Respect, Just a Little Bit

Before breaking into the Aretha Franklin song, let’s respect Google on respect’s noun and verb meanings.

(Noun) A deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.

(Verb) Admire (someone or something) deeply due to their abilities, qualities, or achievements.

Now, let’s bring in the song that’s been on my mind from the get-go.

This may or may not be the last time I refer to this classic song. But here’s the thing about respect, especially from my perspective as a writer and trainer: Many people want it, and some expect to earn it for nothing. Most, if not all, people hate being disrespected, especially for no reason.

What bought all this on? Let’s explore respect and how it can help your health and fitness.

Respect From Where I Sit

Unable to afford to travel to fitness conferences or make a significant investment in becoming a better trainer, I read and watched everything I could to become a better coach. I quickly came to admire the coaches who shared this great information, and because of that, I became a better coach.

Although social media has many flaws, one of its benefits is that when you follow people who practice what they preach, you, too, become knowledgeable. If you can implement this knowledge, it is all the better. So, when you follow people in the health and fitness space who know what they are doing, you are already ahead of the game.

More information leads to information overload, and better information leads to improvement. You can tweet that if you want.  

Anyhow, where was I?

Yes, respect.

How would that go if I demanded respect from a client, the coaches I admire, and my fellow workmates as a newbie trainer? Not well, because the adage that respect needs to be earned comes to mind. That’s another thing about respect: Someone should never demand it, but it should come naturally from your consistent actions.

However, the coaches I followed didn’t know that Shane McLean followed and respected their every exercise move. But, this respect benefited me and my clients, which means respect, just a little bit, can have a snowball effect.

That’s the power of respect from where I sit.

Respect Is Earned, Not Sought

Although this may sound self-serving, respect does not matter to me as a trainer or freelance writer. My only thoughts have been to help and produce good work that people can use.

That’s it. For the longest time, I didn’t think about whether I was any good as a trainer until an experienced trainer told me so, and then it went straight to my big head and ego, of course. The same attitude went into my writing; I didn’t think about being good or bad but sort improvement so people could understand what was being written.

And trust me, that wasn’t always the case, as my wife still has PTSD from editing my earlier work.

Putting my head down and bum up and working hard at coaching and writing improved my skills at both, and now the people I respect respect me. In response to this blog post, coach and good buddy Jason Leenaarts wrote this post in which he said many nice things about me.

I didn’t ask for it, but my work has earned his respect, which means the world to me. That level of respect is earned, not sought.

So, what is the message for your health and fitness? Follow the people you admire, put their knowledge into action, put your head down, and do the work. Tell these people how much they mean to your results; those around you will see your hard work and may respect what you put in.

Let respect snowball into improvement and not ego because mine, after this post, is big enough to go around.

Wrapping Up

Do you think this made Aretha Franklin proud because I crammed that word in as many times as possible? In a world where some want respect for free and will sell their souls for it, instead, put your head down, do the work, and earn it,

That’s a level of respect that sticks.