My fellow fitness trainers and coaching experts: sooner or later, you are going to need a vacation (and I’d advocate that you take it sooner, rather than later).
For this reason, the best part about the summer is that many of your clients are already going to be taking theirs – which means that, between the end of May and the beginning of September, this will be your ideal window to kick the tires and light the fires.
- However, one of the biggest problems of taking vacations for really any independent contractor or small business owner is the fact that you’ll be heading for the beach -and leaving your money
making machine home all alone to fend for itself. It’s not uncommon for a fitness trainer to worry about having to put out fires (which is often what dissuades us to take a vacation in the first place). So here’s how to get your wheels off the tarmac for your getaway, while keeping peace of mind that all is STILL well on the fitness business home-front.
#3 – Don’t Make Up Unnecessary Vacation Rules
I would have to agree that vacations are most effective when you’re actually spending that time playing and not working, for obvious reasons.
So it is true that a vacation can still feel like you never left the office if you’re stuck on your smartphone, while you SHOULD be spending that time in the jacuzzi. In fact, small business gurus like Julie Elaine Brown of popexpert.com’s opinion on the matter draws an even harder line in the sand:
One of the greatest ways to increase stress during a vacation is to not fully unplug. In my experience, the whole “checking in” via email or cell phone once a day adds more stress than letting go, unplugging, and truly enjoying time off.
However, there are two main reasons why I might somewhat disagree with a total hardline ‘unplug’ vacation parameter…
- The first is that, sometimes, it’s just not a feasible expectation -because some issues need to be dealt with within 24 hours, and not after you get back in 7 days. As a businessman, I know this truth all too well.
- The second is that, if certain issues aren’t dealt with -and you end up doing some nasty harm to your fitness business in the process- then the separation anxiety alone could delay your next vacation …until it’s WAY too long overdue.
Trust me, I’ve been there. It’s ok not to TOTALLY unplug, but just make sure that you’re limiting and managing the time you spend on that laptop/smartphone. Then get back out there and soak up the sun with the people you love.
#2 – Prepare Your Fitness & Coaching Business Ahead of Time
The best way to avoid suffering any collateral vacation damage to your fitness business is to make sure that it’s planned well in advance. However, it’s not just the planning itself that will help you here: it’s also the ability to let your network and clients know about your vacation dates far in advance.
Providing your business with a few months of forewarning will allow you to take advantage of quite a few vacation business hacks…
- According to Mary Mulrooney of Livestrong.com, she even tells fitness trainers to leverage their local network of other fitness trainers and coaches -providing you with a substitute, so that your clients don’t have to skip out on any sessions. Ingenius!
- Use social media and your website to let your client-base and social web followers know that you won’t be available during the week of your vacation.
- Keep your inbound marketing campaign(s) running by providing yourself with an extra 2 weeks-worth in content, saved explicitly for your vacation time. That way, your blog and social media activity won’t skip a beat, even while you’re pushing a stroller on the boardwalk.
Giving yourself a hefty buffer zone allows for people to prepare for your week-long period of unavailability -and not to mention- it provides you with the peace of mind that nobody is unpleasantly surprised by your not-so-sudden (but much needed) absence.
#1 – Prioritize Your Schedule
It’s a well-known fact that successful wellness coaches and fitness trainers absolutely need to take time off. Why? Well, it allows you to stay fresh and rejuvenate, remembering why you’re running a fitness and coaching business in the first place:
A successful personal trainer (as an example) needs to allow time for their own workouts and personal interests, as well as an occasional week off. You need to be able to give 100% to your clients! You also need time for yourself to rejuvenate your mind and body. This often will mean getting totally away from the people and the environment in which you work.
And I do believe that in order to get total rejuvenation, then you need to be totally relaxed during your time off. This doesn’t mean, however, that I think you should completely ignore the business that you’ve worked so hard to build. The key to not allowing yourself to get thrown back into the stress of the business (while also not stressing out about the vacation/business ‘what if’s), is to provide yourself and your network with set availability times.
That’s why, my recommendation is for you to give yourself 1 hour per day, and that’s your absolute maximum.
That 1 hour should give you enough time to patch any holes in the hull, but at the same time, it’s non-obtrusive enough of a timeframe that won’t make you forget that you’re even in the Bahamas in the first place.
The Key Takeaway? Remember Why You’re on Vacation.
One of the reasons why I don’t like setting too many rules and absolutes is because small businesses work best when they operate under a premise of freedom and balance. No I don’t believe that you absolutely HAVE to unplug completely -because that just doesn’t work for everybody. Yet still, you shouldn’t put yourself into a situation where your vacation was spent working.
Not only will a vacation provide your mind, body (and nerves) with a necessary break, allowing you to become just that much more effective upon your return back to the gym -but they say that ‘distance makes the heart grow fonder’.
I believe that this pithy little saying is applicable to small fitness businesses, such as ours. When you can allow yourself to let go in a sensible, balanced, and logical manner -then both you and your business can grow in the same way.
Now go ahead and book that flight…
Because your palm tree-shaded spot on the sand awaits you, my friend.
Leave a Reply