Personal Training Business In A Box » Work/Life Balance

Is Work / Life Balance An Urban Myth For Small Business Owners?

rick — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:14:20 +0000

A little while ago on my Facebook page I asked the question “Is work / life balance an urban myth for small business owners” and got a really interesting and diverse response.

Some people passionately thought that work / life balance was something that you earned after creating the business of your dreams – the pot of gold at the end of your rainbow.

Others simply laughed at the thought of having any balance while going through the rigors of setting up your own business and making it work.

A few people even suggested that if you have your own business then even if you were taking time away, your business issues are still at the front of your mind – therefore any balance you had disappears.

Me?

Well to start off with, I think the word “balance” needs to be put into perspective. If you are a business owner and you are trying to create an exact work/life balance (50/50) then you could be in trouble. In this day and age (unless you have already highly leveraged yourself) you are definitely going to need to spend more than 50% of your time driving your business.

More like 70, 80 or even 90%.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t have balance.

It just means that you have to do enough in your non-work time to come back to your business feeling refreshed and ready to go on a consistent basis. Smashing yourself for 120 hours per week without taking a breath is not a long-term, viable solution for most people.

Especially if you are not working towards leveraging yourself from this situation.

So for me, balance is more about de-stressing, re-energising and staying as fresh as possible so you can not only enjoy your time away from your business but at the same time be as productive as possible in it.

But this task seems harder and harder to achieve the question remains – is work/life balance an urban myth for small business owners?

No it is not – you just have to want it as much (if not more) then you want your business goals.

That’s the hard part.

Working hard in your business has a tangible reward – more clients, more money, more opportunities.

Working hard on your balance is essentially intangible – the reward is internal, you feel better.

So if you run a business with consequence, it is easy to justify a sacrifice in your balance in return for more time invested in your “perceived” security.

Disclaimer: Even though it is one of the most desired concepts in our life, true security is impossible to attain. No matter how much money you have, how many shares you own or how much your property portfolio is worth – everything can be taken away in a second so best to swallow that bitter pill and get on with life with a smile.

BUT – this sombre thought does not deter most people in our success driven society to push themselves to crazy limits in an effort to build their nest egg.

To really make it…

Now I have, more often than not, also fallen into this trap of all work and no play.

You know how it goes….I must provide for my family, pay the mortgage, afford good schools, make my parents proud yadda yadda yadda.

So you create, you build, you hustle to make things happen – to provide the security that everyone yearns and expects.

But at what cost?

At the cost of your physical and mental health.

At the cost of your relationships.

At the cost of your not taking the time to experience everything life has to offer.

So what is the solution?

Every now and again I have some pretty tripped out thoughts of renouncing everything I own and becoming a monk who spends his days meditating in a cave (something about the cave thing always appealed to me). But I think we all know that a) we all have a certain level of responsibility to ourselves and those we care about and b) caves are over-rated.

So to ensure that we can still create amazing businesses, make lots of money and build our ~~false~~ security it is probably best you have a a game plan so you can also squeeze in the odd bit of frivolity and enjoyment into your life (I know its not very sociably accepted but lets just go with it anyway).

Here are a few simple tips that you can use to create a bit more balance in your life:

Lighten the f@*k up.
Swear a little – it’s cathartic.
Have a plan – year, month, day. Then just do what you have to do in work hours to meet that plan.
Don’t be upset if you don’t reach every goal – this business thing has once hell of a learning curve.
Be social. No man (or women) is an island.
Give yourself a minimum numbers of work hours per week based on your goals.
Work your arse off to tick all your boxes in that work time.
Accept that sometimes as a business owner, you have to hustle and put in massive hours.
Reward yourself when you do. 1/2 days off during the week are a good reward.
Don’t check your emails on your phone when you are officially “knocked off”. Urgent issues will find their way to you if they are really urgent. Your friends and family deserve better.
Do something you REALLY, REALLY enjoy at least once a week. No – building your business doesn’t count.
Do something your partner (or dog) really enjoys once a month.
Find some space somewhere – my best business ideas come when I am either surfing or driving my car on long trips.
Did I mention lightening up? Chronic seriousness is a debilitating disease.
Listen to good music.
Watch good movies.
Surfing Facebook for more than 2 hours per day will harm your mental health (yet to be officially proven but I have a hunch).
Challenge yourself when you exercise.
If you never do any of these things, at least make sure you really, really enjoy being a stress-head. Don’t laugh – I know people.

Ok – so as you can see, finding your balance is a pretty personal thing and it will mean different things to different people. But whatever you do, don’t convince yourself that life at the end of the rainbow is going to be any different to the life you have right now.

So make now good.

