I find it a helpful exercise to think about what I would do differently if I could start again from scratch with my gym in Richmond, VA. Obviously life doesn’t work that way. So many lessons have to be learned (and re-learned several times) through experience.
I would focus on the process, not the outcome
Early in my training and coaching, I was obsessed with numbers. The weight on the bar, the time on a workout. For myself and so many other people, it provided temporary motivation and a nice post-PR dopamine hit. There are obviously so many times that numbers matter, BUT, even with our highest level athletes, a focus on the process has yielded greater long term results. And far less frustration and burnout.
I would strive to help and see the whole person, not just what they do in the gym
Training itself was such an exciting and novel thing, that for years I couldn’t see past it. It took awhile to realize that there is so much more to life than what goes on in the gym. First, that there more to your performance in the gym than who you do in the gym; your nutrition, recovery, and mindset. But also that each person is so much more than their performance in the gym, and not defined by their last squat PT or benchmark score.
I would accept that there is no magic formula and few secrets
It took too long for me to realize that the secret recipe I was searching for didn’t exist. Of course, there are better and worse (and straight up wrong) ways to do some things. But I’ve realized that I’ve gotten the best results through consistent execution to the basics and being open to adjusting my approach through feedback from experience. I’ve seen some of my worst results mimicking what I saw others do in hopes that there was something “special” they were doing.
I hope training has helped you learn some valuable lessons, and that my lessons learned can help pave the way for your own!