“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
(Mahatma Gandhi)
Kate Galliett is on a mission I admire; to help others do great things and feel great doing them. Kate created her thriving business Fit for Real Life because she’s fascinated by all the things that can make us better humans – from your gut (stomach health) to your gut (that deep gnawing thing that can drive you forward and make you stop dead in your tracks). Kate is also an author: Her book, The Movement Manifesto: Three Simple Tenets To Live By To Feel Great, Move Well, And Unlock Your True Potential, is a quick-read guide book to help any person, at any fitness level, understand how to make their body work the way they want it to, and put aches and pains to bed for good. Kate’s an innovator, too: Her first-of-a-kind training system, The Unbreakable Body, is a 12-week program designed to eliminate your aches and pains, help you become the caretaker of your own body, and unlock powerful, fluid, and pain-free movement.
I knew I was going to like Kate when she said, “Whether you’re age 25, 85 or anything in between… you can get better with age.” I couldn’t agree more! Our work at Happy Living is to inspire others to believe that a better self is always possible today, every day, for the rest of their lives. So, as a Happy Living reader, I think you’re going to like Kate too!
Hi Kate, tell us a little about yourself and how you got where you are today?
Hi Matt. Thanks for inviting me to be a part of this great interview series. I’ve been a personal trainer for 14 years now. I was a country-living kid growing up, which meant a lot of running around, climbing up trees and over fences. I also knew at a very young age that I wanted to help people feel good. At the time I thought that meant being a doctor because 5 year olds don’t know what a “personal trainer” is. After getting my BS in Exercise Science (and realizing I was completely not right for the physical therapy world), I got a job my senior year as a trainer at a gym. I moved to a large national health club chain after college, and several years later opened my own gym. Another several years later I was done with Chicago and its winters, and I shifted my entire business online so I could move to a location that better suited me.
I now work with clients and the community through the articles, podcasts and webinars on my website, as well as through live coaching in workshops and in one-on-one Skype training sessions. I am also the creator of The Unbreakable Body foundational strength and mobility program, which helps thousands of folks around the world become strong, durable, pain-free, and injury-resistant.
I care a lot about authenticity… and I avoid gossip and complacency. ;)
How has significance played a role in your journey? (My philosophy on significance has two components: doing something you love and creating something of value to others.)
Well, I guess the way you define it, significance is my journey. I love my job as a coach and my work definitely brings value to others – that is its purpose. I couldn’t imagine a job where I couldn’t express my true nature all day. Playing a role during the workday and only being my true self after hours just wouldn’t suit me. My job and work as a coach allow me to share my enthusiasm, my curiosity, my excitement, and the natural teacher-aspect of myself with others all day long. That’s great fun because it gets others really excited. It’s thrilling when people tell me, “Kate, your excitement made me excited about this.” Am I being of service to others? That’s what matters to me.
Was there a specific moment or situation when you became aware of those things that are most significant to you?
To me, life is a collection of experiences that help you discern what is significant to you and what isn’t. I know some folks find that what matters to them changes significantly over time, but that hasn’t been the case for me. I knew at a very young age that I wanted to help people feel good. I really can’t remember any time or even any memory when I didn’t know that I’m here to do things that help people feel good. I’ve always known I was going to do a job just like the one I’m doing now. I feel really lucky because I’ve always known what I am meant to do.
What obstacles have you faced in your pursuit of significance? How did you overcome them?
Self-awareness is the first thing: Noticing when something is a problem. For example, I used to hate doing spreadsheets. I tried to get others to help me instead of learning it for myself, and I would just hate it every time I had to do it. But then the day came, and I said, “No more. I am a business owner and I actually need to know how to do this stuff.” It all changed once I became aware that I was infusing a very vital part of my business with really negative energy. Just noticing that changed everything for me. I decided to make a game out of learning spreadsheets. I played with it. Over time, I began to appreciate how these new skills could help my work. That game-ification is one of the most helpful tools I use to succeed in mastering things I’m not naturally drawn towards or skilled at.
Another hurdle in the way of my desire to be of service to others was the number of hours in a day. Personal training is usually one-on-one, which means I can only help however many people I decide to spend an hour with each day. That has an energetic limit to it. At best, I could work one-on-one with seven or eight people per day, all of whom must be in my geographical region. But what about everyone else who could benefit from my help and who didn’t live near me? Thus, I figured out a way to conduct my entire business online, so that I could create tools that help people at any time, and anywhere in the world. So now I’m not required to be physically with my clients for an hour each time a person uses my tools, products or ideas.
What is one thing you wish you had known 10 years ago?
How to make good coffee. I hadn’t discovered the joys of bringing home freshly roasted beans, and preparing coffee in a way that really honors the amazingness of that little bean.
What is one hope you have for the next 10 years?
I hope I help many more people to feel great, move better and unlock their true potential.
Are there any books or resources you would like to recommend to our readers?
That’s always so hard because there are so many amazing books out there. I also think that sometimes a book needs to be read at the right time in a person’s life, when they’re ready for its message, you know? That makes it hard when you’re trying to recommend books for others.
Having said that, The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts is a timeless classic about managing anxiety and living fully in the present moment. He’s my favorite Zen philosopher of all time. It’s an old book, written in the 1950s but when you read it, you’ll think it could have been written last year.
My next one is a guilty pleasure to recommend because it’s not within my field of study – but it’s phenomenal. The End of Night, by Paul Bogard, is about how we’re losing the night skies, and what that’s doing to humanity. It gave me a brand new appreciation for and connection to nature.
Thank you, Kate, for an inspiring interview!
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