Coaches love quotes and clichés.
It’s almost impossible to find a coach that doesn’t have quotes or clichés all over their office or locker room.
I was no exception.
I love distilling things down – a checklist to teach a system or sentence that conveys a bigger message.
So here are 5 of my favorite rules for business and a sentence or two about what they mean:
1. You get paid for done. You don’t get anything for having a great idea, getting started or developing a plan. The finish is what matters. You only reap the rewards when you get done.
2. Be remarkable. No one raves about ordinary. Deliver an extraordinary experience and a caliber of service that people can’t help but talk about and everything else about business becomes much, much easier.
3. Never stop learning. At every seminar I’ve ever been to, the most successful people always seemed to be asking questions and taking notes. This is not an accident.
4. One is the loneliest number. Only one revenue stream and you’re only a couple of steps away from disaster. Only one team member means no time off and a lot of time working on things you don’t enjoy working on.
5. Treat everyone like a prospect. Treat every prospect like a client. Treat every client like they’re family. Treat your family (and business family) like gold. As far as I’m concerned, relationships are everything. Grow your relationships and you’ll also be growing your business.
There are 5 of my favorite business lessons – all worthy of their own Successories poster. I have more, but I want to hear what you think.
So here’s what we’re going to do – post your best business lesson, quote or cliché below and I’m going to pick my 3 favorites.
I’ll give each of the 3 winners a copy of the Ultimate Fitness Professional’s Business Success System that I created with Alwyn Cosgrove. Countless fitness professionals have told me it’s the best fitness business product on the market – and I’m going to give you a copy if you’re one of the 3 winners.
Post your entry below.
Dedicated to your success,
Pat Rigsby
Pat Rigsby is a Co-Owner of the International Youth Conditioning Association & the youth fitness franchise Athletic Revolution as well as a fitness industry consultant serving thousands of personal trainers and fitness entrepreneurs. Sign up for his fitness business free newsletter to discover proven marketing, sales and business strategies, along with blog updates, news, and more! While you’re at it, follow him on Twitter.
“Be A Bridge Builder”
Building rapport and cultivating meaningful relationships can create endless opportunities, and this applies to interaction with clients and fellow professionals in related fields. When we add value to the lives of others, it comes back on us ten-fold, and oftentimes who we know can make that razor’s edge difference in terms of success and failure versus someone of comparable knowledge.
Whether it is listening closely to a clients frustrations and dreams and expressing genuine care and concern or reaching out to a fellow professional and finding ways to serve them first, nurturing quality relationships sets the foundation for everything else to follow. And many times it opens doors we never even thought would be there.
Don’t keep score.
Help those in your network without asking for, or expecting anything in return. You will be repaid in amounts that far surpass what you would have got if you did, and your friendships will flourish as a result.
Advice I got from Keith Ferrazzi’s book – Never Eat Alone.
“If you stop becoming better, you’ll stop being good.”
This means that everything is always moving and that you’ll have to adapt to changing demands of the market. It also means that you never finished learning, whether in business or in technological stuff.
My rules to live by are many but a few that I apply to business and life are as follows…
1. Don’t take it personal. If a prospect doesn’t buy from you the first time it shouldn’t dissuade you from keeping in contact with that person…
2. The proof is in the pudding- are you getting results? Is your business getting results? Are you adding all the right ingredients?
3. Old Italian proverb states that if you surround yourself by cripples (drunk, drug user, or in our case people in the industry who are negative and don’t put back into their business etc.) Not only will you become crippled but also blind.
4. Do your best all the time… If you can go to sleep knowing that you put forth the best effort for the day then you will sleep well…
5. Excuses are like A$$h@les everybody has one and they all stink… No excuses
6. Our Boot Camp motto “MTFU” in other words “Man the F$#k UP!”
I love a good quote as they place perspective on situations with authority and clarity. Like Rob, there are several I refer to often with both clients and trainers:
1) “If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.” – Vince Lombardi
2) “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” I don’t know who said it, but it’s probably my favorite quote as I use it almost daily.
3) With respect to goal setting and achievement, I often tell my clients, “You live by preference or conviction – preferences weaken under pressure, conviction grows stronger. You can be negotiated out of your preference, convictions are non-negotiable.”