I’m out,

Rick

Clarity Is Under-Rated: How To Make The Most Of Your Break

rick — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 01:50:09 +0000

Warning: I’m telling you right now that this post has absolutely no relevance to building your business, getting clients or making money. It’s two days before Christmas and I’m in a fun, festive kinda mood so let’s drop the striving for a week or two eh?

As we edge ever-so-close towards Christmas, this holiday period raises some interesting questions for small business owners. One of the most interesting (and annoying) concerns for those of us who have business running through our heads for over 350 days a year is..

How the hell do I turn it off and just relax?

Your business has been your primary focus for the majority of the year and now that it is time to down tools and “relax”.

Mmmm, sometimes it’s not that easy, is it?

Family time and social events definitely help but cramming your time to relax with back to back activities is not the ideal way to down-load after a big year. So today I want to give you a couple of cool ways to clear your head and not rock up to work in 2011 more exhausted than when you knocked off.

Accept What Is…

Without getting too spiritual on your arse, accepting where you are at right now is a great place to start your break. Our society conditions us to ALWAYS want more, no matter how much you achieve. So to start your break, take a look at where you are at and be stoked. Yes, it could be better but it could also be a lot worse.

I know that little voice is telling you that this is not good enough and you should be achieving more and working harder but for the next week or so stuff a gag in his mouth and just be content with where you are at. If you can tick that box and stop the striving for a week or so, then your holiday is going to be a much more enjoyable place to be.

Distract Yourself With Non-Business Stuff

I know a few people who love the holidays because it allows them to catch up on all there reading. Now I’m not talking Sunday papers and Non-Fiction here. I’m talking full-on business books that send their mind into a complete frenzy of new ideas.

That’s craziness…

Now I am down with business books (I read one per month during the year), but on holidays I think it is is a great time to really give your mind a good rest. If reading is your thing, get stuck into some non-business books that can maybe help you in other areas of your life.

These holidays I am finally going to get a chance to read Leo Babauta (from Zen Habits) latest book called FOCUS. He is a cool guy and a great writer and has made his latest book a free download so if you want to get your hands on it as well just click here.

If reading is not your thing then get to the movies, watch the cricket, play with your kids, hang out at the beach but leave your computer closed for a while. Speaking of computers…

Take A Facebook Holiday

I saw on Anthony Goldsmith’s Facebook page the other day a funny quote…

Facebook is like a fridge. When you are bored you keep opening and closing it every couple of minutes to see if there is anything good, but nothing ever changes.

That made my laugh because it is so bloody true. Facebook has many benefits but it also can cause some interesting behavioral changes (that’s a nice to way to say get outside and talk to some real people these holidays).

Put down your I-phone, close your Facebook page and I am pretty sure that all of your “friends” will still be there when you get back.

Ease Up On The Serious Pills

Alright, so normally I do my best to be reasonably serious throughout the year because this business-building caper demands it. But if there is ever a time to just forget everything for a little while and have a bunch of fun – this is the time.

Catch up with friends you haven’t had the chance to see, hang out with distant family members you don’t really like – whatever you are doing these holidays, do it with a smile. Life is what you make it so you may as well make it as enjoyable as possible now you have the chance to relinquish yourself from responsibility for a week or so.

AKA – Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Shit, I Nearly Forgot… The Competition Winner

Last week I ran my end-of-year competition with the prize being FREE access to my new program How To Rock Your PT Business. We had and awesome response and it was really great to hear what a lot of you had achieved in 2010 and why 2011 was going to be even bigger.

What really come through in all the entries was how much bloody passion you guys have for your business and that is why I consider myself so grateful to be able to hang with you.

So while there were some very inspiring entries, there could only be one winner and the person that I am awarding the prize to is Rachelle from 2LiveFit. Her story of moving from stay at home Mum (of 16 years) to starting her business in 2010 and now wanting to take it a step further has won her the prize.

Congratulations Rachelle, I will be in touch this week.

Time to Unplug

For my holiday this year, I am detaching myself from my laptop and hitting the beach. But before I do I need to tell you a couple of things.

This year, writing this blog twice a week every week has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.

Sitting here in my home office and having a vehicle to connect with so many amazing, passionate people who love the same things that I love is a very cool thing. So I want you to know that I am stoked. Not just for you being here but for taking the time each week to actually read the articles, to write comments, to send me emails and have discussions on Facebook and Twitter.

I value all of the time that YOU put into our little PT Business In A Box community and I look forward to hanging with your again in 2011.

Stay safe and laugh hard…

Cheers

Rick :-)

P.S: I couldn’t resist, so here is one of my favorite tunes that always manages to kick-start the holidays for me. You got one? Throw it is the comments section…

P.P.S: We’ll be back in the first week of January so see you then :-)

When You Are Your Business, What Happens When You Hit The Deck?

rick — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 01:38:17 +0000

Funny thing happened this week. I was hanging out on my Facebook page as I do (oh my God, who have I become?) and I was gifted a blog post idea from an awesome trainer and business owner Jason Hunter.

