Related Links
September Newsletter
By James Your Personal Trainer
As one can imagine, the tournament was a huge success and the fights were incredible! The sell out crowd of thousands at Chicago's Park West Theater, as well as the thousands who viewed the event live on the Internet, were treated to 36 fights between some of the best fighters in the world. One thing is for sure, every fighter whom competed came for one thing and one thing only... To be crowned the 1998 World Shidokan Champion!
The finals of each division once again proved to be some of the best fights that the tournament has ever seen. After the grueling preliminary, quarter-final, and semi-final matches had been completed, only six fighters remained. These six men were determined to endure, they were determined to survive, but most importantly, they were determined to win at all costs. Despite each fighter having countless injuries from the previous bouts, each fought as though they had merely been waiting for this opportunity, waiting for this chance to decide who is truly the best, and they were.
In the Lightweight division, the ever ready Jerry Morris emerged to once again defend the title that he has held since 1995. This years challenger to his throne was another veteran competitor of numerous Shidokan Open tournaments, Reno Belcastro from Canada. These fighters had fought their way through some of the toughest competition they have ever faced, and neither was about to squander the opportunity that lay before them. After the fighters had entered the ring and the introductions had finished, the crowd then quieted as the ref bowed the 2 combatants in, each now standing ready to do battle. Hajime! The fighter's engaged, each choosing to attack low with vicious leg kicks. Morris seemed even more determined to take the legs out from under Belcastro. As they clashed repeatedly, it became evident that Morris had gained the upper hand. In the end, Reno had sustained to much damage, and Jerry Morris secured his title for another year!
In the Middleweight division it would be a repeat of the 1996 and 1997 finals. Defending Champion Aurelian Duarte of France would once again face his nemesis, former 4 time champion, Marco London from St. Maarten. In what looked like a carbon copy of last years match, these 2 ferocious competitors pulled out all the stops, trading blow for blow, tooth for tooth! At the end of the regulation 9 rounds, the match lay in a tie. It was then decided that they would battle for an extension round to decide the champion. Well, true to fashion of the entire bout, at the end of the extension, the match still remained tied. Another round anyone? To say the least, Duarte and London ended up fighting an unprecedented 13 rounds!!! Finally in round 13, with time winding down, Duarte sensed that is was now all or nothing. Duarte ripped through London's defenses scoring with several punches and a vicious knee to the face. Marco was able to remain standing, but the damage had been done. The bell rang and Duarte won on points, thus retaining his title.
The final fight of the evening was in the heavyweight division between defending champion Cyrille Diabate from France, and Abe Shuji of Japan. These 2 fighters are no strangers to one another as they met last year in a grueling semi final bout. The fight started with both men seeming very cautious, trying to get a feel for one another. It was Abe Shuji who then pressed the fight, charging forward to attack. In typical fashion, Diabate seemed content to play the role of counter puncher, remaining on the defense until the opportunity arose to strike. After the bare knuckle rounds had concluded, you could sense that Diabate seemed more comfortable with the kickboxing rules. Almost immediately he attacked the drained Shuji landing punch after punch. Shuji collapsed under the barrage, but was able to regain himself. Unfortunately, the barrages kept coming from Diabate and Shuji dropped to the canvas again, the match was declared a T.K.O. and Diabate was crowned Heavyweight Champion for the second straight year.
Apple Juice Roast
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Categories: Beef
Yield: 6 servings
4 lb Boneless Beef Chuck Roast 1/4 ts Pepper
2 ea Med. Onions, Sliced 1/4 ts Thyme Leaves
2 tb Butter or Shortening 1/4 ts Prepared Mustard
1 c Apple Juice 1/8 ts Basil Leaves
1 tb Catsup 3 ea Large Sweet Potatoes *
1 ts Salt 1 x Lemon Juice
---------------------------------GARNISHES---------------------------------
1 x Chopped Parsley OR 1 x Gravy
1 x Apple Rings And Parsley
* Sweet potatoes should be pared and cut into pieces.
~-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cook onions in 1 T butter or shortening in Dutch oven until tender-crisp;
set aside. Brown roast in remaining butter or shortening in Dutch oven
over medium heat 15 to 20 minutes or until browned on both sides. Pierce
entire surface of meat with fork. Combine apple juice, catsup, salt,
pepper, thyme, mustard and basil; add to meat. Top meat with reserved
cooked onions; cover and cook slowly 2 1/2 hours or until almost tender.
