I wanted to talk about attributes that I value and purposefully share with all of you. There’s a whole backside to the fitness studio business that clients don’t see in 30-minutes, but I hope they can feel throughout the entire 30-minutes; we listen to clients, we encourage clients, we appreciate that they spend time with us, and we’re super excited when a client shares good news with us. I’m taking about respect. Not the mobster kind of respect where people are afraid of you so they do anything you ask them to do, but the kind where people like you! Respect can either be a noun (esteem for or a sense of the worth of excellence of a person, personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability) or a verb (to hold in esteem or honor). Basically, it means that you demonstrate high regard or special attention to someone or something.
As kids we were taught respect, but it was masked as manners. You know, shaking hands with someone whom you met, saying please & thank you, not interrupting when someone is talking, and of course obeying your elders. Those are all signs of respect. As we get older and interact with more people & different cultures, we realize that respect comes in many different forms and signs of respect are different for people. When I was in acupuncture school a Japanese master gave me his business card. I went to put it in my pant’s rear pocket to save it, but my American teacher quickly grabbed my hand to stop me. In Japan, it is disrespectful to put someone’s business card in your pant’s pocket close to your butt. Thank goodness she understood the culture or I would have seriously offended someone! This is an example of how our social & cultural differences influences our meaning of respect.
- Being kind to yourself, positive self talk, and lots of self love.
- Listening when someone is talking. You may have no interest in what they are saying, but the point is that we all have an inherent need to be heard. Listening allows you to learn.
- Being a voice of support for someone who hasn’t found their voice yet. By speaking up for someone you validate them.
- Maintaining a safe space to exercise where every body feels comfortable.
- Saying something positive to someone to affirm that they matter, they’re important, and they’re valued.
- Celebrating someone else’s achievements & being truly happy for them.
- Saying please and thank you when someone helps you. You don’t do things to get a “thank you”, but when someone says it, it feels good to know that you made a difference or helped someone.
- Being kind. When you show kindness, you acknowledge that someone is in need and you are there to serve them.
- Agreeing to disagree. If you don’t agree with someone’s opinion, that’s ok. They might not agree with yours either. It just means that you accept the differences and move on.