Call # 3 - February 11, 2010

If we can learn to make the kind of money we deserve, and do it by making lives better in the process, we never feel as if we're working, and it becomes incredibly blissful to recognize that there aren't those rigid lines between work and passion.

Love what you do, do what you love, and prosper.  That's real, but it isn't necessarily easy . . . it isn't easy any more than developing a healthy body is easy . . . but it's worth it and it's extremely rewarding . . .

Mindset controls focus, focus controls actions, actions control outcome

By using external references, rather than only using your own experiences, you coax your prefrontal cortex, the possibility center, to push you past the desire of your Emotional Experiential Memory to protect you.  In other words, once someone proves something possible, the belief put together with a goal can turn to achievement . . . as long as you control mindset.

All great leaders rely upon:

• A vision
• A plan
• A willingness to chart the course and evaluate progress, and then re-chart the course relentlessly.

Ask better questions and you'll uncover powerful answers.  As an example, "how can you earn more doing what you love?"

A key element to going from a goal being set to a goal being achieved is "response-ability"

According to Albert Einstein: "Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."

"The life of the individual has meaning only insofar as it aids in making the life of every living thing nobler and more beautiful. Life is sacred, that is to say, it is the supreme value, to which all other values are subordinate."

As a professional committed to serving others, you deserve to be well compensated, and the word "De-serve" comes from the Latin for "of service."

Rules of Profitability for Trainers

• Get paid what you're worth - always
• Never unjustifiably give away the service you are typically paid for
• Do not discount in reward for client commitment - commitment is expected
• If, after a predetermined chaos / organization effort, if something isn't clearly contributing to profit - stop doing it
• Spend the most time on whatever brings you the greatest return
• Never focus on money - instead position yourself where you prosper at a greater level with each person you touch

Live with the passion of your work (5 people a day becomes simple)

Recognize that you're marketing - always

Don't make yourself reliant on someone else - joint ventures have their place, but only if you can afford to let them go.

• Don't hire mercenaries, but when you hire employees feed the entrepreneurial spirit
• If you're employed and you don't have a prohibitive agreement, get 3 clients - and a guinea pig
• Find your new clients by asking the question, "Who do I love to train?"  Once you can answer that question, it becomes simple to answer the following two questions which when combined with action put you directly in front of prospective clients.
  • Where do these people gather?
  • How can you interact with them?
• Set up a forum and charge for it.  Plan it 45 days from now.  If you already have such a forum, figure out how you can double your attendance, double your revenue, or double your net.
• make yourself portable . . . rent is simply rent . . . not "the business"
• learn to evaluate EBITDA
• start a new database beginning now, and commit to add 5 people a day to it, then choose one preferred outreach vehicle (video message, newsletter, regular email, etc.) and commit to doing it every 30 days.
• Choose a unique object that you can carry with you.  We're going to create a link between the sensation of touching, holding, or squeezing this object and the RAS reinforcement of a specific goal.

Call#5 - March 16, 2010

If someone tells you they have $100 per month budgeted for assistance with their fitness program, can you work with that person, without compromising your value in any way, over the course of a year?

Effortless prosperity is a concept that lies as a foundational structure upon which all of you want to build your careers.

 Effortless, as I use it in this phrase, effortless prosperity, has nothing to do with an absence of effort.

I'll also tell you that prosperity, as I use the term, has less to do with money than it has to do with a sense of being.

Effortless prosperity for Personal Trainers is simple:

Touch, Compel, Capture, Thrill

Touch - emotionally touch - people are responsive because of their emotions

 There is a way to strategically find greater comfort with the 5 a day rule.

 First - get to 5 - just engaging in dialogue

 Second - get to 5 that you walk away feeling as if you really expressed a benefit of your service

 Third - get to 5 that you've touched by sharing something about your unique value or your extraordinary service potential.

 After you touch, you have to Compel.

 Once a commitment (financial) is made, you've completed the Capture.

 The next part we love.  Thrill people.

Customer satisfaction is ordinary . . . so you don't want to stop short of thrilling.

 Salespeople stall at the capture part. They believe the capture is the victory.  I believe the capture is the opportunity to thrill and to use the experience to get better at touching people.

