How to Stand Out In the Fitness Space without Re-inventing Biomechanics

You're listening to the PT Profit podcast, episode number 273. Today we're discussing how to stand out in the fitness space without reinventing biomechanics. Are you ready? Let's get started.

Hi, I'm Beverly Simpson, former fitness manager turned online personal training business owner. And this podcast is where smart fitness professionals, including trainers and clinicians, discover how to increase client performance in movement, package and position their products and services, and get out of their own way so that they can increase their revenue to live a life that they love without sleazy sales. Welcome to the PT Profit Podcast.

What's up, coach? Thank you so much for pushing play on another episode of the PT Profit Podcast. I'm your host, Beverly Simpson, and if this is the first time you're here, welcome. I'm super pumped that you're here and I'm excited to dive into to this episode today. So this episode came because so many of my accelerators were experiencing one or more of the following struggles, concerns, battles, things that were keeping them out of momentum to really growing the business. And so if you're feeling like I'm new to this space, what on earth could I possibly say that hasn't been said by any other expert? If you have been feeling like I've been putting my best tips, nutrition hacks, motivation, inspiration, and I've been also sharing my. My workout tips that I'm not getting any engagement, nobody's raising their hand to potentially take the next step with you. Or maybe you're feeling like I'm just not ready yet. As soon as I get another certification, then I'll be an expert, then I'll be smart, then I'll be able to help people in a real way. Otherwise, I just run the risk of sounding, or maybe even copying my mentors. And I would hate that if I. If you. Especially if it feels like I don't want my mentor to think that I'm plagiarizing them or taking their idea or their concept. So if you feel one or the more of those experiences, this episode's for you. One of the things that I keep noticing from my clients who are just incredibly smart and they are driven and they work hard, is that so many of them will feel like I don't want to copy my mentor. There is nothing I could possibly say that they haven't said already. So why would they work with me if they can work with. With my mentor? And honestly, when I heard someone say that to me, it really just brought me back to the time when I said to my mentor, James, at the time, I said, james, why would anyone want to work with me when they could work with you? And I remember he said to me, he said, beverly, we are not, we are an extension of each other is what he said. And he said, there is no competition. We're not competing. We're one, and we are in an extension of each other. And I remember at the time, it was interesting because when I mentioned to him and when I had said it out loud, I actually thought that it was coming from a place of feeling incompetent. But the truth is that it was really, actually coming from a place of wanting approval. And so it was a really powerful moment for me because it gave me two things. It gave me two things because number one, it helped me step into my expertise at my current level. And the number two, it helped me recognize and realize that, oh, wait, I, I don't need that approval. I need that approval from myself. And so that's number one that I want to offer to you. If you've been feeling like, who am I to be doing this? You've been feeling any remote sense of imposter syndrome and, or you've been feeling like there, there's just nothing, say, that's going to, to be different than what's already done there. And so the first thing I want to offer to you is, is go all in on yourself and go all in on yourself faster, because that is what is going to magnetize you. People will say you grow confidence because of your competence. But the. But that, in my opinion, comes from external validation, because how many times have you had the experience where maybe you undercharged for your services and then you ended up doing so much of the work and then your client still didn't do the work because they didn't have the level of knowledge, skill and expertise that was required for them to get the set outcome. Maybe they, they had a hundred pounds to lose instead of £1 to lose. And so when they didn't lose it in a week, they were disappointed that was put and reflected back on you. And so what was it? And the reason I say this and why I'm bringing this up is because, is the competence and the confidence first will come through your conviction of going all in on you and trusting and knowing that you are an expert at this given moment. And this can be very hard for really high achievers because we always know this is something that you know, even in, if you look to ancient wisdom, you look to that, that, you know people. Buddha became a master when he realized he knew nothing. So as people get smarter, as people get more competent and, and they get more experience, it's oftentimes at the expense, at the cost of never feeling enough. And it's at the cost of, of not recognizing the game. And I think it's really important that you have goals and that you set to achieve them, but not at the expense of the game and not without conviction in going all in on you and trusting that your heart's desires is safe guidance. Because there's a reason you want to coach and not be a kindergarten teacher. It's interesting. I was, I recently, this weekend, I put together a 40 day of abundance protocol for my accelerators. And it had been really, I had been musing on it, I had been working on it. I've been really just kind of mulling it around in my brain for a while and I had a lot of resistance to doing it. I just didn't want to do it because I felt like I wasn't an expert enough. I didn't feel like I had enough background to teach it. I felt like I didn't have enough evidence or experience. And what was funny to me and what I was realizing is that as I've been saying what I'm saying to you now inside of this episode, I have been saying to my clients and then I noticed in myself, oh, this is, I need to, I need to listen to my own advice here because I would say, oh, you need to learn from this person. This is really great. But you know what? They, I felt like they missed this one thing. And so that's why I do this, this. And then I was constantly just layering in my own context of, okay, so I, when I tried this on, that didn't work for me. So then I put this on. And so number one, you need to go all in on yourself. And then it's going to lead to number two, which