I started my career as a personal trainer back in 2002.
To give a little perspective on how long ago that was:
Joe Millionaire was one of the top-rated television shows that year.
The standard reaction to anyone requesting almond milk was one of two things: 1) a cold, blank stare into the abyss or 2) a cold, blank stare into the abyss followed by a definitive “the fuck outta here. Making milk out of almonds? What’s next…making pizza crust out of cauliflower?”
MTv still played music videos.
Smart phones and social media didn’t exist.
More to the point…the concept of semi-private training didn’t really exist either.
As I mentioned above I started my career as a personal trainer working almost exclusively with clients in a one-on-one fashion.
I can’t stress this enough:
“You need to be good at training ONE person before you start training a group.”
I have zero doubts the five years I spent working with people one-on-one helped to dampen the shock when I eventually started working with several people at once.
To that end, it wasn’t until 2007, when I co-founded Cressey Sports Performance with Eric Cressey and Pete Dupuis, that I got first-hand experience with the semi-private training model.
Up until then there weren’t many fitness professionals, let alone commercial or privately owned facilities, utilizing this model…and full credit has to go to Alwyn Cosgrove for serving as the nudger and architect for us adopting it.
He and Eric had many, many conversations on the matter, and considering Alwyn had built one of the most successful training studios in the country – Results Fitness located in Newhall, CA – utilizing this approach, who were we to question it?
That would have been like telling Gandalf “nah, I think we’re good. We can handle Mordor on our own”
Compound that with the fact Eric, Pete, and myself knew we’d be catering to the athletic population and that we very much wanted to emulate more of a collegiate strength & conditioning vibe it seemed like a no-brainer.
Long Story Short: The model worked (for us) and today more and more facilities (and individual coaches) are seeing the merits of the semi-private training approach.
Long Story Short (Part II): I left CSP in 2015 to start my own small studio in Boston. And even though I now work predominately with gen’ pop’ clients I still use this model and see many benefits.
Long Story Short (Part III): I am not implying CSP is responsible for the semi-private explosion. But I’d like to think we – along with other facilities such as I-FAST (Mike Robertson & Bill Hartman), Mike Boyle Strength & Conditioning, Mark Fisher Fitness, and many others – have helped to promote its popularity over the years.
Tony, For the Love of God, Shut up, and Tell Me WHY I Should Adopt the Semi-Private Training Model?
1. Yes, It’s Safe
The most prominent argument I’ve seen against semi-private training is that it’s dangerous. The rationale being that people aren’t getting the attention they need and, as a result, things inevitably deteriorate to the point where everyone’s running around with scissors in their hands.
Well, if that’s the case then CrossFit, Bootcamps, and Aerobic and Spin classes are the fitness industry’s equivalent of getting into a hugging match with a grizzly bear while wearing a steak vest.
I think it was Alwyn Cosgrove, fittingly enough, who made the best rebuttal of date to this train of thought:
“People learn to swim and shoot guns in a group setting.”
I think we can pump the brakes on the whole “danger wagon” scenario.
2. People Stay Motivated
I think most people have an inherently competitive side and to that end tend to work harder and (are more motivated) when they’re surrounded by like-minded individuals getting after it in the gym.
Most humans feed off the energy of others. On many occasions I can think of instances where clients end up getting competitive and try to push each other’s envelope.
Of course, it’s important to reiterate to clients not to compare themselves to others and that it’s no big deal if “so and so” can perform seven chin-ups or squat a house and they can’t.
I often use the term “progress, not perfection” when certain clients get too caught up the comparison game. So long as they see improvements (even small, incremental ones) over the course of time that’s all that matters.
That said, it’s uncanny how a group environment will often bring out people’s competitive side and nudge them to work a little harder.
3. Be Part of a Community
I’m biased, but my clients are the shit.
They’re cool.
They’re jacked.
And they’re just overall a bunch of amazing human beings with diverse backgrounds, interests, and experiences.
It’s not uncommon for clients to want to schedule sessions at the same time or to hang out outside of the gym to hit up a concert together, go out to dinner, or, I suspect, sit around and write about how poetic my deadlift looks:
The sense of being part of a community and the camaraderie it yields is an underrated if not unparalleled advantage to the semi-private model, and why so many people tend to stick around for the long haul.
4. See More Clients – Leverage Your Time – Make More Money
This past Monday I coached from 4 pm to 8 pm.
I saw ten clients during that time
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have a four-hour “work day” compared to ten hours.2
Not only that, on a per hour basis, all someone has to do is basic math to see why the semi-private model works well from a money-making standpoint.
Lets say the average trainer makes $75 per session working with clients one-on-one.
That’s not too shabby.
The same trainer, however, could charge $50-$60/person in the semi-private format and make 2x (if not 3x) that much depending on the numbers:
No doubt these numbers will need to be adjusted to take into account varying cost of living in different regions, but math is math.
As far as leveraging one’s time, the semi-private model is a strong candidate for most fitness professionals.
5. More Cost Effective For Clients
Pigging back on the above, the semi-private model is financially prudent for the client as well; it lowers the financial barrier.
Generally speaking this approach is 10-15% (maybe a smidge higher) cheaper compared to one-on-one training.
That may be the lone incentive someone needs to get them over the hump to seek out coaching services.
6. A Godsend For Introverts
This last point takes a bit of personal angle and may not resonate with some of you reading, but as a self-proclaimed introvert, I can say the semi-private format has helped me a ton as a coach.
It sounds counterintuitive, but hear me out.
I can turn on the charm and be extroverted when I need to. The common misconception about introvertedness and extrovertedness is that they’re both on a spectrum; neither is a stagnant, set-in-stone thing. What’s more, those who identify as introverted are (usually) not socially awkward or a recluse.
Sure, they may like to spend more time with cats than the average person, but they can turn it on or otherwise be the center of attention if need be
However, what “being introverted” really refers to is how a certain individual prefers to re-charge. After marinating in social circles yhey tend to re-charge by being in their own thoughts, at a bookstore, watching a movie alone, or, I don’t know, looking out the window contemplating when season 2 of Squid Game will finally come out.
Now, it’s not lost on me that part of why some people hire a coach is so that the coach can serve as the spark or center of energy.
I find this latter point infinitely more challenging when working strictly one-on-one with clients (especially with fellow introverts) and the impetus falls on me to be the curator of conversation.
Me:“Soooo, you watch Game of Thrones?”
Client:“Yeah.”
Me:“Dragons are cool.”
Client:“Yeah.”
Me:“Okie dokie, ready for your next set of deadlifts?”
Client:“Yeah.”
Me:“Excuse me while I go throw an ax into my face.”
When on the gym floor with a group of people, and the music’s blaring, and everyone’s moving around doing their thing, I typically don’t have to generate any gab.
It just happens organically amongst the group.
THANK GOD.
Some Cons to Semi-Private Training
Semi-private training isn’t all butterfly kisses and rainbows.
1. Some Clients Get Less Attention
Semi-private training is akin to hosting a party, and every client is a guest. The last thing I want to do is socialize with one lone person the entire night (unless it’s Kate Beckinsale) while everyone else is left twiddling their thumbs in the foyer.
Some clients may get irritated and feel they’re not getting enough coaching, and that’s a very valid point to bring up.
I do feel if you take the time to do your due diligence and structure things accordingly – maybe offer a few “ramping” or introductory classes so people can learn some basics, cueing, etc – this is a non-issue.
However, some people just won’t be a good fit for the semi-private model and it’s important to have referrals (or systems) set in place to accommodate them.
2. I Wouldn’t Jump In Right Away
After reading this post the last thing you need to do is contact all your clients and tell them you’re revamping your entire business model and that everyone’s going to be training BFF’s moving forward.
If you do I guarantee you’ll be receiving a few emails with the title:
“Fuck this shit, I’m out.”
Ease your way into things.
Maybe block out a few set hours per week to give the semi-private approach a test drive and to allow an opportunity for a few of your clients to get their feet wet with the concept.
3. It Can Be Draining
Working with several people at once isn’t everyone’s bag.
It can be very draining.
I get it.
Some people prefer working with people one-on-one and that’s totally cool. Many fitness pros still do it, do it very well, and are very successful with it.
The answer is easy: Tell them to add more weight to the barbell.
LOLOLOLOL.
I’m kidding (sort of).
Facetiousness aside3, I wanted to spend some time discussing a few strategies you can (hopefully) implement today that will make the training programs you write for your athletes and clients more successful.
6 Ways to Instill Success In Your Clients’ Training Programs
“Successful” in this context means 1) your clients continue to show up (bills need to be paid, yo!), 2) your clients don’t hate you (most of the time) and 3) as a corollary to your Jedi-like coaching skills, you turn all your clients into deadlifting Terminators.
I.e., they get results.
We often bog ourselves down harping over details like optimal exercise selection, exercise order, set/rep schemes, rest intervals, or even which type of muscle fibers are firing during which exercise.
Of course, this is not to insinuate all of the above aren’t important, they are. Except maybe the last one. If you’re going into that much detail with your coaching on something that won’t matter of 99.2% of the population, it’s safe to say you might be over-thinking things.
However, as fellow fitness pro Jonathan Pietrunti noted on my Facebook wall recently:
“If we don’t focus on bolstering the client’s intrinsic motivation and fostering self-efficacy, they aren’t going to show up for long, regardless of how awesome are programming is on the movement/physiological side of the house.”
You can design something worthy of a Program Design Pulitzer, but if your client would rather wash his or her’s face with broken glass than perform another front squat or set of bench pressing with tempo contrast, you’re failing.
You’re failing, hard.
1. Understand People Are Different (and That They’re Not You)
Powerlifters like to train people like powerlifters.
Bodybuilders like to train people like bodybuilders.
Kettlebell aficionados like to train people with kettlebells.
CrossFitters like to do #whateverthefuck.
Any well-thought out training program should fit the needs and goals of the client.
That goes without saying.
A mistake I find many fitness professionals make is that they write programs catered to what they like or how they prefer to train.
