Mondays 440am wake up. My wife and I have a love/hate relationship with Mondays and Wednesdays because they start with a 440am alarm. Massive coffee. 515am we are at the gym with a physical trainer. Planks, V-ups, Goblet squats, push-ups, dead-lifts, lunges, you get the idea.

Yes, we love the feeling after the workout. You feel like a winner.

Before the workout, we basically just feel dread.

We pay for accountability. We thought we were paying the trainer for his expertise, coaching, and equipment. In reality, it turns out, we were paying for the peer-pressure. The fear of disappointing our trainer, the spectre of no-showing on him, the fact that someone is waiting on us – is what gets our heavy bodies out of bed.  So what do consultants learn from this?

Physical trainers do the following (consultants do too):

  • Help clients improve; they have a problem, they want support 
  • Know the client’s goal; weight loss, flexibility, strength training?
  • Build trust and credibility; who’s gonna listen if they don’t trust you?
  • Recommend tough stuff, pain in the short-term; no pain, no gain
  • Use influence, not power; no one is forcing you to do the 30th pushup
  • Listen patiently to self-rationalization; not-judging / judging
  • Drive accountability; encourage, push, shame, in order to get results
  • Correct bad form; don’t let them get hurt because of sloppy technique
  • Adjust to the client’s ambition and pain tolerance; what’s realistic?
  • Charge by the hour; the opportunity cost can be a piano metronome
  • Seek referrals; we want you to love us, and send us your friends
  • Provide a safe place; you can sweat, grunt, and struggle in front of us

Success breeds success. After our M/W workouts, we go on a 2-3 mile run because we have momentum. The caffeine is kicking in full-force, and we WANT to exercise more. In the same way, it’s my consultant dream that the client builds up their own will to do this on their own. Train the trainer.

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