'But You're a Coach!'
Friends of mine are often surprised to learn that I have a coach:
‘But you’re a coach. Why would you need someone to tell you what you already know?’
’Surely you could write your own plans?’
‘Don’t you know how to do it yourself?’
I totally understand these questions: I mean, if I can help others achieve their fitness goals, surely I should be able to do the same for myself? The thing is, as a coach I understand the value of coaching—of having someone in your corner making sure you’re keeping on track.
Accountability
Having another person you’ve got to be accountable to keeps you honest and helps you look at your progress objectively. Andy Scott, my coach, is one of the best bodybuilders in Scotland and even HE has a coach. Without his help, I know I’d still make progress in the gym and stick to eating well, but checking in and going over the details of my training and nutrition with him every week helps me stay focussed on my goals and on what I’m doing to achieve them.
Help is never a bad thing and having someone more experienced than you by your side on your fitness journey is invaluable.
Less stress
I spend a lot of time helping people on their fitness journeys so you might think that it’d be easy enough to turn my attention to my own. Actually, I’d rather have someone in my corner doing for me what I do for my clients.
Having your nutrition and training plans made for you takes the stress and the guesswork away. Do you really have the time or the inclination to do all the necessary research and trial and error it takes to make your training and nutrition plans, as well as make sure you’re sticking to them day in and day out?
Letting someone else take the wheel removes a great deal of the time and attention improving your physique demands.
Fresh Perspective
I have a lot of faith in myself as a coach. I know I can help people reach their goals. But that doesn’t mean I know everything. Sometimes my coach will suggest a new exercise for me, or he’ll point out an improvement I could be making that I hadn’t thought of before. We all have different styles, philosophies, goals and delivery methods, and it’s great to benefit from his unique perspective. Two heads are better than one.
Invest in yourself first, whatever that means for you. It could be in your health, your business (I have a business coach too, btw), your education—anything.
Going Solo?
So, could I get results on my own? Yes.
I could also do all my own washing instead of taking it to the dry cleaner.
I could go out and buy something instead of ordering on amazon.
I could have learned coding and web design and created this website on my own instead of hiring a web designer.
But would any of those be the most efficient way?
There are people out there who’s job it is to fast track your progress and to help you educate yourself—use them!