Brush sweet potatoes with lemon juice for bright color; add to meat.
Continue cooking, covered, 30 to 40 minutes or until meat and potatoes are
tender. Place meat and potatoes on warm platter. Sprinkle potatoes with
chopped parsley or garinish with apple rings and parsley, if desired.
Serve gravy over sliced meat.
NOTE:
After apple juice mixture is added to browned meat, it may be marinated in
the refrigerator until 3 to 4 hours before serving time; turn meat
several times. If Dutch oven is cast iron, transfer to a glass dish.
GRAVY:
Skim excess fat from cooking liquid; add water if needed to make 1 1/2
cups. Mix 1/2 cup water and 2 T Unbleached Flour; stir gradually into
cooking liquid. Heat to boiling; cook, stirring 3 to 5 minutes. Season
with salt and pepper, if desired. Gravy may be served in Large Apple that
has been scooped out, if desired.
The Age Old Question:
How Do You Motivate Clients?
The Shocking Answer: With Pain, Fear and True Compassion!
By Phil Kaplan
Every Saturday morning, I host a radio show with the sole mission of educating people in the vital synergy necessary for physical improvement. More accurately, one could say it’s the balance between the right nutrition, moderate aerobic exercise and a concern for muscle. It’s funny how the day after Conrad Swanson, editor of Personal Fitness Professional, called and asked, "Phil, can you write an article helping trainers understand how to better motivate clients?" that Jim, a caller, asked, "Phil, most people seem to get motivated to follow a program and stick to it for about three weeks. How in the world do you manage to keep people motivated?"
Call it fate, call it coincidence, but whatever sparked this exploration of motivation, I promise it’s an approach you will find powerful. To seek an answer to "how do I motivate my client to get through this week, workout or set" is a noble attempt, but an exercise in futility. True motivation happens somewhere other than the workout. It happens deep inside what we have all spoken about but rarely come close to truly defining — the mind. In my Mental Conditioning Bible, after speaking to hundreds of athletes and psychologists, I made an attempt to cover all the bases of the definition of motivation: "Motivation is the difference between thinking and doing. It is the essential difference between one who knows and one who takes the action to achieve."
True motivation, the thing that creates one who is truly driven to take action to achieve a desired fitness end, will come from "evidence" that results are inevitable. Therein lies a challenge, because in order to "get results," you need to motivate your clients. Well, perhaps it’s time to redefine results, to take a look at what clients really want and to approach motivation in a whole new light.
You have to learn to recognize what is the true essence of motivation. Understand what people want and give it to them. I know you believe your clients want to lose weight, have great abs or build massive quads. If you truly want to motivate, you can’t stop there. Find out why your clients want ripped abs, to lose weight, or any goal they’ve expressed. Eventually, they will answer with one of four reasons — to feel better about themselves, feel better about their environments, gain powers to change or realize achievements and potentials. To test the theory, ask any one of your clients what he or she wants as an outcome of the training sessions. Wait for an answer and then ask them why. Whatever the response, ask why again. You’ll get to the real underlying reason.
Let me share my experience in motivating an actual client. Meet Wayne. He took classes, sometimes 60-minute, sometimes 90-minute classes almost every day. Wayne hated mirrors. He didn’t want to see his body. It was fat. It took courage for Wayne to dance around in a room where most participants were women and most were in better-than-average physical condition.
What motivated him? Pain and fear, the greatest motivators in existence. I’m going to suggest you use those motivators and stimulate your clients’ fears and emotional pains, at least momentarily. Before you condemn me for suggesting this, understand the power and virtue of my suggestion. Let me tell you about Wayne’s progression to illustrate the outcome of a "getting into the mind" motivational approach and then, lead up to the concept of using pain as a motivator.
Wayne would gain and lose the same eight pounds. He tried diet after diet. Some days he’d feel the diet was working, others he was sure it wasn’t. When he no longer sensed potential, he’d give up. Since he was already doing advanced aerobic classes and was overweight, he dreaded the thought of what would happen if he backed off on the aerobics. Why didn’t he feel motivated to stick to the diet? He didn’t feel any sense of potential. Why did he feel motivated to keep up his exercise? Fear! The fear of getting fatter was more painful than the thought of dancing around in front of 35 fit women, thus, he showed up for classes nearly everyday.
