I’m known for giving away tons of hardcore info on this site. Look through the older posts and you’ll find real, actionable tactics you can put to use right away to start pumping more money through your fitness business.

But more than half of this fitness business game goes beyond any tactics.  Tactics are only as good as the person that’s using them; that comes down to who YOU are.

And the results you get out of these tactics are based on your level of desire, self-worth, and self esteem.  Your results are based on how you look at yourself and your strength of purpose.  Because the truth is, it’s a competitive world out there; no one gives a crap about you and what you want out of life, except for you.

So in order to achieve these goals, especially those private, ridiculous, ultra-ambitious goals that you’re not even comfortable talking to others about and you just keep to yourself, you’re going to need to be an animal.  You’ve got to be badder than an Israeli Soldier and more ferocious than the mujahadeen.

But where does this strength of purpose come from?  And what are the things that kill it?  That’s what we’re going to talk about today.  I’m going to give you some insights to tap into your core and change your own internal set point about what you deserve and can achieve in this business.  More than any tactics, this is precisely what’s allowed me to vastly increase my income or make wholesale changes to the entire positioning of my career.  If that’s what you’re looking for, they’ll do the same for you.

First, despite all of our differences, there are a few things that we can all agree on.  This was the main idea of a book on psychology I read recently (if you want to sell to people,  become a student of psychology among other things), The Two Million-Year-Old Self by Carolyn and Ernest Fay. (Don’t worry, I won’t be recommending this book in a book club episode any time soon.)

 

To make a long and boring story short, the point of the book is that despite all of our differences as people, we have a lot of the same needs and desires that need to be fulfilled.

There are some basic things we all want in our lives, and if we don’t get them, it causes problems.  In some people it might just show up as discomfort, unhappiness, and depression.  In others, major psychological problems can come about.

The problem is that the way life is set up these days, you’re almost bound to be restricted, hamstrung, and stuck in a rut.  You’ll never find out who you are or what your purpose is.  That will end up leading to an un-fulfilling and pretty much wasted life.

But as a fitness pro, I’m sure you know this isn’t for you. You deal with the body, with health, and with optimum performance.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve been heavy into this stuff since you were a kid.

I remember I used to read Muscle & Fitness magazine when I was 12 years old.  I used to save up whatever cash came my way and collected every single issue.  I started working out hard at about 13, and for that reason, I was stronger and in better shape at an early age than pretty much anyone else.

In highschool I was considered kind of a toughguy, with most of my friends looking to me for protection or as an enforcer.  If you’ve ever met me, you know that at 5 foot 6 inches tall and a hair over 170 pounds, this seems pretty ridiculous now (come to think of it, all of that lifting is probably what stunted my growth!).

But I used to bench more than 300 pounds when I was 16, so believe me, I took it seriously.  I came factory installed with a passion for fitness.

But what did I do with it? Nothing.  I eventually “got realistic” about my life and goals, went into a pathetic major in college, and ended up struggling for years with it, dropping out and getting horrible grades.

I was forced to believe that I wasn’t as focused as everyone else.  I started to doubt myself.  I thought I had to deal with a lower income than everyone else.  That the finer things in life were meant for others, but not for me.

 

I can’t even tell you how low I was for a time (maybe I’ll tell those stories later).  During this time, I focused ONLY on every negative thing that happened in my life, or anything I wasn’t good at.

But the truth is just like everyone, I have strengths and weaknesses.  Today, I focus only on my strengths, and delegate or eliminate anything I’m not good at.  But back then, my parents, peers, and society as a whole forced me to do what I wasn’t good at, and I had the miserable life to match.

I have  a feeling that this is what holds a lot of people back; I’m sure in some way, you can relate to my experiences in some ways too.

If until now, you’ve been feeling resistance between what you want and what you’ve been getting; if you’re not getting the results for the effort you’re putting out; then you may be stuck in the same trap.

Overall, realize that it’s not your fault.  It’s through practically hitting the brink myself, and doing a lot of learning on the subject, that I’ve come to realize what the real problem has been.  It’s being forced to do what we’re not good at, and ignore our own strengths, goals, and priorities.

If you can identify the same thing happening to you, you’re in a position to make major, immediate, and positive changes in your life.

It was only many years later, almost by accident that, I realized I could turn this passion for fitness into a highly lucrative career.  That’s why more than half of my purpose here is to fill you in on the fact that you can live life on your terms.   To tell you to just say NO to what other people accept as a “normal” life, but you know in your heart isn’t right for you.