I don’t feel this is wrong per se; it’s only natural to default to your strengths and/or personal beliefs and methodologies. Where it becomes a problem is when we gravitate towards a specific modality at the expense of, well, everything.
I remember having a conversation with one of my young athletes recently who’s a rather big dude for his age. He mentioned in passing (and I am paraphrasing here) that his football coach wanted everyone to squat the same way:
Same foot width.
Same stance.
Same bar position.
Like a bunch of robots
He then demonstrated the exact stance his coach told him to use and maybe hit 70 degrees of hip flexion.
Let’s just say that if what he showed me was seen at an FMS workshop, people would become visibly sick to their stomachs.
I simply asked him him to widen his stance significantly and to externally rotate his feet a bit so his toes pointed outward.
He was able to hit a beautiful depth. Thus saving himself from the wrath of internet warriors everywhere.
(NOTE: I am not a depth Nazi. To me squat depth is arbitrary and all I am really concerned with is someone finding whatever depth they’re able to “own” & control. If it’s past 90 degrees, cool. If not, that’s cool too.4Either way we’re going to train the hell out of it.
The point being: If he had followed his coach’s poor squatting advice, assuming everyone is supposed to squat the same way, he may have never realized his full potential.
Everyone is different, and it’s important to respect unique leverages and anthropometry as it relates to not only squatting, but any lift.
Programming based around your client’s goals is paramount. But it’s also important to tweak any lift to fit the needs (and abilities) 0f the trainee, not vice versa.
2. Ensure Success in Every Session
This seems a bit redundant, I know.
“You write a post on how to instill success in a training program and you’re telling me in order to do so I need to….ensure success? Wow, Tony, that’s revolutionary. What’s next: telling me that in order to improve my vertical jump I should jump higher?”
The best analogy I can offer is the whole concept behind “girl push-ups.”
No, I’m not referring to a woman performing push-ups, which would make sense. Instead, I’m referring to the lame premise of women performing push-ups from their knees. I.e., “girl push-ups.”
I hate the connotation and message this sends.
Oh, you can’t do an actual push-up? That’s okay, lets pander to societal norms on engenderment, plant the idea in your head at an early age that women must train differently from men (flexed arm hang test vs. chin-up test), and do “girl push-ups” rather than take the time to coach and progress you accordingly.
If I’m working with a female client and she can’t perform a push-up (from the floor) – usually due to a core weakness or lack of lumbo-pelvic-hip control – I find it more productive to OMIT the “you’re a girl so lets do this instead” mantra, and instead demonstrate to her that she can do the exercise.
Either by having her perform elevated push-ups in a ROM where’s she successful, or possibly having her perform a band-assisted push-up, like so:
In both scenarios I’m addressing the actual weak-link (a weak core, or the basic novelty of the exercise) and not just tossing my hands in the air and relinquishing programming control to the fact she has a vagina.
I’m coaching.
And not only that I’m going out of my way to ensure a sense of accomplishment/success in each session.
This, my friends, is the key.
That and…..
3. Building Autonomy
Autonomy is the love-child of good coaching (and giving a shit).
Despite what some fitness pros may think, people aren’t paying you to count reps, they’re paying you to COACH.
On numerous occasions I’ve had new clients be taken aback when they realize I’m not counting their repetitions.
I’m too busy watching and coaching to count their reps.
Furthermore, I’ll tell all new clients that my goal is for them to “fire” me at some point. Not because I did something creepy like forget to wear pants, or, I don’t know, play Coldplay during heavy deadlifts.
No, I want them to (eventually) no longer need my services.
I want to make them their own best asset and advocate.
I want them to go on vacation or walk into a random gym and be able to “MacGyver” a workout in any scenario…whether we’re talking a fully-equipped training mecca or a rinky dink hotel gym that has nothing but a treadmill, dumbbells up to 35 lbs, and a roll of duct tape.
Dan John often speaks to program design being stripped down to nothing more than the squat, hip hinge, push, pull, single-leg variation, and carry.
Teach your clients that.
Force them to marinate in learning each category and what exercises belong where. In doing so they’ll eventually be able to jimmy-rig a workout without batting an eye.
They’ll become autonomous.
And a funny thing will happen: they’ll end up staying with you anyway because they understand the value you bring being a coach that actually coaches.
4. Provide Choice
I wrote about the power of choice in THIS article.
As it relates to providing fitness and program design services this can be a double-edged sword because:
If people knew what they were doing they wouldn’t hire us to make choices for them.
It’s often in their best interests to be told what they need to do and not what they want to do.
Taking away choice behooves them.
On the flip side, it can behoove us, the fitness professional, to offer somechoice.
This can mean giving them the choice to pick their main lift of the day – Squat? Deadlift? Maximal frisbee toss?
Or maybe giving them the choice to pick the mode of the exercise. Say, a KB deadlift or a trap bar deadlift?
In the same vein, I’ve compromised with clients and “rewarded” them with a 5-10 minute window of doing whatever the they want – judgement free.
For many of my guys it’s all about the gun show – bis and tris baby!
For my ladies they’ll often congregate at the Hip Thruster
Whatever the case may be, offering your clients some choice is a splendid way to keep them motivated and engaged in their training.
5. Celebrate the Small Victories (Regardless of How Small They Seem)
I like to call this the Todd Bumgardner rule; although he has a much better way of stating it:
“Demonstrate unconditional positive regard.”
When I travel and workout at various commercial gyms I can’t help but observe other trainers in action.
Some are amazing. They’re engaged, actively coaching, and paying attention to their client, offering feedback and encouragement whenever it’s needed.
Others are, well, pretty shitty.
There’s zero effort in providing feedback. And if there is, it’s generally nothing more than a casual “nice job” or “way to go.”
You don’t need to do back flips or Parkour of the power racks when a client keeps their chest up during a squat.
But would a little enthusiasm hurt?
6. Simplicity For the Win
Consider this final point the Mise en place of the entire article.
I had a client admit that she was “frustrated” by the simplicity of the program I wrote for her. I took no offense, because it happens often.
Fast forward a few weeks, “Tony, I feel stronger and my lifts are going up!”
Strength coach nods approvingly.
I’m not the first to state this, but people tend to fall into the trap of adding stuff into their programs for the novelty, almost always at the expense of failing to take something OUT.
You can’t just keep adding more and more to a program and expect to make progress. Get rid of the superfluous BS that serves no purpose.
Choose ten exercises. Any ten. I don’t care.*
A mix of multi-joint and isolation.
Attack them. Master them. Focus on getting stronger in those ten. Other exercises will come & go, but don’t deviate from those ten.
Moreover, fancy or elaborate looking exercises don’t equate to better. They great at receiving likes and vast applause on social media, but rarely do such exercises elicit actual results.[/efn_note]And I guaran-fuckin-tee that the person who posted the video doesn’t perform or utilize the exercise themselves in their own training.[/efn_note]
Alas, my take on debauchery is to stay up past my bedtime to watch a Cirque Du Soleil show5 and to then trek back to my hotel room to watch House Hunters on HGTV.
I like to live life dangerously.
I’m actually here because I was invited to put on a full-day staff in-service for a local gym. I flew in Thursday morning and am heading back to Boston on Sunday. A quick trip for sure, but one that allots me plenty of introvert time.
To that end, today I have another guest post from Gavin McHale who’s been on fire lately with his contributions to the site.
I hope you’re enjoying his content, because I know I am. Especially today’s post. It really punched me in the face.
The Real Reason None of Those Business Tactics Have Worked
When I was a young buck in the fitness industry, I was full of piss and vinegar and I wanted to make sure my career was a success.
For an entire year after I graduated University, I studied blogs like this one, Dean Somerset, Kelly Starrett and others on T-Nation. I scoured the internet to find new things I could add to my training toolbox. If I wasn’t on the gym floor, I was reading a blog or textbook about being on the gym floor.
Then came the business building blogs. I read every article on the PTDC. I followed John Romaniello and Craig Ballantyne. I was eating it all up and reading everything I could.
And my business grew.
Most likely, it grew by happenstance – because I was good at what I did. It grew naturally, through word of mouth, as I’m sure your’s has.
But I didn’t have a hot clue as to why it was growing, or how to repeat the process to build a high paying, successful business.
Plus, I was starting to see the “trading time for money” model bumping up against the lifestyle I wanted to live. I was in my mid twenties – I wanted to travel.
I had a new girlfriend and I kinda wanted to see her.
Was the 6-1, 4-8 grind really going to be how I lived the rest of my life?
Plus, I was making a pretty average salary that I could’ve made in most 9-5’s with a university degree.
So, I turned my attention to growing the online side of my business. This would solve all my problems. I’d be able to help more people, work less and earn more money.
This was the ticket.
I slapped together a (terrible) website and started up an instagram page for my business. I assumed people would just bring me their credit cards.
But they didn’t. It was crickets.
I toiled away for nearly a year trying to build my online business in this way, while still working crazy hours on the gym floor to pay the bills.
That’s when I signed up for business coaching.
I paid more money than I had and over the year-long program, I took away a lot of tools.
How to price my programs, how to write website copy, how to post on social media and use lead magnets and create an email list.
Keep in mind, this was 2016, before business coaching was even cool.
After a year of that and some minor success, I jumped to another business coach.
More ideal client building.
More social media tactics and email list hacks.
Lots of sales training.
By this time, I had invested nearly $30,000 and probably could’ve written a textbook on ideal client building, copywriting and sales.
I knew this shit front to back.
And, truth be told, my business was doing quite well. I made pretty good money and about 30% of it was online, giving me some freedom to live my life and travel.
But seriously… what the fuck man?
$30K and tons of work and all I got was an above average 9-5 corporate salary while still working mind boggling hours and falling asleep during movies on date night?
Tons of hours on the gym floor coupled with every other waking hour on my computer or phone, scratching and clawing my way to a few more dollars a month.
I had every tactic and strategy I could ever need, but I was still left searching for more. I continued to look for business blogs and other coaches who could teach me more hacks and tactics.