4) Dr Edwin Louis Cole taught biblical principles that applied as much to the spritual as to everyday life. again, I use this one when dealing with my clients; “When you accept a philosophy that is a rationalization to justify someone’s failure, you accept their failure.”
5) Finally, I firmly believe that forgiveness is the cornerstone in any quality relationship. We all screw up or blow it at times, or have something either done to us, or not done or a promise not fulfilled. When this happens, it leaves a painful mark on our soul. I use the analogy that it is like the victim of the offense has cast a line with a large fish hook that imbeds itself into our flesh. We feel the pain of the offense while they walk around pain free. When we forgive, we are not letting them “off the hook”, we are infact releasing us from the pain of the event.
Thanks again, Pat.
SP
I cannot remember where I first found this quote but its one I try to live by in all aspects of my life.
“It is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking, than it is to think yourself into a new way of acting”.
In other words – get out and start doing, stop sitting around thinking about it.
Thanks Pat for all you give to others
Ros
Pat,
Here are some of the quotes I have posted around my desk to remind me each day:
1. There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it – Edith Wharton
We must remember that we must sometimes produce the excitement and energy for our clients and business and the excitement will always reflect back. “What you give; will always return ten fold”
2. You can have everything in life want if you will just help enough other people get what they want. – Zig Ziglar
Always over deliver on the service and results. This way you will always have happy customers and business that is successful in your eyes and theirs.
3. My favorite:
At 211 degrees water is hot. At 212degrees water boils. And boiling water, comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive train. One extra degree….makes all the difference. And, the one extra degree of effort in business and life…separates the good from the great!
- http://www.simpletruths.tv/store/movies.php?movie=ttwd
Thanks Pat,
I hope you enjoy these…
Some of my rules that I love that have not been posted yet are:
1. Ready, Fire, Aim – Don’t wait for the perfect moment to get started, make it happen and adjust later. (once I figured this out things changed for me for the better)
2. Outsource the crap you can have someone else do and that you don’t like doing – I just started this one and I can’t wait to see how much free time it will help me get to grow the business.
3. Systematize your business – This will allow you to grow and have McDonalds like consistency across your business and (another thing I am currently working on) allow you to grow.
4. Love what you do – Don’t do it for the money do it because you are passionate about it. This helps to have the sustainable energy needed to persevere, continue to learn and overdeliver for your clients. If you do something that you are not passionate about then you are more likely to fail.
5. Overdeliver, overdeliver, overdeliver – Need I say more
6. Learn from those that have been there before – So thanks to Pat, Nick, Jim, BJ, and other fitness professionals that I have had the pleasure to learn from (including Steve Payne right above me). I definitely wouldn’t be where I am at today and where I will be without all the great advice.
Thanks Pat!
Shelton
One more thing! Don’t be afraid to ask! – So with that in mind. Pat if I so happen not to be a winner, may I have a copy of the Ultimate business systems also, so I can go and implement the great stuff that you and Alwyn have put together.
If you don’t ask you will never get what you desire!
Shelton
Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better. Jim Rohn
Every mid-afternoon I write a schedule for the next day in a notebook. The first thing I do is write this quote on the top of the page. It simultaneously calms me and gets me mentally prepared to finish up the day and start a new one.
Thanks for all your advice and motivation.
Noreen
Winners get results while losers sit around and bitch about the tasks.
Some of my favorites:
1) Sink or Swim – You’re always going to swim (you know your other option)
2) Are you a Tigger or an Eoyore? Enough said….
3) My favorite from the 4 Agreements: Never Assume, don’t take anything personally and always do your best.: This is hard but a good reminder that we are not the center of the universe and more often than not, other people’s decisions have nothing to do with us (especially when you know you’ve done your best)
4) No gray clouds – I don’t like gray clouds, I like sunshine – Be happy and grateful for today…
Great blogs!
What you focus on, is what you get.
Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.
Your income is determined by how many people you serve, and how well you serve them.
Exceed people’s expectations and they will pay you even more.
Add value to everything you do and sell.
When I was working as an Operating room Nurse as part of the Open Heart Surgical Team, I clearly remember a line one of the Cardiac surgeons said to me. I was just new to the Open Heart team, learning the ropes. The surgeon said to me one morning, “You are going to make mistakes. I expect that, you are learning. All I ask is that you don’t make the same mistake twice.”