Since running his own business/es, Jason has suffered a ruptured achilles, a pulmonary embolism and bulging discs in his back twice (dont worry, I haven’t got to the funny bit yet) that has affected how his business has progressed.

So Jase suggested that I could put together my thoughts on small business owners in the fitness industry who are expected to be fit and healthy 100% of the time and how injury and illness can put a real dent into their income. What a great idea…

But here is where the irony rolls in.

This morning I woke up with a thumping head, swollen glands and my body feels like I have just finished playing four quarters of football. In reality it looks like I have some weird virus, no doubt spread by all the little punk one-year old kids that I hang out with. I can’t have a sick day – I have to write that post about small business owners and what happens when they get sick and injured.

{Insert the piercing “your an idiot” look from my wife here}

Ok, so we have all been there and some of us are there at the moment. As a small business owner, when you are struck down with illness or injury it’s not so easy to call the boss, organise a medical certificate and relax a little while you take in some Oprah and Judge Judy.

Not having you working in and on the business now takes on on a whole new meaning. It now means there is no-one to drive your business forward, no-one to train your clients, no-one to take care of the daily roles that only you know how to do. More importantly, in most circumstances it means that your income also takes a serious hit depending on the severity of the illness or injury.

THIS IS NOT COOL….

Take Jason for example. He is the backbone of his entire business and without an able body he is faced with a potentially serious drop in income. Now even though we all have a small super-hero complex (I’m fit and healthy, nothing will ever happen to me), our industry is one that is very physical and exposes us to alot of different people in a single week (especially if we work in a gym).

So injury and illness, although not very welcome, is an unfortunate aspect of what we do. With that in mind, I have outlined 5 steps that I think every personal training business owner should consider in order to cover themselves and their family for when “good bodies go bad”…

Step 1: Get Income Insurance

It just makes good bloody business sense to have your income insured when you are a small business owner. Income insurance covers both illness and injury, basically anything that has the potential from stopping you earning an income.

Policies can be surprisingly cheap (from $30 per month depending on the terms) and you can also make claims if you are away from your business for even two weeks. If you feel a little out of your depth stepping into this world, I would also recommend hooking up with an insurance broker who can talk you through the process and get you the right cover.

At least if you cant run your business for whatever reason, you can still pay your bills and not chew into your savings.

Step 2: Get A Vitamin B Shot

Sounds a little strange, doesn’t it? But with the long hours you work and the close contact that have with lots of other people, it is not a matter of if you get sick it is a matter of when. Head down to your GP, let him know what you do and that you would like a vitamin B shot in the bum to help keep the colds and flu’s at bay.

Step 3: Have Balance

Has anyone said to themselves lately… “I am just going to work REALLY hard until Christmas and then I can have a break.” Yes, you will have have a break. But it will come in the middle of November (big money-making month) because you will burn out before you get to Christmas.

You need to be in this for the long-haul and you need to have some balance. Assess your working hours, your exercise, sleep, nutrition. You know what it takes to stay fit and healthy so lets make sure you practice what you preach. Unfortunately this won’t help you with any injuries but it will keep burn-out related illness at bay.

Step 4: Systemise Your Service And Get Some Staff

That seems like a big job doesn’t it?

Lets break it down into two parts – first systemising. In order for your business to operate successfully without you, putting together a collection of systems into an operations manual is a really good idea (it is also great to have when you sell your business).

But where do you start?

I could write book on systems but for today’s purpose, the easiest way to start is to document the things that you do on a daily basis (session outlines, client follow ups, marketing). Once you have a plan for that, then move to the things you do on a weekly basis. A system can take the form of a video, a checklist, a script or a template. Whatever you need to get the message across to new staff.

When bringing staff into your business, I have a rule that the day you turn a client away because you don’t have the spot they want is the day you start looking for a new staff member. You can start new trainers on a part time basis and then using your systems, they can also cover for you when you get sick or injured.

Step 5: Develop Additional Ways To Make More Cash

I have left this step to last because I think it is important to cover the other bases first (but if you don’t want staff, you can jump straight over to step 5). In our industry, we commonly operate under a fee for service system. You deliver an hour of personal training and you get paid a certain amount. If you are sick or injured and you cant deliver that hour of personal training – you don’t get paid.

So moving away from fee for service and setting up some potentially passive income streams is something that I would recommend for many personal training business owners. Online memberships, e-products, actual products and affiliate programs are all valid ways that trainers are diversifying there income streams at the moment and reducing the pressure of working in the fee for service model.

