[spoiler]

Sam Bakhtiar: Hey everybody, this is Damian. What’s going on, Damian?

Damian Maher: Hey, doing great [Inaudible].

Sam Bakhtiar: This is Damian Maher from Dublin, Ireland.

Damian Maher: Yes.

Sam Bakhtiar: He’s visiting here in beautiful Claremont, California. We’re going for a little five-mile hike. Look at the trails. We’re about to hang out for a couple of days and we’re all driving to beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada for our seven-figure mastermind/retreat.

Now Damian, I know you’re a very, very successful fitness professional in Dublin and I want you to tell us like what are your top three fitness business success strategies.

Damian Maher: Well, I would say [Indiscernible] Sam for bringing me in there [0:00:4] [Indiscernible]. First and foremost is learn your craft. Learn from people that are doing and are successful in training. A lot of time, people are getting attracted to sort of marketing strategies before you learn your craft so then you’re just going to tell people more and more but you still have to learn a lot, so [Indiscernible]  to be in training. Get results and let your clients build your business basically through referrals, through recognition, through social proof.

The next thing I see a lot of people – so they’re getting stressed about like where they are financially. Here’s a great tip from a book The Richest Man in Babylon. Ten percent of all you earn is yours to keep. Now I have taken a lot of [0:01:13] [Indiscernible] so you make sure you pay yourself first. So then that reduces your levels of stress and you feel a bit more confident but you’re investing for yourself for the future and that’s like what’s referred to your [Indiscernible].

But don’t get comfortable there. With that [Indiscernible] stretch yourself a little bit more. Add on 10 percent of that 10 percent so now if you’re used [Indiscernible] every month, now you’re saving 110 and you’re looking for ideas. You’re looking for options to stretch for different opportunities, to learn, to expand yourself for different opportunities that you may have not looked at before. And the last tip I will give to you is – OK, is from The Success Principles by Jack Canfield.

Principle number one, you are responsible for where you are today in your life, 100 percent. If you’re not happy with your life, the event plus the response is equal to your outcome. You want a different outcome? Change your responses. So there’s no such thing as a bad economy. You create your own economy and you serve and you make sure you help your clients get results and you go the extra mile.

It’s [Indiscernible] that’s followed by many but I mean I have a great team behind me and it gives me the opportunity to come learn and I will always strive to learn because accelerated learning [Phonetic] is accelerated learning [Phonetic]. So that’s your last tip and that’s enough clichés for you today but I want to thank Sam for giving me the opportunity to share some ideas that may help you move on the next step, move your needle a little bit forward and help you achieve your potential and help more people achieve the results that they get and you shall be rewarded in time.

Sam Bakhtiar: So going back again, one, know your craft.

Damian Maher: One, know your craft. Two is pay yourself first. Ten percent of all you earned is yours to keep and number three is you’re 100 percent responsible for where you are today. Take responsibility for yourself. No whining. Make a result, not an excuse and if you’re not happy with your outcome, change your responses. That’s the way you want to work.

Sam Bakhtiar: That’s awesome stuff, man. This is your boy Sam and my boy Damian Maher here in Claremont, California. We’re going for a five-mile hike and we’re just halfway there and we’re coming out soon to you. Take care. Bye-bye.

Damian Maher: Cheers, guys. Thanks for your time.[/spoiler]

Hey Everybody,

Damien Maher here from Dublin, Ireland.

I’m here in Sam’s office and threatening to take over Super Trainer!!!

Nah, just kidding. I am currently on a 17-day learning trip to the US. When Sam heard I was going to have a few days off in between courses in the States, he kindly offered me a place to stay at his home before I head to his Mastermind retreat in Las Vegas.

I’m a big believer in the saying that “Success leaves clues”. Sam is one of the most successful fitness business owners in our industry so I looked at it as a great opportunity to look at the habits that make him successful.

So what does “living with Sam” look like and what are some of the traits that make him successful?
• Reverse engineer your day. Write out your tasks for the following day the night before and schedule them in your diary at set times.
• Read your goals out loud when you wake up at 3am.
• Hit the gym for a 4am workout. Keep your training life separate from your business life.
• Start work at 6am. Rent an office that gives you space to focus on just the tasks that bring your business forward. Keep your business life separate from your home life.
• Study four hours a day.
• Spend time with his beautiful wife Johnette and Bailee – that is on Sam’s list not mine! ? I’m all for going the extra mile but that is over-stepping the boundaries!

So when Sam asked me to go for a 5-mile hike in Claremont California on a beautiful day in California I hadn’t envisioned getting punked for 3 Business Success strategies at the halfway mark!

Lesson- never miss an opportunity to create content for your members.

So let me share with an expand on the 3 lessons I shared in the video:

Lesson No: 1: Master Your Craft:
Become the go-to person in your area for delivering the results your client desires. Malcolm Gladwell said it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in your field.

You must focus on improving your technical skills before you start working on marketing materials. Get your clients the results they crave, build social proof and then look at yourself and your business in the same way a strength coach looks at improving an athlete’s performance.

Success leaves clues.