I knew Wayne wanted to increase his self-esteem, and I also knew that he believed that losing weight would work wonders. I could teach Wayne, but it would take time for him to find his ultimate goal — greater self-esteem. Looking back at the four "wants" people have, I decided I’d have to help him identify progress. I knew that once he realized he does have the power to change, the potential to grow and a sense of achievement, self-esteem would start mounting almost instantly.
Wayne expected an exercise program right off the bat. Instead, I educated him. I taught him that if he would eat frequently and minimize his intake of sugar, his blood sugar would stabilize. The evidence would manifest itself in consistent energy and that was going to open a door for ongoing fat release. Three days later, Wayne could not contain his energy or his motivation. Evidence! He never knew there was a correlation between energy and fat release. That knowledge gave him a sense of power. With that power came elevated self-esteem, potential and of course, motivation!
I asked him to not weigh himself as he had after each diet attempt, to back off on his aerobics, to add resistance training and to stop dieting. I assured him that with frequent supportive meals he’d gain control of his metabolism. The "evidence" would manifest itself in greater food intake with apparent, gradual decreases in waist size. Wayne became a literal fireball. Before the visible transformation in his body, the transition in his attitude was overwhelming. Six weeks later, Wayne brought me his belt and commented, "I won’t need this anymore." His waist had decreased so dramatically he needed a new wardrobe. Six weeks after that, Wayne told my staff he was in better shape at 48 years old than he was at 20 in the military! And he was still going! Wayne was empowered, knew achievement and continued to see potential. No music. No creative exercise session with games. No group participation. Wayne became motivated because he knew he was achieving the change he sought. He was overcoming the pain he associated with being overweight, and his motivation knew no bounds.
Now, let me put into five steps these ideas for true motivation.
1. Find the need
As far as finding the need, we’ve all learned to conduct some sort of assessment or consultation in which we discuss the client’s need. That’s not what I’m talking about here. At some level, each client is experiencing a pain. It’s usually not a physical pain, but a pain just the same. Each client chooses to employ you because they believe you are a vehicle to overcoming that pain. Make the first session a thorough interview, uncovering not only the physical desires, but the emotional pains as well. Once you have uncovered the pain, once you understand the why, provide your client with an explanation and an overview of specifically how you are going to act as the vehicle to minimize or overcome that pain. Help your client buy into the fact you are offering the power to achieve. Be specific in what you’re going to deliver, and you’ll literally see motivation manifest itself right before your eyes!
2. Educate and empower
Most people who fail to get the fitness results they seek fail simply because they’re attempting to change, using what I call ineffective technology. Before we can get them to accept a true technology of change, we have to help them understand why their previous attempts failed. If we simply encourage dieters to eat more without explaining why their diet histories have impacted metabolisms, their false beliefs act as shields and do not allow their minds to accept anything that appears unconventional. By teaching your new clients that previous, perceived bouts with failure were not their fault, but rather the result of flawed programs, they suddenly feel empowered. That opens a door for you to begin to educate from scratch, teaching them what really works without having to battle the wall of resistance. The result is true motivation.
3. Learn cues and strategies
Find out what makes your clients achieve. Ask them, what thoughts initiate the motivation? What movements precede the desire? What subtleties in what they do, think or say stimulate that "I can and I want to" sensation? It’s amazing how each individual develops a strategy, a combination of thoughts and actions that create emotion. As you get to know each client, you’ll be able to uncover visual, auditory and sensory cues that bring about changes in motivation. Your clients, in all likelihood, do not know their own motivation strategies. They are performed subconsciously. As you begin to ask your clients to identify the motivational cues and triggers, you’ll find they often lay out a definitive procedure for stimulating motivation. Some may visualize the end result. Others may internally speak the words "just do it."
4. Tap into cues and strategies
Once you’ve identified specific motivation cues and triggers, use them. For example, in order to feel motivated, one of your clients summons up the visual memory of a past athletic performance. Ask him to "see" that image before, during and after the sessions. If another client is motivated by reminding herself that she used to be 20 pounds heavier and she’s on her way to being the best she can be, remind her often!
5. Contrast fear and pain
Okay. Here it is. The power of utilizing pain and fear. Do I want you to make your clients experience pain? Of course not. If you take people who have been failing to a momentary point of pain, and if you teach them to go there whenever motivation lags, you’ve provided them a tool they can use to instantly summon motivation. The trick is to take them forward in time, forward into two alternative futures. If one alternative brings them to a state of discomfort, I can absolutely guarantee they will choose the other. You don’t need a time machine. You simply ask them to relax, sit comfortably and imagine where they will be six months from now if they continue on with their current exercise and lifestyle habits. Have them make the image as clear as possible — to see, hear and feel what life will be like in six months. You’ll likely see their physiology change, growing a bit tense. Then have them go even further into the future, perhaps a year.