While we may think that there is a big yellow S printed on our chest sometimes, it often pays to look at our health and well-being through fresh eyes. Small, consistent actions all add up to creating a solid strategy when looking at your health and the heath of your business.

Ok, now I want stories….

What has been the worst illness or injury that you have had while running your business and what impact did it have?

Keep rockin’ your business.

Rick :-)

P.S: Thanks Jase for the inspiration for this post. I hope that your back responds well to all the rehab and you are back on the tools in no time.

About the author: Rick Watson is the surfing, smiling personal training business guy who tells it like it is. He blogs, coaches and writes books for personal trainers but most of all he is a father and husband (with a healthy respect for road trips). If you like what you read and would be up for some daily banter, you can follow him on Twitter @ptbusiness or check out his Facebook page.

7 Things You May Not Know About PT Business In A Box

rick — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:31:53 +0000

I am going to jump off the serious, business building band-wagon today and take you on a little retrospective slow jog through the life of the PT Business In A Box blog. Is he trippin? I hear you ask… Nah I just feeling taking a little walk down memory lane and as this blog has grown over time I thought you might like to hear what I have been up to.

So here are 7 things you may not know about PT Business In A Box:

1) My first post: The first post that I wrote for PT Business In A Box (back when I had my old site) was a bit of a overall general business post called 26 Rules For Running a Remarkable Personal Training Business (and Life). I can remember that this post an extraordinary long time to write (and it maybe got buried as I launched it with 4 other posts and no-one actually knew I existed).

2) The post I enjoyed writing the most: This one is easy. Although I really love writing about all things business, it is what motivates us to act a certain way that really fires me up. The Secret Confessions Of A Happy Trainer is basically a post that was eleven years in the making and the writing of it was really quick and fun. I still often refer to it when I am having a rough day.

3) The post which had great discussion: Show Me The Money – Putting Your Prices On Your Website – After much argument discussion on my Facebook page, I decided to explore this topic a little further with a blog post. What I didnt expect was the response and discussion that followed.

4) A post on someone else’s blog that I wish I had written: I am a massive fan of Leo Babauta who writes a blog called Zen Habits. It’s all about simplicity, productivity and happiness. He writes really simple, practical and clever posts and The Little Rules of Action was one that created a little bit of writers jealousy.

5) A post with the title I am most proud of: This is an easy one as well. Are You Ready To Get Excited About Your Fitness Business Again? is the headline that I was really proud to put together as that post was part of the launch of the FBOMB. We had been working really hard on the project and that post was the start of it so I suppose it was not so much the headline but what it represented.

6) A post that I wish more people read: Overcoming Fear In Your Personal Training Business is a post that I wrote when the blog was only just starting out (you can probably tell) and it is one that I would of loved more people to read because it is an issue that is felt by alot of trainers but not discussed by many.

7) My most visited post ever:Well, the most visited post ever has already been mentioned today (at #5) so I had to cruise through my Goolge Analytics to find my second most visited post. Surprisingly it was The Perils Of Starting Your Own PT Business (And What You Can Do To Overcome Them). I say surprisingly because this was one of my “open mic” posts where I just posed a question and let you guys do the talking in the comments section.

So there you have it, 7 things that might surprise you about PT Business In A Box. I hope you have enjoyed this little walk down memory lane and I would love to hear if you agree with my selections.

Cheers

Rick :-)

About the author: Rick Watson is the surfing, swearing personal training business guy who tells it like it is. He blogs, coaches, writes books, runs an online community and holds live workshops for personal trainers but most of all he is a father and husband (with a healthy respect for road trips). If you like what you read, subscribe to blog here and get your weekly dose of goodness delivered straight to your Inbox.

4 Ways To Work Smarter, Not Longer On Your Fitness Business

rick — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:09:22 +0000

This concept of working harder to achieve more is one that I talk a lot about in my work/life balance program and it seems that it is one topic that I get alot of responses to. So today I want to disprove that theory and show you some practical ways to get more work done in less time so you can enjoy your “life” more. Sound cool?

But before we get into that, I want to talk more about this unspoken “phenomenon” that has occurred over time in our society. This perception that to get more, to get ahead, to succeed – we must work harder (and harder and harder). Longer hours, weekend work and generally pushing ourselves to near super-human acts just to get ahead. “It will all be worth it it one day….” we tell ourselves, it is not going to be like this forever.

YOU ARE KIDDING YOURSELF, STOP IT…..

Ok, there is your virtual slap for this week. You don’t have to work 90 hours a week to get what you want (no matter what you goals are) and I am going to show you how. It is a matter of changing the way that we look at our personal training business and our “work”.

Productivity Is Not A Dirty Word

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that if you do the same amount of work in less time then it is happy days all round. This is what productivity is all about; getting more REAL work done in the same time. This is where the lines can get blurred a little as we often associate people who work “hard” as people who work long hours.

