Me, wearing one of the t-shirts we finally had made.
[T-shirt giveaway winners announced]
If your coach is afraid to cut the BS and tell it to you straight when you need it, then you aren’t going to respect them or follow through with their instructions, and you certainly aren’t going to get the physical changes you committed to work for.
Though I try to be as friendly and welcoming as possible to people who comment on the site, in my role as a coach things must be a little different. My job is to get results for the client. Sometimes people need a word of encouragement, the assurance that things are progressing fine, or advice on what to change to keep things going. At other times though people simply need a good kick up the arse. And in that case I’m not afraid to give it.
People often only realize the value of this later, like having a friend who calls them on their crap. At first it hurts, but you soon realize its for your own good.
Which brings me to the photo above. To say thank you to the guys that have been making the Facebook page a fun and interesting place to be recently I ran a contest for a few people to win some of the t-shirts I have finally gotten made.
“I admit to having told a client to walk over to the mirror and slap themselves, hard, in the face. Why would I do that? Closest or funniest answer wins.”
The answers ranged from sublime to hilarious (entire comment thread here). In the end I decided to give the prize to those that had answers based closest in reality, because that’s where the important lessons lie.
The Winners and Their Entries and Why it’s Important
Greg Mack: Client says, “I went over in fat count yesterday. Should I do 30 mins of cardio to work it off today?”
Aim to be good, not perfect or you’ll take the joy out of life. Furthermore, aiming for perfection tends to throw people off the rails and into a binge when they mess up. 90% is good enough. Put another way, aim to be within 10% of your macro targets and you’ll do well.
Pantse Ilmari: He or she was not satisfied with the progress or current condition so you slapped some sense in to him/her? Seeing yourself in the mirror everyday plays tricks to your mind.
Everyday I see people who have set goals for themselves, smashed them, then simply raise the bar higher. This is natural. But forgetting to pause and congratulate yourself, or not even acknowledge the great progress you’ve made is destructive to your long-term happiness.
So why the “slap” comment?
Because I can be pretty sure that even if someone was committing the mortal sin of skim-reading my precious mail correspondence on the train, telling them to give themselves a slap is a good way of making them sit up and pay attention.
Similarly, I don’t like being tough, short, or sometimes even a little cheeky with people, but I will be if it means getting them a better long-term result.
Mostly sugar, sometimes spice – I’ve found this policy gives the best results.
Thank you for reading and to all those that commented. Appreciate it.
Andy
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Can I buy a t-shirt?
I am flattered that a few people have asked but I won’t be selling them. Basically it comes down to cost, and my lack of patience with the post office queues.
I wanted something that would last a long time so I chose a more expensive material. Even with a bulk order they cost $19USD each. Add in international shipping costs and we’re talking ~$30USD before breaking even and I simply don’t feel comfortable charging people that kind of money for a t-shirt. (Let alone some profit on top to make up for the post office hassle.)
So they’re just going to be given away as thank-you gifts to friends, clients and industry figures that have really helped me along the way thus far. I’m hoping to send them all out today and I’ll put up a photo album of people wearing them.
Feels great to have something physical with our brand on it. 
The post A little sugar and spice makes the coaching work nice appeared first on Ripped Body.