Why you need a coach

 

As I write this, I’m sitting on a train from London Waterloo to Plymouth, having spent three days at a conference with my business coaches and 100+ of their other UK-based clients. Our hotel was right next to Wembley stadium, an iconic location to walk around during the downtime, and I am feeling pumped up and motivated to move forwards with my business development. I have lots of exciting ideas in the pipeline which I feel certain will enable us to help even more people in Plymouth to transform their health and fitness.

I am often asked why I choose to invest money each month (a fairly significant amount) in a coach, when I have been successfully running my own businesses for over 20 years. The answer is multifaceted, and centres around three pillars – shared knowledge, a clear plan, and the accountability and support to get there.

Coaching success

1. Accountability – Put simply, I need somebody to keep me on track and moving towards my goals. One of the markers of success when you are a busy entrepreneur, is figuring out how to avoid being distracted by the obstacles and challenges which land in your path, and more importantly your ability to refocus when you are pulled of course. It is much like one of my clients who is trying to lose weight and improve their health, when it’s not enough to simply desire the goal and take action for just a few weeks, but getting sustained results is all down to consistency with exercise and nutrition in the long-term.

Every month I have a Skype call with my coach Andrew, when we spend time talking through progress since we last spoke, starting with a positive focus, discuss the challenges which I have overcome and any likely ones in the weeks ahead, and then come up with a list of projects to work on going forwards. As part of that process, I am forced to honestly evaluate what has been achieved, what hasn’t (and why) and formulate a plan to keep moving towards my goals.

At Merlin Fitness, I follow a similar process with my VIP, gold and silver clients, as I know how powerful spending that time looking both back and forward can be. Without clear goals, and an acknowledgement of where we are and are not making progress, we are highly unlikely to get optimal results.

2. Community support – In my coaching group, I get to surround myself with people on a similar journey to me. We are all at different stages of business growth and development, but the collective support is vital, especially for me when I do not have any business partners or mentors close to home. It is hard to make and sustain any change in life when we choose to go it alone. We all need support and encouragement times, not so much when things are going well, but more importantly when we are struggling or facing challenges.

I have faced many ups and downs since I opened the first Merlin Fitness studio almost three years ago, and now as the owner of two businesses, I know there will be many more obstacles ahead. It is easy to get too close to a problem to see a solution, or too regimented in our thinking to look outside of the box. I am guilty at times of coming up with ‘excuses’ why I can’t or shouldn’t do things which I know I really need to do, and it is important to have an impartial person to turn to when the going is tough.

My Merlin Fitness tribe of ladies have formed an incredible network where everyone encourages and supports each other, ideas and recipes are shared, issues are discussed and solutions found. Not everyone has the full backing of their family at home, so it can feel like a lonely journey, one of the main reasons why so few people get and sustain changes to their eating or exercise habits on their own. This family atmosphere even extends beyond the studio, and we try to socialise on a regular basis. This week for example, we are going to meet at a local restaurant for lunch to celebrate my birthday (21 again!), and I am already planning our Christmas get together and an event to celebrate the Merlin Fitness Anniversary in January.

3. A clear plan to follow – Left to my own devices, I’m apt to be pulled in multiple directions, a habit which my coaches actually call ‘shiny object syndrome’! Flitting from one thing to another looking for the magic bullet, rather than committing to one course of action and sticking with it, is a recipe for failure. My coaches have a complete system, detailing exactly how I can move through the various stages of business development, the building blocks which I will need in place for each stage, and the resources and mindset which I will need to get there.

Similarly, most of my clients come to me having tried (and failed) multiple times to lose weight, feeling progressively more and more like a failure each time their latest plan didn’t work. Very often this was down to not having a clear goal or a programme which was easy to follow to get there. In the Merlin fitness family they learn about an eating plan (not a diet) which is sensible, sustainable, allows them to still occasionally eat less optimal foods, improves their energy levels, reduces the risk of long-term conditions like diabetes and heart disease, and encourages them to eat delicious and easy to prepare foods. Add to this the fun and varied workouts, with individualised coaching, and is not hard to see why the success rate is so high. Getting results always takes work, and much is my business coaches demand time and effort from me, so I in turn ask that of my clients.

 

For me, having a business system and a coach by my side is the best investment I can make in myself and my success. I truly do not see the money which I spend every month on my business coach as an expense, but rather an asset. Back when I was an athlete, during the most successful periods of my competitive history I was always employing the services of a coach. At one point I had a separate swim coach, running coach, and even a ‘mindset coach’, who between them accelerated my progress way beyond that which I would have achieved on my own.

Now as a fitness business owner, I provide the coach role for my clients, and there is nothing quite like watching people transform their health and fitness and finding long-term success. I have the best ‘job’ in the world!

I get to spend the next few days reading through my copious notes from the conference and putting them into an action plan, and then hopefully getting some sleep as we did work and party hard!

Your ‘tired but excited’ coach,

Beth

PS if you want to discuss with me how having a coach can help you towards your fat loss and fitness goals, follow this link to schedule your complimentary consultation where we can sit down and discuss how you can join our Merlin Fitness family and share in our clients success.

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