Working smart is not about how many hours you spend working on your business. It is about how intensely you work and how productive you are. We want to be working smart as much as possible.

Because as small business owners it is so easy to get distracted without “the boss” driving us to work harder. We are part of the working population that really need to have some discipline to get where we need to go. Now I have personally road-tested a bunch of different ways to get more done in “work” time because I absolutely love my free time (but really, who doesn’t). These 4 steps have served me well in ensuring that I get ALL my work done in work time so I can go and enjoy life:

Step 1: Define what is work and what is not

Yeah, I know it sounds weird but stay with me. Things that would fit into the work category would be training clients, marketing, finance and admin, client communications, etc.

Now things that are not work would be reading the paper on the internet, surfing Facebook, talking to friends on the phone or via email, taking long lunches, doing your personal banking etc.

As small business owners, we spend WAY too much time messing around on non-business activities so when you are at “work” only do “work” activities.

Step 2: Turn on and off quickly

We rarely start working as soon as we get into our office. We might check the daily news on the net, read a few emails, make a cup of tea. So it is time to review your morning ritual. Get to work, write down what you are going to to for the day and then start doing it without distraction.

Turning off is just as important skill to possess as you don’t want to be bringing your “business” head home with you every night. So a good habit to get into before you step out for the day is to review your day’s actions and then turn off. Your business is not your identity and taking mini-breaks every night will make a big change.

Tip: NEVER check your work emails via your phone after you have knocked off for the day. Give your mind a rest.

Step 3: Set mini deadlines

For every task that you are currently doing, set a mini deadline for the completion of the task. For example if you have a new marketing piece that you are putting together, set yourself the deadline of 10.30am to get it done.

Then once you have finished, review whether you could have completed you task in less time or see if you felt pressured and rushed. Adjust accordingly but each time you are becoming more productive.

Step 4: Be present in your own bubble

Yeah, this sounds a little weird but is an amazing way to bring a strong focus to your work without distraction. Ok, so the first thing to do is to create your bubble. Close you Facebook window, turn off your email, switch off your phone (you have a message bank) and shut your office (or bedroom) door.

Next step is to be present. Remember the last time you had something important to do and you had a certain deadline that you didn’t know if you could meet. As you worked as hard as you could to get whatever it was to get finished in time, all that you were thinking about was the task at hand.

You were completely present (and probably being super-productive).

You were probably getting heaps done because you were concentrating fully. You didn’t have time to let your mind wander and think about Lindsay Lohan’s latest court case. You were in the moment – you were present.

How do we get better at this?

Firstly, by simply watching how often your mind wanders off you will increase the amount of times you bring it back to attention. Meditation is built specifically around this principle and if you want more information on this just drop me an email (ie: I’m a massive fan of meditation)

There you have it, my 4 steps to working smarter not longer. It is really about treating your work time for work and becoming as efficient as you can. Thanks for taking the time to read it and I hope that you can implement into your working week (the 40 hour one, not the 80 hour one).

Cheers

Rick :-)

P.S: If you would like to join hundreds of other trainers and be a part of my FREE work/life balance program, you will get practical tips like these delivered to your Inbox every week of the year and learn some cool ways to enjoy your business. Check it out…

Where Most Trainers Go Wrong And What You Can Do To Fix It

rick — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:46:34 +0000

Last week I was talking to Scott Williams from Succeed Personal Development down in Canberra about the life-cycle of personal trainers. We were chatting about how in this industry, as trainers strive to build up their client base or their business, that they are programmed to say yes to everything. Weird time-slots, weekend work; whatever it takes to build the business. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

I thought this was a really interesting topic so I asked Scott to step away from his normal guest posting topic of boot camps for this week bring and you some solutions to managing your time and keeping burnout at bay. Over to you Scott….

Where do most fitness trainers go wrong?

They ALWAYS say yes!

This in turn leads to getting run down, tired and very sick of the fitness industry very quickly. Did you know that we lose of trainers to other industries inside of two years, simply because they don’t control their time very well.

So how do we/you fix the problem so that you can have a long and rewarding career in our great industry ?

Simple……time management :-)

Where to Start?

Block times for each and all tasks on a daily basis. Whether you use a diary, computer or some other method, be sure to plan your days out thoughtfully. Successful salespeople set aside a specific time period each day to phone prospects. Rather than procrastinating or delaying on a task that they don’t particularly like, they resolve that they will phone for one solid hour between 10 and 11 AM and they then discipline themselves to follow through on their resolutions.

Many business executives set aside a specific time each day to call customers directly to get feedback.

Create Specific Amounts of Time

Some people allocate specific 30-60 minute time periods each day for exercise. Many people read books for 15 minutes each night before retiring. In this way, over time, they eventually read dozens of the best books ever written.
The key to the success of this method of working in specific time segments is for you to plan your day in advance and specifically schedule a fixed time period for a particular activity or task.