What will life be like? The farther you take them, the more real the pain will become. In performing this exercise, don’t be surprised if someone begins to cry. Remember that they came to you because they were experiencing a pain, and you’re allowing them to witness what the future holds if they do not take care of the pain.
Once they experience it, it’s time to rescue them. Ask them what life will be like six months from now if they begin to stick to the guidelines you discussed and they achieve the changes they seek. You’ll see them sit up higher, smiles might come to their lips. They’re now experiencing something quite appealing. Take them a year into this positive future. Two years! Five! Ten!
In allowing their minds to wander into the two alternative futures, they will have reference points for reminding themselves of precisely where they don’t want to go. Wayne’s fear of being fatter and less self-assured kept him going to aerobic classes. He simply needed help with the technology of change he was using. Create a "don’t go there" image in your client’s mind and contrast it with the rewards of following through. You’ll see, hear and feel motivation in its purest and most powerful form.
I know this is unconventional. I also know it’s extremely powerful. Is it outrageous to suggest that you cause your clients pain? I believe, in the quest for results, it is the most caring and compassionate thing you can do. That is, if it is used honestly and carefully, as I’ve outlined, with a positive and motivational intent. This goes beyond the "let me pump you up" motivational flurry and cuts deep into the center of where true motivation is born. Choose one or two of the techniques or ideas discussed and slowly begin to implement them in your interactions with your clients. You may soon wonder where all of these highly motivated people came from and find it hard to imagine you ever had a challenge in getting people to take action!
Phil Kaplan is an author and one of the world’s most respected fitness consultants. His programs all contain a mental/motivational component and his most popular seminar for fitness professionals at the IHRSA conventions has been Emotional Persuasion, in which he teaches fitness professionals to master motivation techniques. It is fully outlined in his program, Profit 2000 For Fitness Professionals. For information on his book, call 800-552-1998. Contact Phil’s offices at 305-824-5044 or visit his Web site at philkaplan.com.
As one can imagine, the tournament was a huge success and the fights were incredible! The sell out crowd of thousands at Chicago's Park West Theater, as well as the thousands who viewed the event live on the Internet, were treated to 36 fights between some of the best fighters in the world. One thing is for sure, every fighter whom competed came for one thing and one thing only... To be crowned the 1998 World Shidokan Champion!
The finals of each division once again proved to be some of the best fights that the tournament has ever seen. After the grueling preliminary, quarter-final, and semi-final matches had been completed, only six fighters remained. These six men were determined to endure, they were determined to survive, but most importantly, they were determined to win at all costs. Despite each fighter having countless injuries from the previous bouts, each fought as though they had merely been waiting for this opportunity, waiting for this chance to decide who is truly the best, and they were.
In the Lightweight division, the ever ready Jerry Morris emerged to once again defend the title that he has held since 1995. This years challenger to his throne was another veteran competitor of numerous Shidokan Open tournaments, Reno Belcastro from Canada. These fighters had fought their way through some of the toughest competition they have ever faced, and neither was about to squander the opportunity that lay before them. After the fighters had entered the ring and the introductions had finished, the crowd then quieted as the ref bowed the 2 combatants in, each now standing ready to do battle. Hajime! The fighter's engaged, each choosing to attack low with vicious leg kicks. Morris seemed even more determined to take the legs out from under Belcastro. As they clashed repeatedly, it became evident that Morris had gained the upper hand. In the end, Reno had sustained to much damage, and Jerry Morris secured his title for another year!
In the Middleweight division it would be a repeat of the 1996 and 1997 finals. Defending Champion Aurelian Duarte of France would once again face his nemesis, former 4 time champion, Marco London from St. Maarten. In what looked like a carbon copy of last years match, these 2 ferocious competitors pulled out all the stops, trading blow for blow, tooth for tooth! At the end of the regulation 9 rounds, the match lay in a tie. It was then decided that they would battle for an extension round to decide the champion. Well, true to fashion of the entire bout, at the end of the extension, the match still remained tied. Another round anyone? To say the least, Duarte and London ended up fighting an unprecedented 13 rounds!!! Finally in round 13, with time winding down, Duarte sensed that is was now all or nothing. Duarte ripped through London's defenses scoring with several punches and a vicious knee to the face. Marco was able to remain standing, but the damage had been done. The bell rang and Duarte won on points, thus retaining his title.
