Feel Good Friday
FGF #1? Ha ha ha. Just kidding. I am not starting some annoying new series on my blog.
Have you ever had someone see a quality in yourself that you weren’t really aware was there?
Gosh. Something I would love to write about, but just can’t wrap my head around, is how we perceive ourselves… as compared to how the outside world perceives us. And not that I am saying how you are perceived should be a huge concern – do what makes YOU happy, yo. But sometimes, when someone acts particularly odd, I think to myself “do they even realize how they are coming off right now?!” And then, “maybe if they did, they wouldn’t act this way? Or maybe they know and don’t care?!*”
I think it would be interesting to spend a day seeing yourself from other’s people’s eyes. Just to get an idea, of how the ingrained daily acts we follow actually appear to others. For example, I realize I am really obnoxious. And that I tease a lot, often, too much. I sometimes wonder how that comes off. Would you want to see how others perceive you? Anyway. THAT IS NOT WHAT THIS POST IS EVEN ABOUT! Oops!
Moving on…
This year is turning out really differently than I expected it to. Not that I had any idea how it would turn out… and I guess that is it. I didn’t plan for anything exciting to happen this year, so it’s cool that it is.
And yes, yes, yes, I talk about it a lot, but the exciting thing is that I am teaching a strength class, doing one-on-one strength sessions, and taking the ACE Personal Trainer Certification exam in July.
I am not going to say “never in my wildest dreams” did I think I would become a personal trainer, because, yeah, I had thought about it. But in that wildest dream sense. In that “yeah, it’s my passion, but how would that even work?!” sense. So I never even let the logical part of my brain try to figure it out.
But then, my trainer pointed out to me all the qualities that I had that were material for a good trainer. And then I started to see myself from his perspective. And with his encouragement and a HUGE amount of support, I decided to go for it.
And that is making this year really exciting for me.
So, anyway. It makes me feel good that someone else saw an opportunity for me, pointed it out, and is supporting me on getting there. I hope other readers can share similar experiences!
68 days and 23 hours until the exam**. Ha ha.
NOTE: my blog is doing some funny commenting stuff in Chrome. Comments still seem to be going through, but going to a weird error page. Please let me know if you see this error.
*And acting that way is what makes them happy?! Ha ha.
**As I am reading the study material, it seems like it would be so crucial to have some experience before going in to take the exam… but I realize a lot of people need to certification to get the experience. I am lucky that was not the case for me.
Themocracy
I am so excited for you!! Because I really believe (like Brian does) that you will be GREAT at this 🙂
I thought of you when I was writing this, as one of those people in my life 🙂
Interesting. Nice work.
I often worry about how people perceive me, especially in new situations, that I allow it to inhibit how I act. I don’t want to be judged for being [insert negative adjective here] that I get cautious with my behavior. I’m working on it because it’s dumb.
That said, an interesting post I’ve considered related to perception is body image. People make comments about me being tiny and I don’t often see it. Sometimes, in photos, I can but not often. So I do not view my body appropriately? Or, when grouped with others, do I just look tiny? Mostly because I’m short.
Ha ha ha. I love you.
Yes! That is dumb! And I am happy you got that I was not saying that we should worry about that, because we shouldn’t, but every once in awhile… I do wonder. Recently (okay, on 5/4 HM day) I went a movie then had drinks with friends and was being obnoxious and I thought they might be annoyed… but they saw me the next day too, so I was like “Success! Not too annoying.”
You should write that. Because, I was actually think of something similar, for me. If you look at my Sunday race pics you can see how much bigger I am than the friend I was running with. So, not so much about how people call me tiny (hahahahahaha) but that it’s not until I see pics that I realize my large muscular build. And I really like that about me. I can lift a shit ton of weight.
P.S. Proprioception.
You ARE GREAT at it Kim! And I am glad that I can tagalong on your journey! It is important for us to embrace the positive things that others see in us..to help broaden our horizons! Keep it up!
Dawn, thank you so much! You’re such a positive force of energy and I love having you in class and getting to know you better! 🙂
I wonder how I am seen by others as well. I probably wonder more than I should, right now at least. I go through phases where I couldn’t care less what other people think and I do what I want. In other situations I am overly cautious about what people are thinking of me. It is ridiculous, I realize that. One day I will stop caring and do whatever the heck I want. I hope I don’t get into too much trouble then! 🙂
I just LOVE that your trainer is so supportive of you. I think too many times people say things like, “Oh, you would be great at XYZ” but then never provide the support to help you get there. And if you don’t immediately see yourself doing whatever it is that they think you’d be great at, well, you’re not going to go out of your way to make it happen. Right?
Oh yes, that is exactly right! I got really lucky, in this situation!!! 😀
What comes to mind are 2 things- 1) I worry that people think I talk too much or monopolize the conversation but sometimes there is a lull or it’s kind of dull so I interject stories or ask questions. People love it or people hate it. I don’t think I can please everyone. 2) This woman at work who I don’t interact with often will come up to me after staff meetings and tell me how funny I am and refer to my “stand up” routine. I am not a comic. It’s slightly uncomfortable as every time she sees me she refers to my funniness but I’m also flattered. Some people perceive me as The Entertainment and sometimes that’s ok and sometimes I just want to be quiet which confuses people.