You make work appointments with yourself and then discipline yourself to keep them. You set aside thirty, sixty and ninety minute time segments that you use to work on and complete important tasks. Be sure to block set times for P.T sessions, set times for phone calls, set times to work on your fitness business. Remember it is very important not to become stuck in the business ALL the time, and saying yes to everyone that walks in the door.

If you do that then you are forever running backward and forward to the sessions and it will only burn you out. You need to stay fresh and excited for your clients training sessions, so it is much easier to plan out your day and work in time periods.

Create Preplanned Periods

Many highly productive people schedule specific activities in preplanned time slots all day long. These people build their work lives around accomplishing key tasks one at a time. As a result, they become more and more productive and eventually produce two times, three times and five times as much as the average person.

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, organize each day to create large chunks of time you can use for key task completion.

Second, make a written appointment with yourself to work on certain tasks at a specific time.

Scott Williams

Owner, Succeed Personal Development

Author, Succeed Body Overhaul Program (the complete training system)

38 Ways To Run A Super Fitness Business (And Still Enjoy The Ride)

rick — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 21:30:57 +0000

Who wants to be great at running their business?

Stupid question right…. We all do.

The good news is that just being in business makes you better at it as you progress. Sort of like getting your drivers license; you start off a little nervous and timid and as you get more k’s under your belt your confidence grows and it all becomes second nature.

But where do you fit in on that scale?

Have you just got your license or are you an experienced driver?

Personally, there are some days where I feel like my thirteen years business experience holds me in pretty good stead and I am flying confidently down the highway at high speed with my arm resting on the open window sill. Other days (mostly as I try to master the new world of blogging and social media), I feel like I have my training wheels on again. It is a refreshing thought to think that no matter how much experience we have on one aspect of the industry, we can be completely new and childlike to the learning of other business skills.

One thing that I heard during the week really hit home with me. This guy was talking about different phases people go through when they are starting their own businesses and how important it was to not be ashamed to be in the start up phase. We all want to have great businesses but this guy (name escapes me) simply pointed out that EVERYONE started somewhere, everyone made mistakes and everyone had to go through the process.

So I thought back through my PT business life….how I had always looked forward to the future (that bloody striving thing) instead of enjoying the present moment for what it is. So my message today is a simple one – don’t be ashamed of where you are at, enjoy the process because without the process there is no real learning.

BUT, what I can also bring you today is thirteen years of experience, mistakes, fun, success, hi-jinks, hustle and excitement all wrapped up into my 38 ways to run a super fitness business (and still enjoy the ride). While you are reading through this list, start thinking about what you can tick off and what you need to work on:

1) Have passion (boring but crucial).

2) Spend your regular TV time working on your business.

3) Get sorted with Facebook – consistent connection is king.

4) Don’t bring your shity work-day home with you, separate the two.

5) Forget about money and focus on people.

6) Get really good and what you do because sucking never got anyone anywhere.

7) Man up and look after yourself – your superhero status will wear off very quickly.

8) Surround yourself with other people going through the same thing you are (your own little support team).

9) Educate yourself.

10) Educate your clients.

11) If you have a bad feeling about something there is probably a good reason (your gut is nearly always right).

12) Take time to get to know people, I mean really take some time – it is always worth it.

13) Give alot of your shit out before you ask for anything in return.

14) Procrastination is an excuse – look into it and find out why you are fluffing.

15) Clients know if you don’t care, so either really care or become a brickie.

16) Don’t plan, just do – planing is just structured procrastination.

17) Not taking time off is for losers – go see your friends and family, step away from your business and freshen up.

18) Everything is always going to be OK – stressing about stuff is unproductive.

19) Embrace imperfections and get more done.

20) Don’t care about your competition – let them care about you.

21) Learn how to market properly as it it is the secret to the universe.

22) Learn how people’s minds think as it is the secret to marketing (that’s a nice small one for you).

23) Be aware that people judge you on first impression: make it a good impression.

24) ALWAYS get your money upfront (otherwise you are going to get slammed with cancellation fees).

25) Always be early – it reduces your stress levels.

26) Bad days come and go, ride the bumps – move on.

27) Clients sometimes leave and it’s not always your fault – accept it.

28) Clients sometimes get poor results and it’s not always your fault – accept it.

29) Reward your clients loud and often.

30) Document what you do so others can do it for you (systems also increase your business sale price)

31) Good intentions are never enough; action speaks.

32) Saying sorry without the BUT is really important.

33) Laughing out loud at least once a day is essential (too many serious pills are dangerous for your health).

34) Get a mentor to help you sort your shit out.

