We were lucky to catch up with Nathaniel Bryan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Nathaniel, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
From seeing my Momma, Granny, and Uncles work day in and day out to make things happen for the family. If it was putting food on the table, keeping the lights and water on, keeping clothes on my back, and keeping a roof over not only mine but my family’s head and not whining, crying, or complaining about any of it. I can’t or won’t complain because I know they had way more pressure than what I am going through. My life’s dream has been to take care of my family, to be able to have them live stress-free lives, and to enjoy life with no pressures. I hate the fact that my mother still works but even when I retire her she can’t keep still so I know she’ll be doing something lol but just knowing that she’s doing what she WANTS to do instead of what she HAS to do will help me to sleep better at night but until then my grind will only increase because that’s all I know is to grind and work my ass off for what it is that I want and need. Nothing has ever come to me free…I’ve worked hard just to get the bare minimum so to have extra I can’t let up…I can’t retreat. I have to keep my intensity high daily.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a personal trainer at Onelife Fitness, I’m the owner of Results Driven Fitness, LLC an online personal training company which will also be the name of my gym when I open it and I also have an upstart clothing company called RDF Brand where I currently sell inspirational t-shirts, sweatshirts/hoodies, tanktops that I hope helps people power through a tough workout and through a tough day but I will begin to venture in other training apparel like compression shirts, leggings, tracksuits, and socks but in due time because I’m still learning about the clothing business. I love what I do like absolutely love it. I’ve only had 3 passions in my life…My Family, Basketball, and Personal Training. I love being able to help someone get in shape, to change their way of thinking about fitness, about themselves and how they feel in their own skin, and their mental health. When I receive texts from clients or in-person conversations about how they feel, how they look, and how empowered they feel because of what we do on those 2 or 3 days a week is special to me because my clients understand and trust what I teach them WILL be beneficial to them not just in the moment but in the long run. I just want to help more people because I know this is the purpose God put into my life and I want to share his purpose for me with as many people as I can.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Patience, Originality, and Faith. Patience because things don’t always come to you when you want them so I have to understand that and continue to trust in the process. Originality because I don’t want my clients to get bored with our training sessions. Some exercises are staples while training but I also want to keep it challenging and beneficial to their individual fitness goals. I chose Faith because without it I would be questioning God’s timing and direction in my life. Every time I’ve done that things have gone wrong so I have the utmost faith in God’s word. My advice for folks early in their journey would be to trust the process and keep getting better. To become your absolute best every day won’t be to your liking but be patient enough with yourself to learn from each day so that you can make those bad days into productive days no matter what may have happened. Be original and authentic because, in these days and times, everyone is trying to be like everyone else…it’s almost like the blind leading the blind but if you have your own style, your own way of improving your craft then eventually people will begin to copy or ask you about your blueprint so stay true to your vision. Lastly, Faith…in my opinion the experiences of life will help you to increase your Faith because you won’t always get the love you think you deserve, you won’t always get the results you think you should get, you may be in that same position longer than you think that you should be in but your Faith and Belief will allow you to keep going despite your situation because if you want it bad enough nothing will stop you.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
I wouldn’t say challenge or obstacle…annoyance would be a better word for it. I love fitness…I love how it can help a person physically and mentally and I would never do anything to jeopardize that with any of my clients but I see how people are gravitating toward the fitness industry with no real good intentions of trying to help people. Fitness is a multi-billion-dollar business and I see so many people come into this with only dollar signs on their minds. With Covid and heart disease being one of the leading causes of death in this country I’m just trying to do my part in helping people to understand that Health should be #1 because without it we have NOTHING. Don’t get me wrong we all want to make a great living within our profession but when all I see is a “fitness influencer” posting shirtless selfies, booty shots, pushing a product but never themselves training to show their followers how they got the body that they have, how they eat to get the body that they have or the journey that they had to get into great shape…it’s just annoying to me. I may never have a huge following on social media or in life but what I am doing to resolve this “annoyance” is I promise to be authentic, be transparent, and be honest with those who do follow me bc in a world full of frauds and fakes the world needs more authentic and true people these days…in my humble opinion. I use what I’m doing on social media and in my own life to inspire because I may not be able to train someone in California 1 on 1 but I can help them through what I post so that they can use that to help themselves.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Andrew Tresham Dark Nikon Productions, LLC Instagram @dark_nikon_