The final fight of the evening was in the heavyweight division between defending champion Cyrille Diabate from France, and Abe Shuji of Japan. These 2 fighters are no strangers to one another as they met last year in a grueling semi final bout. The fight started with both men seeming very cautious, trying to get a feel for one another. It was Abe Shuji who then pressed the fight, charging forward to attack. In typical fashion, Diabate seemed content to play the role of counter puncher, remaining on the defense until the opportunity arose to strike. After the bare knuckle rounds had concluded, you could sense that Diabate seemed more comfortable with the kickboxing rules. Almost immediately he attacked the drained Shuji landing punch after punch. Shuji collapsed under the barrage, but was able to regain himself. Unfortunately, the barrages kept coming from Diabate and Shuji dropped to the canvas again, the match was declared a T.K.O. and Diabate was crowned Heavyweight Champion for the second straight year.
Apple Juice Roast
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Categories: Beef
Yield: 6 servings
4 lb Boneless Beef Chuck Roast 1/4 ts Pepper
2 ea Med. Onions, Sliced 1/4 ts Thyme Leaves
2 tb Butter or Shortening 1/4 ts Prepared Mustard
1 c Apple Juice 1/8 ts Basil Leaves
1 tb Catsup 3 ea Large Sweet Potatoes *
1 ts Salt 1 x Lemon Juice
---------------------------------GARNISHES---------------------------------
1 x Chopped Parsley OR 1 x Gravy
1 x Apple Rings And Parsley
* Sweet potatoes should be pared and cut into pieces.
~-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cook onions in 1 T butter or shortening in Dutch oven until tender-crisp;
set aside. Brown roast in remaining butter or shortening in Dutch oven
over medium heat 15 to 20 minutes or until browned on both sides. Pierce
entire surface of meat with fork. Combine apple juice, catsup, salt,
pepper, thyme, mustard and basil; add to meat. Top meat with reserved
cooked onions; cover and cook slowly 2 1/2 hours or until almost tender.
Brush sweet potatoes with lemon juice for bright color; add to meat.
Continue cooking, covered, 30 to 40 minutes or until meat and potatoes are
tender. Place meat and potatoes on warm platter. Sprinkle potatoes with
chopped parsley or garinish with apple rings and parsley, if desired.
Serve gravy over sliced meat.
NOTE:
After apple juice mixture is added to browned meat, it may be marinated in
the refrigerator until 3 to 4 hours before serving time; turn meat
several times. If Dutch oven is cast iron, transfer to a glass dish.
GRAVY:
Skim excess fat from cooking liquid; add water if needed to make 1 1/2
cups. Mix 1/2 cup water and 2 T Unbleached Flour; stir gradually into
cooking liquid. Heat to boiling; cook, stirring 3 to 5 minutes. Season
with salt and pepper, if desired. Gravy may be served in Large Apple that
has been scooped out, if desired.
The Age Old Question:
How Do You Motivate Clients?
The Shocking Answer: With Pain, Fear and True Compassion!
By Phil Kaplan
Every Saturday morning, I host a radio show with the sole mission of educating people in the vital synergy necessary for physical improvement. More accurately, one could say it’s the balance between the right nutrition, moderate aerobic exercise and a concern for muscle. It’s funny how the day after Conrad Swanson, editor of Personal Fitness Professional, called and asked, "Phil, can you write an article helping trainers understand how to better motivate clients?" that Jim, a caller, asked, "Phil, most people seem to get motivated to follow a program and stick to it for about three weeks. How in the world do you manage to keep people motivated?"
Call it fate, call it coincidence, but whatever sparked this exploration of motivation, I promise it’s an approach you will find powerful. To seek an answer to "how do I motivate my client to get through this week, workout or set" is a noble attempt, but an exercise in futility. True motivation happens somewhere other than the workout. It happens deep inside what we have all spoken about but rarely come close to truly defining — the mind. In my Mental Conditioning Bible, after speaking to hundreds of athletes and psychologists, I made an attempt to cover all the bases of the definition of motivation: "Motivation is the difference between thinking and doing. It is the essential difference between one who knows and one who takes the action to achieve."