Strength coaches Charles Poliquin and Louis Simmons look at what is the limiting factor or weak link in improving an athletes lift. They don’t always train the athlete’s strengths at the start. They start with the weakest.

Former Chicago Bull’s NBA winning strength coach Al Vermeil puts it another way; you cannot fire a cannon from a canoe.

So the lesson is you cannot build a great business if your training results stink!

Charles calls it structural balance to identify weaknesses in his training program while Louis uses the conjugate training system.

Let me explain with an example, if your bench press is not improving, doing bench presses all day will not necessarily improve the lift. It may be an imbalance in strength between your left and right arm, weak external rotators, weak upper back or weak triceps holding back your bench press.

To strengthen your bench press, you must first identify the weak link and prioritize it in your training.

By focusing on improving the weak links in your business, your business will also grow if you prioritize it. For some people, that will mean technical training, for others, that will mean learning new tools and skills in business and marketing.

Lesson- Find a coach because success in any area of life leaves clues.

Find a coach who can identify your “weak links” and over time, when you strengthen these weak links, whether they are technical, training, rehabilitation, supplementation, nutrition or marketing, your business will grow again until it hits another stumbling block.

When this happens, you may have to alternate over time between technical learning and business learning. You may also need multiple coaches over time in both of these areas.

Dave Tate says that the method got you a 250lb bench press will not necessarily be the method to give you a 300lbs bench press.

The same is true in business.

Lesson No: 2: 10% of all you earn is yours to keep.
It’s not how much money you earn that matters, its what you keep. I picked this tip up from a book I read circa 8 years ago from George S. Classon’s tremendous book- The Richest Man in Babylon.

Start today- Don’t Wait for the stars to perfectly align. It will never happen. Learn to live on 90% of your income. 10% or a set figure, whichever is greater goes to a separate savings account. If you cannot manage 10% start with 5% but start.

EFT or direct debit it from your account so you give yourself no get out clause with a I have to pay the bills. You should always “Pay yourself first.”

You want to build a habit and get committed. That is why you should also have your clients on EFT agreements.

If you want financial freedom, this is an essential part and it is not up for negotiation. You never touch it and it goes to an “immortality account” that continually grows.

Don’t be the client that won’t go on a diet and complains that they are not losing weight. Each one of your successful clients has this process in place.

The sting in the tail!
Psychologists will tell you that you can tolerate that swing of about 10%. After 3 months, stretch yourself again and increase that 10% by 10%. If you were saving $100 a month, its time to increase it automatically to $110.

Lets look at an example.
Months 1-3- $100 x 3 = $300
Months 3-6 -$110 x 3 = $330

If you instruct your bank to automatically follow this format in your bank account- increase the fee by 10% EVERY three months – how different would you be working right now to make sure you would have money in the bank for the EFT?

I’m betting a lot!

The possibilities are in this strategy is endless but it will force you to get out of your comfort zone and to stretch yourself. You will start seeing more opportunities and ideas that will grow your business and give you a better quality of life.

Simultaneously, budget a 10% savings account towards your education and increase this by 10% every three months.

Education is not an expense. It’s an investment! Sam and I had a conversation about how much we invest in ourselves to get better. To become better “students of the game.”

I know my annual budget for education, flights and accommodation is more than double what I used to earn for an entire year when I first entered the fitness industry.

You do not rise to the levels of your expectations; you fall to the level of your training. Learn from people or coaches that are doing and living the type of lifestyle that you aspire to have.

Jack Canfield put the need for a coach another way. If you have the knowledge within you to give you everything you want in life, the question must be “Why have you not obtained it?” Everything you want is outside of your comfort zone. You need to be stretched and have your beliefs challenged.

Get a coach “Find a wing and climb under it.” Everyone needs a coach, a wing to climb under, someone who has been there before you to help pull you out of your comfort zone and to guide you.

If you want to accelerate your earning, accelerate your learning, and hire coaches and ask for personal consultations off the coaches you admire.

Lesson No: 3- Take 100% responsibility for where you are today.
The first principle in Jack Canfields book, The Success Principles is this

“You are 100% responsible for where you are today.”

Give up all your excuses.

He uses a formula of E + R = O

An Event + Response = Outcome

If you are not happy with your current outcomes, you must change your responses. Playing the victim and pointing the finger of blame at the economy, your location, education, clients, results, finance’s etc. It’s a victim’s game.

And that ain’t you.

You are better than that!

Regain control of your destiny and change your responses to give you different outcomes. If you don’t like the clients you train, identify the ones you like training, and get rid of the rest.

When you train people who want to follow you, you will be brimming with enthusiasm and you will be on fire.

When someone sees you on fire, they will be drawn to see you burn. This will build your business and if you are mastering your craft and giving your clients excellent service and results they will help you grow.

They will become your walking; talking billboards for you and you will become the trusted advisor of so many people.

The more people you then serve, the more you can live the life you desire in a career that you’re in love with.

That’s enough.

I’m off my soapbox.

I’m off to Sam’s Mastermind and retreat to learn new ideas to grow, build my business so that we can help more people get life changing results.

Damien