35) Outsource your crappy jobs (books, tax, etc).

36) Service a specific market, be yourself and go deep into the niche.

37) Celebrate your achievements, no matter how big or small.

38) BE YOURSELF – there is only one of you (so the competition is relatively small)

So there you have it, 38 ways to rock as a business owner and have a good time in the process. I would love to know which of the 38 you struggle with and which ones you have in the bag….. Leave a comment below and let me know.

Cheers

Rick

P.S: Bit of housekeeping news – due to demand, I have made some changes to my coaching program. Check out how you can book in for a free 30 minute coaching call to overhaul your business.

About the author: Rick Watson is the surfing, swearing personal training business guy who tells it like it is. He blogs, coaches, writes books and holds live workshops for personal trainers but most of all he is a father and husband (with a healthy respect for road trips). If you like what you read, subscribe to blog here and get your weekly dose of goodness delivered straight to your inbox.

Bringing The Balance Back To Your Business…

ptadmin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:40:59 +0000

So this weekend has been pretty exciting for me. After working on a little side-project of mine for the last couple of months, I am extremly stoked to inform you that today I am launching a FREE weekly email series focusing on improving the work/life balance and time management of personal trainers.

In my job I speak to lots of trainers who are stressed, anxious, burnt-out, time-poor and unhappy (sounds terrible doesn’t it?). Lets face it, running your own business is challenging. What to do when and how – why am I working so hard and where am I going?

These are all real issues that personal trainers face and I don’t want to be the guy who just bring’s out another “hit 6 figures in 2 months” package. But , I DO want to be guy who takes the time to look at the experiences that we are all going through and that maybe offer a few strategies to make your life and your business a cooler place to hang out.

Now for those of you that might not know my story, let me just give you a little background to get you up to speed. I have been running (and helping others run) personal training businesses for 13 years and in those thirteen years I have successfully managed to burnout 5 times. Now you would have thought I would learn, right?

But, over the last 3 years I have put alot of time and effort into the maintaining a much healthier work / life balance and managing my time more effectively. Life (and work) has been a much more enjoyable and productive place to be – and I smile a lot more these days.

So balance has become a passion of mine – finding it, keeping it and passing it on. It is the passing it on that brings me to write this post. I have decided that the best way to open these ideas up to any trainer (or anyone in fact) who wants to access and benefit from them is to create a free weekly email series – so that is what I have done.

I have called it the “Work / Life Balance, Time Management and Shit Happens Weekly Email Tips” and it is a series of short weekly emails that contain practical strategies that you can use in your business and even pass onto your clients that will help you enjoy your business a whole lot more.

To sign up, simply click on the big green box in the top right hand corner to go through to the registration page, and enter your details. Once you have done that, make sure that you check your junk mail because the first email sometimes slips through the net.

As always, I would love to hear your feedback so I can continually improve this service for you, and I hope you get as much out of this series as I do out of living it.

Cheers

Rick :-)

P.S: Thank you so much for all your postiive feedback so far regarding this project – I really appreciate it and am glad to finally get something out there for you guys to help you create balance in your business.

The Real Truth About Running Your Own Personal Training Business

ptadmin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:27:34 +0000

In this age of information, we all seem to have a never-ending stream of business advice at our finger-tips. What I have noticed as more of this information becomes available to us through blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and You Tube videos is that people love to talk it up – PT success is now a currency.

Fitness marketers are out their selling the dream; making you feel that facing challenges in your business, having your failures, overcoming your obstacles and gathering your experiences is the backwards way to build your business.

Not this little black duck…. I am here today to tell you the truth. So hang on – their may be some ego’s bruised here.

Truth #1: Running your own PT business is bloody hard

Getting clients converting clients, keeping clients, being unique, managing the money, dealing with client complaints, getting burnt-out, avoiding the weather, injuries and cancellations, finding good staff, managing staff, keeping good staff, building new services while above all that giving all of your physical and emotional energy to your clients. Shit….that all seem’s like hard work (but very rewarding).

Hey, I don’t want to scare anyone off here but I do want everyone to stop giving themselves such a hard time. This gig is not an easy one and you do not have to be a super-trainer every day of the week. You are human and perfection is not the goal here. Take a breath and enjoy the process.

Truth #2: To get exceptionally good at anything takes a long time

If you have just started out, reaching six figures in your business in three months may not be achievable in such a short time (no matter what that info-product said). So recognise that there is ALOT to learn when running your own personal training business and also recognise that time and experience can be your only teachers in some situations.

Keep making consistent actions, mixed with a heavy dose of up-skilling and learning from those who have already walked the path. If you are seriously passionate about this industry and helping a large amount of people throughout the span of your career, hold a career perspective – not a “right now” perspective.