is give credit and give context. This is how you stand out is number one, you go all in on your expertise and know that you are one and that you can have goals, but not at the expense of recognizing that you're an expert now and, and that you are an authority now. And people mix up authority and expertise, in my opinion all the time. Because you become an authority the moment you decide that you are one. You will magnetize yourself and bring the right people to you. And then when you do that, people will start having outcomes and you can make decisions from the outcomes, how to perfect your protocol. And that level of expertise comes from A detachment to the work, a detachment to outcomes. Which means that your client's success means nothing about you. Their failures means nothing about you. And this is very hard to step into that because what I see so many struggling coaches get into as well as the teenage coaches, the messy middle coaches is that we have this experience and this evidence or this, this. Yeah, the experience which is double edged sword. We tried something on and then we help try to help somebody and then they didn't do it and then, or they didn't get the outcome. Or then maybe you have these moments of oh, I had this. Or they had this experience where they see someone they look up to and they think, oh, as soon as I get that level of expertise or that level of, of clinical hours, then I'll be ready. But how are you going to get those clinical hours if you're not actively going for people who are going to be clients? So it's this, this, this vicious cycle of experience where people say, oh, your confidence is going to come with competence. Okay, but then how are you going to get that competence if you're not acquiring clients? Because you're always waiting to get to be confident, to feel confident. And it's this end up, it's this vicious cycle, you know, and it's, it's, it, it. I've had two really powerful experiences for this, for myself. Well, first was, you know, my daughter was turned, was turning third, was going into third grade this year and we saw that, I saw that she had a new teacher and this was very concerning to me at first because I did not want to have the new teacher. And this, I just had this, this level of oh my gosh, there's no experience. She's not going to know what to do with my kid because my kid's so challenging. And, and, and it really just brought me to this moment of remembering what it was like when I first felt like I was, when I was an expert without experience. Which happens to a lot of, you know, messy middle people or people who are brand new to the space or trying to, you know, maybe they've had experience for years, but they just don't feel like they have the sea legs here in the social world. And so I remember my, one of my really good friends who's an incredible principal, she's like, listen, there's so, there's so many good things about having a new teacher. They're, they care so much. They're the you. And she just started listing them out. They care so much. They'll, they'll Go to the ends of the world. They. They're not tired. They don't have the, you know, the other side of evidence, or they feel like they already know who your kid is. They're. They're coming with fresh, they've got new ideas, they're innovative, they're like this. They're. Sometimes they're resourceful. And listening to her speak just reminded me of that, you know, this, that, that it's a paradox. It feels like that there's going to be. And it's the law of polarity. They're at play. There are. It's both at the same time truly is an amplifier of who you are as a person. And so it reminds me of, like, well, you know, would you rather. Would you rather give birth by a mom who's had five children or the doctor who's brand new right out of school and out of residency and, and wants to do and is going to be a doctor? Which one are you going to go for? And so for me, I'm going to go with the expert that has the. The gumption or has the heart for experience. And because that's just who I am, I know that about me, that I will go. If I can't figure it out, I will figure it out. And I'm. I'm connected enough to ask for help when I need it. So in order for you to get out of that vicious cycle, or at least I'll say this for me, in order for me to go out of that, all that vicious cycle, is that I had to stop looking for external evidence of my expertise, and I had to first go all in on me and know that I had the expertise and that my expertise was enough. And here's what happened when I did that, when I did that, and I really stepped into that. I called in the people that were ready and I knew. And I'm also not afraid of working hard. So I was like, okay, we're gonna go to them. I was honest. We were gonna go to the mattresses together, and I was gonna figure it. So I don't know. I can't remember why I always think of that reference, but it's a movie reference, like, go to the mattresses. But I knew that we were going. We were going. We were getting into it. We were getting into the trenches, and we were going to figure it out. Out. And I was. And, And I was honest in the sense of if I didn't know something, I was going to figure it out. I knew someone who did. So then when I then Those people who were willing to, to look at the, the. Those people who were, who were willing and able and ready to be the. On the other side of that, on the other side of the. The beta. On the other side of the. The. The conviction, they showed up. Now, I have also fallen into the common traps that so many people fall into where they, they think that, oh, that person's an expert because they've got, they have the results that you want. So that must mean that I'm. That they can give me those results. That's like going to the, you know, going to the gym and hiring the trainer that has a six pack. And then you just assume that because they have a six pack, they can give you one. That's just plain and simply not true. That doesn't take into account genetics, their level of skill, their level of teaching. Like people say, oh, those who can't do, teach. I'm like, that's crazy that anyone would even say that because teaching is a skill. But I've also fallen into that trap and where I have made buying decisions, emotional buying decisions, based on someone else's evidence, based on someone else's experience. And that's like saying, oh, that diet worked for Sally. So that means that that's going to work for me. And that's just plain and simply not how it works. And I probably don't have to tell you how effective that is for one size fits all approach for your clients, but in terms of, you know, health and diet. So why, why