Save The Planet?

Yesterday as I walked up Michigan Avenue towards Equinox, an obese man started waving a clipboard at me. I had my headphones on which usually averts the barrage of petition volunteers, and I guess I could have kept walking, but I paused for a moment to listen to his question. "Save the planet?" he asked. I kept walking and gave him the palm, or universal "I'll pass" sign. It's not that I don't care about the planet. It's not even that I didn't have time to talk with him. But it was him. He failed to engage me because he clearly wasn't buying what he was selling. The guy looked not much different than most 50+ men these days: big belly, large neck. Sloppy. And it's not the aesthetics here, people. From what I inferred, this guy ate too much, his diet consisted of high amounts of processed foods and industrialized meats, and he definitely is friends with his pizza delivery guy. So why would I listen to someone talk about saving the planet when they don't want to work on themselves? We can't expect to change the world or hold everyone else to a certain standard when we don't set the example. It starts with each one of us. Being a personal trainer, I must aim to be more knowledgeable than my clients, learn more about their imbalances and ailments in order to teach and train them properly, but most importantly I need to be disciplined in my own diet and fitness, and I must hold myself to a higher standard than I would ever expect from any of my clients. This way, they know that I am committed 110% to fitness and overall health, and they know they can believe in me as their guide. So simple thing is here, people: in any business you might be in--it starts with you.

It's not "Change the planet, save ourselves," but rather, "Change ourselves, save the planet."

 Happy Friday everyone, and thanks for reading!