I was reviewing a recent blog post from my colleague, Eric Cressey, about the recent passing of his Uncle.  Having lost many close family members over the years, I can relate to losing a loved one.  More importantly, I try and always take a lesson (four in this case) and remember the good times.  The lessons Eric presented in his article were ones that I incorporate into my training sessions with my clients.  These include:

• Showing up- I always make it a point to visit my clients in their special events outside of our sessions.  In the last year or so, I've been to several basketball games, dance competitions, baseball games, etc... to prove to my clients I care about them as people.  It also allows me an opportunity to assess their movement and identify areas we can address in the weight room (i.e. postural improvements, decreasing injuries, etc...)
• Always be Calm- Eric talks about his uncle never yelling- ever.  I never liked the "screamer coaches" (i.e. Bobby Knight) who pace up and down constantly yelling at their players.  It never motivated me, and if anything, made me shut them out.  I'm constantly pushing my clients, always demanding their best, but I've never been the trainer who you hear from across the gym yelling, etc... I worked with a trainer like this several years ago and was always discouraged that he had more business than me.  Lesson learned was that I could not be someone I wasn't.
• Always be Positive- This rings true when working with clients who need a LOT of work on their nutrition.  I often have them keep written records of what they are eating and some of what I initially see is honestly pretty bad.  However, I simply take 1 behavior at a time to work on for 2-3 weeks at a time and move from there.  This could be increasing veggie intake, incorporating more protein, or drinking more water.  The huge key is to simply work on ONE THING for 2-3 weeks.  Keep it simple and stay conservative.
• Always be Approachable- I've had so many clients, grp. ex. participants, etc... tell me how easy I am to talk to.  This all stems from a lesson I learned early on that says "people are concerned about how much you CARE more than how much you KNOW."  The amount of knowledge I possess means NOTHING if I am not approachable.  A lot of it stems from my passion to truly enjoy helping people.  

For the full article from Eric that inspired this blog post, click the following link: http://www.ericcressey.com/four-valuable-lessons-i-learned-from-my-uncle