Close your eyes and firmly plant yourself in this situation:

It's 5 years from now. You wake early to your alarm and again it doesn't feel like you slept long enough, despite ramming the "7-8 hours each night" down your client's throats.

You get dressed; have some oats with berries/a smoothie/some meat and nuts/a coffee before heading out the door to the gym.

Your first client is 10 minutes late and you think about that extra bit of sleep you could've had. You get through your morning of sessions talking about the weather and sport, then have a coffee, workout, eat, train some more people, check Facebook for a bit, and joke with the other trainers before nailing out your last sessions for the day.

You then head home to make a few meals worth of food before doing some emails -- one of which is a client saying they can't train anymore -- plan some sessions and squeeze in some TV and hit the bed, exhausted.

This is life -- consistent, reliable, busy, and relentless. Monday-Friday, session after session, time for money, which is good when the sessions are consistently high, but that means manic days. You don't necessarily have much to show for all this slog but a few grey hairs, many calluses and your photo on the local coffee shop wall.

Does this sound like what might be reality 5 years from now?

How could this be better and what would it look like ideally?

Now, picture this:

It's 5 years from now. You wake up feeling fresh. Today will be another kick ass day. You shower, check your emails while the jug boils and note that you've made $500 over night from people buying some of your online products -- memberships, programs, etc.

You head to the gym and train 3 of your most valuable clients, have coffee with a potential new business venture, then train -- you feel strong today. Afterwards you meet a client for one of the best steaks in town, your treat for a job well done, which is no big cost given that his bill alone for your services for the quarter was $7000.

Afterwards you check on the 5 trainers that you mentor and who run sessions for you -- they're killing it and bringing on new business every week. You meet your wife/husband/significant other/latest squeeze for a stroll in the afternoon and green tea at which point you leave to do a little bit of online work. Your inbox has 5 new requests for training from people you've never met and one email from a top brand wanting to be associated with you.

You have a relaxing evening, plan your next short excursion, eat another amazing dinner with the finest quality foods and then hit the pillow with a smile on your face.

Sounds Nice Doesn't It?

What is stopping this from becoming your future? What would you do to make this a reality?

Ask yourself with brutal honesty -- which future you want for yourself and which one, things going the way they currently are, is most likely?

I've been training and coaching people for nearly a decade. I've visited and trained in many gyms the world over and have worked with and witnessed hundreds of trainers do their thing. I'm also an observer -- I have a knack for noticing things.

What I've noticed over this time is many trainers in a rut, moving from one session to the next, one day to the next and eventually one year to the next, with the same old thing happening and the same lack of real desire to change it.

Trainers are inherently lazy

Too many trainers go about their day as if it's Groundhog Day with no real direction towards the future and no real desire to do bigger and better things. I mean, do you want to train clients 30-40 sessions per week forever?

The Time to Build Your Future is Now

This is how you move from lazy to inspired

Talk to People

Instead of expecting the gym to provide you with leads or clients, get out onto the gym floor and talk to people. Offer great information for free, deliver a free mini session, email someone an article that is relevant to them and keep doing it.

Evaluate Where Your Time is Spent

Instead of telling yourself you have this self-employed thing on cruise control and can do what you like, take a look at your business and evaluate your time. Set out your perfect week and start working towards it.

What is it that You Really Want?

Instead of simply wanting more money, think about what you really want and value in life. Do you want more time on your hands, holidays or perhaps to expand your business? Think hard about these and put things in place to get there.

If You Want it, Ask For It

Instead of hoping for referrals from clients, ask them, "You know I've just had two of my premium spots open up and I'd love to offer them to referrals to my best clients. For every person that signs on for a 'X' week course, the referrer will receive a week's free training."

Create Positive Exchanges

Instead of hoping people nearby hear about you, allot time to going out and building relationships with local business owners. Offer them some sessions in exchange for a test of their own product or service so you can both develop trust in each other and allow a mutual respect to blossom.

Always Go the Extra Mile

Instead of churning out your sessions in exchange for cash and not really giving a crap about their progress or what that cash buys, start providing amazing, extraordinary and valuable service.

Don't just do this for the sessions that you do face to face, but also "the whole 9 yards." Go the extra mile -- initially for no more fee, but start increasing fees for new clients, package it as a "per week" fee and make it a product -- e.g., for X/week you get X sessions + Y & Z. Make this client need and want your services, and make them want to glowingly shout about you to everyone they meet. Change their lives and soon they'll be changing yours.

Make Things Happen!

Instead of expecting things to just happen for you, go out and make them happen. You weren't born into this world with a silver spoon in your mouth and a castle to fall back on, go out into each day with purpose and desire. Apply yourself to making your business kick arse and know where you're headed at all times. Sure the goal can and may move, but keep on top of it.

If you want to realise a future like the second one I painted above, then you need to put away the excuses and the comfort zone that your business operates in and start moving into unknown territory. However, you need to make a plan and apply yourself to it, with some serious hustle.

Get it Done

Here are some strategies for making changes

Write a Vision for the Future

Create your own 5-year vision as I have above. Make it extraordinary, something that lights you up and instantly makes you want to go out and make it happen. It needs to be grand. Refine it and make it truly awesome, then write it out once a day for a week, after which start reading daily and have it somewhere you can see it.

Break it Down

What do you have to do and have in place now and in the next 6-12 months to start making that happen? You may need to change some behaviours to get these outcomes, so write them down and do it. Share all of this with someone who will hold you accountable. Once it's written and public, you'll act.

Figure Our What Needs to be Done

If some things are beyond your current capabilities or expertise, what do you have to do to get there? Who must you talk to and engage with? Make a list of courses, books and people that you need and want complete, read and connect with. Start immediately.

Make Your Business Work for You

Start thinking about how you can expand your business beyond just you and your time. What products can you create, who can you partner with, what value can you add to other businesses, what value/skill/expertise/knowledge do you have that no one else has? There is something, you just need to think, write and get creative.

Talk to People

Create bonds and relationships. Partnerships are what help you expand, and what get you introduced to people, so go about expanding your personal network and living on a global scale. Read, educate yourself, and become a person that can not only handle the vision you have, but wants more from it.

That is Your Kick in the Ass

Go be a personal trainer, a coach, whatever it is you want to be called, but don't just be that trainer that clocks in at the start of the day and gets through their sessions with one eye on the clock, convincing yourself you have it made. Be the kind that does great -- really great -- things and make's it happen themselves.

It's your life you know, you can create it. Just think it, and then do it.

If you want it bad enough, make it happen