 Now that we understand the link between Effortless Prosperity, and Touch, Compel, Capture, Thrill, if you integrate those four simple steps into your daily habits, your business has no choice but to grow.

 To prepare for limitless growth, you'll ultimately have to create your "spillover" . . . to replicate yourself . . . to hire.

 Find your apprentice.  Someone you trust, someone who wants to learn from you, someone who appreciates the relationship because they benefit from it every bit as much as you do if not more.  You can focus on the touch, compel, capture part and develop a confidence that your team will handle the thrill.

 The Mindset Shift:

• You can only have the experience of thrilling people if you touch them first.

• You can only have the experience of thrilling people if you compel and capture some of the people you touch.

• Therefore, you are doing those people who you can help a disservice by failing to reach out to them when they're near you.

If you can adopt this mindset, if you honestly believe that you're hurting people by not giving them an opportunity to understand your unique power, the touch part becomes so ingrained into who you are the sense of effort goes away completely.

•  5 a Day
• Build a Forum (one marketing directive)
• Replicate
• Learn to add in profit centers which further escalate prosperity.

Money is representative of power, or more accurately, of the energy to make something happen.

 If you believe you de-serve $20 for your orientation, and you believe you can deliver more value than people expect, and you believe most of the people you meet have enough in their pocket to afford a $20 commitment and access to enough energy to afford $100 a month, shouldn't you attempt to thrill as many people as you can?

 You have to begin to believe, beyond any doubt, that you deserve to be compensated in line with the value you deliver.

 These are subtle thoughts and theories that should combine to help you form some new beliefs.

NAVAQA

NAVAQA is an acronym. 

NAVAQA is really the process of directing someone to make the right decision.

 NAVAQA moves someone toward the decision to train with you, or more importantly, toward the decision to gain control over their physical outcome.

 Need (Pain)

 Ammunition (inner thoughts and false beliefs)

 Vehicle (presentation)

 Alternatives (decision based on opposing outcomes)

 Qualify (is anything preventing you?)

 Advisor (don't become a salesperson)

Exercise #1

 Write down the one outcome that would be most rewarding for you within the next 3 - 6 months. 

 Compare the desired outcome to your To Do list.

 Make action changes based on the new thought process this exercise facilitates.

Exercise #2

 Write down the five pursuits / activities you spend the most time on and number them 1 - 5 in order of time spent (1 being the one you're most occupied by).

 After you have your list, remove the numbers and re-order the list based on how much of a financial return each activity brings (1 being the one with the greatest return)

 Next, take that same list and revisit the hierarchy based on order of "the greatest promise of achieving the desired outcome."

 You might find these two exercises lead to a new awareness, better use of your time, and a shortened path to Effortless Prosperity. 

Call #7 -  May 3, 2010

Start to look at your business differently than most fitness professionals view their businesses.

We begin with a simplified view of business growth:

1. Chaos
2. Independence (Organization)
3. Interdependence (Excellence)

Understand and recognize the lifecyle of a business

1. courtship
2. infancy
3. chaos (go-go frenzy)
4. adolescence
5. prime (this is where you want to be)
6. stability
7. aristocracy
8. reconciliation
9. bureaucracy
10. death 

Master the Three Pieces of the Personal Trainer Prosperity Puzzle

1. The Reach
2. The Funnel
3. The Spillover

Call # 8 - May 20, 2010

 When it comes to goal setting, oftentimes coaches ask you to identify the end-all be-all outcome.  The macro, meaning the big goal.  That approach has virtue, but a continual focus on macro without zeroing in on the elements of achievement may leave some goals unachieved.  By choosing a small part of the big picture, a micro-goal, you adjust your RAS to drive you to make the micro-goal a guarantee.

 To address "Spillover," if you're optimizing "Reach" and "Funnel," you have to recruit / hire.

