#80 - How to Maximise Your Coaching Experience

Most people do not avoid coaching because they hate training. They avoid it because they think they will fail at it. We get that, and we have heard every version of it: “I don’t have time”, “I won’t be perfect”, “I’ll mess up the plan”, “I need more willpower”. Larry and co-host Daniel sit down to explain what being a client should actually look like when coaching is done properly: flexible, individual, and built around real life rather than an online avatar.

We talk about why you are not meant to fit someone else’s mould, and why a quality coach does the opposite: they shape the process around your schedule, your preferences, your stress, and your goals. That means check-ins are not a judgement day. The good weeks are fine, but the rough weeks are where the real coaching happens, because they show what needs to change in your environment, your routines, and your expectations. We also draw a clear line between coaching and therapy, while still showing how empathy, rapport, and lived experience can help people open up and get unstuck.

You will hear practical mindset shifts for sustainable fat loss and fitness results, including how to think about willpower as systems, how to escape the Instagram perfection trap, and why progress with binge eating behaviour often starts with reducing frequency rather than demanding instant perfection. The goal is long-term autonomy, not dependence, so you understand your own habits, you ask better questions, and you can keep moving forward even when life gets messy.

If you found this helpful, subscribe, share it with a mate who feels “behind”, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What is the biggest worry that stops you from getting support, time, willpower, or fear of getting it wrong?

Got questions? simply email or dm us with those questions

Larry IG https://www.instagram.com/larry_doyle_coaching
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Website https://www.larrydoylecoaching.ie
Coaching with us https://www.larrydoylecoaching.ie/1-1-premium/
Email : info@larrydoylecoaching.ie

Transcript

Welcome And Coaching Expectations

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey guys, you're listening to the Gen Pop Podcast with me, your host, Larry Doyle. Each week, I'm gonna bring in friends, guests, and experts to help enhance your health, fitness, and wellness journeys. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the conversations.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

You are welcome back to another episode of the Genpop Podcast, where this week, co-host Daniel and I, we're gonna talk about being a client and what it's like to be a client and what you should expect within the whole process. We're not here to floggy uh coaching, we're not here to make a sales pitch on it, but it's something that people don't really know or understand because a lot of people haven't had coaching before, and maybe they've had some great coaching if they haven't, maybe they've had some really poor coaching. And we want to share some insights into, I guess, what are the expectations and what you should look at or what you should expect throughout all that as well. Um, you know, a lot of people think, oh, I can't commit to it now because it's not the right time. A lot of people think, oh, I'm not gonna be able to complete everything you get me to do, or I'm not gonna be able to be perfect with it all. So we're gonna put a lot of those kind of like, I guess, myths or questions that you have or something that's in your mind, because trust me, we've been through this with literally thousands of people. Uh we've heard everything at this point. Um, I don't think there's anything new or that has shocked me in a little while. Like we we've literally heard it all. So we're gonna talk you down through it all um and create some awareness, create some understanding about what it's all about, what it's all like. Um you've been on both sides of the coin, Daniel. Uh, in terms of the coaching, you've been coached by me. Uh you've been a coach now for a considerable amount of time as well, too. Um, what if you were to share both sides of it, kind of what were your insights into? Like, what were your major concerns or fears or reservations when you were getting into it all?

Being A Student As Client

SPEAKER_02 1:54

When I was getting into say being a client, um see I was a I've been a client of like multiple coaches over the years. Um definitely six or seven, never in person, always online. But like I think I never really fully committed to a coach really until I came on board with you. Um so that's another plug for your coaching services. Um but warning, you'll end up working for me years later. Yeah, but I think um the one thing I actually realized, and it's something that I look at as well as being a while I'm a coach, is you're a student at the end of the day. You're kind of going to someone looking for help because you don't know you know what you're doing or you just need help with something. But when I'm a coach, I'm also a student as well because like I'm learning from the clients and I'm learning consistently every single day because like there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach, and I think that also is a problem from the client's perspective because they think they need to fit the mold of maybe a friend of theirs that's getting online coaching that you know they do certain things and they kind of feel like, oh, I need to live up to that expectations, or they see people on social media and think that's the way I also need to live. But like if you look at any school or classroom, or think back to your time in school, or even if you're in school right now, listen to this, everyone in the class is at a completely different level. And like there's some subjects that they excel in, there's some other subjects they struggle in, and the teacher is there ultimately to kind of like help everybody, and like uh that's why some people will need to go, you know, and get extra help outside of school because you know they just need that bit of extra help. But that doesn't mean that they're you know a bad student or anything, it just means that they might not understand, you know, the way the teacher is actually explaining it to them, and like that's why we kind of have to like change our approach with every person we're working in because like everyone is gonna have a different background, everyone's gonna have a different way that they can actually learn, taking information, they're gonna have different time commitments, they're gonna have different likes, um, they're gonna have different priorities, goals, and everything. So I think you always kind of need to have an open mind, whether you're a client or a coach. Um I think you just never have to stop learning, and that's what I always say to clients, it's like keep asking questions. Like as I said to you before we got on this call, like I had somebody see me an email yesterday and they were just asking me like a question, and they said, like, if this is outside of like um the window of opportunity to ask a question or whatever, just please flag it. I was like, please keep asking questions. Like the more questions are. Exactly. Like, if you're not asking questions, you're just going to like go out to Google, read something off some random form, or see some other information, then you're gonna start following that advice. And again, you're ultimately paying us so we can kind of give you recommendations, and that's not to say that like we know everything, and we're like these overlords that we're telling people it's either my way or get out the door. Speak for yourself. Well, like at the end of the day, that's that's where we're there for is that if we don't know something, we at least know someone who does know what we're looking for, so we can always kind of like refer out to people or we can have like a consultation with somebody to actually be educated ourselves. So I think always come into these situations if you're a client like with an open mind and a willingness to learn and not be afraid of like making mistakes every now and then, because again, if you're not making mistakes, then we can't really correct anything.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

Yeah, I always say this to people. It's like I don't care about the good weeks because they're like I'm just gonna pat you on the ass and send you out the door and you're gone, uh, virtually. Um, but it's like there's nothing we can really do, and we will find something to be constructive about and obviously I've got some positives and reinforce as to why that thing went well and look for the clues that were there and the trends, and you know, said let's okay, repeat that over the week ahead. Is there anything else we need to know about? No, crack on. But it's the shit weeks, it's the check-ins that don't go so well is where we can actually do our job the best. Because instead of being a PT or a drill instructor, you're being a PH, as I like to call it, you're being a people helper, you're helping people to overcome trials and tribulations that they might be going through. Um, and that's not just with like their sets and reps and macros. There might be some other stressful shit that's going on in their life, but now you're helping them to figure out how we can include it into their approach or make their approach more fluid to work around stuff like this as well. Too. Um, and people will often dodge a check-in. I'm like, hey, what's uh what's happening? Is everything cool? Haven't seen a check-in coming in this week. And let's say Larry I've had a fucking disaster of a week. I didn't feel like touching bass. And I'm like, they're the ones I want to hear. So let's hear all about it, let's go. And that's not me looking for a confessional, that's not me looking for, you know, tell me your deepest, darkest things that's going on in your life. But let's help you to overcome those adversities. Let's put in some structures that allow it to be less stop-start and more fluid across the board. Because ultimately there is going to be shit that goes sideways. You know, we're not living in a bubble. The odd, odd, odd, very few people that we get are, and they can just fully commit and go all in. That's awesome. That's up to them and that's their lifestyle, and that's whatever. But 99.9% of you guys listening are not those people. And there's going to be shit in your way on a day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month, year-to-year basis that you need to navigate and work around. And we are here to help you guide you through that because, like I said, we've done it with thousands of people and we know the path. We don't have one system. We don't have our system, or well, our system is a client-focused system that it's based off their needs and demands and structures with it all, and how we can help them work around. When you came on board working with me as a client, it was up to me to figure out how to get the Daniel shape and fit it into the Daniel hole, as opposed to this is Larry's Square and let's mash it into the circle till something fits or breaks. And that's what you'll see with a lot of people. And I'm not again trying to say we're better than every other coach out there, there's fantastic coaches out there. But for the majority of people that we see coming in who have been coached, who haven't been able to achieve results, that's the approach that was taken with them. And when you can get that individualized approach, now all of a sudden the quote unquote magic happens that we can make it easier in line with the person's life and everything else that's going on. Um it's I it was quite funny. Actually, you'll remember the seminar that we were we had. Uh you came up to it and I used you as an example within the seminar. And there was six or seven others who were at that seminar as well, PTs, who I had coached, and I was talking down through my process, and everyone's like, holy shit, you did that with me too. And I was like figuring out the individual and what makes them tick, but also how I can fit my ethos, my approach into their lifestyle and have that kind of again, Daniel shape into the Daniel hole. Because everyone is going to have different needs and demands. But when you can make that work, people are like, holy shit, that actually suits and sits really good. And that's why the friction was so low, and that's why it was so much easier. Because again, we paid attention to a lot of details, paid attention to a lot of things that might seem irrelevant in the grand scheme of things for the individual coming in because they just want to lose some weight, they want to get in shape, they want to feel better. So let's just look at my macros, my sets and reps. But we're looking at the lifestyle, we're looking at the bigger picture with the whole thing. And again, when we can put those fears to bed of you haven't fucked it up, it's actually better than the response would normally be. Or maybe the response was off the fucking rails completely in the week that happened. But here's what we're going to do in terms of structure to try and make it that little bit better, to make it less reactive, more proactive around that approach, should that thing ever happen again. Now all of a sudden you can give people that bit of reassurance. And that's a huge part of what we do, as opposed to again dictating to people, it's giving reassurance like nine times out of ten. It's like, that's actually okay, what happened. And here's what's going to happen in the days ahead. Give some insights to share, okay, your weight's going to drop back down. We don't need to change all the calories and whatever it may be. And that's like a huge part of our role is to give reassurance, to give confidence in the process, to bring people back down to that baseline and away from that kind of fear that they've fucked it up essentially. And you'll see that now as the coach, right? Coming in, um, you'll see people coming in and saying, like, oh, I've completely fucked it up. I I that's why I missed last week's check-in. What's your response back to them? It's the same, right?

Boundaries Empathy And Rapport

SPEAKER_02 10:12

Yeah, it's like uh as you said, like we don't want to just hear like you know, uh everything on the good days, we want to kind of hear on the bad days as well. And like as you said, we always kind of have to respect people's boundaries and stuff. We're like gonna kind of dig deeper and dig deeper because like you're kind of getting into like therapist territory then. It's like we're not therapists, we're not qualified in that area, we're like online coaches at the end of the day, so we kind of have to stay in our own lane. But like if they're not reporting back to us with like what written wrong or or you know areas that they're struggling in, we can't correct that. And like again, if you might be checking with someone on a weekly basis and like their Tuesday goes to shit and they're not talking to you until the following Monday, that's you know, six days that they could have just gone off the rails and spun their wheels for six days because like they kind of felt guilty about whatever happened on the Tuesday. Whereas if they reached out to you on the Tuesday a conversation, put their mind at ease, and then they could just feel like okay, it actually isn't that big of a deal, and just get back to normal then. And that's again five to six days then that they've actually kind of like turned things back around. And again, that's when you will see that these things become less frequent. That I always kind of say to people, if like you're a person that kind of like binge, if you're a person that would kind of uh engage in binge eating behavior, it's not gonna be a case of like you're just gonna stop. It likely is going to something that you might just cut down on the frequency of it. But to me, it's like that's a huge improvement. Like, if you've gone from binging every day to like binging just on the Saturday, I'm like, right, we have achieved so much in just that alone because like you're doing it once out of a week as opposed to seven days in the week, then it's simply a case of like reducing that frequency again. So a lot of people would look at the fact that they binge at the weekend as a failure, but if you look at the other side of it, they're like, well, you didn't binge the other six days in the week when before you couldn't start your week without binging, so that's a huge improvement. So it is all about kind of like reframing your outlook and your your kind of way of actually looking at these situations as well, because what you might view as a failure might be a huge accomplishment for someone else. So if you can kind of reframe these situations, I think it's going to help massively.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

Yeah, like people don't come to us because everything is going perfect. Do you know what I mean? It's like, hey, I ought to sign up for coaching, everything is going fucking cushy, it's grand, like do you know? It's like, no, you've you've got some problems. And again, for people to admit those, and it's it's not like problems as if you've got like some condition or whatever. It's like, okay, we're eating a little bit more calories and we're moving a bit less, we need to put some structure and accountability in. Or people will come in and be like, I need someone to tell me to shut the fuck up and do the workouts and kick me in the ass and like no more patting on the back and nambi-pamby stuff. And I was like, for 99% of people, that just doesn't work as well, too. And not that we're here, you know, high-fiving and cheerleading people all the time. There is a time for a patent of act, there is a time for kicking a hole, but like it's known the right tool to be able to pull as well, too, is a huge part of our arsenal and ability to coach people really, really well. But more often than not, people come in with completely different, I guess, ideas in their head of what they might be about to receive from the coach. And it can be a bit misaligned or whatever as well, too, with that. So again, it's making sure that for us it's to build a bit of rapport that someone feels comfortable enough that they can say, Do you know what, this hasn't been a good week at all. Um, miss my check in because of XYZ happened over the weekend, some serious shit going on, whatever. Or I didn't report back in on my calories last week, here's what actually happened. And when you can get that breakthrough with people, now all of a sudden the doors to uh results are like unlimited, they're wide open now because we can really have that level of conversation where it allows us to engage in proper improvement and actual progress as well. You know, if people are kind of coming in and they don't feel uh that they're in a I don't want to say like a safe space, but in a place where they can actually um chat to someone, like with a professional IEO sonnet, that they've had you know some issues around their intake or their food or their approach, and we'll get people opening up about all sorts of stuff to us. And obviously, that's not from the get-go at the very first one minute of the conversation. You have to build that level of rapport and trust with people. But when they can uh confide and trust in the coach and the process, now all of a sudden you can get a hell of a lot more return because that ultimately allows more growth, it allows us to do our job. So I guess to anyone who's looking to come on board with anyone or engage in any process, there's gonna be trials and tribulations, it's not gonna be perfect. Um if I was to ask you to start learning a brand new language that you've never spoken before and never really heard, and you wanted to learn it, it's like it's you're not gonna be fluent in that in a matter of days, right? So there is gonna be a process of learning uh the foundational steps and learning about your own trends and habits and routines and structures and everything else. It's not just as simple as here's your macros and off you go. And there will be days, like you said, where you'll fuck it up completely and you'll days or you go off the rails, or days you just don't feel overly motivated or pushed to do anything as well. And that's completely normal with some new process. But the thing that allows you to get to the next level is to be able to one, ask for help, but then two receive that help, and that's like the huge breakthrough that we'll have with people. Um what do you find uh allows you to kind of build that level of rapport? Because you're very, very good at doing that as well with clients that we've had, and you obviously get amazing results with people and we hear fantastic feedback. But what is I guess one of your skill sets that allows that to come to the fore?

SPEAKER_02 15:40

I think uh there's an element of kind of like sharing your own experience as well, because like if someone can understand that like okay, you've actually dealt with this in the past as well, and you're you know open enough to actually discuss it, then I kind of feel a bit more comfortable telling you about my situation. Um because like if someone can understand it like and feel a certain level of empathy towards another person, then they kind of feel like right, they understand where I'm coming from. Whereas again, like to kind of go back to my example, um like I dealt with like binge eating an awful lot in the past, and I remember like saying it to people and people like just it blew their fucking minds. They were like, Why can't you just stop? Because it was never really something that people didn't know.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Have you ever tried being better?

SPEAKER_02 16:26

Yeah, because because like if you said like someone like I'm trying to give up cigarettes, I'm trying to give up alcohol or fucking whatever it is, people can understand that. Whereas like binge eating, they're like it it I can remember it, people it just blew their mind, they could not comprehend it, they could not understand it. Whereas if someone comes to me now and they say that, I know what they're talking about, I know what they're experiencing, I know what they're feeling, so I can actually have that conversation with them. So like if someone came to me and you know they gave me an example of something that like I have no clue whatsoever it is, that's again where I have to put on my you know student hat and try and learn, like, right, what is it about this you know situation that they're in is affecting so much, or or if it's something that I'd never encountered, then that's where I have to go in and like educate myself on that so I can actually you know be on their level as well. So I think we as coaches also have to be opening to learn about people and kind of like again asking them the right questions, um, but just making sure, number one, that they're comfortable in doing so. We don't want to kind of like pry and try and pull the information out of them because I think you're just asking for trouble at the end of the day, then because if someone doesn't feel comfortable sharing something with you, you just have to respect that. Because again, uh our job at the end of the day is like not to be right, it's to be helpful. So like we're not really being helpful if we're forcing someone to do something they don't want to do.

SPEAKER_01 17:44

Yeah, like if we are doing our job right, there will be answers that'll come back that are like TMI from their from the the in the person's point of view. But again, we don't just like go all in straight away and like start talking about those pieces. Um so been able to share that uh lived experience, and for me, you know, I haven't gone through those issues as well too, but I've gone through it with many others who have had issues and we have been able to navigate through that and to be able to work through it as well. So I've the shared experience from others, you've the lived experience, which does allow a massive amount of um trust and rapport to be built with the individual as well. And I've known from my side, let's say I've now becoming a parent in the last couple of years that I've much more empathy and understanding. Like I've trained parents for years, but like I haven't walked in their shoes until I've actually had kids, and I I don't understand the stresses or pressures or the having a sick kid at home, or the you know, up all night not sleeping with a tired child, whatever it might be. It's like it all makes a lot more sense, and you can really empathise and humanize it all then as well too, when you can share your own lived experience. Well, here's what we actually do to work around that as well, too, and to give a little bit of input. Again, while coaching is coaching, and it is sets and reps and macros, there is a very fine line, but we do kind of weave around that line and the lanes and the road that a little bit more as well, too, to give our own, you know, lived experience to actually share that with people. And again, I think that can be like really, really key. Um, what are the biggest concerns you see people coming in with then, Daniel, that okay, you're on a consultation with a lot of different people. What are they telling you that they're maybe afraid of in terms of getting into it with the coaching?

Time Willpower And Unreal Standards

SPEAKER_02 19:26

I think one of the most common things I see is people just feel they don't have the enough time to kind of dedicate towards it, whether it's you know, they think they need to prep every meal that they're having, or they think they need to be in the gym six days out of seven, they think they need to be doing endless hours of cardio. Um, and again, they kind of feel like they need to fit someone else's mould or someone else's kind of avatar that they see online. Whereas again, our approach is like we have like a human-first approach. It's like we need to kind of see where they are, what they like, what they don't like, uh, what they're looking to achieve, and then that allows us to number one kind of create our approach, but then number two, also kind of manage expectations because again, somebody might be coming in fearing that they have to go to the gym six days a week, but they also think that they're gonna get results in the next eight weeks. So, like, there's kind of a mismatch there between what they're gonna be able to realistically do and what they're gonna be able to realistically achieve. So I think once we can kind of set the expectations, um it just kind of makes the whole process a lot easier for people. But I think the biggest problem area people have is or the biggest problem that people would report probably is just feeling they don't have enough time. Um, willpower probably will be a close second, then they kind of feel like they don't have the discipline or they don't have the willpower. And like as I say into everybody, I think everyone realistically kind of has the same level of discipline or willpower because it's just the people that kind of get results just don't put themselves in situations that will require you know high levels of willpower. They're the people that kind of they put the snacks at the back of the cupboard rather than keep them on the the you know on the the countertop, or they do the shopping and they got make their list beforehand and they purposely like avoid going to specific areas of the shop or whatever and they only buy what they need to buy, or they don't go shopping when they're hungry. So they just simply don't put themselves in those situations. So I think um again, they're two relatively easy fixes once you kind of explain to people like again that willpower and the time, two things that we kind of can work around. I think it puts people's mind um at ease straight away.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

I think with the willpower thing, it's I I like to look at it in terms of a lot of people's career, because obviously the the people that are coming to us, uh they might be very career focused, career-driven, but they haven't been self-health focused for some time. And I'll draw parallels of it as like, okay, how did you get to the position you're currently in in work? And well, I've I did the work and I put in the time and I networked and I did whatever and did my studies and blah, blah, blah, and it's been a long time coming, and and this is where I am now. It's like, okay, so you have the ability to create success within your own life. And I was like, Yeah, well, I actually do, and I'm very proud of that. And it's the same to draw parallels as okay, here's how we're going to create approach with your health and fitness. It's going to take some time. You're going to have to put in a little bit of work. You haven't done it just yet. You didn't start at the CEO level. You started at the junior entry level. And we're going to work our way up through the ranks. You're going to earn the stripes in your belt to bring the martial arts analogy with it all. You're not going to get to a black belt straight away. And now all of a sudden it creates a more interesting process because they can see the steps of what has to be done. And they can see how they get to be competent and confident in the process because it's something that they haven't done yet. And we're reframing it to be something they haven't done yet. You're creating that growth mindset as opposed to a closed mindset with the whole thing that it's not something that they cannot do, it's something that they just haven't done yet. Because they've shown the ability to have uh momentum, to have positive change, to have uh the ability to execute and and to be you know motivated to do other things in their life as well, too. So again, when you can draw those parallels and share that kind of lived experience with people, now all of a sudden it creates that rapport and buy-in as well too with it. And that can be like really, really key. And it just creates a different mindset to the whole thing as well. Um, something else people who come in, that's kind of perfectionist mindset, and that's just from watching bullshit on Instagram and like people up at like 5 a.m. prepping their meals for the day and weighing a macro and everything and like hitting the gym again for my four time today. It's like it's such a load of bullshit. You're gonna see the highlight rail with so many people that is not realistic, but they'll make you feel that is what you have to do because if you don't want results like they get with themselves, you're a failure and you suck at life. But it's like those people are dropping the ball in so many other fucking areas of their life as well, too, that like you wouldn't even like entertain it for a second, like when you see what their actual lives are like. Um, trust me, I've like coached enough people in that position over the years that like to know that I haven't really got all their shit together. Uh while it may look aesthetically good, but it's to meet yourself where you're currently at and to do the things that you need to do to get to where you want to go as opposed to where other people have got to as well. Like if you're someone who wants to train six days a week and compete in something at a completely high level, cool, you're gonna have to make other sacrifices for your life and drop other pits. If you're someone who just wants to get in shape, lose some body fat, build some muscle, gain some strength, improve your health and well-being and fitness, you do not have to do a million days a week in the gym. You do not have to be all in. You can still have an element of balance within your lifestyle. You know, people will like want balanced outcomes, but they'll do completely imbalanced approaches to get those balanced outcomes as well. So it's like, have that little bit of balance, right, as well too. And it's okay uh to have a little bit of extra chocolate now and then, to have a night out, to have holidays, to have a break, to miss a couple of sessions in the gym, right? If you're missing all your sessions in the gym or you're having all the chocolate or you're having all the wine, we've got a mismatch and now we've got an imbalance again for the balanced outcome we're looking for. So there has to be obviously an awareness brought to that. But once you can create that awareness and understanding that it doesn't have to be perfect. And again, this is very person-dependent. You're going to have the type A person who's very numbers analytical orientated, it's very pass fail, it's not 99.9%, it's 100% all the time, and that's it. And for us managing their expectations, obviously leaning into that a little bit, gamifying it with them, that can be key. And the other side, the type B, where maybe need to be ramped up a little bit more and need to be given more of a shit about it as opposed to too many shits. Again, it's managing each individual, and for us to understand how to people navigate that with them is like really, really key. But this is again the human first or individual approach that we'll take with it all to understand people and to create an approach and an outcome that's more or a more controlled input that's aligned with their needs and demands and their goals too, right? Um, so again, that can be really, really key to remove that all or nothing approach, to create an understanding of the management expectations, to uh create parallels to other places that they've had success in their life. I think it again is really, really key. Um we've covered lots of stuff here, I'm sure it's resonated with a lot of people, Daniel. Um, in terms of that's not really what to expect to a coaching, but to take the pressure off yourself if you're looking to get into something that it doesn't have to be so intensive. Like, okay, if you're fucking wanting to get on stage in a bodybuilding show and get in your knickers and put on some fake tan, it's gonna be pretty intensive. It's an extreme outcome you're looking for. That's not what most most people are looking for, they're looking for very balanced outcomes, so it needs some balanced inputs as well. Um anything to leave off on this one with, Daniel, that you might be of value uh coming from both the client and coach point of view.

SPEAKER_02 26:32

Uh I think it's to kind of have like a an open mind to a degree, and I I was gonna say like have kind of like trust in your coach as well, but like as you said, sometimes it kind of takes a bit of time to build up that trust because you can't you may not necessarily feel comfortable just like throwing yourself 100% at somebody like from the get-go, but like as I said, I would have worked with maybe six coaches or something in the past, but I always kind of felt that like I signed up with them, they'd give me a training plan or whatever, but I was like, I'm just gonna follow my own training plan because it's you know what I actually like what I'm doing, and I actually think that this is what I should be doing. I should be doing push-ball legs and training six days a week, and I need to do bench press, I need to do squats. So even though they're telling me to do X, Y, Z, I'm like, no, I think I actually know best when this is no better than I know better than the person I'm paying to tell me what to do. So I think that's partly the reason why like I spun my wheels for so long was because like I never just fully bought into it. Um, so I think you kind of need to kind of approach it with just a bit of an open mind, not to have like skepticism, but ask questions. As I said, like if you're not asking questions, you're not gonna be learning. So like if me as your coach, you know, made certain changes, wherever, and you were just kind of curious as to like, why did we make these changes? Like, ask, and then I can tell you. And like I will always kind of like tell people to a degree, like, right, we're gonna make these changes because of X, Y, and Z. But like, if they don't fully understand that, please keep asking as many questions because like the more you take away from this, the more the results you're going to actually be able to sustain going forward. Um, and sometimes again, if it's not explained to you correctly, again, you might not fully feel like, well, I don't really feel like that's the right change to make, or I don't feel comfortable making that change. So, again, if you ask as many questions as possible and then you kind of feel open to change as well at the same time, because some people might take what we're saying here as I don't really need to change anything, so because what you're saying is like I don't need to live this hardcore lifestyle, like I still drink at the weekend, like I silly cake, so I don't need to change anything, like there must be something else that's a problem. Like, whereas you're coming to us because you need to change something and you either don't know what it is or you're struggling to do it. So I think you need to have an open mindset.

SPEAKER_01 28:42

Yeah, I think that's really, really key. Like to be uh on the intro videos I'll do for any clients starting up, it's like you need to be involved in the process, you need to be curious, you need to ask questions, there needs to be uh like that's the only thing that's a non-negotiable for me because uh it's the involvement and the curiosity from those people that'll bring them to the next level of understanding. And it's a really shit business model because we create more autonomy in those individuals and now it allows them to go and do their own thing and have more independence. There shouldn't be dependence on the coach to get you to do the thing all the time. Um, it's not efficient or effective if it is that. Okay, you know, uh the highest level athletes are going to have coaches because they need to be at the highest level of pressures, and there's way bigger outcomes and implications from them uh winning or not, whatever it might be, but this is not the thing we're doing, right? We want to create humans who have autonomy and understanding in their own approach, who have control with what they do, who have an understanding about how to make changes and adjustments that they don't need their handheld all the time. And this creates better people ultimately with the whole thing. But that's getting involved in the process. If you come in and just be blind to it, naive to it, not ask any questions, don't get involved, just kind of say yes, yes, yes all the time and not suggest any changes should be made or just blindly follow what you're doing, it's not gonna be efficient or effective. So I guess to be open-minded, to be open-mouthed as well, too, and just talk and speak your mind all the time is something that's gonna be really key to allow people to get to the next level with it all. We're here to support, to help you, to guide your tier goals. We're people helpers, that's what we do, it's what we're brilliant at. And uh, even if I do blow smoke up my own hole with that as well, too, it's what we do and do very well. Um, if it is something you're interested in, reach out to Touchbase. There is links within the show notes as well, too, uh, where we can support and guide you. But we're always open with our inboxes. Feel free to email us, to DM us to reach out and touch base. If you've got any questions you'd like to know, again, there's no sales pitch, there's no pressure with it anytime I have a conversation with people. Uh Daniel, it's been a pleasure, as always. Until the next one, you're not going to be able to do that.