He who hears not the music thinks the dancer mad - African proverb

I’ve been writing in my blog for close to a year now, and though many have suggested potential responses, I think I finally found the answer to the question “Am I Nuts or What ??”.

The answer is … I am indeed.

Less than 2 weeks ago I wrote about a “fantastic opportunity” at my workplace; to work as the Acting Fitness Manager for my boss who may have to take her mat leave early due to some unfortunate complications.  Late last week I found out that she will not be returning to work and therefore her mat leave will be starting immediately.  And that very same day I walked into the Club Manager’s office and told her I was not interested in taking the job.

While I thought at first it was a great opportunity, and who knows, maybe it is, after just a few days in the job I quickly realized it is not at all what I want to do. Sitting behind that desk again for 8 hours plus, plugging away at the computer and filling out paperwork, attending meetings, doing those mundane administrative tasks  ... it was all just too familiar.

It was exactly what I left last summer and swore I would never do again. But I was lured in by trivial things like job security, a boost to my resume and a regular full-time salary. Silly me. If I had wanted those I'd have gone back to accounting a year ago like a good little girl.

But there were many more reasons I decided not to take the job. I want to be a trainer full-time, eventually adding nutrition counseling to my repertoire. And while I was assured that I could train concurrently with the Fitness Manager job, I quickly realized how difficult this would be. I have just 5 clients so far, but still I found it difficult to prep for those clients while performing my daily office duties. I don’t want to just go through some cookie-cutter program for these people … I like to take my time designing a program that will work for them personally so I can help them reach their goals.

On top of that, not once in that 2 week span did I pick up my nutrition text and continue my studies. And I found it very difficult to find time to train myself ... physically I am not feeling on top of my game.  How on earth could I manage any more clients or finish my nutrition course?  And training clients outside of my gym would be nearly impossible.

So while I could certainly handle some PT clients while performing the Manager role, I can’t see that I could successfully build my client base or my business enough to sustain a living.  And then what happens when that one year mat leave is done and my boss comes back to work?  Am I to start over again at that point to grow my clientele?  That doesn’t sound very smart to me.

Bottom line is not only does taking this job seem unwise for my planned career path, but my heart is really not in it :(

They took the news very well and were very supportive of my decision, then posted the job internally last week.  I finished off the two week contracted period, and today I went back to my regular, part-time hours of floor shifts and personal training.  I did offer to help out if they needed it while they searched for a replacement, and they gratefully accepted.

Perhaps 6 months down the road I will regret this decision, but something tells me this is what I need to do.  I’ve stuck to my guns thus far, and taking this job would have been the easy way out, and in my opinion not conducive to my overall goal.

In the words of Mick Jagger … dance little sister, dance.