad reality of the situation is you will keep repeating this loop...this cycle...and it will prevent you from experiencing true change--true VICTORY--in all areas of your life.
And it doesn't matter if you are a housewife trying to lose weight, an older person just trying to stay moving, or an athlete trying to get to the next level--we ALL go through it.
It's painful...and it stinks...but you are not alone.
And that's why I do this. I empower life change...one person at a time. It's time.
Live Inspired!
Mark
