Secrets of Successful Clients
I’d love to say that all clients get the same amazing results. There are a lot of reasons they don’t, but this post isn’t about that. It’s about the clients who do get great results. For those clients, there are a few consistent behaviors we’ve seen over the years.
1. Consistency and Patience
When people come to us to make a change, they’re usually talking about getting out of a state they’ve been in for a while. They didn’t just wake up one day feeling unhealthy and they didn’t suddenly snap from healthy to unhealthy overnight. It takes a while to get into a situation you’re not happy with, and it might take a while to get out. The most successful clients are consistent with their habits or action steps for 10-18 months (or more). If they say they’re going to come train three times each week, then they make it to the gym 10-12 times every 4 weeks. If they say they’re going to get 100g of protein every day, they do that at 25-30 days each month. Are they perfect? No, probably not. But they’re consistent. And they’re patient.
2. They Ask Questions
We’ve been at this coaching thing for quite a while. And so we have a pretty good idea of what issues people run into. But we don’t know what’s happening in your brain. The most successful clients are asking questions, especially if they’re struggling or not understanding something, but they’re also asking about why things are working well, what more they could or should be doing, what works and what doesn’t.
3. They Tell Us When They’re Unhappy
It’s a bummer to tell someone that what they told you would work isn’t working. It feels confrontational or like you’re going to let them down. The first time we meet with someone, we give them a prescription for what to do to reach their goals. But that’s usually based on a 30-minute conversation. It’s also based on thousands of hours of coaching and mountains of research, but it’s still our best guess. And because humans are complicated, unique snowflakes, our best guess is not always right. If the plan is not working, we want to know as soon as possible so that we can make an adjustment. Our prescription gets better and better with time, but that time doesn’t mean anything without feedback. Tell your coaches what’s working, but also tell them what isn’t.
4. Engage with the Community
This one’s maybe a little more counterintuitive. Are most successful clients are also, without exception, the ones who come to the most specialty training, the most social events, the most parties, and make the most friends. Why? Because you are impacted by people around you. And when all your best friends also go to the gym and think about how much fiber they’re getting in their daily diet, you probably will too.
Now, none of this is rocket science. And none of this, by itself, is life-changing. But over all the years and years of coaching experience on our team, when we see trends like this, they pop out. And we want that kind of top-level success for all our clients. So if this is stuff you’re not doing, try it! Let us know how it goes!