What happened to Allen???

Hi TrueAiki readers. What happened to Allen? I thought he was retiring and going to have all of this extra time on his hands to post on TrueAiki.

Well, I did retire. (As you know.) Then I studied hard over the summer and passed the National Academy of Sports Medicine’s exam to become a Certified Personal Trainer. (As you know.)

Then my “Boomer” inner voice kicked in and began berating me for not already having a job. It was the end of the summer and nearly four decades of programming told me that I should be loosing sleep at night and working 10-12 hours a day . . . and I didn’t have a job? What kind of man, husband, father was I after all??? (This is Boomer programming, remember?) “You gave up a solid job for what?” “What were you thinking?!”

So I became progressively miserable and spent progressively more time applying for jobs as a Certified Personal Trainer. COVID-19 axed many jobs, decimating the health care industry among many others. My initial thought was that, as a personal trainer, getting a job would be easy during the “bounce back” from COVID-19. I hadn’t figured on the variants. I should have, one doesn’t have to know much about epidemiology to have predicted that, but I didn’t.

I prepared myself for a long wait in landing a job. Since, I had paid for the opportunity to do an internship with NASM, getting experience while I slogged through interview after interview seemed like the smart thing to do. (Most beginning trainers are twenty- something . . . so at about 3 times that I was “unique.”)

I went in to meet my internship mentor and after about 30 minutes of chatting, to my surprise he said,

“You don’t need an internship, you need a JOB! I think I want to hire you!!”

WOW! Can you imagine my surprise? But the surprises didn’t end there! He went on to say,

“Now, don’t make the mistake that most beginning trainers do. They twist their schedules to meet any client’s needs. That’ll just lead to burn out. You have to decide what schedule best works for you and then stick to it. That is what I want you to do. Go home, talk to your wife, and think about what schedule is going to work for you and your family. Then we’ll talk and see if we can make that work. I figure that when my people are doing what is best for them, they are going to be able to do their best on the job. It’s a win-win situation!”

That was the first and only time I ever heard a potential employer, especially in this industry, speak like that . . . and he offered me a job! It didn’t take long to come to the conclusion of where I want to work. I am now working at a great gym with great, experienced, supportive cooworkers.

[An aside: Experience tells me that regardless of how good or bad a workplace is overall, the influence of one’s immediate supervisor can make or break a situation. So I am under no pretence as to how lucky I am. My boss is nothing but positive, encouraging, and supportive. How many bosses have you had where you were genuinely happy to see them? I told him that I was interested in teaching group classes. He recommended that I attend one of my colleague’s classes to get a taste. I did. My colleague welcomed me with open arms. To be honest, adding that one class on top of my 5-day split routine wrecked me! I struggled just to make it to the end of the class. The instructor was nothing but encouraging and supportive, but my ego was bruised. I reported this to my boss. His response?

“You’ve set a good goal. I want to send you to a three-day certification course, all paid.”

What do you say to that? “Thank you!” (And then pray you survive.)

That is the kind of individual that people of strong character willingly follow. They are leaders in fact rather than “leaders’ by title. Unfortunately high quality individuals like these aren’t always as valued as they ought to be by those that employ them. Why? It is my guess that the “cream doesn’t always rise to the top” as often as ambition, manipulation, nepotism, or shear dumb luck does.]

I’m presently working 5 hours a day. So that should give me plenty of extra time, right? Well, not quite. You see, I have an hour to 1.5 hour commute. Also, there is another factor involved. My wife now makes more money working than I do. Remember she is a neuroscientist who works as a freelance science writer? She is also the world’s best mom! (As a dad, I am fully qualified to say that!) So, in order to try to give her more time to write (besides being a full time “world’s best mom”) I have volunteered to be part-time chauffeur. This adds about another hour to my day making my work week about 37.5hrs. Which is leaves less than expected time for writing on TrueAiki.com.

BUT, But, but . . .

A ray of sunshine, and a glimmer of hope is breaking through! Four days out of my five-day work week (+ three days of martial partner training, and 7 days of strength, cardio and internal training) there are 30 minutes each day when I can work, undisturbed, at the local public library (conviniently located between work, home and close to where my (world’s greatest) kids (as a dad I’m qualified to say that) need a ride.

I JUST figured this out. I am SO PUMPED! (Did I mention it is at the library??? My wife and I are nerds. We LOVE the library!) Tomorrow, I will continue to work on my last story. I also have another multi-post that is finished (since the summer) that just needs photos.

So stay tuned folks. Allen is BACK! And will post again . . . maybe as soon as tomorrow.

True Aiki is free for all to read, but it is not free.  As little as $1 can help to cover expenses and possibly add features to True Aiki.

Thank You!

Please consider becoming a patron of Allen Dean Beebe's True Aiki.  Your ongoing support will best assure the continuance and growth of True Aiki.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT!