Keepin’ It Real!
Posted by Steve Hochman on Tue. Jun. 2nd, 2009
Guest post by Leanne Ellington
Question... What's worse than a sleazy car salesman trying to sell you that broken-down Chevy with the dingy air-conditioner, lifeless tires, and the "Gettin' Lucky in Kentucky!" bumper sticker?
Answer... A sleazy trainer without the knowledge, experience, and know-how to get people measurable results and is more focused on showing you which way the gun show is or simply bullying you into forking over your credit card.
The great thing about being a part of that miniscule percentage of fitness professionals that actually give a damn about becoming great marketers and great business owners is that it is so friggen' easy to set yourself apart from all the other sleeze bags out there.
Now let's not get carried away into thinking that this takes some magic potion, secret formula, or ground-breaking revelation to figure out exactly how to do that. It's actually really quite simple.
Your one duty-your one chore-your one must-do item on the to-do-list for being a kick-ass boot camp marketer and business owner is....
YOU GOTTA KEEP IT REAL!
Now, I know that seems like common sense to most people, but don't fool yourself into thinking that simply honoring your 30-day refund policy or giving someone an extra 15-minutes question answering session is what I am eluding to. In fact, these things don't even begin to scratch the surface.
There are several crucial components that go into keeping it real...
** You see, no one wants to be around someone they think is fake, tells them what they want to hear, or simply appeases them.
**No one wants to be around an exact carbon copy of someone they once encountered.
**No one wants to be screwed, stabbed in the back, or deceived.
**And most importantly, no one wants to put up with incompetence.
Very few people can say that they march to the beat of their own drum, make the rules and decisions that they see fit for their companies or themselves, and liter ally hold the power to either skyrocket their financial and professional success... or not.
But trust me, the ones that do- and I mean really do- certainly keep it real by adhering to the following...
1. YOU HAVE TO BE BRUTALLY HONEST WITH YOURSELF:
I work out at a nearby gym in town, and one of the trainers there (who knows I'm also in the biz) usually comes over to me to chat about just about anything.
This usually just means I let him rant and rave about how well the gym is doing, how much "MULLAH" the other trainers are making, and how if he just merely sticks with it and just stays there, then he is going to do make a lot of dough also.
Meanwhile, all I can think about is how far gone this guy is. He is off his rocker if he thinks that he can just walk around with no plan, no mode of accountability, no marketing efforts, and furthermore, no personality and just "make it big" effortlessly.
He's fooling himself. And he's in for a rude awakening-big time. If you can't be honest with yourself about where you are, where you want to be, and where you need to go, there is no way that you can keep it real-keep things on a level. In fact, you are just setting yourself up to fail.
One of the biggest components of "keeping it real" is that no matter how much it sucks, no matter how much the truth might hurt, and now matter how discouraged and upset it makes you, you have to be completely and brutally honest with yourself.
Great things take work. Don't fool yourself into thinking otherwise. Nuff' said.
2. YOU CANNOT LET THOSE DAMN NAYSAYERS TEAR YOU DOWN:
Hands down-- wherever you go there are going to be people that try and tear you down, focus on the negative, and naysay the living crap out of you.
Not to mention that this can be a jealous and cut-throat industry in many aspects.
Sometimes people play dirty. Sometimes they lie and cheat.
Whatever it is, whatever anyone else is doing or saying, you have to put it aside and not let it drag you down.
Although easier said than done, if you faltered every time someone told you that "you couldn't" or "it's impossible", you would fail miserably.
Thomas Edison knows how to keep it real in spite of naysayers. When asked about his 1000 failed attempts at making the light bulb, he calmly replied,
"I have not failed 1,000 times. I have successfully discovered, 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb.
"Now that is BADASS!"
3. YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER EVERY SINGLE DAY WHY YOU WENT INTO BUSINESS FOR YOURSELF:
I know that personally I decided to go into business for myself because I didn't want to have to listen to some douche bag with less intelligence, motivation, and personality than me and have them tell me how to do things.
I knew that I had the ability to make it big on my own - maybe with a lot more of a struggle, a more than - massive Learning curve, and some bumps and bruises along the way- but the inherent ability to do it better myself than for someone else.
I remember that every single day. It keeps me grounded.
It keeps me real.
Why did you go in business for yourself?
Was it because you thought you could make a bigger difference? Maybe you don't like wearing stiff, starchy collared shirts?
Or maybe you simply wanted to have the ability to only commit yourself from 9:53am until 1:24pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and not worry about someone telling you that isn't okay.
Whatever your reason(s) are, you have to "Remind yourself" of that every single day.
- When you get frustrated... remember it.
- When things get tough... remember it.
- When you wish had someone to help you or tell you what to do to get out of this bind... remember it
If you remember it every single day, it will force you to keep it real.
There is one job above all the rest that really sets the precedent for whether or not you are going to do big things... or whether you are not.
Whether the SKY IS THE LIMIT or you simply want to reliably put bread on the table, the only way you can truly do this is to keep it real!
Leanne EllingtonLeanne Ellington owns Not Your Average boot Camp in Orlando Florida and makes award winning Matzah Ball Soup!
Keep your eye on Leanne cuz she's gonna be a HUGE force in the industry.
To learn more about Leanne and her DELICIOUS Motza balls check her out at http://www.notyouraveragebootcamp.com
Be sure to tell me what you think and how YOU keep it real...
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