True motivation, the thing that creates one who is truly driven to take action to achieve a desired fitness end, will come from "evidence" that results are inevitable. Therein lies a challenge, because in order to "get results," you need to motivate your clients. Well, perhaps it’s time to redefine results, to take a look at what clients really want and to approach motivation in a whole new light.
You have to learn to recognize what is the true essence of motivation. Understand what people want and give it to them. I know you believe your clients want to lose weight, have great abs or build massive quads. If you truly want to motivate, you can’t stop there. Find out why your clients want ripped abs, to lose weight, or any goal they’ve expressed. Eventually, they will answer with one of four reasons — to feel better about themselves, feel better about their environments, gain powers to change or realize achievements and potentials. To test the theory, ask any one of your clients what he or she wants as an outcome of the training sessions. Wait for an answer and then ask them why. Whatever the response, ask why again. You’ll get to the real underlying reason.
Let me share my experience in motivating an actual client. Meet Wayne. He took classes, sometimes 60-minute, sometimes 90-minute classes almost every day. Wayne hated mirrors. He didn’t want to see his body. It was fat. It took courage for Wayne to dance around in a room where most participants were women and most were in better-than-average physical condition.
What motivated him? Pain and fear, the greatest motivators in existence. I’m going to suggest you use those motivators and stimulate your clients’ fears and emotional pains, at least momentarily. Before you condemn me for suggesting this, understand the power and virtue of my suggestion. Let me tell you about Wayne’s progression to illustrate the outcome of a "getting into the mind" motivational approach and then, lead up to the concept of using pain as a motivator.
Wayne would gain and lose the same eight pounds. He tried diet after diet. Some days he’d feel the diet was working, others he was sure it wasn’t. When he no longer sensed potential, he’d give up. Since he was already doing advanced aerobic classes and was overweight, he dreaded the thought of what would happen if he backed off on the aerobics. Why didn’t he feel motivated to stick to the diet? He didn’t feel any sense of potential. Why did he feel motivated to keep up his exercise? Fear! The fear of getting fatter was more painful than the thought of dancing around in front of 35 fit women, thus, he showed up for classes nearly everyday.
I knew Wayne wanted to increase his self-esteem, and I also knew that he believed that losing weight would work wonders. I could teach Wayne, but it would take time for him to find his ultimate goal — greater self-esteem. Looking back at the four "wants" people have, I decided I’d have to help him identify progress. I knew that once he realized he does have the power to change, the potential to grow and a sense of achievement, self-esteem would start mounting almost instantly.
Wayne expected an exercise program right off the bat. Instead, I educated him. I taught him that if he would eat frequently and minimize his intake of sugar, his blood sugar would stabilize. The evidence would manifest itself in consistent energy and that was going to open a door for ongoing fat release. Three days later, Wayne could not contain his energy or his motivation. Evidence! He never knew there was a correlation between energy and fat release. That knowledge gave him a sense of power. With that power came elevated self-esteem, potential and of course, motivation!
I asked him to not weigh himself as he had after each diet attempt, to back off on his aerobics, to add resistance training and to stop dieting. I assured him that with frequent supportive meals he’d gain control of his metabolism. The "evidence" would manifest itself in greater food intake with apparent, gradual decreases in waist size. Wayne became a literal fireball. Before the visible transformation in his body, the transition in his attitude was overwhelming. Six weeks later, Wayne brought me his belt and commented, "I won’t need this anymore." His waist had decreased so dramatically he needed a new wardrobe. Six weeks after that, Wayne told my staff he was in better shape at 48 years old than he was at 20 in the military! And he was still going! Wayne was empowered, knew achievement and continued to see potential. No music. No creative exercise session with games. No group participation. Wayne became motivated because he knew he was achieving the change he sought. He was overcoming the pain he associated with being overweight, and his motivation knew no bounds.
Now, let me put into five steps these ideas for true motivation.
1. Find the need
As far as finding the need, we’ve all learned to conduct some sort of assessment or consultation in which we discuss the client’s need. That’s not what I’m talking about here. At some level, each client is experiencing a pain. It’s usually not a physical pain, but a pain just the same. Each client chooses to employ you because they believe you are a vehicle to overcoming that pain. Make the first session a thorough interview, uncovering not only the physical desires, but the emotional pains as well. Once you have uncovered the pain, once you understand the why, provide your client with an explanation and an overview of specifically how you are going to act as the vehicle to minimize or overcome that pain. Help your client buy into the fact you are offering the power to achieve. Be specific in what you’re going to deliver, and you’ll literally see motivation manifest itself right before your eyes!
