Bear With Me…
My passion is to help people live their lives on purpose and to become their best version of themselves. My role in that can vary depending on my relationship to them and who we are in each others lives. In my ‘career’ (which for me is passion + purpose) I have had many roles and each role has demanded I learn and develop new mindset and skill sets in order to do that role well and – more importantly – in a way that those I serve needed and wanted.
My passion and purpose has allowed me to be a fitness coach, performance coach, wellness coach, nutrition and lifestyle coach, sports coach, educator, author, business operator, national and international director. One of the common denominators in all of this – and perhaps the greatest – is movement. Movement has been the currency by which I have served those around me. While AFS, and the Gray Institute, have impacted me personally and professionally on many levels I will in this blog speak to my experience of it on my career…in movement.
My brain likes to experience and share though analogies, metaphors and stories. So I hope you don’t mind but I will attempt to share my experience of AFS by doing just that. Try to bear with me J
In the culinary world there are several ways to become a chef and have a career (just like our industries)
Line Chef
This is the first step on the ladder. The line chef will be asked to prep food for service each day such as chopping vegetables, butchering meat, or preparing sauces. Depending on the needs of the kitchen, the line cook may also be asked to prepare items for other stations or for special events. That seems like a lot for the entry level. Yet they are given a set of ingredients, recipes and instructions and it is their role (and responsibility) to follow them.
As a new fitness professional in 1998 I got my degree, got certified by ACSM, NSCA and NASM and went to work as a gym instructor and personal trainer. I thought I could ‘train’ anyone, thought I understood what it took to be a good coach, and believed I was going to have a hugely financially successful career. Ouch was I wrong! Looking back my early professional education did not prepare me to do all of that. I now realize it was not supposed to. What it should have done, and did to some degree, was offer a set of basic ingredients, some simple recipes and instructions. It was my job to know my boundaries and follow them.
One problem with this was that the ingredients, recipes and instructions were not exactly the best ones. Were they incorrect? Maybe. But they certainly were incomplete. This is an important distinction. At that time in my career and in those roles – I was a line chef! I had no business trying to create recipes, determine menus, make executive decisions in the kitchen, or any other ‘head chef’ role. Today I believe that AFS offers our ‘line chefs’ world class ingredients, recipes and instructions. Coaches at this stage are not yet ready to create on demand or whip up something out of nothing like Gordon Ramsey. While this is true for all AFS lets keep it simple and just look at 3DMAPS.
We know as fellows of applied functional science that the exercise is the test and the test is the exercise. Any movement can be used to authentically assess movement. However this is a complicated and scary reality for a new coach. 3DMAPS has the ingredients (Principles), recipes (Strategies) and instructions (Techniques) for every new professional to better serve their clients and athletes. The key here is the instructions based within a process of thought. At this level of experience and learning the professional needs to be told not only how and why but also what to do. Indeed they crave it. At a behavioral change level this creates a sense of safety which leads to confidence which feeds competence. This is good for the coach and those they serve.
Pivotal Point: Do 3DMAPS and follow the performance system solutions. Do not ‘worry’ about creating your own recipes just yet. Learn the principles, appreciate the strategies, and apply the techniques given to you. Your clients will feel and perform better and you get the credit! More will be revealed (when you are ready for it).