That’s when I was slapped in the face with reality, because I was looking for the wrong things.
I had met a coach (and actually slept on his couch) in my first business coaching experience whose business was now taking off, two years later.
While I was doing marginally better, he had gone from essentially zero income when we met (and living off his savings) to nearly $1,000,000 a year.
What the fuck was I doing wrong?
His content was about more than just business tactics. He talked about self talk and mindset and the subconscious brain – things I had never really heard about beyond “play with more confidence” in my hockey days.
It was 2018 and I had been at this online business building thing for three years now. This was the last ditch effort. This was make-or-break.
I signed up, dropped another 5-figures in hopes this would be the ticket to the business and the lifestyle I wanted.
And in the first week of the coaching experience, my entire world view was shattered when I learned about how my language affects my self-talk, which affects my belief and my habits, which then affects my success (or lack thereof).
I mean, we all know this deep down, but none of us ever really face the reality that we are in control (and, therefore, at fault) for everything that happens in our life, good and bad.
I certainly never took responsibility for the place I was at and the results I had up until that point.
As I dug in further to the new program, he talked about my subconscious brain and the limiting beliefs I held that were like an emergency brake on my success.
I was trying to drive a Ferrari with the emergency brake on.
I didn’t like it, and when he personally challenged me on a coaching call midway through the course, I checked out.
All that money was circling the drain because I couldn’t face the fact that my own brain and my own beliefs were the reason nothing was working for me.
Anytime I had ever failed, I blamed others. My hockey coaches never gave me a chance. My former business coaches didn’t give me the right tactics for my business.
And now… I was left with nothing but the face in the mirror.
Luckily, this particular course is available for life. So even though I copped out and my coaching calls had run out, I could still come back to it.
After about 6 months, I came back.
I realized that the only way forward, the only way to get what I wanted, was through some really tough stuff.
I could either turn away and continue with a mediocre business (which is totally fine, by the way) or I could drop my shoulder and lean in.
I had to face my fears and literally change my brain if I wanted to have success.
And this is where, after now coaching nearly 100 fitness professionals in building their businesses since 2019, I see most of you struggling.
Information, strategy and tactics are important.
You need to know how to write words that help people take action.
You need to know how to communicate your value in conversations and content.
You need to have an excellent client journey and provide an amazing service.
But, without belief and a mindset that is helping you move in the right direction, none of that matters. None of it will get you what you truly want, whether that’s a fat bank account or a fulfilling life, or both.
You’ll be revving the engine and spinning your tires in the driveway.
This is why the majority of business coaching programs get people some results, but not enough to warrant the gnarly price tag.
They give you all the tactics and strategies you could ever dream of.
But it’s all built on an expectation that you already have the belief and confidence in yourself that many don’t. And when things inevitably get tough or don’t go as planned, they can’t offer anything more than “try harder” and “do it more.”
I’m not here for that.
So, allow me to leave you with one actionable item you can take from here before you go.
Your language plays a massive role in your outcomes. Your self-talk guides your thoughts. Your thoughts turn into your beliefs over time.
So if you want to shed old, self-sabotaging patterns and build belief, you must go to the source – your language.
There are three things we catch our clients saying inside the Maverick Coaching Academy, and they are not allowed.
Try
What’s that Yoda saying? “Do or do not, there is no try.” Case closed.
I Can’t
By saying you can’t, you are immediately shirking responsibility for that thing. You can, you’re just choosing not to. If it mattered enough to you, you would.
I Should
Whenever you say you should do something, it tells your subconscious brain that you’re doing it against your own will. It says, “I don’t want to, but some outside source is making me so I guess I should.”
Hmmm, doesn’t sound too powerful to me.
So, for the next week, I challenge you to watch your language. Notice when and how often you’re saying try, can’t and should.
Then, without judgment, simply think about how you could phrase that differently and note how much different it feels when you do.
This lesson is literally the first lesson inside our paid course. It is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what we teach inside Maverick Coaching Academy. If you’d like to learn more, follow me on Instagram and send me a message saying you read this.
I’d love to hear your story and how the language challenge goes for you, so don’t be a stranger.
Thank you for reading, I hope I’ve left you with something valuable.
About the Author
As a Kinesiology graduate, Gavin McHale quickly realized that following the traditional business model would lead to trading more time for more money.
Over the course of 8 years, Gavin built a 6-figure hybrid training business before founding the Maverick Coaching Academy in 2019.
Since then, Gavin has left the gym and gone all in helping other strength coaches build their businesses. He has made it his mission to fix the broken fitness industry and connect other amazing humans to the highest version of themselves.
I sincerely hope everyone out there had a splendid holiday season filled with copious amounts of love, friendship, and cookies.
Admittedly, I am a tad late with posting this article from TG.com regular, Gavin McHale, but the message is one that should resonate with most fitness professionals regardless of the time of year.
I.e., discussing detox diets, WTF actually happened in Matrix Resurrections? money with potential clients.
I think this will help a lot of trainers out there.
2 Keys to “I Can’t Afford It”: Especially Around the Holidays
If you’ve ever heard “I don’t have the money right now,” or “I’ll sign up when things settle down,” pull up a chair, you’re going to want to keep reading.
I have a very clear memory of a sales conversation that changed everything for me. I was selling personal training at a middling price point and sales were a breeze.
My schedule was filling up, but my bank account wasn’t.
Here’s how it normally went: Client walks in, referred by a friend or family. I show them the gym, with the music bumpin’ and others just like them working out, take them through a movement assessment, drop some knowledge and make them feel better, then share the price.
They were sold.
They were sold before they even walked in. I just had to walk through an open door. I was more of an order taker than a salesperson.
Then, I made the move over to selling on the phone and added an online component to the program, increasing the price.
My first call was with a former teammate of mine now doing investment banking in Toronto, Canada’s money capital.
As we moved through the call, it became very clear he was making excellent money – the stock market had been good to him. However, he had let his once athletic body go and could barely make it up and down the ice in rec hockey anymore.
He was a perfect fit for my new program, built for former athletes wanting to get back to the glory days.
When we got to the pricing, I shared my new and improved price of $2000 for a 10-week program.
He resisted.
“Ah, Gav… that’s not in the cards right now. I’ll have to wait until the New Year when I get my bonus.”
I knew this guy was earning upwards of $200,000 a year, buying lavish dinners out most nights and otherwise living the life of a young man with money.
But he couldn’t stomach $2k to get his energy and youth back?
Something wasn’t adding up and I was thrown, letting him off the phone with a “maybe later.”
Sometimes, I’ll admit it, it is about the money. And that’s okay…
More often than not, it has NOTHING to do with money.
It has everything to do with fear.
Fear of failure.
Fear the program won’t work for them.
Fear that you’re not the leader they need.
Fear of the unknown.
So often, our potential clients miss out on life changing experiences because of fear. They get in their own way and say no to things they know they desperately need.
If you know you can help this person, it’s your responsibility to help them take that scary leap into the great unknown. It’s on you to hold their hand as they jump.
Have a Human Conversation
If they object, the most important thing is to have a human conversation with the person on the other end of the phone. It’s okay to disagree, but you’re not butting heads with one another, trying to go separate ways.
You both want the same thing – for them to succeed and grow beyond what they’ve been able to do before. So instead of going opposite directions, think about being a few steps ahead, reaching out your hand and asking them to come along with you.
By staying calm and appearing certain, you position yourself as the leader that they desperately need. Their brain is freaking out because up until the point you mentioned money, they wanted and needed this program.
Once you regain rapports by empathizing with their situation (I’m sure you’ve had difficult decisions to make in the past), you can now start to help them see that their decision making compass is what got them to this place, in desperate need of help.
I call this the Dickens Method, thanks to his famous Christmas story.
We’re going to help them see the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.
In fact, the entire call up to this point should’ve been helping them see the problems they’re having right now. The ghost of Christmas Present should have punched them in the face and how their reality is not in line with their goals and desires.
Now, we must help them recognize the default in their past behaviors and help them see that repeating those behaviors again will only lead to the same place.
Remember, this most likely isn’t about the money…
Simply ask, “How has this belief affected your decisions about your health and fitness in the past?”
They may have made a bad investment in the past… Maybe a bad trainer, a treadmill that sits unused or a gym membership that they’re still paying for but have yet to use.
It’s your job to help them see why that won’t happen again with you.
On the other hand, they may have shied away from other opportunities in the past because they thought they couldn’t afford it or they felt like they weren’t ready or it wasn’t the right time…
Notice the pattern.
You should have leverage to pull from earlier in the conversation as to why they’re not where they want to be, and if you can frame it for them to see that the main reason is this built-in lack of belief, you can help change their perspective to one that’s ready to make a change.
And since you’ve covered the ghost of Christmas past and present already, you can now show them the ghost of Christmas future, helping them paint a picture of what their future may look like…
“I want you to look forward to 6 months into the future… How will your life look any different than it does now if you don’t make a change? If you don’t do this, do you think your financial situation will get better and you’ll be able to invest then? Do you think your fitness level will improve in that time without support?”
What if we could help you move closer to your desired result in the first month working together, would that put your mind at ease as to making this investment?”
These are all questions they’ve probably never thought to ask themselves, and although they may seem forward or ‘too pushy’ to those of us averse to sales, you’re on the verge of helping someone make the biggest and most terrifying decision of their life.
It’s on you to ask.
The Jiu Jitsu Rule of Sales
When a jiu jitsu coach was asked by a student how to get out of a certain headlock position, the coach responded with an answer no one was expecting.
“The best way to get out of that headlock is to avoid getting into it in the first place.”
In other words, if you’re in it, you’ve already made a lot of mistakes and put yourself in a tough position.
So, here are 3 ways to make sure you don’t get put in the headlock of a price objection:
1. Make Sure They FEEL Their Pain
Allow them to fully understand the prison they’re currently living in and the problems it’s causing in their life and the lives of others they care about
How is their lack of energy affecting their kids?
