The Tapeworm Diet – Now I’ve heard it all!

December 30th, 2009 · No Comments

Tapeworm Yesterday afternoon I sat down with a cup of tea and flicked on the TV. I’m not a regular afternoon TV watcher but it’s the holidays so I kicked back with the remote. I only get twenty eight channels so the selection was pretty slim. I landed on the Tyra Banks show. Her topic this day was, women who are considering putting a tape worm into their bodies so that they can lose weight. At first I laughed but then I realized that there are women out there who are so desperate to lose weight that they would be willing to ingest a disgusting parasite to do it.

And there they were. The two women who came on the Tyra Banks show and in front of millions of people confessed to wanting to do this crazy thing. Tyra brought on a parasite specialist who lifted a bell jar with a twenty foot long tapeworm inside. That’s how long they can grow in your body. YUK! He pulled this long, flat, white, gross thing out of the jar. Needless to say the two women were less then impressed. In the end they both agreed that perhaps ingesting a tapeworm to lose weight might not be the best idea.

So here I am thinking, are you kidding me? Have things gotten so bad for women that they would stoop to whatever level just to lose weight? The answer obviously is yes. These women had one thing in common, they each confessed to the fact that they really liked to eat and hated to exercise. It’s the same old story isn’t it? Instead of learning how to behave differently or just accept that they won’t be model thin, these women seek to destroy their bodies by whatever means available in the holy quest for weight loss. What’s happened to our self-esteem as women? One of the ladies went so far as to say that if you aren’t pretty and thin then you won’t find a guy to marry you, huh! With this type of thinking you have to wonder about the IQ level of some of these gals.

Two other women came on the show. One woman had her tongue altered so that she couldn’t swallow solid food. She was on a liquid diet and lost fifteen pounds. Of course she did but what’s going to happen when they remove the mesh wiring she had sewn onto her tongue? Yes, that’s right. She had mesh wiring sewn onto her tongue. She will gain it all back and then a few more pounds for her efforts.

Another lady had her ears stapled. She claims it took away her sugar cravings. Yeah, and I have a bridge in swamp land I would like to sell you.

It’s not like I don’t understand the plight to want to lose some weight. Two days ago I stepped on the scale. It was not a pretty sight. I’m up a few pounds this holiday season but I know why. I abandoned any restraint I had and ate whatever I wanted. Well there’s a price to pay for that isn’t there? As they say, you do the crime you must do the time. So back to eating healthy again and my weight will stabilize to where it normally sits. I don’t obsess about it? I’m not out for a quick fix or in search of diet to help me lose the weight quickly. I know that if I eat my fruits and vegetables, snack regularly throughout the day, manage my stress and get plenty of exercise that my body will naturally shed the excess.

As fitness professionals we have a hard job. If it was just about program design or teaching a fantastic class then it would be easy. But keeping up with these crazy fads and helping people find true acceptance of themselves is the hard part of the job. I know many people wish for world peace. I think at this point I would settle for people finding inner peace and perhaps they would stop hurting themselves. I sincerely hope that now that I’ve heard about the Tapeworm diet that I’ve heard it all because I honestly can’t imagine what other lengths women would go to in their search for their perfect bodies.

Goals don’t work! Instead set your intent

December 27th, 2009 · No Comments

This is the time of year where people typically reflect on the year that has come to pass. For some, it is a time for new beginnings and goals are what they use to effect change. But why do people set goals? Are they hoping to be more successful in the coming year then they were in the years that have passed? There are many people who refuse to make any new years resolutions. They aren’t interested in goal setting. Perhaps it’s because they set goals and never achieve them. Maybe it’s time to change the process of goal setting into something else.

Last year instead of setting a goal I set an intention. In a previous article I mentioned that 2009 was my year for performance. I wanted to improve my speaking and story telling skills so I dedicated a whole year to that pursuit. Now, looking back I see how much I gained by being that focussed. I measured my success by the feedback I received. An audience member even came up after a session and asked me if I was an actress. Others have asked me if I do stand up comedy. My desire to learn more about performance gave me purpose and direction throughout the year for my continuing education.

Since this strategy worked so well I’ve set another intention. For 2010 my intent is to focus on refinement. I believe it’s time to go back to the basics and simply. I want my audience members and students to understand the building blocks of how to run a successful business, teach a fitness class that has power and impact and train a client to achieve their utmost in performance. Perhaps you would like to set your intent for 2010 instead of a goal. Think about what that would be?

