One of the reasons that I love running so much is that it forces me to face my fears. I set goals and I get at thrill out of pushing myself to achieve them. There’s something so human about the simple act of running. Your senses are alive during a good run – you can hear the blood pounding in your ears, you can feel the wind wiping away the sweat dripping down your face, and you see the world pass by at a pace you don’t normally travel at. Your own two feet can take you places you may never see otherwise, physically, mentally and spiritually.
When it comes to running, I think I’m pretty brave. I’ve set big goals. I’ve achieved a lot of them. I’ve failed at a lot of them. Failing is hard. It hurts, but that pain doesn’t last forever. The pain of collapsing just before the finish line at CIM hurt really, really bad. More mentally than physically. But, it’s in the past. I’ve moved on and accepted that as part of my story. I do a fairly decent job of not thinking about what others may say about me and my running – its my story and I know that the person who head over shoudlers cares most about whether I qualify for Boston or not is myself.
There are other areas of my life that I’m not so brave. One of those areas is putting myself out there as a Beachbody Coach. Sales is definitely not my “thing.” At one point, after I left my Big 4 accounting firm job after college, I thought I may want to pursue a job in sales. Soon after I started a job in recruiting – which is basically sales – and I found it extremely uncomfortable. I slowly got more used to the cold calling, but I knew it just wasn’t for me. I ended up quitting that job and traveling through Southeast Asia for four months. Now THAT was more my style!
The thing I did enjoy about recruiting was that I felt like I was helping people. Even though it was the absolute worst time EVER to be a recruiter (2008), the thing that kept me showing up at work was the notion that I could help people find a job, especially those who had been laid off due to the recession.
Helping people is what drove me to get back into Beachbody Coaching. But what comes hand in hand with helping people is selling products. And that’s something I’m really not fully comfortable with, even though I 100% believe in the products and currently use them and have been using them myself for years.
I fear that people will think I’m inauthentic. I fear that people will get annoyed with my social media posts (and honestly, I’m pretty sure there’s no way around this – someone will always be annoyed with anything anyone posts!). I fear that I’ll get rejected. I fear that people will not want to read my blog because they think I’m pushing products. I fear that people will wonder why the heck I’m doing it – do I really need money that bad? These are all thoughts I’ve had before, during and after I signed up as a coach again.
The truth is, I am doing it for a few reasons. I love helping people. If you’ve met me in person (or have been reading my blog for long enough!), I’m constantly encouraging others to get active and join me in activities that promote a healthy lifestyle. I started a wellness committee at my work and organized a company wide 5k. I had a 5k the day after my wedding and invited all my guests to participate (hungover). I am a little crazy! I love spreading the word about health and fitness and it makes me so happy to hear that something I’ve said or done has influenced someone to make a better choice. And yes, I am interested in making some extra money because I took 3 months of unpaid additional maternity leave and I’ve got a child to feed and put through college one day and day care now (potentially more expensive than college!). I also wonder if maybe Beachbody can give me more freedom and flexibility to spend more time with my family in the future.
So, instead of wondering if I’m the crazy fitness fanatic that people block on Facebook, I’m going to embrace it. I’m going to put myself out there even when I feel uncomfortable doing so. For every person who is turned off, I’ll be reaching that many or more people who will be inspired.
So here we go. I’m scared to hit publish. But I’m going to do it.
What are you scared of? What fears have you faced?
I have similar issues with sales, but really it is because we all have encountered people who tried too hard to sell. I thinks there is a line in sales between passion and agression, sales pitch and lies, earning money and stealing it , etc. Some people are comfortable crossing the line, others walk on the line, and some stay away from it.
I think as long as you are comfortable where you are in regards to the line , you should not worry about what other people think. Your friends and family know you, opinions of others , like myself, should really not matter.
So true – it is a fine line. I think I’ve been turned off my pushy sales people in the past so I’m afraid of doing the same. But I need to be inspired by those who I respect and admire who are salespeople instead!
Exactly! Look at the people who inspire you and find your own path. AND it may require for you to be uncomfortable for a bit. You can do it!
Great article Nicole! I am proud of you for hitting PUBLISH!