How is their low self confidence showing up in their relationship?
How is their weight gain affecting their own self worth?
Although these questions are difficult to ask, you must help them understand the scope of the problem, so they’ll be willing to take the steps to fix it.
2. Help Them See the Gap Between Their Current Life and Their Ideal Life
Once you’ve opened up the pain and taken them deep into their emotions related to that, it’s time to flip the script and help them paint a picture of their ideal future. Then, you can recap it in a way that emphasizes the difference between these two states.
3. Finally, You Must Learn to COMMUNICATE YOUR VALUE In a Way That Shows Your Prospect the Direct Benefits to Them
If they care about their kids, tailor every piece of what you do to how it will affect their kids. If they’re scared of losing their identity, make every pillar of your program about maintaining that identity or getting it back.
It’s not enough to tell them what your program is or what they get for their money. It has to be relayed in a way that they can see themselves benefitting from it.
For example, think about pitching the app you use to deliver your training program.
OPTION 1:“You’ll get set up on our app and all your workouts are available there for you. We do 3 days a week of strength training programming.”
OPTION 2: “Imagine walking into the gym, having everything you need in the palm of your hand. Exercises, sets and reps so you know exactly what’s next. Exercise demos are built in so you never have to worry about doing it wrong. We provide that peace of mind with this program.”
OPTION 3 (added by TG)“If you don’t use my app, Rambo will be angry. You don’t want Rambo to be angry.”
See the difference in how I present the exact same thing?
This is not about persuading someone or swindling someone into something that will only benefit you. Overcoming objections is about finding a win-win situation for everyone.
We both know that waiting until until “things settle down” is not only going to set them back months in their progress, but it’ll most likely lead into the next “life thing” that will keep them from signing up.
There will never be a perfect time to make a huge life decision, but if you’re there to guide them through and bring certainty, they can make the best decision for them and you’ve created a win-win for everyone!
Finally
A great sales or enrollment conversation is really the first coaching call, holding them accountable and allowing them to see just how you can help them in the long run.
This stuff is literally the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what we teach inside Maverick Coaching Academy. If you’d like to learn more, follow me on Instagram and let me know you read this – I can send you our sales framework, which our clients have used to sell close to $1,000,000 in training programs, absolutely free.
About the Author
As a Kinesiology graduate, Gavin McHale quickly realized that following the traditional business model would lead to trading more time for more money.
Over the course of 8 years, Gavin built a 6-figure hybrid training business before founding the Maverick Coaching Academy in 2019.
Since then, Gavin has left the gym and gone all in helping other strength coaches build their businesses. He has made it his mission to fix the broken fitness industry and connect other amazing humans to the highest version of themselves.
With my gym expansion here in Boston now back on the “to do” list, this guest post from New England based personal trainer and educator, Casey Lee, couldn’t have come at a better time.
I’ve always felt that one of the things many gym owners fail to prioritize is the client experience.
In short: From the minute a client walks into the facility to the point where (s)he leaves, what is happening?
Where do they place their belongings?
Where do they warm-up?
Does the layout of the facility make sense? Is it designed for 1v1 or semi-private or group sessions?
Where do the Jean Claude Van Damme posters go?
All of these are important, pertinent questions that are sewn into the client experience and play an integral role in the success of any facility.
If you polled ten strangers on the street and asked them what personal trainers did for a living, what do you think the breakdown of their answers would be?
Workout? Probably a solid 33%
Count reps? Cue eye roll. That probably gets a vote.
Eat out of tupperware? You know the real ones would say this.
Seriously though, whenever I would attempt a bite to eat between clients, the second I cracked the lid, like clockwork, my client would open the door.
The perfect X-mas present for any trainer in your family
Ultimately the biggest answer, I think, would be that we write workouts for people.
I like to call it ‘fitness prescriptions’, because, well, that’s what we’re doing.
We prescribe sets, reps, tempo’s, which you implement to use for your bicep curls, and of course, the occasional tupperware recommendation for our protege’s of strength that are trying to eat their gains on the go.
But Coach, I have a novel concept for you to include in your prescription.
Yes, I used the word novel. This is a big flippin’ deal!
Okay, maybe not novel, but it is truly important and I think has been ignored & overlooked alongside the many advancements of fitness programming.
Facility Logistics
Facility logistics can be a pretty big list. How many squat racks on the training floor? What increments do the dumbbells increase by? Ranging all the way to client-facility logistics like the time of day you train and how busy it is. For my brothers and sisters who train at a commercial gym, you’ll appreciate this one…
…is there going to be a small group or group exercise class going on that will boot you from the area needed to train. Anyone who’s been privy to being ousted from their power rack because of a looming “Tank Top Triceps” class I’m sure can commiserate as follows:
In 12 years of coaching out of a commercial health club, I can recall countless times that clients would receive their exercise prescription, full of thoughtful movement variations and calculated training volume, only to have a group exercise class bump them from a training spot on the floor or have some gaggle of high school kids monopolize 2 of the 4 squat racks.
I can visualize the email right now. I’ve seen it dozens of times.
“Hey Coach, went to the gym last night for my workout and couldn’t get any of the equipment. Ran for 45 minutes and went home.”
Sweet.
I think there is a case to be made that facility logistics, not exercise selection, sets, reps, tempo, or any of that jazz, is the most important programming variable that we need to consider. Specifically the facility that your client will be using when they are not training with you (boutique and aspiring online coaches take note).
So consider it we must!
And here’s how…
During the client onboarding, consider these questions:
1. When you’re not training in our private sessions, where do you envision your other workouts taking place?
(At said place) what time of day do you think you’ll be training?
*If the answer is at a commercial-style or big box gym, follow up with something like this…
2. Do they have equipment you feel comfortable using? Could you send me pictures of what the gym’s set up looks like?
Have you ever had a client tell you that they don’t want to use dumbbells because “that area of the gym is full of scary meatheads?”
Knowing your clients comfort level in their own gym should never be taken for granted.
3. Is the training space tied in with any kind of small group or large group exercise style class?
(Pro tip- Trainers, want to make your new client feel comfortable and let them know you’re invested in their success? Call their gym and secret shop the facility. Ask these questions as if you are a prospective member).
If someone is training at home, because there are a special set of facility logistics…consider asking the following
4. When you work out at home, what are a couple possible interruptions that could occur?
This is basically asking if a toddler is going to come storming in and demand that you stop what you’re doing and color.
5. Do you have any questions on the equipment you have at your house?
The answer may surprise you. Never assume.
6. Do you have the ability to preheat the area if needed?
January garage gyms in the northeast. Frostbite galore!
Summary
Though these questions may seem routine to us, to a client they are simply part of your process. A process that not only takes into consideration the client’s feelings towards their training facility, but will also help you write a program prescription that your client will actually be able to do with confidence and consistency.
Last I checked, those two things help clients achieve their goals 154% of the time.
That’s a proven percentage. Trust me. I graduated from Gentilcore University with a degree in AT-AT engineering. It’s a real thing, look it up.
Coaches, the biggest take away here is that before you sit down to look at movement screens, calculate training volume, map out a periodized training block, take into consideration the facility logistics of your clients training space. Put yourself in their shoes, program for their confidence and consistency, and the rest will fall into place.
About the Author
Casey Lee is the Director of Coaching and Education for the Parisi Speed School and also has an online personal training business called Purposeful Strength.
Both positions intersect at writing successful training programs for over 100 Parisi Speed School affiliates as well as a diverse private client population. What both have in common is that every client and their respective gym is unique in their own way and accounting for facility logistics as the first programming variable has led to better client success and business retention, and that’s pretty cool.
My man Gavin McHale is back with another excellent guest post this month. If you missed his last article on lead generation you can check that out HERE.
This month, as the title implies, is all about how personal trainers can (and should) lean into more of a “hybrid” training model that doesn’t rely on IN-PERSON training only and allows you to better leverage your time in order to 1) make more money and 2) resist the urge to throw your face into an ax from work overload.
Give it a read. It will make a lot of sense and I hope afterward it’ll provide some inspiration to you to make some subtle changes in your approach to the services you provide.
I climbed into my truck and sat back with a huge exhale. I had just finished another ‘day at the office’ and, as usual, I was absolutely exhausted.
It was early afternoon, I had been up since 5AM and on the training floor since 6:30, eating and drinking coffee on the go. I was finishing up my 4th cup of coffee for the day, knowing it would affect my sleep but needing it to prop myself up for the evening full of clients that I had in about 4 hours.
The ‘00’s Pop Punk’ playlist had played at least three times through on repeat that morning.
The plan was to whip home for some lunch and some work on the business before heading back to the gym – another few hours of client sessions on deck. In reality, I knew I’d get home, crush some food and pass out for the entirety of my time at home, barely dragging myself out of bed to get there on time.
I loved my training clients and I got to provide them with the best hour of their day on the training floor.
And, by this point, I got to do it a lot.
I had built my personal training business up to nearly 30 clients, with upwards of 25 semi-private and private training sessions a week.
Business was buzzing… but the thoughts started creeping in…
My girlfriend of two years and I barely got to see one another. When we did, I couldn’t even keep my eyes open for a full movie and had to leave any social gatherings by 9PM thanks to my 5AM alarm the next day.
How long was she willing to put up with an absent partner?
I knew I wanted to have kids at some point in my life, and I wanted to be the dad who could do school drop-offs and pick-ups and coach the sports teams; not the one who always ‘had to work’.
We loved to travel, even just for extended weekends. But I couldn’t enjoy my time away, panicking about lost revenue and possibly unhappy clients.
But the worst part was that I wasn’t making the money I knew I could be. I wasn’t having the impact I knew I could.
I was making a decent paycheck every month, but it was just enough to pay my bills and allow me a bit of freedom. I was pinching pennies and living paycheck to paycheck while working a ton, with a university degree and numerous certifications behind my name.
And honestly? I was just fucking tired…. ALL. THE. TIME.
It didn’t add up.