I would love to hear from you if you would like to share and together we can make each other successful in attaining it.

Seize the gift of time this month

December 17th, 2009 · No Comments

It’s December 19^th and I’m sure many of you are starting to slow down in your businesses. Clients start to take off for holidays, over indulge their desires and profess to starting back again in the New Year. Cancellations are up, money is down and you haven’t even started your shopping yet. You hope Santa will bring you new fortunes in the New Year because your bank account is looking a little thin. Welcome to the December personal training business cycle. December is typically a very slow month for training and while you may feel stressed about having less money there is an upside.

You now have the time to reflect on the year that has passed. To enjoy all the successes you’ve had and take note of all the challenges you faced. Begin to think about what you want for your business in the upcoming year and set your intention. While you have more time on your hands, work on refining systems in your business. I’m sure there’s something you wanted to get done or a project you wanted to start but never had the time. Well now you do so take advantage of it.

For those of you that have been working steadily over the last year why not call some friends and get together for lunch or drinks. Connect with people who you’ve been meaning to get in touch with but were too busy. Or get outside and enjoy some winter activities.

Time a precious commodity and it seems in short supply these days. Time goes quickly and there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in a day to get everything done. So embrace the fact that you have some more free time this month. Luxuriate in its embrace and seize this opportunity because January is around the corner and before you know it you will be off and running at full speed again.

Five methods to grow and market your business

December 15th, 2009 · No Comments

In life everything must grow in order to survive and thrive. In business, marketing for business growth is the number priority to remaining successful. If you are not growing then your business is most likely suffering a slow, painful decline. But with careful nurturing you can learn to take care of your business and ensure a long lasting life. Here are five growth and marketing strategies that will assist you in your business.

Innovate by introducing a new product or service.

Assess your current services and if they look, sound and feel like everyone else’s chances are you should break out of the mould and start innovating. Your ideas are your golden ticket to your continued growth and success. The more creative you are the better off your business will be because it’s extremely difficult for people to copy true innovation quickly. The more new products or services you can bring to market the more potential you have to build your revenues.
If you’ve been thinking about an idea but haven’t moved forward on it, then this is the time to act. Sometimes people let fear get in the way of them trying new things especially when the ideas have no proven track record. Or maybe your idea is so novel that it’s even difficult for you to assess its value. Whatever issue you may be facing which is blocking your idea from taking form and becoming a reality I say, feel the fear, have a marketing plan and do it anyway.
If your brain is completely blank with no ideas then in order to stimulate your creative juices consider reading a book, socializing with different groups of people, take a walk, write in a journal, paint, sing or even dance your way to creativity. Do whatever it takes to get out of your own head so that you can tap into your endless supply of creative ideas. They are in there and it’s only a matter of drawing them out.

Add new end-user customer in current markets, in new markets, and in new geographies.

Most businesses spend a lot of time searching for new clients but may not be looking at new market segments or geographies. While I’m not suggesting you start travelling all over the place, you may want to assess where your current clients are coming from and where there are areas for potential growth. For example, if you train in one community but notice that another area is being under serviced by personal trainers then you can set a side a day and train in that area. Find a central location where you can train from and build a clientele from that location. You won’t have to travel back and forth but book clients only on that day.
Examine your current client base and see if you can chunk them into smaller market segments. For example, you may only train women but discover that most of your clients love to run. You can then target more women who run opening up another market segment to attract.
If you train mostly men then perhaps you can add women to the mix or young adults.

Sell new applications of existing products or services to current customers.

Most trainers offer some sort of assessment prior to starting with a client. If you offer this service for free you may consider charging a small fee. Or you can build a bigger assessment program separate from the clients’ initial assessment and charge a bit more. You can package and market assessments where the client does one once every six weeks to stay on track.
Try adding posture and flexibility assessments as a separate service offering.
You can also provide thirty minute partner assisted stretching to your services. Since many clients don’t take the time to stretch, this is a great opportunity for them to just lie back, relax and get stretched out.
If you focus mainly on weight training with clients you can build a cardio/speed/agility session to round out their fitness. Perhaps you can offer this in a group setting for your existing clients where everyone comes together and works hard on improving their anaerobic conditioning.

