When your dream dies... Start again.

A bit more than a year ago I have opened my company for coaching and personal training.

It was a lockdown in Dubai, UAE. the company that I have worked for was closed and the only attractive option for me was getting my own license.

I still had my Personal Training clients and needed the permission to work in UAE. I know, some people do it without a permission, but I do not believe in shortcuts in any area.

A little bit of backstory here. I have arrived to Dubai in November 2013 and have been working at the Spa Reception for 2.5 years in one the best 5-Star Hotels - Grand Hyatt Dubai. This is still my favorite chain of hotels, but it is definitely better to look at it from outside.

I have turned my passion in to profession in 2016 and left the comfort of the company for good. I always knew - I am not made for systems, I can be good at it - but not for too long. Soul crushing, routine days are not for me.

We have opened the company with two other trainers, that I had recently met.

All I knew - we had a passion for fitness and helping people. Overall, this is the story of disappointment and is for another time.

I can sum it up in two things:

1 - men have a huge ego when the woman is smart (er).

2 - passion is not enough in business.

I gave up on my dream of building business and creating opportunities for others. I chose the comfort zone. Little that I knew, comfort zone is the most uncomfortable and depressing place for me.

2 years ago I started to get sick, being anxious, becoming apathetic. I was not good. Many days I could not get out of bed. I already thought to go to a therapist. The only thing that stopped me - was their prices. Suddenly, I have realised that my problem was not that big after all :)

I was just stuck. I hated to be a trainer! Forgive me my favorite people that I train. It has nothing to do with you. That was me - disappointed and frustrated by my career choice. I had so many dreams about changing people's lives, making them healthy and happy. And I ended up training pretty fit people, not obese, not with some life-threatening diseases. Sad. Simply sad.

Sometimes you have expectations from your choice and they turn out differently.

This is a price for taking risks.

There I was. May 2020. Opening the business that I have always wanted. Accidentally. There was no plan for that for sure.

I have opened the company just to train others and gave myself a year to figure out what to do with all of it.

I changed things though, I went to training others with my own rules. I hated my training schedule of 6-10am and 4-9pm. I was always exhausted driving around in traffic, hungry and stressed. And it felt like I was working the whole day.

I decided that the only time I like to work with clients is morning and afternoon. So I limited my working hours from 6:00am to 2-3:00pm with very few exceptions for my old clients. And to my huge amazement, it worked! Most of the people were not in the office, so I had all the timings booked and even for the first time started to create waiting list of clients who were ready to train.

I thought problem was solved. Nahhh... It was just temporary relief. System was broken. Or I was broken in fitness system. The system of butts and abs, obsession with looks. I got over it 4 years ago... Training is so much more than that.

And here we are again. No matter what I did, I was burning out. I could not handle even 4-5 sessions a day, and before I had up to 8. Maybe it's kind of clients? Nope, all clients I have are amazing people and I actually like them. All the toxic clients disappeared with me learning my boundaries.

So what is it?

Growth. I was lacking growth in my area. There is so much you can do as a trainer. But it all comes down to selling your time for money. You have clients - you have money. Client gets sick, goes on vacation - no income. Despite me learning to save years ago and not needing the immediate sacrifice for money, I could not agree with the fact that my career was depending on other people.

And don't even get me started on early morning cancellations... You are ready to work and then - getting the message 'Sorry, have to cancel." I got better for charging for late cancellations, but people not showing up always made a damage to my mood. Nobody likes to be cancelled on. And one day I just decided that I would never be ok with it. This is part of the process.

I am an empath, and I am very sensitive, and I do take things personally. Just because I feel way more than other people. Isn't it even ironic? Person who loves to work with people is too sensitive to work with them?! :)))

Progress was required. It was time to take another direction. And this message is a part of it. I have completed my Life Coaching Certification from Tony Robbins and Cloe Madanes in May 2020 (thank you lockdown). At that time I was not ready to go full-time, so I decided a safe option - use it with my current clients.

Once a coach is always a coach. I can't stop myself from listening, analyzing, brainstorming, looking for solutions, finding limiting beliefs. For this reason, I don't even try to make new friends anymore. Each time I simply end up being a coach for them as and they always forget to ask how I am... Friendship is a two-way street, in the end of the day.

Now, this is my official announcement to move towards full-time Life Coaching and creating more in the area of Personal Development, not only training and nutrition. This transition will take 6-12 months, still need to teach few people how to squat and deadlift properly :)

I have been limiting myself for way too long. Finally ready for a new adventure!

P.S. In the nearest months will be opening up slots for 1 on 1 LifeCoaching sessions. Meanwhile you