Especially since the only solution I knew was to take on more clients and do more of the same… something I didn’t have the capacity for without sending myself down a spiral to burning out and being single well before my 30th birthday.
That’s when I was forced to get creative.
I began by asking myself the one question every single service provider should start with (I was just a little behind the curve): How can I best serve my clients?
(GIF added by me, Tony, because if nothing else I keep thing professional.)
I knew they loved their workouts and I loved working with them, but the majority of them weren’t getting the results they wanted because that 1-3 hours a week they spent with me would never offset the poor lifestyle choices they were making during the other 165+ hours every week.
Let’s be real, even though I loved doing it, grinding it out on little sleep and caffeine was not the best service I could provide. The cup I was pouring from… was empty and I didn’t have the systems in place to help them change their lifestyle beyond a couple sweat sessions a week.
And since I had no more capacity for more training sessions and they didn’t have the time to come to the gym every day,
I had to find a better way.
Enter, the Hybrid Training Model
This model created a win-win for me and my clients.
The win for me is that I got to stabilize my monthly income by charging for an entire package instead of session by session and got some of my time back, all while providing a better service to my clients.
The win for them? Straight up better results without having to schlep to the gym and back every day or pay thousands a month for a trainer.
This model would allow me to continue doing what I did best, training clients on the gym floor, but not have to live there, eating every meal out of tupperware, trying not to spill it on the turf and taking bites between coaching cues.
The hybrid model I built and refined since includes 5 key areas:
In-person coaching
Regular activity programming
Nutritional guidance or intervention
Belief and habit building
Accountability
If you look at the traditional training model – the one that left me half sleeping in my truck at the end of the work day, I covered maybe 1 or 2 of those bases… at best.
And, in most cases, the trainer isn’t being paid for anything but their time spent in the gym with each client. You can say the pricing reflects programming time and nutritional information and accountability, but it really doesn’t.
When your clients are paying session by session, they see the value in having you in the room coaching them.
That’s it.
Your clients are also financially incentivized by this model to actually miss sessions. If they’re low on energy or just don’t feel like it, they’ll miss a session and either save money that month or stretch their current package out over a longer period.
Bottom line: your income is unstable and they don’t get the best service.
In order to build this model out and be able to market and sell it, you have to ask yourself a lot of questions and completely reshape the way you provide your service and charge for it.
1. In-Person Coaching
How often do they need instruction lifting weights?
How often do they want to come to the gym?
Do you have the space and ability to do semi-private training with them?
2. Regular Activity Programming
Basically, this includes any part of the programming that doesn’t require you to be there, coaching them.
Can you program some or most of their workouts to be done on their own?
Do they have a gym membership or access to equipment at home?
Are there parts of the program where they don’t need to be in the gym like walking, running or mobility work?
3. Nutritional Guidance or Intervention
Any type of transformational program is incomplete without some form of nutritional guidance. If they already trust you enough to train them, then you’re probably the best person to guide them through some basic nutrition principles.
For most general population clients and goals, this is simple habit building. No need to go too deep and risk moving outside your scope.
You can either build your own curriculum or outsource this completely. When I was coaching, I outsourced this to Precision Nutrition and set my clients up on their year-long ProCoach software.
4. Belief and Habit Building
My most successful clients were the ones who made massive mindset shifts throughout my program. Over the time we worked together, they became better versions of themselves, which provided the outcome they wanted.
In my opinion, this is a non-negotiable in any coaching program, especially if you want to stand out from the Pelotons and the Orange Theory’s.
What do they need to learn to be able to shed their old skin and step into a new, better version of themselves?
Can you create a simple weekly or bi-weekly curriculum over 2-3 months that will allow them to do that?
5. Accountability
Finally, accountability is what they’re actually paying for.
Let’s be real – everything you (and I) coach can be found with a quick Google search if they know where to look.
Information and even education is no longer valuable like it used to be. What is? Accountability and a safe space to fuck up and learn.
Plus, the more skin they have in the game (i.e. the more you charge for this full spectrum service), the more accountable they’ll be.
I’m not sure how many free downloads you have sitting on your laptop, but I have plenty that I haven’t even opened… no skin in the game.
In Its Simplest Form, This is the Hybrid Coaching Model
I won’t lie, this will be more work upfront for you. But, as I learned throughout this process, if you can “work hard once” setting everything up, you make your life a whole lot easier down the road.
This will allow you to charge a monthly price for the whole package and stabilize your pay while actually working less and giving your clients the best chance at seeing the results they’re looking for.
No more never-ending selling of 10 or 20-session packages and no more needing to send out the same resources over and over to every single client who asks about keto or intermittent fasting.
You run the show and make sure all the bases are covered. They get the best of what you can offer and you get the most out of your time, energy and expertise.
About the Author
As a Kinesiology graduate, Gavin McHale quickly realized that following the traditional business model would lead to trading more time for more money.
Over the course of 8 years, Gavin built a 6-figure hybrid training business before founding the Maverick Coaching Academy in 2019.
Since then, Gavin has left the gym and gone all in helping other strength coaches build their businesses. He has made it his mission to fix the broken fitness industry and connect other amazing humans to the highest version of themselves.
In November my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, will be putting on a 2-day LIVE workshop in Boston that focuses on psychological skills geared toward fitness professionals.
I, admittedly, am a bit biased and think Lisa’s content is superb. I’ve stated on numerous occasions that what’s helped me develop most as a coach over the course of the past decade (+) is confiding in her and leaning into the idea that it’s the “soft skills” – empathy, compassion, listening, having a better understanding of the many layers of motivation – where I had the largest gap to overcome in my growth.
And I wholeheartedly feel this is an area where most other fitness pros need to grow as well.
I’ve laid out in recent weeks the general outline of the upcoming workshop, but in hindsight can understand how my explanation may have come across as a bit nebulous if not incomplete:
Why do I need to learn about motivation?
I’m not a psychologist, why does this stuff even matter?
Did Tony mention something about a tickle fight?
I mean, what the heck am I walking into here?
Lisa was kind enough to go into much, much more detail on what you can expect from the upcoming weekend and how the information she’ll share will help you become a better coach.
As a coach, your knowledge about programming, anatomy, physiology, getting people stronger, getting people leaner, and getting clients wherever they want to “go” is central to doing a good job. But your technical knowledge and acquired coaching skills aren’t the only tools you use.
When you coach, you build a relationship, using:
Rapport.
Communication.
Collaboration
Facilitation of change.
You work hard to understand and help each client, with their own unique personality, tendencies, biases, and quirks. And, just as important, you are also a unique individual with your own tendencies, biases, and ways of thinking, feeling, and being in the world. In other words, you and your clients have a psychology – and that psychology directly affects the process and outcome of coaching.
Psychology is the study of:
Cognition (Thinking)
Emotion (Feeling)
Behavior (Doing).
Your psychology impacts how you:
Think,
feel,
and act about, toward, and with your clients.
In short, your psychology – and understanding it – matters.
In Volume I of Psych Skills for Fit Pros, we explored the nature of change, motivation, and the skills coaches need to facilitate those psychological phenomena.
In Volume II, we explore the coach’s psychology:
Your thinking style, strengths, and thinking “traps”
Your emotions, unconscious tendencies, and processes
Your professional boundaries, communication style, and self-care habits
You might be reading this and wondering, “What the heck does all this stuff have to do with me being a good coach?”
Good question. Two important reasons:
First, When you understand how your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors “work,” you can see people, problems, and situations more clearly. When you are familiar with your own biases, blind spots, triggers, and stressors, you can more effectively separate your issues from The Issue at hand.
Second, the constant variable in all of your work as a coach is you.
The clients change, the setting may change, the point in time and context changes – but there you are.
By developing awareness of how your mind works and how you impact coaching relationships and coaching outcomes, you develop personally and professionally. And as everyone reading this knows, personal and professional development are central to career-long growth, effectiveness, and enjoyment of the coaching profession.
On November 6th and 7th, 2021, Volume II of Psych Skills for Fit Pros will be live at Ethos Fitness and Performance in Boston, MA.
A. Psychology in Coaching: Why knowing your own mind matters B. Self-Awareness: A long game – but worth it personally and professionally C. Mindfulness: Mental Preparation for self-awareness and effective coaching D. Psychology 101: A Primer
II. Cognition
A. Thoughts, and how they work B. Thinking styles, tendencies, and traps C. How to identify thinking traps, and use clear thinking to coach effectively
D. Character Strengths
E. Application
Identify and correct thinking traps to improve coaching
Leverage your strengths to maximize coaching effectiveness
Case Study
III. Emotion
A. Feelings, and how they work B. Unconsciousness, and how it impacts coaching
There-and-then (your past influences how you see the present)
Transference in coaching
Countertransference in coaching
Content and process in coaching
C. Application
Identify emotions and processes that influence your coaching, triggers for negative emotions and processes, and a plan for correcting unhelpful emotions and processes.
Case Study
Day 2 (Half Day)
IV. Behaviors
A. Your actions, and how they work B. Interpersonal Boundaries C. Setting the “Frame” for coaching: Enactment of your mission, goals, and values D. Self-Care: maintaining physical and mental health for optimal coaching and thriving E. Application
Understand and outline your boundaries, coaching “frame”, self-care practices, and how those maximize your performance as a coach
Case Study
V. Bringing It All Together
A. Your psychology is the most powerful tool you have for helping clients B. Top Take-Aways C. Beyond the seminar
Strengths to leverage
Blind spots and biases to work on
More to learn
Who is This Seminar For?
Coaches who have the nuts and bolts competencies of coaching (sets, reps, programming), and want to further their skills and effectiveness as a coach.
Coaches who are open to looking within themselves, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and working on their own psychology, even though the benefits and payoff might not be immediate.
Coaches who get that professional and personal development is sometimes a “long game” and that investments you make in those areas can take time to yield positive results.
Coaches who know that psychology and mindset are just as important as physiology and fitness.
Who is This Seminar NOT For?
