I never learn.
Well, that’s not entirely true, I do learn, but then something happens and I find myself going back and doing the exact thing I already learned I shouldn’t do. The packaging might be a little bit different, but the end result is always the same.
I’m working myself to death.
I need to cut myself some slack.
But you know what? It’s pretty darn hard to do when you know it’s going to cause a sudden drop in income, and let’s face it, most fitness instructors aren’t making a tonne of money to begin with.
Side note: I hate ending a sentence with a preposition.
Anyway, I’ve written about this time and time and time again, I’m not even going to link to the old posts because it’s literally the same story. The characters have changed a bit but everything else is the same.
Over the years I’ve drastically cut back the number of classes I teach, as well as the number of hours of cardio I teach. But it isn’t enough. I’m still doing too much. It’s so physically draining to teach class after class after class in front of groups of people every day even when it’s a class where you personally aren’t exercising.
That aside, I’ve managed to give myself way more work here than I intended as well. Posting on average four times/week and sharing two videos each week. It’s a lot.
And I know I’m not alone. So many of us take on more than we can (or at least should) handle, wearing ourselves out and doing ourselves in. For me it manifests physically in my health and I can’t do it anymore.
[Tweet “Is your workload stacked too high? It might be time to take a hard look at where you can cut back”]
I’ll be cutting back my class load again, as well as cutting back how many posts and videos I publish each week as well.
In fact, aside from vlogs, I’m not going to publish anymore videos for the rest of May. I will still be posting here a few days/week, but not as frequently as I have been.
I know at least one person reading this post feels the same way I do. Overtired, stressed and frustrated. And I want to tell you to take a look at your life or work and see what you can let go of. It won’t be easy, it might mean losing money or disappointing people but you have to do what’s right for you.
Cut yourself some slack.
I know I need to.
Hi Suzi,
You are very brave and very intuitive! You know what is best for you and it’s time to do it!
I taught for over 25 years and last year, teaching 15 classes a week, I could barely walk when I got home. So, I currently teach 3 and got a new job where I do not use my body as much. Yes, it is frustrating to not do what I love, but it was more frustrating standing in front of a group of participants and not being able to do what I love!
You’re going to be ok. You’ll still impact people’s lives, but in a different way.
Keep being you!
Lisa
I don’t know how intuitive I am, if I were I would have made the changes and stuck to them a few years ago. But as you know, more classes means more income which makes it hard! Fortunately I’ve moved into a place where I am making enough from my blog that I can afford to cut back a bit without losing too much. And I’m pretty glad I’ve already made the transition so I only teach a few cardio classes/week! It’s definitely a work in progress, but one I think many of us fitness instructors struggle with – congrats on your (sort of ) career change! xoxo
Hey Suzi,
My girlfriends and I talk about this all the time. You want to cut back, but you have to pay for your life. I think balance is key. Let me know if you find some. 😉
Balance. I swear it’s like a mirage in our line of work! I’m working on building my online coaching side of things, and hopefully that will bridge the gap between my loss of income for cutting back on classes – and my ability to still provide coaching for those who I might not be able to see in classes.
I just had this exact conversation! I have definitely been burnt-out from all of my teaching and am trying to be strategic in what I cut out, for financial reasons. Good luck!!
It’s such a catch-22! We need to cut back, but we also need the $$. It’s such a struggle. I’m trying to move into promoting more of my online training group so that I can take some of that weight off my shoulders physically and financially. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who is struggling with this!
I have been teaching for almost 23 years now and I know this feeling all too well! My body and this feeling have been doing this dance for over two decades and it never goes away. You get excited about classes, or, new formats, or class size and you and classes. Then the down-times comes and you’re still trying to keep up as numbers dwindle with better weather. So, you cut back and your revenue dwindles. And, people go to find new classes or different activities etc It’s a never-ending dance. Honestly – that’s why I took up Jamberry. I needed to work smarter and not body-harder and fill the income gap left by taking better care of my body. SO far – it’s really working for me!
Thank you for your comment Katrina!!
I think having this blog (which does make me money) has helped because I do have something to fall back on! I made the decision this week that in all of my classes using weights, I am no longer using any weights myself which in just two days has already made a huge difference. I was only using 1-2lb weights in those classes anyway, but freeing myself of even that much extra strain has been very helpful. Hopefully with the cutting back of 2-3 classes/week and integrating this new “rule” I can get things sorted out. I gotta say I’m feeling a lot better about the whole thing already. And I’m excited that tomorrow is my last day teaching FIVE classes in just under a 12 hour period. Oye.
Thanks for writing this post. I was about to write a long explanatory e-mail to my friends (fellow fitness trainers) about how I fell. But I only had to copypaste your article.
I hope, you can have some rest and go back to normal. I think, it is very difficult in our jobs, when we always feel we have to give as long as we can.
Thank you – I’m glad it was helpful!! And I hope you too find more balance xoxo