Truth #3: There is no failure only feedback

So you may have seen or heard variations to this theme, but the message remains a clear one. Every failure is simply another lesson on how you can do better next time. If something you do doesn’t work, step back and get feedback from yourself or others about what went wrong and how you can improve.

By looking at your business world through these glasses – you will never be scared to fail. Because each failed experience is another closer to getting it exactly right – and refining your business, building your knowledge and getting it exactly right is great feeling.

2 things to help you get through the tough times

1. Identify WHY

Why are you putting yourself through all of this? What is the over-riding reason why you are striving to develop your own business? Let me use myself as an example…

A few years ago I realised that there was no lasting happiness to be found in making piles of money. Yeah, you could get a bunch of nice stuff but funnily enough a few months later that stuff bored you and you wanted more stuff. So, the driving force behind my business is to continue to structure it so I can spend as much time as possible with my little boy Finn and my partner Nikki. That makes me happy and motivates me through hard times. Also knowing that the work I am doing is helping trainers in some small way to move forward with their business.

So for me, the WHY is to be able to spend time with my beautiful family and to continue to help other trainers – that is what gets me through the challenges.

Find your why – it is crucial. Be specific, be emotional and be as passionate as you can. This is what instinctually drives you push when you really don’t feel like pushing. Identify your why and the rest will follow.

2. Ask yourself why you love what you do?

I do this activity with my coaching clients and it also acts as some simple assistance when a business problem rears it ugly head. This is a simple act of identifying five things that you love about what you do. It can be training aspect, the business side of things, the relationships formed – it’s really up to you. This list should definitely make you smile.

Once you have got your five reasons why you love what you do, write them up on a piece of paper and display them in your private work space. So the next time you are faced with a “challenge” and you feel like crap, use that sheet of paper as a reminder to why you do what you do. If may sound really simple but it is really powerful in helping you change your negative thought patterns and bring yourself back to a good place and move forward.

Feeling confused, frustrated and annoyed about your business sometimes is normal. If you can create a clear picture why you are here, try and view your business situation with perspective and use your 5 things list as a thought-swinger (I just made that saying up) then you can start to have a lot more positive experiences in your business – regardless of what is happening. That is a good thing :-)

So the million dollar question that I would love to know is WHY? What is it that makes you get out of bed at 4.30am and push yourself to crazy limits for your business? Let me know what your reason is and why it is so important to you.

As always, I just love getting your feedback.

Cheers

Rick

P.S: There is lots happening over on our Facebook group, so if you are not already a Fan get your butt over there and get connected – no business owner has to be an island.

And The Winner Of 3 Months Business Coaching Is…..

ptadmin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:50:47 +0000

Firstly, a big welcome back back for the start of 2010. I have got a feeling that it is going to be a pretty special year and I look forward to hanging out with you guys each and every week. You may or may not know that I ran a competition at the end of last year to win three months of business coaching for your personal training business (check it out here). All you had to do was let me know your greatest achievment of 09, what you were looking forward to in ’10 and why you deserve to win.

We had a great response, with some amazing entries from trainers really digging deep and letting me know what they go through to take their business to the next level. It was a tough decision, but the person that I have chosen as the winner is someone who has put in enormous amount of time and effort into her personal training business.

So, without dragging this out like some C grade reality TV show (I’m thinking Beauty and the Geek but you can really take you pick), the winner of 3 months of free personal training business coaching is……….

Sarah Turner from Pure Fitness in Manly

Sarah has been building up her group and personal training business for twelve months now after changing careers and confronting her fear that many new trainer face of “can I make this work?”

Her passion for helping others far outweighs he own needs and that is one of the qualities that has drawn me to select Sarah as the winner. With a major renovation to her website, implementing a new pricing structure and cancellation policy, tightening up her conversion process and a renewed marketing focus on her groups so that Sarah can leverage her time a little better, Pure Fitness will definitely be giving this year a real nudge. I know that Sarah is really keen to get it all happening.

So congratulations to Sarah and I am really looking forward to helping make her 2010 a big one.

Speaking of making 2010 big, if you are feeling a little lost in your business as we head into the New Year – now is the time to act. I have two spots remaining in my coaching schedule for the year, so if you feel like you could use a bit of help to get 2010 firing for you, simply visit the business coaching page and fill out the form. Having a mentor to guide your business is an fast-track solution that focuses on getting you and your business working more effectively so you can enjoy what you do alot more.

Stay tuned over the next week or two, as there are going to be some big announcements about some of the new stuff that I have in store for you guys for this year. Thanks to eveyone who entered the coaching competition and we definitely be holding another one throughout the year.

Cheers

Rick

P.S: To make sure you get every blog post delivered to your inbox as they appear, you can now subscribe to my RSS feed by sticking your email address in the “Stay Updated” box on right side of the page.