Those words were so powerful to me! So when I started my business in 2001 I remembered those words and they are engraved in my brain.
“You are going to make mistakes. Just don’t make the same mistake twice.”
What this did was allow me the freedom to try and yes I made mistakes. Isn’t that the best way to learn? But I learned from those mistakes. That is what I tell all my staff when they are new. And I still live by those words today.
Here are my top four. These quotes keep focus on my business everyday and I try to meditate on them daily.
“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” -Lou Holtz
“if we don’t change, we don’t grow, if we don’t grow, we aren’t really living” -Gail Sheehy
“if there is no struggle,there is no progress” -Frederick Douglass
“be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies” -Mother Teresa
Hey Pat,
Here are 5 great quotes that have really influenced me in my life and in business!
“We either find a way or make one!”
-Hannibal-
“Never leave the scene of an idea without taking ACTION”
-Anthony Robbins-
“Your life only gets better when you get better.”
-not sure who said that one-
“The knowledge of one’s own strength entails a real mastery over oneself; it breeds energy and courage, helps one overcome the most difficult tasks of life, and procures contentment and true enjoyment of living.”
- George Hackenschmidt-
Thanks Pat for all the great information, inspiration, and motivation.
Sorry missed number 5!
“The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you’re about to succeed.”
Stay within your niche and strive for creating programs around what you truly believe will be successful for yourself and your clients.
If you try to please everyone in offering what they want you’ll end up offering what you don’t want.
These are 2 lessons I’ve learned from myself in the past few months…
Change is voluntary but is necessary: I am experiencing this right now as I recently moved from Chicago to Miami. The culture is different and that makes business different as well. Principles stay the same but the format changes. I have the choice of doing things the same or adapt to my new environment.
We live in an ever changing world,it moves faster than ever before. This means that change occurs at a faster rate. The rate of our success lies in understanding and adapting to our environment so we can better take advantage of all resources available.
Exude passion and confidence. Passion will keep you and your clients excited about the road ahead. Confidence in your methodology will build trust between you and your clients. These two things are both vital to success.
…lead with love.
First of all, love thyself, followed by, loving what you do.
Wear your heart on your sleeve and be good to those who find motivation, inspiration and peace from you, for we get it right back from them, and the cycle continues on.
Love, live, laugh, and postiviley affect as many people as you can.
xx
My two favorites:
- If you want to be like everyone else, do what everyone else does. If you want more, you have to be willing to do more.
- There is never any traffic on the extra mile.
Don’t copy, pretend, or steal to create and give. Give your true self and believe in your information and that will reflect in others wanting more from you.
One of my clients owns a restaurant that’s still thriving in times that have been unquestionably tough over the last couple of years. When I asked what he felt had kept them head and shoulders above the rest he quoted:
‘Great service isn’t about doing one thing a thousand times better, but doing a thousand things a little bit better’
SMILE often!
When you smile you show you are happy and smiling does tell yourself you are happy. Plus, a smile is seen as a welcome approach to others.
I remember a boss and client of mine telling me how much better I look and how much more approachable I am when I smile. I had no idea the impact.
Wear your Smile!
My favorite is
“Talk does not cook rice” – Chinese proverb
And one from Pat
“What has to be done next? What has to be done now?”
both are posted so I see them often.
Hey Pat, and all my brothers and sisters…Thankyou!
Here are some of my “on the fly” favorites
-If you question the impossible you should probably stay put
-Only work as hard as necessary to get the results you say you want
-”Plurality should not be assumed without necessity;
Whatever can be done with fewer is done in vain with more”
Willam of Ockham
-You will miss 100% of the shots you don’t take
Wayne Gretzky
-Children have more need of models than of critics
Carolyn Coats
-A child can teach a man more than what could ever be learned
from a book
Peace-
Matt
“Be the change that you want to see in the world” – Ghandi
Which to me means turn your visions into a reality, lead by example ( a clearly visible example), and refrain from time consuming and wasteful complaints, redicule, and “sideline criticism”
I have a few as well:
Some dream of greatness while others wake up and achieve it.
The ones who believe in themselves the most are the ones who win.
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.
You create your own reality.
You can’t keep doing the same things and expect different results – thats insanity.
Hi Pat,
I’m with Rick. I like Zig Ziglar’s “You can have everything you want if you help enough people get what they want”.
