You can find information anywhere on the web. You can also use this information in any way you wish, without warning or guidance. But why would you? Why risk injury or wasted efforts? In such a specialized society, we each play a vital role in the function of civilization. If you want to fly to Fiji on a paradise vacation, would you want to fly the plane without any training? If your vehicle has broken down, would you want to fix it? Sure, you could say yes I want to do all of those things but that’s just your ego talking. Truth be told, it takes human beings roughly 10 years to master any skill to the point of excellence.
Just like car mechanics, coaches can be a dime a dozen and they might not always fix your vehicle properly or for the right price. But if you find the right specialist, you will be humming along in no time, better than when you arrived for the price the service deserves. Before you go diving in to find just any coach, spend the time necessary to ensure your coach knows what they’re doing and have helped people in your situation before.
The real value of the coach comes from mastery. Much like when you attend a lecture at a university, the professor teaching the class has had years and years of experience in the field of study being discussed. You are learning from an expert. You might not see it the same way, but a good coach has spent years doing the research, trialing the exercise programs and testing them on themselves. A good coach can cut your learning curve down from 10 years to 6 months. You not only save yourself the time, but the emotional trauma of failing – because trust me, it is hard as hell to get the fitness thing right the first time, or even the fifth time, you try it alone.
Sure, you might say it’s too expensive. I’m saying it’s an investment, and it’s worth it. Every single penny, and then some. It comes down to priorities. Many people don’t have a problem buying a new car, and the average price of a car is over $25,000. Often these vehicles are used and some even break down within 5 years, and there you go again purchasing another one. A good coach costs a fraction of that, and your body is the only vehicle you have for the rest of your life!!!
I’ll give you another example. Many of us enroll in college or university after high school; it takes 3-4 years to complete, and the average debt of each graduate leaving school is $30,000. An education in fitness doesn’t consume years of your life (unless you want it to, like me), and absolutely everyone can use it. Here’s the kicker, from a good coach, it costs less than $10,000 for an effective education. If this number still seems high to you, start re-reading this post.
Okay, I understand, you could read this over and over and that $10,000 could still seem like a lot to fathom. Here’s why it’s not. $10,000 invested into a good coach can entirely change your health and fitness habits for life (not just when you’re with them). It has been found that, on average, every minute spent doing effective exercise adds at least 7 minutes to the length of your life. Work out for an hour, four times a week, and that is an additional 28 hours you’ve added onto your lifespan. In a week! In fifty years, you’ve added 8 whole years! Therefore, working with a personal trainer to help you create these long-lasting, effective habits rewards you with the ultimate prize – an additional 8 years with your loved ones. You can’t tell me $10,000 isn’t worth living another 8 years!
Here are more statistics. Gym owners need 10 times the number of members signed up than their gym’s capacity allows in order to even turn a profit. Meaning when you sign up to a gym they don’t necessarily want you to use it all the time, because if every member went every day, they would risk hitting capacity. Luckily for them, the average gym goer only walks into the gym about twice a month. Is this you? Are you paying for a barely-used membership, based on good intentions but no action? What are you paying for? Working with a coach makes it 9 times more likely that you will achieve your goals. You’re 9 times more likely to live a long and healthy life. So here’s what I am offering you. Instead of merely owning the snazzy gym tag on the keys to your $27,000 car, you can also own a nice body. One that you can drive for the rest of your life. Now this vehicle doesn’t come with air conditioning or adjustable seats. This vehicle is actually the only model ever made, and it’s your own unique body. But here are the perks of the purchase. Confidence, self-worth, high energy levels, a clean bill of health, the ability to run around with your kids, grandkids and family members. It’s the ability to do anything you want. From Iron Man races to simply being able to take the stairs when you’re 80. The choice is yours, but the next time someone asks you if you think personal training is worth it? You’ll say: ______. Fill in the blank.
Ask yourself why the person who makes $100,000 per year is looked up to over the person who makes $30,000 per year? In Western society, we associate the ability to create material worth with value. That person could be a criminal, with the worst possible past and we could still value them higher than the lower income earner. Why? Social bias. We have been told that the correct life trajectory is the following: go to school, get a job, make good money, get married, have kids, and retire. We’ve been socialized this way as far back as we can remember, as if this is the only moral standard for how to live your life.
Let’s say your income increases by $5,000 every year from the age of 30-50. By age 50 you would make, at the absolute minimum, $100,000 per year. Even if your salary remained the same for the next fifteen years, That means you can make with those 15 years, another $1.5 million dollars. From the initial investment of $10,000 to $1.5 million is a return on investment of 15000%. What the heck kind of investment is that!? Sure you could retire earlier, sure you might not make that much money, but your telling me without even playing with those logical numbers that