From School Teacher to Fitness Icon: What I Wish I Knew Before Quitting My Job | Brian Keane | E107
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What inspired Brian Keane to transition from teaching to fitness?
You're not a tree. If you don't like where you are, you can move.
Brian Keene here is a 3X bestselling author, a certified strengths and condition coach, sport nutritionist, and the host of Brian Keene podcast.
I was a teacher doing something I didn't even like. I was like, if I was sweeping the floor in a gym, I'd be happier than I am doing what I'm doing now. So I spent the next year getting my qualifications and certifications. And when I was about to make the jump full time, one of my aunties was like, you're such an idiot. You're leaving a safe and secure job to go lift some weights in the gym. When I released my first book, The Fitness Mindset, which spent 16 weeks on the Amazon bestseller list, that auntie messaged me and said, I always knew you'd be a success in fitness. When you give new information to people and there's more data, people change their opinion. For those who are caught in the story of, well, it's too late. I can't do that now.
The time is going to pass anyways, and you get to decide what you do. Behind every fear is a person you want to be. What's interesting is separating fear into its two categories. One...
Oh my God, if you want energy in today's episode, buckle up because it's going to be fire. So Brian Keene here is a 3X bestselling author, a certified strengths and condition coach, sport nutritionist, and the host of Brian Keene podcast. And when he's not working, you will find him running ultra marathons in like Arctic, the Sahara, all sort of crazy things. But Brian, you actually have a classic Leap story because you started as a primary school teacher in London. So folks, if you are listening to this episode, you want to hear about somebody that did a complete 180, lean in. This is going to inspire you. Brian, thank you for being here.
How did Brian overcome the fear of failure during his career change?
An absolute pleasure, Lana. Thank you so much for having me.
So take us back in time. Let's rewind. You're studying and you're deciding to be a teacher. What happened there and why a teacher?
It's an interesting backstory because I did what happens to a lot of people. You normally have family members or friends who suggest a career to you, or there's a lot of people working in that space in your family and friend circle. And you think the next logical step is, well, this is what I know. This is what I'll do. And that's exactly what happened to me.
What challenges did Brian face while building his fitness career?
I had a lot of family members and a lot of friends who were teachers. And the obvious path for me was, well, I may as well become a primary school teacher, an elementary school teacher. Never questioning, was this something I wanted to do? And I did a four year undergraduate degree in business. I did a postgraduate degree to become a teacher. I went straight into my first teaching job because of the shortage of teachers in London. And Lana, I was in my first ever day of a year three classroom with 37 year old children in front of me. And I was about five, maybe 10 minutes into it when I thought, I don't want to be a teacher. It was that soon. And the analogy that I've used on podcasts and books on my social media is that it felt like I was years climbing a ladder only to realize it was up against the wrong wall. It's a horrible feeling. Everyone, when I say that, will think of a time in their life when it's happened, a relationship, a weight loss journey, a business venture.
You know this from your history better than anybody and the guests even that you've spoken to where pivoting isn't the right word. It's a 180. It's a complete trajectory shift. But it took me, I was four years as a teacher, nearly four years. And two of those years, to cut a very long story short, was working as a personal trainer at the time in a gym and in the park in London.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What inspired Brian Keane to transition from teaching to fitness?
0:36–2:35
2
How did Brian overcome the fear of failure during his career change?
2:35–3:06
3
What challenges did Brian face while building his fitness career?
3:06–6:47
4
How can mindset influence success in a new career?
6:47–8:24
5
What framework does Brian recommend for building sustainable habits?
8:24–12:10
6
How did Brian tackle ultra marathons and extreme challenges?
12:10–14:59
7
What lessons did Brian learn from setbacks and resilience?
14:59–17:36
8
How important is embracing change in personal growth?
17:36–1:05:21
Speakers
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