A constant goal of mine since making fitness my career nearly 20 years ago has been to lead by example. I hold myself to a higher standard because I take my career seriously along with my health and life. I have said this before and will continue to say it — “Our World’s Revolve Around Our Health!” My success as a fitness professional all hinges on my health and the fact that I’m setting the bar by maintaining excellence in my own health. I grew up chubby, my weight ballooned to over 305 pounds, and my junior and senior high school years were not as happy as they should have been. I had low self-esteem and low self-confidence and really was a loner because of my obesity.
As a father to two wonderful sons Dylan (9yrs) and Matthew (4yrs) I aim to be their role model in health also. I do not want them growing up going through the pain of obesity negatively impacting their lives socially, mentally, and emotionally. No…I want my sons to look to me as their role model in Exercise, Nutrition, and Rest. I never pressure them or even tell them to exercise or eat right — I just live that lifestyle and they have grown into it. My boys even mention “cheat nights” because they know every night is not a night to splurge on junk or eat in excess. They know we have a few times each week where we reward ourselves and have some junk food, nuggets, ice cream, pizza, sodas, or other not-so-healthy foods. My boys have already learned from me about moderation, so they don’t just shovel in the high fatty foods, junk, and sugar-filled juices all the time. They see Dad practice control with eating and staying physically active, so they have followed suit. My clients and readers know that I live the lifestyle I teach and I stay away from gimmicks, fads, and magic weight loss trickery. I lead my clients by example.
Suzanne Stowe has been my best friend for a while now and is an awesome example of “Leading by Example.” She has been the only person I refer female clients to for years and continue to do so. Why…because she leads by example and practices what she teaches her own clients and kids. Suzanne is a busy mother of 6 great kids who has never made excuses of being too busy or too tired to stay healthy. She has always made time to take care of herself so she could take care of her kids and work. Talk about discipline — I have even seen her at a big get-together at a Mexican restaurant only eat a couple chips out of the basket! Most of us cannot stop at just a few tortilla chips but she does. If Suzanne plans a workout for a client to do on vacation you better believe Suzanne would do and does the same on her own vacation.
Are you leading by example? Are you practicing the advice you teach? Do you lead by example and make a good role model? Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth and say one thing, yet do another. Take your own advice and live it. We all have to lead others by example, take care of ourselves, and be good people. It is our personal responsibility to be the best we can be. We never know who may be watching us so our daily goals should be to set great examples, be positive role models, practice what we teach, and Lead By Example.