In both training and coaching, successful people seem to always share a love of the process. Don't get me wrong, there have been and always will be bad sessions, games, and lifts that make everyone hate what they are doing along the way. I also don't think that everyone has to love their job. However, a love of the process of coaching and training is one of the strongest driving forces in success, for the following reasons:

  1. Athletes are not stupid - they can tell when you don't want to be around them.
  2. Nelly and I always preach environment and consistency - someone that doesn't want to be coaching and training and has other things on their mind is not cultivating an environment where individuals can enjoy their own training.
  3. Most of us have more bad training days than good ones, most of us lift submaximally more than we PR - but I'd put my money on the athlete that had 100 bad days than another athlete that had 50 good ones.

Maybe most importantly, the field of strength and conditioning and athletics is not very forgiving. Most coaches are underpaid and over worked, most athletes don't ever make it to the top level. When strength coaches don't love being in a weight room, every single athlete and employee can feel it. I spent years working under coaches that didn't ever want to come into work and the environment was awful.

If you don't love the weight room, there are hundreds of better job opportunities out there than strength and conditioning. Athletes that are looking for a job after competition, sport scientists that have a deep understanding of training theory and periodization: you might do more damage than good if you take a job in strength and conditioning and fail to cultivate these qualities.

Luke