The Great Big Lie About Money & Time Management for Personal Trainers

Hi there, hope you are doing awesome! :-)

I wanted to share with you a very cool blog post from Tim Ferris, Author of "The 4 Hour Work Week".  Tim is a fun writer with a cutting edge perspective on what it means to have a good life in this day and age, and his ideas provide a strong foundation for good time management for personal trainers especially.

Old Rich vs New Rich

If you haven't read his book, I highly recommend it. It's a great read, and provides a new perspective on what it means to be "wealthy". Most people think of wealth as meaning tons of money, but Tim is quick to point out that many of those "rich" people are unhealthy, overworked, chained to their job, and miserable. Does that sound like true wealth to you? Wouldn't it be better to work smarter, make good money (but not insane amounts of money) and have the freedom and free time to follow your passion, explore the world, and make a difference? He even has a term for this new breed of successful people, he calls them the "new rich" because they value their time and freedom more than money, unlike the old rich (most rich people). Don't get me wrong, money is essential in a capitalist society. But time is way more valuable than money, and you really don't need millions and millions of dollars to have a highly satisfying, exciting lifestyle, however you define it.  (Despite what the main stream media is telling you, don't let them fool you into creating a false definition of personal trainer success.)

The Great Big Lie: Time Does NOT Equal Money!

I know, I know, this is the exact opposite of what "they say" and we have all heard our whole lives.   Time equals money, blah blah blah.  News flash, time is way more valuable than money and I can prove it.  You can always find a way to get the money you spent back, but you can never ever get the time you spent doing something back!  This is the perspective of the "new rich". So what you choose to do with your time is critical to your success, time is a resource way more valuable than money.  How do you maximize the usage and effectiveness of this invaluable resource?  Don't complain about money, just invest your time appropriately and the success will follow.  And as always, invest your time in the critical few things that will have the most impact on your trajectory and success.  (This is also know as the 80/20 rule. You wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time and vice versa.  You get 80% of your client referrals from 20% of your clients, and on and on.  So for your to do list, focus on the critical 20% relentlessly, it is the only way to get ahead.  This is way easier to say than do, but like anything, with practice it will become an automatic habit.)

First Things First Bub! Setting the Tone Right.

Often, the best solutions are the simplest ones.  Each day, you have a chance to move towards your goals; fitness goals, business goals, personal goals, etc.  You have a list of things to do, right?  (Don't we all!)  How often do you go ahead and tackle the most important thing on your list, first thing in the morning? Or, do you avoid doing the most important task, the one that may involve a little more risk or critical thinking, and instead make yourself busy with other little simple or mindless tasks on your to do list?  This is called "Busy Procrastination", because you procrastinate by keeping yourself busy doing unimportant things. So its really as simple as that.  Get up in the morning, eat breakfast, shower.  Then knock out the most important task on your list, and don't stop until you complete it, don't lose focus and don't multitask.  You will feel amazing and set the tone for the rest of the day.  Compare that to what many of us do: check email compulsively/mindlessly, click around on Facebook, etc etc.  Once you start doing this, it is really hard to stop!  It's the same with food, right?  Start yourself off with a really healthy breakfast, and you set the tone for the rest of the day and make it much harder to eat unhealthy that day, while the opposite is true too.  Eat crap, and you will feel gross/guilty, chalk off the day as a bad food day, and let yourself indulge all day long, convincing yourself you will "get back on track tomorrow".  Same thing with time management for personal trainers!

Urgent vs. Important

If you have read "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" you realize that there are also URGENT tasks, things that need to get done right away (which are not always important things!) Tim talks about how sometimes, for big picture important tasks, you have to let some of those "seemingly urgent tasks" stay on hold for a while.  Even nice opportunities don't get in his way of achieving his big picture dreams: Tim Ferriss Blog Post Don't get me wrong, I am not saying you should become more effective with your time, and then use your free time to shoot off large weapons in the middle of nowhere.  (That's actually kinda lame in my opinion!)  What I am saying is that if you manage your most valuable resource, time, effectively, you can have more free time to do whatever you like.  And that is time management for personal trainers 101. So what gets in your way, and prevents you from using your time effectively?  Let us know in the comments, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Until next time, keep your business fit. Johnny Fitness