Meet Janice Gil | Personal Trainer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Janice Gil and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Janice, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
Recently I was having a conversation with a friend, and he was telling me how he was nervous about the various upcoming business opportunities that were headed his way. He went on to tell me that he was afraid of not meeting his own expectations of himself. This reminded me a lot of myself. This is what bonded us to be friends in the first place. We both shared the commonality of fearing failure, failure to meet our own standard of being perfect. I told him, “All it takes is you being present and encountering the situation as if it is the first time you have encountered it, because it is the first time you are encountering it”. After I said this, I realized I was also speaking to myself. I wrote this quote down as a reminder that this expectation is unachievable due to the simple fact that any new experience is exactly that: new. To have this standard means you are already setting yourself up for failure because this is a completely unrealistic expectation. This is why this is my new favorite quote. It is a reminder that all I need to do is immerse myself in the moment and treat it as if it is my first time encountering the situation, because it is.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve been a personal trainer for almost 2 years now. In June, I earned my certification in Fascial Stretching Therapy. In August I start school to work toward becoming a massage therapist, which I’m really excited about because I love learning about the recovery side of fitness. I have competed in 3 bodybuilding shows and won 2 overall titles and I am an ambassador for Total Grit Apparel. The goal is to expand my knowledge on everything fitness entails which is not only physical fitness, but also mental fitness, and at a very deep level spiritual fitness.

To me, being a personal trainer is the ability and responsibility to transform people’s minds and bodies. You’re not just dealing with a human’s body, you’re dealing with their life, their personal story, their struggle, their emotions. My job is to help people create a healthy perception towards fitness and at a subconscious level, towards life. To expand someone’s mind is the most impactful and powerful way you can help someone. How I view personal training is similar to the phrase, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” I don’t want people to depend on me, I want them to learn how to fish or care for themselves because I’m not going to be there for every challenge that comes their way. People need to learn how to be confident taking orders from themselves, not just me. Part of that is learning how to help yourself. In doing so, they’ll become capable of overcoming any obstacle that comes their way.

Getting to where I’m at now professionally was not sunshine and rainbows. There were times that felt very smooth and times that felt like I wanted to quit and hide under a rock. Looking back, in the times that felt easy-going, I was in a very relaxed mental state. I had no expectation and I was just having a good time, enjoying life, going with the flow. I made friends with people, I picked people’s brains, and I cared about the life of each person I encountered regardless of whether or not I received something in return for caring. I respect the fact that anyone I meet is here living their own experience.

In the times where I wanted to quit and hide, I remember putting extreme expectations on myself. I believe that naturally we are our own worst critic. We think that we need to have everything figured out right away and if we don’t then we must be lacking or doing something wrong. This kind of mentality causes you to question everything about your being. Am I worthless, am I stupid, am I making the wrong choices? Probably! Just kidding, but I’m glad I can joke about it now. I noticed that any challenge I’ve faced has shared the same deep rooted theme: self doubt. I’m still learning to overcome this. If you are someone who wants to evolve it seems almost unavoidable for those doubts to creep in. Anytime you face something new you have to remember that there is no perfect way of doing something. There is only doing and if you focus on doing, self doubt will slowly fade away as you prove to yourself more and more that life isn’t meant to be scary it’s meant to be lived. Reflecting back on this transition from when things were going smooth to rocky tribulations, I now see that I had forgotten how to go with the flow and just enjoy living.

I want the world to know you are not defined by your failures. I used to identify with my shortcomings and thought it was bad to make mistakes. Failure after failure, I learned to be timid of putting myself out there. I later learned that this was a shield created by my ego in an attempt to guard myself. I became resentful toward myself and envious of seeing others live their life. I wondered nothing good was happening for me. I had to put my ego aside and face reality. The reality that I was keeping myself stagnant and trapped in a cycle of fear and misery. Living through a lens of fear was preventing me from creating new experiences. At Total Grit apparel the motto is, “keep moving forward”. I was not allowing myself to move forward because I was consumed in my agony of the past. Funny thing is, you should be failing every now and again because that means you are growing. Simultaneously, you are setting yourself free from the chains of your mind. You are not defined by your failures but you are defined, recognized, and validated from yourself by how you attack every new moment that presents itself to you. Mistakes are moments to learn about your character and how to improve yourself. Mistakes are what made me stronger. I want people to know you have the power to change your story and create the life that you want to live. Live from purpose, not from fear. Keep moving forward.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
A friend of mine took me on a crazy trail called Bob Bear Trailhead in Strawberry Arizona. It’s a 9 mile trail that leads to a beautiful waterfall that you can jump in. I would definitely take anyone visiting Arizona on that trail. My favorite food spot is Protein house, I love that they show off the nutritional value in their meals because you get good tasting food while staying health conscious. I enjoy checking out different outdoor areas because it reminds me to slow down, relax, and tune into the vast beauty that surrounds me. I also love checking out new gyms however, I recently decided I want to try new ways of moving my body, like taking a pole dancing class. You get so used to doing gym workouts that you forget there are so many ways to be active. You’ll usually find open minded people in any place that revolves around having a health conscious perspective. Those are the type of people I like to surround myself with.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have met so many people throughout the different chapters of my life and they have all given me valuable lessons whether they knew it or not. My family, my friends, bosses, coworkers, collaborators, even the homeless people that I’ve had conversations with, all deserve credit for the knowledge they have given me. Shoutout to the Blood, Sweat, and Bodywork gym and a special shoutout to my haters! Lol 🙂

Website: https://www.vagaro.com/bloodsweatandbodywork/services

Instagram: LittoGoblinLifts

Image Credits
Rob Guerrero Tanner Fillmore