Anyone who has been reading your blog for a while (going on 4 years for me) gets a sense of your personality and would never think you are being inauthentic. Like you said, there will always be people that look down on you/judge you. You only have yourself to account too (and then Mike and your family). Shut the naysayers out and live your life! You are a huge inspiration to me and to the others that read your blog (I am so impressed by your latest photo on instagram and your abs have me HIGHLY MOTIVATED to start P90X SOON!!!). You keep doing what you are doing because you have a passion for it. It means a lot to me to know that you stand behind the Beachbody products and are not just talking about them to earn some extra money (like that is a bad thing to do anyway!). Thanks so much for your insightful blogs, for sharing your life (good and bad experiences) with us, and for your passion/motivation . Hold your head HIGH gal! You are doing a great job!
P.S. I have never posted about Siena but that is a BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL!! And what a smile! You and Mike should be so proud! Congrats!
Thank you Jaqi! This was just what I needed to hear. Thanks for reading and for your support!!! And yes P90x will get you those abs for sure!!!
Fingers crossed!!!
I think it’s so cool that you organized a 5K after your wedding! I took everyone on a 6-mile hike the day after mine. 🙂
I hope you haven’t gotten negative feedback from starting Beachbody coaching again. These days I think we’ve all moments when it seems like our Facebook or IG or blog feed is all people trying to sell sell sell! I think the key is like you say to be genuine & authentic. You use & believe the product. You are trying to help people & also do the best for your family! Hopefully people will get that.
I actually haven’t received any (that I know of!) negative feedback – I’m just expressing my own fears. Thank you for the support ! And a post wedding hike is awesome too!!!
Oh! and to answer your original question of what scares me…….. running scares me!
I was never athletic in high school (was a band nerd), so when I joined the US Marine Corps, I was totally out of my element. I was almost never able to pass the PFT (physical fitness test) because I couldn’t run the measly (I say that now!) 1.5 miles! I was always a run drop — very depressing. But determination got me through 13 weeks of boot camp and I passed the final PFT and graduated boot camp. The next 4 years in the USMC saw additional difficulty with running. I was just never good at it, and never enjoyed it. Fast forward 25 years and I decided to take up the sport of running. I was in my mid-40’s and wanted to see if I could run a 5-K, or a half-marathon, etc. You could say that running successfully was on my bucket list. I ended up falling in love with the sport. That was 5 years ago and running has been intermittent but still enjoyable. Like you, I am an accountant but work in the public arena and work a lot of overtime which interferes with training. I will turn 50 years old next April and running a half-marathon is on my wish list before I hit the big 5-0. Although I love the sport of running, I don’t think I am very good at it. I still have flashbacks to my boot camp days and all the days of failing. But that’s okay — that is part of my story. I have to literally psyche myself up and chant mantras of encouragement.
I have a quote on my wall here at work “Do one thing every day that scares you.” by Eleanor Roosevelt.
My one thing today???? Run the 2.5 miles that’s on my training schedule!!! And shout OOH-RAH when I am done (USMC thing!).
Thanks for the motivation! Keep it up!
Thanks for sharing your story!! You are very brave and good work for keeping it up even if you feel like you aren’t a natural. I can’t imagine boot camp- what a challenge!!
If anyone can sell and show people that Beachbody coaching works, it’s you. I’ve watched you transition this year after giving birth to Siena, both physically and mentally, and I know it means THAT MUCH more to you because of your little girl. You work so incredibly hard for your health and active lifestyle – don’t ever let anyone put you down or make you feel less than you are just because you want to share that experience with others. Trust me, I would totally sell “triathlon” if I could, because it has changed me in ways that nothing else can. I think what you are doing is brave, courageous, and amazing. Keep after it – you are changing lives for the better.
Thank you for this! It means a lot. I haven’t had anyone put me down about it – I think it’s my own stigma about “pyramid marketing schemes.” Even though I believe in Beachbody so much, I know what people think of these kind of things. BUT I also know how many lives it can change and that’s all that matters!!
Thanks so much for this!
I am a Beachbody Coach but fear is definitely holding me back, and there are so many people I want to help, just unsure and need to get past my own fears. Not a sales person at all. Thanks again.