A couple of weeks back, a local HS football player contacted me for help with getting on an eating regimen. After a few days of corresponding back and forth via email, I got to work on designing his meals and eating schedule. After finalizing it, I sent it over to him and also invited him to lift alongside me sometime if he was ever interested.
He did express interest, so we began to coordinate our schedules.
This was on Tuesday.
He told me that on Wednesdays, he is done with school around 2pm. I told him I would be lifting tomorrow from around 2:30-4:30pm and that he was welcome to join me.
To paraphrase his response, he said “I’ll be there.”
I was impressed.
He didn’t ask me what we would be doing. He didn’t remind me that he already does offseason lifting on M-W-F mornings. He didn’t tell me that he needed to check on a few things to make sure he could make that work. He didn’t tell me he’d think about it.
He accepted my invitation without making any stipulations.
Then it became Wednesday afternoon.
Even though he seemed serious the night before, I know from too many experiences that a person saying they’re going do something is not the same as a person actually doing what they say. I was optimistic that he would be joining me but I wasn’t going to count on it, so I carried out my day like I normally would as I kept an eye out for him.
At about 2:45pm, the door to the gym opened and in he walks.
I greeted him and we chatted for a couple minutes before getting to work.
He was a strong kid, and a respectful one, too. He did everything I asked of him without having any reservations about anything we did.
^This is the attitude we must have when working with a professional.
Forget what you think you know. Forget what you have heard. Forget what you did this morning, or what you’ll be doing tomorrow. Use the opportunity to fully trust and learn from the person you have sought out.
Before he left, I told him he could continue to lift with me for a while.
We’ll see if he shows up again.
My guess is that he will.