• An ideal leader in our field is driven by the Need for Power
• An ideal "second" or "apprentice" is driven by the Need for Achievement
• An ideal ground level trainer (employee) is driven by the Need for Affiliation

Mastery of "results" requires that you learn to look at each client differently and gain complete control over their emotions, their motivation, and ultimately their outcome

 18 Motivational Types 

There are three categories based on experience and psychology 

Thoroughbred

Phoenix

Chrysalis 

For each of the three there are three possible preferred learning / influencing modes (each client / prospect will have one as the predominating mode) 

Visual

Auditory

Kinesthetic 

For each of the two there are two motivational possibilities (each client / prospect will have one as the predominating trigger) 

Moving Toward

Moving Away From  

A Brief Glimpse at the 18 Motivational Types

The 18 motivational types cannot possibly all be addressed on a single call, but we can look at elegant examples of three motivational types most of us will commonly come in contact with.

(C-V-A) Chrysalis Visual Away

This is someone who has never actually lived in the body he or she wants, who is stimulated primarily by visual stimuli, and who is more driven to move away from the perception of pain than to move toward a goal.

They need belief, and since they don't have a personal reference to evidence that the desired goal is possible, their belief can be enhanced by using photos of others like them who achieved what they seek.

 They must be reminded of the visual memory they despise, an image they can hardly bear to confront.  For this individual, that image will serve as a prime motivator, and when combined with before and after photos, the belief can be instilled effectively and can continue to increase at a comparatively rapid rate.

Dont reprimand, as they wont be as responsive to words as to pictures, and if they move away from as a habit, theyll resist your reprimand and find the entire experience unpleasant.  Instead of a reprimand, ask, where do you see (note that see asks someone to summon up a visual) this particular action (or lack of action) leading you?

Have them look in an imaginary mirror, see the image they despise, and literally step out of it in the vision.  Have them describe how the picture changes.  Use the comparison often.  Remember, they are motivated to move away from pain created by a visual stimulus.

They need baby steps and indisputable visual evidence.  Take a picture of them in clothing, after four weeks have them wear the same clothing.  Show them changes in measurements and always leave them with the evidentiary visual showing them where they used to be and where they are now.

Use mental imagery periodically.  Ask the client to close his or her eyes, and imagine that a journey is about to begin, a journey moving them away from the things in their life that are uncomfortable or unpleasant.  Then follow with the question, what images will drive you to continue forward?

(P-K-T) Phoenix Kinesthetic Toward

This is someone who has a point of reference from personal experience and they want to get back into shape.  They'll describe feelings and establish the old feelings as a new goal.

Begin interacting with a P-K-T by asking them about the shape they used to be in, and ask them to describe how it felt to be in that body.  Every feeling they share will serve as another motivational trigger.

Next you want to be able to identify the contrast between what feels good and how they know they should feel bad, and that's done with a series of questions asking how they feel now, and a second series of questions asking how they used to feel (remember, the used to is going to be the more appealing scenario).  Conclude this exercise by asking them to be specific about how they would like to feel 3 months from now, 6 months from now, 1 year from now.

Kinesthetic people aren't only driven by emotional feelings, but also sensory touch, so ask the question, are there parts of your body that you touch and wish they felt as solid, as toned, or as lean as they used to?  Ask them to be very specific.

When they're in a peak state, grab their shoulder or forearm tightly and tell them how great they're going to feel when they get back into the condition they were in prior.   The touch and emotion will merge to create a very powerful sense of motivation.

(T-A-T) Thoroughbred Auditory Toward

The T-A-T will reveal themselves by suggesting that you tell them what to do and assuring you that they'll do whatever you tell them (tell signifies speech, thus an auditory stimulus)  Tell me what to do and Ill do it

Auditory people think by asking themselves questions in their own internal voice, so begin your questions by literally directing them to ask themselves the questions you want the answers to.  As an example, Ask yourself this what will life be like if you reach that goal of measuring at 5%bodyfat?

The following series of three questions will result in the client telling you precisely what he or she would like you to say to them. 

What do you think people will say to you when they hear of your commitment to improve?

What would you like to hear people say to you that will motivate you?

What would you like to hear people say to you that will reinforce or evidence that you're improving?

Simple Memorization:

Once you remember people are either toward or away self motivators, you really need to only memorize 9 specific categories. 

