I really feel like I can't do well unless I have a good plan. I really want to do motivational work, whether it's traveling and motivational speaking to highschool kids, or doing personal training with many types of people. Shoot, I'd even like to guide one on one meditation and be a strength coach for my small college football team (they just got a new team). My question is, since I'm not in a rush to make money, well, do you think I could deal with med school for an inordinate amount of years, in order to become a better trainer later down the road? Maybe I'm just scared about getting my cert, (I'll be taking the ACSM test next month) and I want to somehow elevate myself above other trainers.
I guess I should be asking, what DOES elevate. I know a great personality would be great, and a lot of experience, and knowledge, but when it comes to credentials, sure I could train for years to compete in some body building competition, but is that going to be enough? I don't want to start with a half arsed goal and slack off later. I really want to choose a very good plan for myself. I know Anthony Robbins was giving motivational speeches around the country at age 25, and I'm 24, but I don't think I'll have the motivation to get through the low times if I don't believe I'm following the best plan.
Thanks for any thoughts you might have. I'd love to get an MD in orthopedics, but would that just be taking myself away from the training environment that I love? Maybe it would hurt more than it would help. Happy gobble gobblins.
Adam,
You are scared of getting your certification and not med school?!
I think you are at the same place alot of 25 year olds are. I just had a conversation with a 25 year old friend and he is in the same predicament. He has NO idea what he wants to do with the rest of his life. He knows what he is capable of, but not sure which field to apply it to.
I think the fact that you know you want to be in the fitness field is a step ahead most people your age.
Send me a PM with your address, and I will send you a copy of my book.
Medicine is probably not the field to go into at this time unless you are highly motivated to be a doctor. Job satisfaction is likely at an all time low. But again this does not apply if it is your dream.
I firmly believe that you'll never know what you really want to do, if you don't already, till you try it. (Considering I didn't know what I wanted to be till I was ~28, and still have lots of things I'm interested in.) The key is to pick your passion and work on it. Side quests can enrich your life, or they can leave you perpetually going nowhere fast, depending on how you keep your focus and how well you can tell what you want.
IMO, the thing that makes or breaks a trainer is marketing above all else. That's how you get those insanely idiotic gurus out there making gabillions who are complete and total nincompoops that believe and preach all sorts of ridiculous things. (Or good trainers not doing so well.) So as long as you're halfway decent and able to promote yourself, you'll prolly do fine.
Med school to be a trainer seems like serious overkill, and not really in the vein of what would seem necessary. Phys ed degree, exercise science, or things of that nature seems better suited.
Hi Adam!
I actually tried to get into med school 6 years ago...after getting a BS in Exercise Science. Got a 28 on the MCAT but my undergrad GPA wasn't good enough, despite the fact that I did all I could with the pre-med courses to boost it up. It was a pipe dream, and if your heart is in personal training, GO FOR IT! I personally believe i'd be miserable as a doctor and have no clue why I thought that was for me (for a brief moment in time). My heart is in working with people and being a PROACTIVE component in their lives...I feel medicine is REACTIVE and i'd rather help people take care of their health, not try to "fix" it. I wanted to go into ortho or plastics, btw. The thought of me operating on people is just downright scary! I have a client who repeatedly tells me I should be a doctor (her hubby is an MD), which is flattering, but i'd be miserable. Personal training is so rewarding and I love the fact that you can carve out your own niche and pretty much do what YOU want to do, IF you want it bad enough!
__________________ "If you love what you do, you'll never have to work a day in your life." Visit my blog:"Outside the Box" Training!
My question is, since I'm not in a rush to make money, well, do you think I could deal with med school for an inordinate amount of years, in order to become a better trainer later down the road? I'd love to get an MD in orthopedics,
adam, I am an MD. there are others that post here too. being a trainer and being an MD are two very different career paths. people go to med school to become physicians. orthopedic surgeons operate. they are sometimes part of cool practices that have a sports medicine/athlete focus. and so they might employ physical therapists (PT's), certified personal trainers in their practices. but they aren't the ones who train people. they make their living operating on people-knee replacements, rotator cuff surgery, hip replacements, repairing fractured bones. even the ones who are athlete focused operate for a living.
and unlike many degrees, you don't get an MD "in" something. you go to medical school for 4 years, you graduate with your MD. and then you do your residency in your specialty. so it is different than getting your BS "in" chemistry, for example. and once you have your MD, you can't practice as a physician until you do your residency, which for orthopedic surgery is 5 years.
so if your passion and goal is to be a trainer, doing 4 years of medical school and 5 years of residency would not be the path to take in order to become a better trainer. it is the path to take if your passion is to operate and to help athletes be better athletes by fixing their broken parts!
one of my friends is a licensed physical therapist and also a personal trainer. I think having her degree in physical therapy has really made her a better trainer in many ways. but I also know many amazing trainers that don't have degrees in PT.
the first step is to really decide what you are passionate about. I LOVE being an MD. it is exactly what I should be doing. but the road to being a physician is really arduous, time-intensive, life-consuming. it isn't one of those degrees that you can do online or in addition to working a full-time job, for example. for the time that you are in medical school and doing your residency, it IS your life. although many of us find ways to have families, hobbies, train, etc.
