Failure may be the Key 🗝 to becoming a Stretch Therapist 🧐
Do you believe that there are themes that follow you? Themes that keep showing up until you take notice?
Well for me, if I had to choose a theme for myself in 2022, it would be failure. Not in a bad way, but in a very good way 🙃
I have spent a lot of time giving, receiving and accepting it this year so it’s time I discuss it.
You see, in our course The Performance Stretch System, I am the Lead Master Trainer and the final examiner for the online course.
It is my job to decide whether the students pass or fail… and yeah, it’s much harder than you think 😑.
I truly want everyone to pass. I mean, our goal as a company is to #StretchTheWorld 🤩 and in order to do that, we have to have as many health and wellness pros come through our program and pass.
But not everyone passes on their 1st try. And really, that’s ok; because for many it’s great!
We are dedicated to producing the best stretch therapists in the world. So we hold our students to a higher standard.
Failure is no longer hard for me, because I see failure as a chance to grow. When someone doesn’t pass, I use their scheduled time to work with them through the areas they are struggling with and give them notes on what they can do to pass the next time.
The sad part is when they don’t try again. 🙁
I failed my Personal Training Certification Exam... TWICE!
The first time I failed was because I was nervous and very ill prepared. I thought I could fake my way through it. So when I failed, I was mad, but mostly at myself. I was embarrassed and hurt so I directed my anger at the examiner. I figured, “I’d show him!”
The 2nd time I failed, I was mad-mad. I had done some more studying, but still the bare minimum. I felt I was entitled to be passed and HE was the problem. And I told him so… (yeah, I had an attitude 😔). I cried and made him feel even more horrible than he already did.
People who know me now, probably couldn’t even imagine me doing anything like that. But I’m grown enough to acknowledge who I was and be grateful for how much I’ve evolved into who I am today.
I took out all my anger and disappointment on him. I thought of giving up. I told myself it wasn’t worth it, I didn't need it! But at a certain point I had to get real with myself.
I really wanted this.
I had to humble myself, buckle down, and most importantly, take the feedback he gave seriously.
And guess what happened? I was actually able to learn a lot and see where he was coming from. I wasn’t a horrible personal trainer, he could see that I could do better.
By the 3rd time I took it my attitude was different and I got a different result. I FINALLY passed. But more importantly the takeaway here is that it changed me.
I truly believe I wouldn’t be the person I am today, if he had let me pass on either the 1st or 2nd time.
The examiner had shown me a level of kindness I didn’t appreciate at the time. He waived a fee for me and let me do my exam at a time not in his schedule, but even with his efforts, still I took my anger out on him.
Now, I am on the other side of the table. I find myself honouring him when I do what I can to accommodate people's schedules and time zones; I have compassion even when someone gets mad; and I don’t take it personally when someone lashes out at me.
I remember what it was like to be in their shoes and I hope that their failure can also help them succeed and grow.
I believe that “Every-time you fail, you get a chance to learn.”
So I encourage you to take the lessons life has given you, and grow.
In ever evolving growth,
Devon MD Jones
Devon pursued and earned her Personal Trainer Specialist Certification in 2002. She has continued to study and grow her knowledge, expanding into Stretch Therapy & Reflexology to take her clients to levels they never knew they could reach.
Devon see’s health and wellness as a form of therapy. She uses her wellness knowledge along with her Sociology degree and extensive knowledge of how the body moves, to not only help individuals get fit and de-stress, but to communicate with them the "why" of what they are doing to maintain results.