Coaches who need to focus on the nuts and bolts of coaching (sets, reps, programming)
Coaches who do not like thinking about, talking about, or looking within themselves, and who thinking psychology is not a part of fitness.
Coaches who want continuing education to yield immediate benefit, and don’t want to focus on longer-term improvements and change.
There’s no set algorithm to gaining and building a larger audience.
It’s never been easier to be seen or heard in today’s world.
We have any number of avenues at our disposal (and fingers tips): podcasts, social media, blogs, YouTube, cute kitty pictures. They all work.
That said, it’s never been harder to get seen or heard.
Everyone is vying for everyone else’s attention and we’re surrounded by bright shiny objects; it’s growing harder and harder to focus our attention on any one thing or individual.
Today’s guest post by fitness business fixer-upper, Gavin McHale, sheds light on a component of lead generation that many fit pros fail to “cash in” on.
It’s been touted as one of the best movies of the 2010’s, starring Leo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon Levitt and revolving around their ability to extract information through a shared dream world, literally stealing people’s dreams.
In the movie, Leo’s character is tasked with a near impossible job, implanting an idea into someone’s subconscious, also known as “inception.”
If you want your brain to turn into a pretzel after 2+ hours, go check it out.
Today, I’m going to teach you about audience hacking, or more professionally named, strategic partnerships… while hacking Tony’s audience.
Woooooooah.
In a World where it’s becoming more and more difficult to stand out – an online world that is packed, shoulder to shoulder with professionals trying to shout over one another and a consumer base so sick and tired of hearing it and unsure of who to listen to or why they should care about what most coaches are posting, this is the next wave of ‘organic’ marketing efforts.
So, let me start with my journey to get here:
In 2016, while still in the fitness industry, I attended a conference in Minneapolis, MN hosted by Tony and Dean Somerset
Note From TG: It was the Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint. I don’t want to put words into Gavin’s mouth, but I’m pretty sure it changed his life. You know how in the movie The Matrix when Morpheus gave Neo the choice to choose between the red pill and the blue one in and how that forever changed Neo’s life? Well, that’s what basically went down in Minnesota five years ago.7
I introduced myself to both Tony and Dean and had a real conversation, toeing the line of being a fanboy and a real human being (this was tough, not gonna lie)
Once I arrived home, I emailed Tony and asked if I could write an article on what we’d learned at the seminar for his blog (my first taste of sweet, sweet audience hacking). Let’s break down this offer:
This was a win for me, in that I got to speak to a much larger audience than mine
This was a win for Tony in that he got more great content, curated by him to provide to his audience
This was a win for his audience, in that they heard a different voice teaching a valuable lesson.
About 18 months later, through Tony, I connected with his wife, psychologist Dr. Lisa Lewis, when I needed to work through some personal issues.
That’s my boo (<— this is Tony speaking, not Gavin)
Then, when I shifted to business coaching and started my podcast in 2020, I invited Lisa to come on the show, knowing she had worked with my audience in the past. She, of course, crushed it. You can listen to that interview HERE.
Once Lisa’s episode released, I asked if she knew anyone who may be interested in joining the show and she recommended Tony. This is something I do with every guest, looking to have more great conversation and hoping to grow my own circle in the process
I was incredibly excited to interview someone with such a large audience, but I didn’t stop there
Of course, Tony and I had an awesome conversation – HERE – but who knows how many of you are willing to go listen to 60 minutes or more when you’re used to reading a blog
I recently reached out to Tony and pitched writing this article, knowing a big chunk of his audience is trainers
Here Are Some of the Key Takeaways Inside That 5 Year Timeline
1. Focus on Win-Win Relationships
This almost seems like it’s too easy, but I actually want to overstate this point.
Win-win relationships hinge on the fact that you both get something you feel is valuable out of the exchange. When you come into a potential relationship only thinking about what you can extract from it, I can guarantee you no one will win.
How did I do this with Tony and how can you do this with other influencers or possible referral sources in your space?
I had a real conversation with him.
Based on said conversation, I felt like there was a possibility I could help his audience and took a leap of faith in asking him (more on that later).
In other words, I came with a giving hand, knowing specifically what value I could provide to make Tony’s life easier.
But this doesn’t just apply to people whose audiences you’re trying to hack. Building relationships is the foundation upon which the fitness industry has been built and upon which you will soon want to build your marketing efforts.
How many of you have received an ice cold DM, punching you in the face with their pitch and bombarding you with questions before you even had a chance to tell them to beat it?
And just like I wouldn’t tell you to walk into a bar, buy a potential mate a drink and get down on one knee to propose, I won’t ever tell you to do that.
Conversations are an incredible way to build relationships, but there’s also the hidden benefit of consistently providing content kindling for you.
By starting conversations with as many people as you can; from fellow coaches to potential clients, you allow yourself to learn about their beliefs and struggles, and get a better glimpse into the mind of those you’re hoping to help.
I regularly start a dozen conversations a week, and while it very rarely goes directly from DM conversation to new client, it seems that is a non-negotiable process that has allowed us to earn as much income in the first half of 2021 as we did in all of 2020.
From my conversations, I’ve been able to:
Talk to 40+ new people on my podcast (most of whom I’ve never met in person)
Create content directly from what potential clients have said they’re struggling with
Create free mini-courses and resources that actually get people results (LINK)
Actually earn new clients (about 50% of our clients come from DM conversations)
So, ask yourself how you can start more conversations every single week and bring something valuable to the person you’re speaking to.
This really is the essence of service, isn’t it?
2. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask
I was scared shitless when I asked to write this article for Tony. I may have actually closed my eyes when I hit send.
Why?
Because I know he’s good friends and former business partners with Pete Dupuis, another excellent voice in the business mentorship space.
I also know he’s quite picky about what shows up on this blog and didn’t want to overstep my boundaries.
Finally, I didn’t know if he’d actually find what I had to say valuable.
Turns out, I was wrong.
And I would’ve never known that had I not asked.
I would’ve never known that had I not asked to guest blog in 2016, or asked Lisa on the podcast in 2020 or asked him on the podcast in 2021.
There’s a key piece that so many of us, as coaches, miss out on.
The simple, yet often scary act of asking.
Once you realize you can create a win-win for someone who serves a similar population, asking if you can provide value.
Once a potential client shows interest in your offer, asking if they want to learn more.
Once a prospect is on the phone and has told you their biggest problems, asking if they want to enroll.
Jeez, if you’ve ever been on a date in your life, you’ve had to ask, right?
But this is where so many people get tripped up, since they’re not willing to put themselves in a position where they may get rejected.
But know that hearing NO is not the opposite of hearing YES. In fact, hearing NO is often the only path to hearing YES more often.
I have heard countless NO’s when pitching blog articles and other free resources just like this one.
I have heard countless NO’s and been ghosted more times than I’d like to admit when having conversations with potential clients in the DMs.
And I’ve heard almost as many NO’s as I have YES’s on sales calls.
But asking is the only way you’ll ever know for sure.
3. Bring the Fire
This should go without saying, but make sure, whenever you are asked to deliver, that you bring the fucking fire.
If someone you deeply respect and look up to is on your podcast, leave them feeling great with a memorable conversation instead of just asking questions like a robot.
(Side note: I actually looked up Tony’s baseball stats and story and we had a great conversation around it).
Team pic from Tony’s Freshman year. Can you spot him?
If you’re given the green light to present to someone’s audience or clients, make sure you’re well prepared and provide good energy while presenting and answering questions.
And if you’re welcomed to a guest blog and they ask you to tie in a Wu Tang reference, you better start listening to some Wu Tang songs (Protect Ya’ Neck is probably about to wake my wife up as I write this).
SIDE NOTE (from Tony):I told Gavin that the only “rules” I had to writing a guest post for me was to 1) make it actionable (check), 2) keep it to ~1500 words or less (check), and 3) include a Wu-Tang Clan reference. I was kidding (but fuck yes, check)
So, while you can go about your days attempting to implant ideas into your potential clients’ subconscious brain, there’s a better way.
Use the relationships you’ve already created, add more value to them and find new connections, simply by asking.
And please, stop trying to shout louder like all your competitors. It’s not a good look and it’s only going to get more and more difficult.
About the Author
As a Kinesiology graduate, Gavin McHale quickly realized that following the traditional business model would lead to trading more time for more money.
Over the course of 8 years, Gavin built a 6-figure hybrid training business before founding the Maverick Coaching Academy in 2019.
Since then, Gavin has left the gym and gone all in helping other strength coaches build their businesses. He has made it his mission to fix the broken fitness industry and connect other amazing humans to the highest version of themselves.
Venn diagrams can be a very useful tool to help illustrate the relationships amongst a finite group of things. Circles that overlap have a commonality while circles that don’t overlap do not share those traits.
Let’s use the fitness industry as an example.
“Success” as a fitness professional can be broken down like this:
LOL – Just kidding.
It’s actually more like this (overly simplified, of course, for brevity’s sake):
There’s no shortage of resources out there highlighting the stuff on the left. It only makes sense that a personal trainer knows how to coach a squat or that they can differentiate one’s ass from their acetabulum, and there’s an abyss of ways to gather and learn that information.
On the right side, however, things becomes a bit more convoluted. Those things are less talked about and as a result are harder to learn (much less appreciate their importance).
Today’s guest post by Michigan based fitness trainer, Alex McBrairty, highlights the right-hand side. I promise you that if you’re a fitness professional this information is relevant and will undoubtedly help you grow your business.
How the “Friendship Formula” Can Enhance Your Fitness Business
Clients work with coaches who they enjoy being around.
At the end of the day, most clients don’t know the difference between good advice and bad advice, but they can tell the difference between having a good experience or a bad one.
Providing a good experience boils down to being able to connect with your clients.
But do you know how to connect with clients in a meaningful way, one that shows them you care and have their best interests at heart? The purpose of this article is to help you understand the psychological foundations for connecting with others. This process involves more than small talk and having the courage to go out and meet others.
Fortunately, the art of human connection can be broken down into a relatively simple formula.