do we assume the same is true in terms of our skill level for business growth? And so while I knew that intellectually, it's just not how I was programmed and I was making those buying decisions. And, and it was also oftentimes at the. The expense of not going all in on my own expertise. So here's how I did that. Because there's also that leap of feeling like, oh my gosh, how am I gonna just, how am I gonna do it? Number one, there's this moment where you just have to take the leap. Okay? You just have to decide. Decide means to, to kill off all other options. You just decide. And so the sec. The second thing that I did was I just give credit and context. So I was really concerned that I wouldn't be able to say something better than my coach or say something in a different way. Like, I just was worried that they were going to think he was going to think or they. I say they because I've learned from so many people that was taking their stuff or whatever. And that's just like plain and simply. Successful people don't do that. Successful people are not worried about what you're doing. And so I, you just give credit. I learned this and then when I put this on, here's what I tried and here's what happened. So you give credit and you give context. And in the, and in, in the context, that's, that's you sharing your, your experience. So here's an example. Instead of teaching a how to turn all your how to's into how eyes, how I figured out so how to find the best squat pattern for you or for your body, you're going to say how I figured out the best squat pattern for myself and also for my clients. Nobody can say, oh, that's mine. What? No, this is it. This is you. So it's interesting because I was doing the, so I was doing the 40 day to abundance and I, and I would shared it with my friend. I said, hey, I, I, I created this bonus for my accelerators. And she was like, well, how do you do that? I was like, what do you mean, how did I do that? She's like, well, I mean, how did you do that? Did you just. What did you do? Well, I sat down at Zoom and I hit record. What do you mean? She's like, well, how did you learn to like, figure that out, put it together? And I was like, girl, I have been in the regulation space for myself, for my children. Like, I pulled it from all different contexts, from my life coaching certification, from my hours of meditation practice that I hadn't been telling people that I've actually been doing in terms of facilitating it. The fact that I have been, you know, so I, so that was one avenue that I learned. I mean, I have just been in transformation. I have been in the transformation process since, I mean, since I started this business. And so I was like, well, I just sat down and I wrote down the protocol that, that I went through that really helped me. And I put it together in a way that I pulled from this person and this person and this person, because I learned this and then I got this journal prompt and then I got this and I just pulled it together. So, I mean, I don't know what to tell you. I didn't just made it up. I mean, I just, I just shared my contact. So that's an example. But I had been hiding from that for a long time because I was like, oh, well, why me? There's so I'm not an expert in this. This is just one thing that I know, but what kept coming up was that my clients would be like, I just. My mindset is so bummed. Like, I'm so upset. Like, what do I do? And they would keep asking me for tools to regulate. I'd be like, well, let's try this now. You could try this meditation. But her voice is kind of hard for me, so why don't we do this? And so I just was like, well, why don't I just create it? It's clearly being called, it's clearly being asked of me because it's the law of cause and effect. If there is a desire for it, there is a want for it. I just, it's something. So I just want to give that to you to remind you that whatever level you are, whatever level of expertise you're allowed to live in, the ants where you can continue to grow and be an expert now go all in on you, number one. And number two, just give credit and give context. And when you do that and you are honest and you are fully transparent, there's absolutely nothing that anybody can say and review and say that it's not you or a lie. And then the third thing I want to say to you is I want you to move away from traditional ways of niching the riches and the niches you need to niche down. That is keeping you broke because it's keeping you stuck. It's keeping you in a perpetual state of feeling like, if I don't find my niece, if I niche, if I don't find my niche, I can't stand out. I also want to offer to you that the way that we are traditionally told to niche down is noise, because people usually go after demographics like age, gender identification, and then an adjective that feels general. Have you ever met a busy mom over 40 who doesn't associate with being busy or doesn't identify as being busy? Chances are probably not. So instead of speaking about the specific or instead of speaking about the. The niching inside of. Of demographics, which is just noise, which is why your stuff's not standing out, then we need to speak to the specifics in. What is the specific problem that you solve? And. And more. And, and to. To be even more specific than that, I really want you to write this down. What is the problem that you solve that your clients know that they're in, and then what is the specific outcome you deliver on? People get this twisted because they think, I want my people to just love themselves. But that's not what your client wants. Sure, they might double tap that or think that they want that, but they're like, I don't really want that. Even when they tell you that they want that. I I want confidence. But that's what do they what's underneath that? What do they really think that are hoping that the confidence will bring them? And then what is the specific way that you help them? What is your unique mechanism? This is your unique solution, your context for why this is your unique solution and it's unlike anything else out there. And then the specific person who has these problems, right? So what I see so many people actually do is that they are creating solution based content for a problem that people don't think that they're in to get outcomes that clients don't really want. Not enough to move to take action. If this episode helped you in any way, please screenshot and tag me on socials, help me help more people and get this message out. I love to connect with you and I love to hear from you. So I'll catch you inside the DMs and on the next episode.

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