2. Educate and empower
Most people who fail to get the fitness results they seek fail simply because they’re attempting to change, using what I call ineffective technology. Before we can get them to accept a true technology of change, we have to help them understand why their previous attempts failed. If we simply encourage dieters to eat more without explaining why their diet histories have impacted metabolisms, their false beliefs act as shields and do not allow their minds to accept anything that appears unconventional. By teaching your new clients that previous, perceived bouts with failure were not their fault, but rather the result of flawed programs, they suddenly feel empowered. That opens a door for you to begin to educate from scratch, teaching them what really works without having to battle the wall of resistance. The result is true motivation.
3. Learn cues and strategies
Find out what makes your clients achieve. Ask them, what thoughts initiate the motivation? What movements precede the desire? What subtleties in what they do, think or say stimulate that "I can and I want to" sensation? It’s amazing how each individual develops a strategy, a combination of thoughts and actions that create emotion. As you get to know each client, you’ll be able to uncover visual, auditory and sensory cues that bring about changes in motivation. Your clients, in all likelihood, do not know their own motivation strategies. They are performed subconsciously. As you begin to ask your clients to identify the motivational cues and triggers, you’ll find they often lay out a definitive procedure for stimulating motivation. Some may visualize the end result. Others may internally speak the words "just do it."
4. Tap into cues and strategies
Once you’ve identified specific motivation cues and triggers, use them. For example, in order to feel motivated, one of your clients summons up the visual memory of a past athletic performance. Ask him to "see" that image before, during and after the sessions. If another client is motivated by reminding herself that she used to be 20 pounds heavier and she’s on her way to being the best she can be, remind her often!
5. Contrast fear and pain
Okay. Here it is. The power of utilizing pain and fear. Do I want you to make your clients experience pain? Of course not. If you take people who have been failing to a momentary point of pain, and if you teach them to go there whenever motivation lags, you’ve provided them a tool they can use to instantly summon motivation. The trick is to take them forward in time, forward into two alternative futures. If one alternative brings them to a state of discomfort, I can absolutely guarantee they will choose the other. You don’t need a time machine. You simply ask them to relax, sit comfortably and imagine where they will be six months from now if they continue on with their current exercise and lifestyle habits. Have them make the image as clear as possible — to see, hear and feel what life will be like in six months. You’ll likely see their physiology change, growing a bit tense. Then have them go even further into the future, perhaps a year.
What will life be like? The farther you take them, the more real the pain will become. In performing this exercise, don’t be surprised if someone begins to cry. Remember that they came to you because they were experiencing a pain, and you’re allowing them to witness what the future holds if they do not take care of the pain.
Once they experience it, it’s time to rescue them. Ask them what life will be like six months from now if they begin to stick to the guidelines you discussed and they achieve the changes they seek. You’ll see them sit up higher, smiles might come to their lips. They’re now experiencing something quite appealing. Take them a year into this positive future. Two years! Five! Ten!
In allowing their minds to wander into the two alternative futures, they will have reference points for reminding themselves of precisely where they don’t want to go. Wayne’s fear of being fatter and less self-assured kept him going to aerobic classes. He simply needed help with the technology of change he was using. Create a "don’t go there" image in your client’s mind and contrast it with the rewards of following through. You’ll see, hear and feel motivation in its purest and most powerful form.
I know this is unconventional. I also know it’s extremely powerful. Is it outrageous to suggest that you cause your clients pain? I believe, in the quest for results, it is the most caring and compassionate thing you can do. That is, if it is used honestly and carefully, as I’ve outlined, with a positive and motivational intent. This goes beyond the "let me pump you up" motivational flurry and cuts deep into the center of where true motivation is born. Choose one or two of the techniques or ideas discussed and slowly begin to implement them in your interactions with your clients. You may soon wonder where all of these highly motivated people came from and find it hard to imagine you ever had a challenge in getting people to take action!
Phil Kaplan is an author and one of the world’s most respected fitness consultants. His programs all contain a mental/motivational component and his most popular seminar for fitness professionals at the IHRSA conventions has been Emotional Persuasion, in which he teaches fitness professionals to master motivation techniques. It is fully outlined in his program, Profit 2000 For Fitness Professionals. For information on his book, call 800-552-1998. Contact Phil’s offices at 305-824-5044 or visit his Web site at philkaplan.com.