(V=Visual, A=Auditory, K=Kinesthetic)

Chrysalis V  *  Chrysalis A  *  Chrysalis K

Phoenix V  *  Phoenix A  *  Phoenix K

Thoroughbred V  * Thoroughbred A  *  Thoroughbred K

Rather than trying to memorize a list of 18, get comfortable with these 9, and then once you fit a client into a category, simply determine if they move toward or away from.

By integrating images, auditory memories (things clients said to you), and feelings clients revealed or evoked in you into your memorization of these 9 categories, you'll access the right brain rather than the linear left brain, and with that type of integration memory becomes simple, even fun.

DIRECTIVES

You want to come up with "the dream," a snapshot of a moment or experience in your future.  Ideally you'll come up with 3 – 4 sentences describing the dream. Don’t worry about what is possible.  Just answer the question, what do you want your life to be?  At first you might have to write paragraphs, even pages, but as you better connect with the emotions you associate with those things you really want, you'll want to be able to express it in 3 - 4 sentences.

Then, write down a little goal and determine whether it is more related to the Funnel, the Reach, or the Spillover

Every day through the weekend, work on refining the dream, and by Monday, if someone asks, “what do you want,” you should be able to instantly respond with 3 – 4 sentences.

After today, leave the microgoal alone. Just set it, and leave it somewhere loosely attached to the grand dream.

On Tuesday, begin doing the same thing for the next step in your business organizational growth. This isn’t an end outcome.  It’s simply a next step. Refine it, crystallize it, and title it with the word, Commitment.  By the following week, this should all meld into a sense of clarity and certainty.  You should feel a slight hint of pressure, but that will serve as creative tension, something we’ll discuss on a future call. 

Call #9 - June 3, 2010

Gratitude, prosperity, and fulfillment are all tied together inseparably.

Before the exercise, let's identify 8 entities, four of them villains, four of them heroes.  Using visuals, auditory cues, and kinesthetic stimuli, you'll be asked to commit them to memory, at least for a period of time.  If all goes well, within a matter of weeks you'll forget four of them exist leaving only the four heroes which you summon up regularly. 

The Four Monsters

1.  The Distraction Monster
2. The Money Worry Monster
3. The Negative Voice Monster
4. The Pro-Monster - Procrastination

The monsters live just below the ground and they move wherever you move.  They can't affect you until they come up to the surface.  They are subtle, and at times they pretend to be friends, but they are evil. Allow them to emerge and they can swallow up every one of your dreams and aspirations.

The Four Heroes

1.  Focus
2. Clarity
3. Planning
4. Discipline

The four heroes operate by linking with your RAS.  When you call upon a hero, your RAS kicks right back to locking in on goals, dreams, and aspirations . . . provided of course that you have goals, dreams, and aspirations.

Exercising the RAS - bringing back your focus . . .

The exercise will be done in two parts, the first part being 20 minutes you devote to it during the call.  The second part will be done in a 90-minute period, a period you're going to block out as a dedicated appointment with yourself.

If you do not have a combination of a sense of sharing combined with a sense of abundance, you will never feel prosperous.  Conversely, if you can keep the four monsters at bay, and you establish a balance between abundance and sharing, a sense of prosperity abounds.

When you created your list of things you're thankful for, you began producing an emotional sense of gratitude.  As the next step in the exercise, write down one goal that you had in the past, no matter how big or small, that became a reality.

Do it now before you continue.

If you've created your gratitude list, and you've identified a goal that you've achieved, here are two certainties, two facts that go beyond theory, two facts that are now integrated into your EEM.

1.  You can acquire things you appreciate,
2. If you set a goal you're capable of achieving it 

Last time we started "moving toward goals" with realistic micro-goals, but this time we're going to identify goals that are so large and compelling they can be, at this moment, considered "dreams."

Think big!  After the call you'll be asked to identify three specific "macros," three compelling dreams.  Before you go there, take two minutes and write down three concepts you've learned as a part of the Project that you've used or that you find particularly intriguing.

At this point:

1. You've set a 90-minute appointment with yourself
2. You've started your gratitude list
3. You've identified three concepts that you found valuable or that you were intrigued by

Next, "show up" for your 90-minute appointment with yourself.  Begin the 90-minutes by writing down three compelling "dreams."

Only after you've committed three "dreams" to paper, click below and complete the exercise as directed.