Months ago, I had the
pleasure of meeting Lynn Gordon for the 1st time as she became a new personal
training client. I don’t know if I have ever - Let me stress, ever - met someone quite so caring, giving and
thoughtful. She’s the kind of person that
offers her car when my vintage Camry is yet again in the shop; the kind of
person that runs home to grab an accessory that she knows will be just perfect
for my 20s themed movie night.
She is constantly thinking of others, pondering how she can bring a
smile to someone’s day. She probably
doesn’t know this, but she is an inspiration to
me. She inspires me to pass on kindness to others and reminds me how amazing a
positive force can be in everyday life. After all, kindness begets kindness.
What or who positively affects your life every day? Do you have a friend or coworker who makes
you want to be a better person? And when it comes to your fitness goals, who is
your motivator? Who or what pushes you to be a better version of yourself?
Positive Influences
Here’s the thing about
influencing others, it isn’t a conscious thing that we do. We are
exerting influence on others everyday by simply being who we are, saying what
we say and acting as we act. The only real choice we have in the matter is
whether we chose to be a good influence or a bad. Likewise, we can
choose to surround ourselves with people who will positively or negatively
influence us.
Think about the people in your life. Think about the shows you watch, the
magazines you read and even the music you listen to. Are these people and things positives or
negatives for your life?
Becoming a Good Influence
Last March, a group of clients, employees and friends, took me
out to dinner for my birthday. As
the waiter came around the table, I quickly chose a healthy chicken dish and
ordered. My sister turned to me
and whispered “You don’t have to order healthy, it’s your birthday. I quietly nodded,
confirming that I knew what I was doing. We both watched as the two people to
my right and one across from me at the table followed my lead, ordering a healthy dish.
It was in this moment, and many like it over the years, that I
have become conscious of my influence over others. You just never know who’s watching you. And most times, someone is.
I preach in my blogs about proper eating, healthy exercise habits and
more. However, at the end
the day, my actions as viewed by others are substantially more influential than
my words.
So ask yourself this, Do you want to create value with your
life? Become a good influence. How, you may ask? Not by talking the talk, but by walking it. By becoming the
example of health that you want to see, your friends and loved ones will be
positively influenced by everything you do.
Bad Influences
A wise college professor of mine once said that you can figure
out what kind of person you are by looking at the people your surround yourself
with. If I’m in a great mood when I walk into work in
the morning, it often only takes one mean person on the phone to take away all
of my positive vibes.
But since I know that my attitude directly impacts hundreds of women that walk
through the door at Steps each week, I am quick to fight negative forces and
return my smile to my face.
Some people are simply toxic, complaining constantly, gossiping
mercilessly, or simply failing to treat others with kindness [we, like many
businesses, get this a lot from people]. On days when we’re strong enough, not
only to avoid being pulled into similar patterns of behavior but also to help
them avoid such negative behaviors as well, we can serve as good influences
over these negative forces. On
days when we’re weaker ourselves and therefore more
susceptible to negative influences, we should avoid such people as best we can.
It’s quite easy when we’re feeling low to spiral even lower
under the influence of someone else’s negativity.
Conversion Theory: How to Change Negative to Positive
As much as we may want to, changing someone’s life approach from overly negative to
positive is about the hardest thing to do. When I get a new client that walks in and
immediately tells me they hate Zumba, I usually offer up that I see where they
are coming from but make sure to tell them that we are a different breed of
Zumba. I don’t spend much time on this because, after all,
why tell them when I can show them? This negativity is turned to positive 80%
of the time at Steps once the new client tries a class. Similarly, most personal training clients
come in defeated. They hate their bodies, hate their relationship with food
and are sick of working out. I
show them proper eating, how lifting can be empowering and fun, and change
their entire mindset.
Steps is converting negative people to positive every day
through our actions, our words and our real life attitudes. And if you aren’t already using us as a positive influence,
change that! Or maybe you’re a devoted member but
you have a friend that hates exercise or dieting. Or maybe you have a sister or
mother who hate their bodies. Share your fitness with them, share your
successes. Show them what it means
to be positive, show them what it means to be strong, show them what it is to
love your body. Walk the walk.