Lol I see your point John. It's not the school that scares me, it's the responsibility that would come after, but that's the beauty of it I suppose. I will send you a PM, thank you.
Rob I hear ya. Health care has a very low morale statistically in my city, but I figured that was more the administrative part.
Aoife and fengshway I suppose it is overkill to get an MD just for the sake of having it on a resume, when I wouldnt even be allowed to practice unless I did a residency. Perhaps a physicians assistant would be a good choice. I hear they sometimes run the show without a doctor even being there, and make anywhere from 40-100 k depending on the person. I could do that while my other dream is taking root.
Sarah I'm totally with you. I suppose med school and residency would be like the military, which is where I can relate to, in that they both would be very rewarding, mentally and financially, but the lack of freedom can hold us back.
Thanks yall. Currently I'm thinking to become a physicians assistant, while my dream of motivational speaking and one on one wellness training develops. Keep the advice coming! We can beat it in the ground if you like. Lol. I'll get to the bottom of this! Any information on PA's would be greatly beneficial at this point. Thanks again.
adam, wow. I had no idea you were thinking of MEDICAL SCHOOL as something that you wanted just for your resume!!! definitely talk to some physicians about that one. I know a lot of physicians, and I teach at our local medical school. I know of absolutely ZERO who decide to go to medical school just to put it on their resume, lol. going to medical school just isn't one of those things you do for your resume! start asking some docs about what it is like to even do the prerequisites to get in, then talk to them about what it is like to pass once you are in.
being a PA or a nurse practitioner is also really really hard work and a hard course of study. and not something you do just for your resume either!! sounds like you have a passion for sports, for training, for helping people. and you want a way to make a living while some really cool dreams that you have about your career take shape. lots of ways to make that happen within medicine. check into physical therapy too.
I've been thinking some more, and I think I just want to do something hard to prove people wrong, which is a pretty shallow reason. I don't even really care about sports or fitness, I just love helping people within the framework, and I love the adrenaline rush I get from working out myself. I do, however, want some kind of career path that I can at least tell potential girlsfriends about, lol. I'm sick of looking like a bum just because my dream sounds like a pipe dream. Perhaps I should spend more time taking steps towards my actual long term dream rather than just grab these degrees simply for the sake of a sense of accomplishment. I think for public speaking maybe I should talk to myself in front of the mirror (you know like the Sims game) lol for 30 minutes a day. And then perform in various things to get over stage fright, like in band or something, or learn how to windmill and go break it down. lol. Wow this was pretty cool. Thanks for responding. It definitely helped me figure some stuff out. I suppose until I'm ready to do those steps I was just talking about, I will be lost in a drift in a boat full of steam and no rudder, relying on the waves of life rather than my sense of direction. I'm sure there is a happy medium, but I will say that my MD/ PA/ PT/ CSCS hopes are shallow at best. I'd do them just as I did the military, as a challenge, as validation, as a way of finding the journey in all things, but perhaps I should stop messing around. Thanks again for the responses. It only takes someone caring once in a while to really help.
And remember, while many things may catch your eye, only a few will catch your heart. Pursue that which you are passionate about. Don't let ADD or fear or some random shiney thing lead you to distraction.
Consider that there are people great at what they do, very successful people, who don't have a degree in that field, or a degree at all. They do what they're passionate about. They study and practice. They make themselves great.
What you're talking about is insubstantial filler trying to somehow elevate you above others, which isn't what's gonna elevate you. Your actual skill, your ability to market yourself, your drive and ambition… those things set you apart and make you great.
Being an academic only works in academia. You can know all the theory you want, have many degrees, and think you're "smart," but what good is that if you don't have the common sense to even change a lightbulb? Why bother? Figure out what you want to DO with your life, not what you think will make you look good in the eyes of others. People don't like people because of what they call themselves, people will still dump a crap professional regardless of his impressive resume.
