Many of the clients I work with today either have their own or have a very senior position within a successful business.
As such, one common strategy I use when explaining to them about how to live a healthy lifestyle is to consistently compare it to their business and/or career.
I do this because, it’s not only easy to relate to but by speaking in language that they are already familiar with makes the messaging clear.
I’m not a coach who likes to use complex terminology and I never have been.
Why? Because in my opinion communication is all about simplicity.
The less words I can use to get my point across the better.
And by continuously referring back to business, I tend to get buy-in pretty quickly.
So what do I mean by comparing your health and fitness to running a business?
There a multitude of scenarios but let me give you the most common…
Let’s imagine for a second that your goal is weight loss.
For anyone who’s read my blog before, you’ll understand that for this to happen you need to burn more calories than you eat and drink.
In a nutshell, you need a calorie deficit.
In business, the goal for most is to make a profit.
So your expenses have to be less than your revenue.
It’s just a numbers game.
No emotion, just numbers.
By putting it in language you can understand, I make the whole process much easier.
Also, in business you wouldn’t tend to get emotional about the numbers, they just are what they are.
It’s beneficial because the less emotion you have about the numbers involved in your health and fitness, the better.
Once someone has understand the over-riding principle of this scenario, I will then take the time to explain the intricate details about what’s involved and considered when we calculate how many calories we anticipate over a given day or more usually, a week.
You see, once we know how many calories you are burning we can then set you a goal (or budget) for how many calories you should then eat/drink in order to achieve weight loss.
Again, I’d usually set calorie goals by the week as there may be fluctuations day-to-day depending on what specific strategy we are going to use.
Just like in business, you will set your goals, make a plan, take action, then review what worked well or what maybe didn’t work so well.
It’s an on-going process that takes time, patience and perseverance.
There is no get rich quick scheme when it comes to being fit and healthy.
No successful business has the attitude of “we”ll start again Monday” if they don’t have a perfect start to the week.
Neither should you.
Success is found in consistent application and action.
There may be some bumps in the road, that’s ok.
Progress is rarely linear.
By comparing health and fitness to business, all I am doing is re-framing the message.
Changing a thought process to make someone understand in simple terms can be the difference between success and failure.
Thanks for reading, have a great day.
Craig
Do you need confidential help with your health, fitness or nutrition? I have a range of services available, with Personal Training in my Private Gym in Manchester, also at your home or workplace in the surrounding areas. For clients further afield, I provide Online Personal Training, Nutritional Consultancy & Private Fitness Holidays.