Reduce customer attrition.

The best way to reduce customer attrition is to treat them like kings and queens. You can never thank a customer enough for doing business with you. Having said this, thanks to all who read my columns and do business with me. I appreciate you!
Take the time to create a customer service strategy where you work to build connection with each person you are working with. It’s much harder to attract new business then it is to keep people happy who already do business with you.

Raise prices.

Many trainers are fearful of actually raising prices because they are concerned clients will go elsewhere if they are too expensive. While this does have some truth to it, you can’t keep your prices the same year after year. Annual increases are common in most industries so prepare your clients ahead of time that prices may increase come January.
If you offer something truly unique and not comparable to someone else you can charge a premium for it. How would you compare an apple to an orange? There are lots of differences and only a few similarities. Would you pay more for one or the other? That would depend on the value you perceive you are receiving. If you are concerned about raising prices for a comparable service then change what you offer so people can only evaluate what you have based on its own merits. Remember, people will gladly pay more if they receive more value for their money but make sure you communicate those differences in your marketing material.

Well there you have it, five strategies for growing your revenues in your business. Take one at a time and build a marketing plan around it. When you have done that successfully you can move on to the next item and so on. If you need some assistance taking the step to business growth then call me for a complimentary thirty minute business consultation or sign up for business coaching and have regular assistance ensuring you don’t lose out on any business growth opportunities or ideas.

For Every Action There is An Equal and Opposite Reaction

December 14th, 2009 · No Comments

I’m not sure why Newton’s third law of motion popped into my head just recently. It may be because I’ve been reading a series of books written by author Mitch Albom. He’s published several but the one I’ve found to be most interesting was Tuesdays with Morrie. In it Mitch discusses the idea of tension. The tension being the struggle we face to keep our lives balanced. For example, your business may be going gangbusters but then your personal life seems non-existent. Or business is slow so you have time for personal development. There’s a tug-of-war between striking the right amount of balance. It seems as though when one area of life is cruising along nicely there’s always something else taking a back seat.

I often discuss with my coaching clients the importance of setting goals, creating a plan and taking action everyday to realize a dream. On this journey many find themselves grappling with issues of balance. One trainer expressed to me just recently how they earned ten thousand dollars in revenue in one month but it almost killed them doing it. They worked all the time and had no life outside of work. While she increased her financial gain she decreased her quality of life to achieve it. As per Newton’s law, for every action there is an equal an opposite reaction and she experienced this first hand.

So how do you minimize this affect? First understand that the law is the law and you can not break it. What you can do is reduce its affect on your life by understanding how to use it to your advantage. Say you want to earn more in your business. It’s reasonable to assume that in order to achieve this goal you will have to increase the amount of time working to achieve this outcome. With this increase in work input, comes a decrease somewhere else. Your task is to figure out ahead of time where the decrease will happen while still maintaining quality of life. What will you have to give up, shift or change in order to make room to work on this goal?

Here’s an example to illustrate my point. Say you would like to increase revenues from $2000 to $3000 a month.

Action: You intend to offer a new boot camp program.

Analyses: Your input is the amount of time you will spend putting together the new program and marketing it. Your likely work input for this project will be 10-15 hours a week for the first three weeks.

The time spent to action this goal will cause a decrease in output somewhere else. Perhaps it’s the amount of time spent training clients, searching for new business, family time or personal time. The output time being decreased is equal to your work input. Given this realization what are you going to cut out or cut down in your work week and what will be the consequence of this decrease?

It’s important to take note of where in your business or personal life changes will occur when you have an increase in work input. If you can recognize what may be knocked out of balance then you can set a plan to mitigate any long term affect. In addition, you can decide if the extra input is worthy of your effort based on what you need to decrease in order to achieve it. If you decide that the effort isn’t worth the decrease in time because other areas will undermine your quality of life or success in your business then you may choose to change the goal or the plan.

There’s really no easy way to maintain balance. Your awareness of how these opposites work in your life will help you to control just how out-of-wack you allow yourself to become. The goal, of course is stay teetering somewhere in the middle and not allow yourself to tip too far in one direction. By bringing your awareness to the work input/work output model you will be able to manage your time better and keep greater balance.

On The Edge

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