Besides, on some level, you diminish or belittle that which you are only interested in for fake and pretentious reasons. A lot of people work hard at med school, and you make it sound like you think it's a breeze to get in and get it on your resume. I'm sure you in no way intended that. But really, you're nervous about something as tough-seeming as a cert test, and so you suggest MED SCHOOL as an alternate route.
And I know many people who are in what they do for the wrong reasons. In the end, they look bad, and aren't as successful because they lack love of the process, of the depth, of what they're doing. They want the title, and suck at the responsibility. Don't be one of those people. Be great at what you do and inspire others to greatness because of your love for your work. Not your love of people thinking you're cool.
Besides, on some level, you diminish or belittle that which you are only interested in for fake and pretentious reasons. A lot of people work hard at med school, and you make it sound like you think it's a breeze to get in and get it on your resume. I'm sure you in no way intended that. But really, you're nervous about something as tough-seeming as a cert test, and so you suggest MED SCHOOL as an alternate route.
aiofe, your whole post is awesome, wise advice. but this is the part that I was reacting to in particular. the internet is so funny that way. I'm thinking, "now who is this punk-ass who thinks that med school is something you do on a whim to put letters after your name..." med school takes over your fucking life. eventually you can come out the other end as a well balanced, exercising, happy person, but man, while you're in it, you have no life. my husband the lawyer did not have the same experience in law school. we lived together then. he never went to class, partied his ass off and graduated. that just wouldn't cut it in med school. thank god I did it when I was 22-25--it is seriously some physically and mentally hard shit! and now I teach in medical school. my students have more sane hours than we did in the 80's but they still have limited to no life. would never ever want to repeat med school again.
I might add, too, since I have a great local friend who is a PT, and another who just completed her prereqs to go to PT school. it is also a very difficult and FULL-TIME course of study.
adam, you seem like a great guy who has a lot to offer the world. talk with people and really figure out what you want to do. getting a degree just so you can prove something to other trainers will not help you. the trainer I work with right now could give a shit less than I am an MD. he is an expert at what he does. I am an expert at what I do. my degree does not mean I know how to do his job. all of those degrees that you mention train you to be an MD, a PT, a PA, which are all very different career paths than being a motivational speaker or being a great trainer. although sometimes the people who have those degrees end up public speaking for a living.
keep seeking, I know you will find your passion!!!
I did three years in the military. Then I did 2 1/2 years towards an International Degree, then I recently changed it to a Biology degree. I'm going to play football for a couple years and get a biology degree.
That makes a lot of sense yall. I think the fact that getting an MD would be so hard is the fact that I know I could do it. I don't do well in things that are easy because I day dream. I did very well in the military, but college not as much. It would have to be hard, at this time, for me to do well, until I seriously get organized. This is an attempt to finally say, ok that's it, I've had enough, it's about time I make some changes; I am definitely in the process of this, which makes what you are saying even more true. It is not a whim, it is MY whim, that makes what would not be a whim, force me not to whim but to swim, lol, for fear of drowning.
You two seriously just gave me a lot of motivation, which makes me want to go for the fences, which would be something very hard, like an MD. Lol, however, I suppose following my heart without the need of some structured program to keep me straight, would be even harder, and a greater challenge. I'm sorry to be so confusing here. I really appreciate the feedback. I really really do. THanks yall. Ill get it.
I have had speaking classes in high school, college, graduate school (seminary). But I think the best speaking classes were Toastmasters. They are nice and not very critical, but if you let them know what your goals in speaking are they will be as critical as you want them to be.
I bet Paul never took public speaking classes. I just want to get organized enough that I don't have pending disaster thoughts in my mind all the time, and have enough integrity throughout life (including my career path and why I am doing what I'm doing) that I won't have a guilty conscience. I think with all that, I will have nothing but love for the chance to reach a lot of people. I did take a couple public speaking courses in college and it was all the same thing, plan, practice, (pray lol), perform
I plan way too much, I practice about half as much as I should, and I perform never. So I think it's safe to say that I should practice a guitar song or two, and then start singing (or anything else that I am usually uncomfortable with) to people I trust and then moving up from there just to get over stage fright, and that balance should help me with integrity as well, however, I'm sure RobLL you can relate that a seed that grows too fast can get caught in the thistle.
I really really thank you all for your support and comments. Feel free to keep em comin! But I definitely got a lot from this already. Thanks
M.D. Orthopedic Personal trainers?
I have a client who repeatedly tells me I should be a doctor (her hubby is an MD), which is flattering, but i'd be miserable. Personal training is so rewarding and I love the fact that you can carve out your own niche and pretty much do what YOU want to do, IF you want it bad enough!
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