If you’re working for a gym, get out. If you’re solo but unhappy, it’s probably the flawed business model you carried from the big gym – so change it.  And even if you’re advanced at this business and getting great results, there’s probably a higher level you want to hit, that you need to give yourself permission to get.

 

What are some of the things we can all agree on as the basics?  Well since money basically equals freedom in the western world today, we can all agree on that.  Money is essentially the air we breathe; so investing in yourself on how to bring more of it in your life is probably the smartest things you can ever do.

We want more time off to enjoy that money, enjoy time with the special people in our lives, and do the things we love.  Being too caught up with work is the sure-fire way to lose touch with yourself and watch life pass you by.

We want to call our own shots and live without regrets.  To be able to say or do what we want without worrying what others think about it.

And we want to leave our mark – to know that we mattered.  I think these are all pretty much universal.

Once you cut away the clutter and all the bullsh*t out there that the world tries to beat into your head, the real you can come out.  And when it does, you may be a little shocked and surprised by the person you find out you really are.

This comes down to deciding what you want, and then aggressively filling in the pieces to making it a reality.  RICH DAD POOR DAD writer Robert Kiyosaki, covers this in a conversation he has with his rich dad in his book:

“If you’re the kind of person who has no guts, you just give up every time life pushes you.  If you’re that kind of person, you’ll live all your life playing it safe, doing the right things, saving yourself for some event that never happens.  Then, you die a boring old man.  You’ll have lots of friends who really like you because you were such a nice hard-working guy.  You spent a life playing it safe, doing the right things.  But the truth is, you let life push you into submission.   Deep down you were terrified of taking risks.  You really wanted to win, but the fear of losing was greater than the excitement of winning.  Deep inside, you and only you wil know you didn’t go for it.  You chose to play it safe.”

On a side note, the Rich Dad series should be a great example on how to tell stories to sell your services.  The Rich Dad story is obviously a parable, but it’s storybook style makes the information much easier to understand, digest, and relate to.  Remember this in telling your story through your own website, blog, and promotional emails.

 

If you need a little more justification, there’s also this quote I love from the famous philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.  If you’re familiar with his writing from college, you know that it’s more real-world motivational info than you’ll get out of any new age guru.

His message was a great one; that you need to question any of the common bullsh*t that may be holding you back. Here’s a quote of his that I refer to frequently:

In nooks all over the earth sit men who are waiting, scarcely knowing in what they are waiting, much less that they are waiting in vain.  Occasionally the call that awakens – that accident which gives the “permission” to act – comes too late, when the best youth and strength for action has already been used up by sitting still; and many have found to their horror when they “leaped up” that their limbs had gone to sleep and their spirit had become too heavy.  “It is too late,” they said to themselves having lost their faith in themselves and henceforth forever useless.

In the fitness business, I guess I have the same message as Nietzsche because of the things I stand for.  I stand for not sticking for too long at a big-box gym job, where your work and freedom are owned by a sleazy corporation.  Where your money is stolen and you can’t do your job with any integrity.  For solutions on that, I have THE SIX-FIGURE TRAINER PROGRAM.

When you’re an independent trainer, I don’t believe in being stuck in a rut; in following the same broken business model that you had when you were working for a gym.  That’s why I have THE STUDIO START-UP PROGRAM.

And you’ll be finding several more programs from me in the next few weeks to eradicate what ever else may be standing in your way until now.

 

I deal with a ton of “success psychology” and motivation in my programs precisely for the reasons I’ve talked about here; all of the tactics in the world won’t help you if you don’t have your mind right.  And most of the glowing positive feedback I get on the programs is based on the info about getting internal leverage on yourself.

Giving yourself permission to be a high level expert.  Permission to charge what you’re worth for it.  Permission to be a leader instead of a worker in your business.  Permission to study money and make lots of it.  Permission to be a business owner and put a basically unlimited level of wealth into your life.

If you haven’t given yourself permission for any of this yet, you’re screwed before you start – all the tactics in the world won’t help you.

So hope you got the message here.  Whatever you want, you deserve it.  It’s your birthright, so ignore anyone or anything that says you can’t have it. And from this day forward, focus every minute of you’re waking life toward getting it; filling in the pieces to make it a reality is simple after that.

Really hope you got the message, and I’m glad I can be here to help.  Good luck and I’ll talk to you soon.

– Kaiser