You’re going to be a great personal trainer!
Oh gosh. I can relate to the first thing. I like to talk and ask questions. I do know when to shut up, but I can tell sometimes people just don’t want me to talk at all… so I wonder why they are even spending time with me. Anyway, I won’t get in to that.
I can see how it would be draining to try to be on and funny all. the. time!
huh. I’m not sure… I don’t remember the last time someone brought any of my “qualities” up.. besides that Im a people person. But I already knew that? haha
that is awesome! Good luck studying! I know you’ll pass with flying colors.. you should hook it up with a free strength class 😉 haha kidding.
you seem like the type that would make strength training fun 😀
that’s a great feel good story there!
If I were to see me at work, it would be a day full of bad jokes, puns, and way too much talking about running!
The support you got is great! Carry on the good vibe! happy Friday!
Man, I’ve thought a lot recently about other people’s perceptions. Of how they view me and how they view themselves. I often find that other people seem to be more observant than I am and also read into things more than I do (not necessarily in a good way). I’ve had discussions with my sister-in-law about this too. I wonder if this is a common thing to think about when you are around 30 yrs old?
That’s awesome that you are loving your trainer job and are excited for your exam. It’s nice when other people see things in us that we don’t necessarily see. A friend of mine who recently got into running told me the other day that she thinks I’d make a good running coach. It made me feel really good that she saw those qualities in me.
How do you mean, observant? I am just wondering, because I realize a lot of things are going on that I don’t notice – but mostly stupid bs drama, so I am happy not to be involved. I try to stay out of a lot of stuff.
Aww, that is so nice! Are you considering being a coach?
Aw, I’m so glad you were able to see yourself in a new light and try out something you otherwise would have been scared to do. I can’t really think of a time that someone was able to change my perspective of how I look to myself, but I have been very strongly thinking of doing yoga teacher training. I always thought that to become a teacher you had to be able to go into handstand perfectly and hold all sorts of crazy arm balances and I would never be good enough to become a yoga teacher, but in talking to other teachers, that’s not the case. So, I guess I changed my perspective about what I thought a yoga teacher is.
I think you’re going to be super duper awesome!!! (I mean you are already awesome, so super duper is well, super duper!!!)
A co-worker just told me a few weeks ago how fun I was to work with, how I’m always happy and bubbly. She was mostly complimenting me because we work with a super annoying always negative nurse. Talk about a ‘Debbie Downer’…
My mom saw my potential first to be a nurse years ago. My husband and parents have both seen my potential to become more, hence why I’m in school to further my nursing education. They all think I’m super smart and have a knack for all things nursing, and well gross too. The more I learn, the more weird I get…not sure if that’s a good thing or not…lol
Having support is the key to success. I’m a pretty motivated person, but having that extra boost of confidence goes a long way!!!
Ha ha ha. I like that you get weirder as you learn more. And that you embrace it 😉
And that is such a good point! Even if you are self motivated, outside support helps SO MUCH!
I think it is so awesome that you are doing this! I am so proud!
I bet you are an awesome trainer. You are such a positive force.
That’s pretty awesome.
I guess it is pretty common to have qualities that other people see that you don’t. I actually had a conversation about this very topic last weekend with some friends, and I was ridiculously suprised. I guess we don’t know ourselves as well as we think we do!
Yes! And it’s not like we are going around, down on ourselves, all the time, just not realizing these things… we just don’t think about them! We need them pointed out to us!
So proud of you!!!
A friend wrote on a card that I was a great friend, and I was somewhat taken aback. I think I’m a pretty crappy friend and often take more than I give by asking for a lot of emotional support for my stress but not being a good listener. So yeah, I guess if someone thinks I’m a good friend though, then I am a good friend, but it was weird to hear about a quality that I don’t think I have!
I KNOW you’ll be a great personal trainer because of your bubbly, fun personality but also your thoughtfulness and dedication. I need you to whip me into shapppppe. If I’m not in Chicago, let’s do remote sessions, yes?
Aww, come on! You are a great friend! At least to me. And her! So! To two people! LOL 🙂
Aww, thanks! Yes! Remote sessions! I will have to kick your butt via Skype.
Thanks for letting me know about the error. I was hoping it would fix itself. It’s been a week. Guess I better look in to it… at some point. At least the comments still go through!
P.S. As you can see, I’m catching up on blog posts. I just started getting the error message when I hit “post” on the comment using Chrome.
I use Chrome and get the errors with each comment I leave. I have mostly learned to just use the back button to make sure my comment got posted. Sometimes, I forgot and post a duplicate comment (which you can delete).
Thanks for letting me know. I was hoping it would just fix itself. I guess I need to look for a new theme or something. I might not take the time to do that until August… ughghghghgh.