We’ll call it, “The Friendship Formula.”
There are three core components of this formula: familiarity, likability, and vulnerability. Each component fulfills a particular role, creating a feedback loop that allows the relationship to reinforce and strengthen over time. If you learn how to implement this process like any other system in your business, you can attract and sign more clients, improve retention rates, and build a thriving coaching business helping people.
Familiarity
In 1950, researchers studied the community life of a group of veterans living in the same housing complex [1]. The results they found were surprising. One of the best predictors of closeness between individuals was their physical proximity to one another.
This same effect was repeated in another study completed in 1967 measuring the social interactions and relationships among college freshmen sharing the same dorm. Physical proximity was again a strong predictor of the strength of closeness between students—roommates were most likely to become friends, followed by neighbors immediately next door, then neighbors down the hall, then lastly by neighbors on a separate floor [2].
Proximity Principle
The proximity principle is the idea that mere physical closeness increases interpersonal attraction. In other words, repeated physical exposure to the same people increases the likelihood that you will become friends. This is due in part to the mere exposure effect and the attribution of perceived similarities (more on this in a bit).
Mere Exposure Effect
Another psychological phenomenon that supports the benefit of physical proximity is the mere exposure effect. This states that we tend to prefer things that are more familiar to us.
Think of your favorite comfort foods.
Likely you consumed these foods often as a child, and it is this familiarity that creates your sense of comfort upon re-experiencing them.
Additionally, studies have shown that we even prefer words that we hear more often [3]. If the proximity principle sets you up for increased familiarity, the mere exposure effect comes in for the alley-oop to allow this familiarity to breed into increased positive emotions toward you. Combined, they set the stage for a new connection to blossom.
Christina Abbey, an online fitness coach, understands how to create this proximity and exposure on the gym floor. Whether she’s training clients, performing her own workouts, or just being available to socialize, she makes sure she is visible to other gym patrons.
As Abbey said, “People like what they are familiar with. If they constantly see you crushing your workouts and being a positive motivator to others, you will be the obvious choice when they’re ready to ask for help.”
The first step in creating new connections with other people is to ensure you are being repeatedly exposed to them. Being seen on the gym floor, attending parties and events they might also be attending, participating in similar activities, and being generally as visible as possible leads to this familiarity.
This could also include online visibility—via social media posts and interactions.
Andrew Coates, fitness coach, writer, and host of the “Lift Free and Diet Hard” podcast, is a big supporter of creating this familiarity via a strong social media presence. Coates suggests being consistent on your platform, following and interacting with your followers, and regularly sharing high-value content. Combining those elements creates a sense of “being around,” which can breed that familiarity with you and your work that can draw in potential clients.
Likability
The second component of creating new relationships is establishing likability. People won’t want to be around you, nor give you their money, unless they like you. Being liked is so important, in fact, that Dr. Robert Cialdini identified it as one of the six principles of persuasion in his book, Influence.
Note From Tony: I shoulda included a picture of the book Influence here, but decided on Gizmo instead; one of the most likable creatures ever. EVER!
There are two core concepts important to understanding how to create likability: similarity and reciprocity (another of those persuasion principles).
Perceived and Actual Similarities
The power of the proximity principle lies in our assumptions about others. When we come into frequent contact with the same people, we often assume we have more things in common than that which is immediately evident. These perceived similarities lead to a greater sense of liking.
This occurs for a few reasons.
First, we craft our own self-identity, at least in part, by those we choose to associate with. This is called social identity theory. If we maintain a particular view about who we are as a person, we are more likely to self-select individuals who support that view—people who hold similar interests, personality traits, and world views [5]. We like those similar to us because they prove that we are who we think we are.
The second factor that leads to our favorability toward similar others is that it makes the relationship easier to maintain. When we become friends with individuals who carry wildly different views, or behave in very different ways, it exposes us to a greater likelihood of potential conflict with these individuals.
For example, imagine a trainer who took a drill sergeant approach, and a client who responded best to positive affirmations.
These differences would increase the likelihood of conflicts arising in the future. The coach’s lack of positive regard actively discourages the client instead of giving them the push that the coach expects. Now the coach wrongfully believes the client is unmotivated, and the client believes that the coach simply doesn’t care enough to acknowledge them. Befriending those different from us exposes us to these potential disagreements.
Therefore, if you want to give yourself an edge in establishing bonds with new people, work to identify and reinforce any similarities that might exist. This could include values, hobbies, food preferences, even favorite book genres; the possibilities are endless.
Looking at Coates’ towering figure, you wouldn’t immediately know that he’s an avid fan of fantasy fiction, comic books, and video games. These hobbies allow him to connect with individuals who share those interests, even when they might have little else in common. As Coates put it, loving “nerd culture” before it was cool doesn’t always align with growing up active, so his shared interest in that material allows him to connect better with this audience.
Tony Gentilcore, CSCS, has worked with everyone from powerlifters, figure competitors, moms, CEOs of big companies, and everyone in between. Gentilcore takes a two-tiered approach to finding similarities with his clients.
The first is to focus on the fact that both he and his clients are there to get the best results possible for the client. In other words, they’re both playing for the same team. (This focus on teamwork can also help create shared experiences. More on that in a minute.)
His second strategy is to ask about movies. In fact, Gentilcore includes a question in his intake asking new clients to share their favorite movie. As he says, “It serves as a nice ice-breaker. And on the off-chance that there’s awkward silence at any point during one of their initial sessions, I can always bring it up: ‘So, John, Eyes Wide Shut huh? what’s your favorite scene?’”
Fidelio. Cue awkward silence.
Even if there aren’t any immediately identifiable similarities between you and another person, you can almost always find some sort of shared interest or aspect of your backgrounds if you dig deep enough. Let your natural curiosity take over and explore the interests of others.
Reciprocal Liking
We have an inherent need to both act fairly and be treated fairly. As a result, whenever someone does something for us, be it a favor or giving a gift, we have a tendency to want to repay the giver in kind. Usually this is completed through a favor completed at a later time or a gift given in exchange. This effect also extends to our relationships with others.
When it becomes clear that others like us, we feel compelled to reciprocate by liking them in return [4], a concept referred to as reciprocal liking. Therefore, if you want to create new relationships with others, start by showing your liking toward them. In exchange, they will likely take a more favorable view toward you and be more open to establishing a relationship.
One simple way to create reciprocal liking is to tell your clients explicitly and regularly that you appreciate their business and truly enjoy working with them. This approach has such a big pay-off that it’s astonishing more professionals don’t do it as a consistent part of their practice. (And if you don’t enjoy working with them, you have a different kind of problem and may need to reevaluate what you’re doing on a bigger scale.)
Even if you seemingly have nothing in common during your first interactions (you can’t readily find any similarities), let your curiosity take over.
The best way to demonstrate liking and be interesting is to be interested.
Inquire into their interests and other areas of pride. Ask meaningful questions that allow you to learn more about the individual whom you’d like to create a connection with. Surely, if you are truly curious, you will eventually find something you have in common. You might even create a new shared interest that didn’t exist before.
In fact, this is one of Abbey’s favorite parts of the job:
“It’s a unique experience to not only work with people from all walks of life but to build relationships and connect with them over time.” She admits that sometimes it’s harder to find these similar interests. In these situations, she uses as many clues as she can, “T-shirts can give you a huge insight about what people are into. Places they’ve been, events they attended, or bands they love. If you are really listening, then you’ll likely discover at least one thing you have in common.”
When Mike Doehla, founder of Stronger U Nutrition, started his company, he had no idea about entrepreneurship or running a business. Two of his early clients were involved in multiple businesses in his area, and through them he began to learn more about it.
Because of them, Doehla eventually made the decision to quit his day job and focus on building Stronger U full-time.
I guess you could say that was a good choice, given that Stronger U has now helped tens of thousands of clients across the globe. Doehla’s interest in entrepreneurship remains. He’s gone on to be involved in seven other businesses and constantly reads about the subject. His passion for entrepreneurship started because he wanted to learn more about his clients.
Being regularly visible to and present with those you’d like to befriend increases your familiarity to them, which, in turn, improves your likability and their potential desire to want to connect with you. Building on shared connections and expressing your genuine appreciation for your clients further enhances your likability.
Both of these factors are relatively superficial, however, and while important for initially establishing a relationship, by themselves they are not sufficient to cultivate deeper bonds. For that more enduring connection, you’ll need to create vulnerability in order to develop closeness and trust.
Vulnerability
Vulnerability is defined as a state of being that exposes us to the possibility of being hurt or harmed, either physically or emotionally.
Being vulnerable in a relationship involves sharing our biggest dreams, our deepest fears, our greatest joys and our worst pain. This act of complete openness is often avoided by so many simply because of the risks of this exposure. By giving this information to another person, we give them the power to do us harm.
Yet, while it may seem so hard to be vulnerable with another person—especially someone we don’t know very well—research has shown that this vulnerability is actually the key to creating deep, meaningful relationships with others [6].
The Power of Shared Experiences
Why does vulnerability do such an excellent job of bringing people together into meaningful relationships? At least part of the effect can be explained by concepts presented by Sebastian Junger in his book, Tribe (and his ideas are supported by prevailing research).
The connectedness created through vulnerability is established because we bond best through shared emotional experiences with others, both positive and negative [7,8]. The ability to identify these shared experiences—through the openness created from being vulnerable—is what allows the connectedness of the relationship to solidify.
Mike Doehla knows how important these shared experiences are. In his work, the topic of cancer comes up and causes quite a disruption in clients’ emotional state and focus. As Doehla put it, “The last thing on people’s minds after a cancer diagnosis, or death, is what they’re going to eat. I’m a pretty open dude, so I would share my story often.”
The story he’s referring to is about losing his mom to cancer when he was just 23 years old.
“When I lost my mom, nothing else mattered, especially eating well. I wanted my clients to understand I could relate, and I knew what was most important in that moment. And it wasn’t the food. It was the family and the feelings. In these situations, I would always make sure people knew I was here and I did not expect perfection of any kind. I was just a shoulder they could lean on who could help minimize extra stressors if they needed it.”
Gentilcore is unbashful when it comes to discussing his personal journey with mental health and how he still routinely speaks to a therapist on a monthly basis. He sees how society prides itself in our ability to bottle up and compartmentalize our thoughts and feelings, and his openness can sometimes take clients by surprise.
“I often bring up my past bouts with depression with clients (when appropriate), if for no other reason than to emphasize how helpful it was for me that I started seeing a therapist. My thought is that if I am open about my experiences, then maybe it’ll be enough of a nudge to encourage a client of mine to seek out help if he or she needs it.”
Not only does sharing their stories create a shared emotional experience between each of these trainers and their respective clients, but their clients likely feel heard and validated, too—the opposite of being judged. When you can express your humanity, your clients will feel valued and cared for.
There is no better customer service strategy.
Empathetic Balance
While vulnerability appears to be the most important factor in creating closeness with others, proper judgment should be used when deciding when it is appropriate to share these experiences and feelings. Creating shared experiences allows us to empathize with others—the ability to feel the emotions they feel.
This means we can feel the positive emotions expressed by others, but it also means we will experience the negative emotions, too. If you are overly sharing your negative experiences and feelings with others, it can have the opposite intended effect by causing others to avoid future social interactions with you because they don’t want to be drawn into your negative energy.
If you are constantly “dampening the mood,” others will seek to avoid your company.
Think about what happens when a client upsets this balance with their constant negativity. Abbey and Coates agree that if this negativity becomes too great, the best course of action is to refer out or otherwise get rid of the client. Doing so can protect your energy and allow you to be more positive toward the other clients in your care.
Imagine if the situation were reversed?
A trainer who brings too much negativity is going to repel clients.
It is important, then, to not only use vulnerability as a tool to deepen relationships, but also to balance negative openness with positive openness—sharing your dreams, aspirations, and joyful experiences in addition to your fears and bad experiences.
Strategic Vulnerability
When considering when to create these shared experiences using vulnerability, remember the two most important factors: relevancy and empathetic balance.
You should share moments of vulnerability as they become relevant to the conversation, seeking to balance positive and negative experiences. Additionally, make sure the conversation remains directed to your client.
Disordered eating is something that most people never seek professional help for. Knowing this, as soon as Abbey’s clients begin to show signs of disordered eating, she uses that moment to open up about her own struggles with disordered eating.
Her goal in sharing her experience is first to let them know that they are not alone and shouldn’t feel ashamed.
Additionally, it’s to help them feel validated and encouraged to seek help from a registered dietician as well as support from people they trust. Opening up about her own struggles is a very personal subject, but it opens the door to creating deep bonds with many of her clients.
It takes a certain level of bravery to open yourself up to someone else.
Your client may not always be the first to share.
You may find yourself being vulnerable without an immediate return of vulnerability from the other person. This is normal and may just mean they need more time to feel comfortable. Fortunately, this doesn’t necessarily mean your openness was in vain. Once you’ve experienced your first offering of vulnerability, you have introduced a newer, stronger level of familiarity—which will breed greater likability and future moments of vulnerability.
Bringing It All Together
You now have the tools to better connect with current and future clients. Yet, there is one imperative piece of the puzzle missing that you must supply: a genuine interest in wanting to connect with others.
Most people are very aware when someone is being fake, and faking any of these steps can lead to disaster. You must be genuinely curious about others and want to make a connection with them in a real, authentic way.
Also consider that once a connection is established, it requires work to maintain. You must continually traverse this loop so long as you want to prevent the relationship from going stale.
Think of close childhood friends whom you no longer visit frequently. You’ve likely been very familiar, liked, and vulnerable with them during periods of your life. Now that you’ve grown apart, the relationship is not as close as it once was. This can happen to any relationship, even those with the closest of friends and loved ones, let alone your clients, without the proper care and attention it deserves.
You can use this formula again and again to reach and connect with more people. With this knowledge, you are better prepared to build new relationships to boost your client roster and retention rates. Building strong relationships will inevitably lead to greater success in your business.
About the Author
Alex McBrairty is an online fitness coach who owns A-Team Fitness in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Obese as a child and teenager, he blends fitness and psychology to help his clients discover their own hidden potential.
He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan and is certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine.
His articles have appeared in Breaking Muscle and The Personal Trainer Development Center, and he’s contributed to Muscle & Fitness, USA Today, Men’s Fitness, and Prevention.
This is the third and final installment of fitness financial expert Billy Hofacker‘s Coach and Grow Rich series on TonyGentilcore.com. However, unlike most trilogies (ahem The Matrix Reloaded & Revolutions) this doesn’t suck.
Financial literacy is a topic that’s not emphasized (much less taught) to fitness professionals. What’s your plan for retirement? Do you have short or long-term disability? How about a 401k? SEP IRA? How do you handle debt?
The gist is: If you have a better handle on your rolodex of Russian weight training manuals or keto recipes than you do your budget, you may want to consider readjusting your priorities.
Here’s the first two installments in case you missed them:
Just like our clients need to learn proper squatting technique before we throw a heavy bar on their back, we need to have some foundational principles in place for building wealth.
Before we dive into part 3, here’s a quick re-cap of the first two installments.
Part 1 of Coach and Grow Rich was all about developing a money mindset. Since we’ll never outperform our self image, it’s crucial to pay attention to what we’re thinking about. Most people wind up where they expect financially, which isn’t far. By improving your mindset, you can set and achieve greater goals than you thought were possible.
Part 2 dealt with a sometimes uncomfortable topic, debt.
It’s an area I know all too well as my wife and I scraped our way out of a massive amount (more than 100K) of debt 10 years ago. I know firsthand how debt can cripple the future. I’m on a mission to help fit pros destroy debt so they can live the life they’re destined for.
The topic for this final post in the series is wealth building.
Accumulating wealth can sound like a scary thing. I know I’ve had to shift my mindset from one of scarcity to one of abundance. Just over a decade ago I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to keep our house and now I have a grandeur vision.
Hopefully this post will help it seem a little less daunting for you. If a guy like me can get to the other side, with some hard work and discipline, you can too!
I hope you’re convinced of the importance of taking your finances seriously.
If so, here are the 7 habits of highly effective finances (and wealth building).
1. Do a Spending Plan
Think of your spending plan like your training program.
You create your plan before the month starts with your end goal in mind. It then serves as a guide for you to follow. We never follow it perfectly but we do much better than if we had no plan at all.
One of my favorite personal finance books is The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley. While income level can be a big lever when it comes to building wealth, it’s not true that a high income is needed to get ahead financially.
Additionally, high consumption isn’t correlated with high net worth.
The next time you’re at a stoplight, you may see a brand new Mercedes on one side and a three year old Toyota Corolla on the other. While there’s a chance the person driving the Mercedes is wealthy, there is a greater chance the owner of the Toyota is.
You may be surprised to find out that even among people who make 250K or more, only 39% drive luxury cars. It’s also not surprising that 8% of people who earn less than 100K drive luxury models. That’s keeping up with the Jones’ at its finest!
3. Stay Out of Debt
One of the most common traits of millionaires is they get and stay out of consumer debt. Even with a higher income, if a large percentage of it is going towards debt, the lost opportunity to build wealth is tremendous.
4. Save Your Pennies
Another trait of financially successful people is that they’re organized and prepared. They know that life happens and aren’t caught off guard when the water heater breaks, they have a flat tire, or when it’s December 25th.
They save a little each month and build up an unexpected event or sinking fund so when things happen, stress is minimized and they can keep moving in the right direction.
5. Invest
Money sitting in the bank can have its purpose (as mentioned in the point above) but keep in mind that over time that money will be worth less.
This is due to inflation, the decline of purchasing power over time.
One of the key principles of investing is that the higher the risk the higher the potential return. For example, you can invest in individual stocks or cryptocurrency. You may get lucky and choose the right one, like a guy I know of who invested in Apple at 9 years old and became a multimillionaire by age 13.
However, there is a much greater chance you will lose your money since there are so many unknowns. For this reason, most financially successful people have most of their investments in assets that have greater stability like mutual funds, index funds (a close cousin of mutual funds), and real estate. You have to determine how much risk you’re willing to take based on your situation (e.g. age, goals, etc.).
6. Get Money Smart
Some people say to stick your money in an investment, let it grow, and don’t worry about it. Or, hire a financial planner and let them handle it so you can focus on what you do best.
I agree and disagree with both of these strategies.
The main thing for me is that nobody is going to watch your money like you do.
Nobody.
I don’t believe you should take your finger completely off the pulse. You shouldn’t do that with your personal money or the money flowing through your business. I’m not saying you need to check your net worth three times a day, but spending a few hours a month on things like organizing your finances, thinking through different purchases, setting goals, etc. can go a long way.
Life is not all about money but when this part of things is organized the rest of life will work better.
7. Be Generous
Counter to what many think, the wealthiest people are the most generous.
And you don’t have to be wealthy to start giving.
Did the wealthy people become generous by getting rich? Or did being generous make them rich? Even with very little, you can cultivate a generous spirit. It might be with a few dollars, a higher tip, or even a compliment.
Being generous can become addictive. It feels so good to give that you want to earn more just to give more. It becomes a positive cycle of doing good, earning more, and creating a greater impact.
As That’s That
As you can see, building wealth doesn’t have to be complicated.
It can be rather simple.
It’s not easy.
It’ll take years of hard work, discipline, and courage. It’s not all that different from setting a goal in any important area like fitness or relational. I challenge you to do all or most of the seven things mentioned here for the next 30 days. You’ll see that you can win with money and hopefully be on your path to achieving financial freedom!
About the Author
Many fitness professionals get stuck in the day to day and have little to show for their hard work. Billy Hofacker helps them get on a plan to achieve financial freedom. You can learn more by listening to the Your Fitness Money Coach podcast or visiting www.yourfitnessmoneycoach.com.