Great way to run your biz.
Also thankyou for your 2 gifts the other day. After going thru the PT Biz plan I’ve made time in my diary tomorrow to do another SWOT for my business. Haven’t done that for years so thanks for the prompt.
“All things come to he who hustles while he waits” -Thomas Edison
“Why I haven’t failed! I just discovered 10,000 ways that don’t work!” -Thomas Edison on the invention of the light bulb.
I’m going to be unorthodox and put 2 hip-hop quotes that I repeat often (as I am an avid rap/hip-hop listener)
“II never asked for nothin I don’t demand of myself
Honesty, loyalty, friends and then wealth
Death before dishonor and I tell you what else
I tighten my belt ‘fore I beg for help
Foolish pride is what held me together through the years
I wasn’t felt which is why I ain’t never played myself
I just play the hand I’m dealt, I can’t say I’ve never knelt
before God and asked for better cards at times to no avail
But I never sat back feelin sorry for myself
If you don’t give me heaven I’ll raise hell” -Jay-Z
“Protect my position, my corner, my layer
While we out here, say the hustlas prayer
If the game shakes me or breaks me
I hope it makes me a better man
Take a better stand
Put money in my moms hand
Get my daughter this college plan, so she don’t need no man
Stay far from timid
Only make moves when ya heart’s in it
And live the phrase Sky’s The Limit”
-Notorious BIG
‘Get people (individuals & groups) to do what they don’t want to do in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to achieve’. In other words- In order to get what you do not have, you must do what you have not done. Its that Simple! ‘ People want results’. Most don’t want to do the work in order to get them there.
2. Achieving anything requires discipline-determined, deliberate, defined actions with a clear goal in mind’.
3. The wise man understands the ignorant man because he was once ignorant himself
Some great quotes here guys!
Here are three of my current favorite quotes:
“If you don’t ask, the answer is always no!”
“Mistakes are a part of the journey, not a reason to abandon it.”
“Defeat is not the worst of failures, not to have tried is the true failure.”
‘Get people (individuals & groups) to do what they don’t want to do in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to achieve’. In other words- In order to get what you do not have, you must do what you have not done. Its that Simple! ‘ People want results’. Most don’t want to do the work in order to get them there.
2. Achieving anything requires discipline-determined, deliberate, defined actions with a clear goal in mind’.
3. The wise man understands the ignorant man because he was once ignorant himself
With this, if you listen more than you talk you can always find what makes others tick and that helps you guide them to their destination. This coupled with patience are key.
“Be better today than you were yesterday”
“Be better today than you were yesterday and you will always be on the right path’
Whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do it ALL for the Glory of God. I realized that we all have certain gifts and talents. We can’t be someone else or fulfill some else’s destiny. By finding my own God-given talent, giving Him glory in all that I do, He will always make sure that my path is lit and everything I put my hands to will prosper. Will it be perfect, no, will it be perfected, as long as I see to it that I consult with Him first, I can avoid several foolish mistakes. Forgetting everything that I’ve mistakenly thought was a part of His plan, I still press on toward the goal that lies ahead of me. To get His nod of “Well done”.
1) Whatever you focus on most you will attract. We don’t attract what we want, we attract what we are.
2) When you use Specific words… you get Specific results. Are you stating your goals specifically or are they too vague to achieve?
3) The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
“If you can combine passion, vision, and purpose with a machine-like work ethic, there is truly nothing in this world that is out of your reach.”
This is a personal mission statement that I have crafted for myself to keep me accountable.
Love all the quotes!
crank it!
BJ
1. Always apply the Golden Rule not just with actions but also with thought.
2. Do more than you are paid for even when it is tough to do so
3. Live with the highest integrity possible
4. Learn from those better than you at whatever it is you want.
5. Failure is part of success as long as you grow and learn from it.
Get Better!!
First say to yourself what you would be, then do what you have to do.
I think it is that simple.
I think I heard this first from Jeff Olson, and it has stuck with me ever since. “Successful people are willing to do what unsuccessful people are not”.
Blow your customers away by remembering their birthday, or the name of their dog, or asking them how their daughter did at her basketball game. Listen to what they want and then if at all possible give it to them. People want to be noticed, listened to and responded to.
If you want lifetime customers, what is important to them needs to be important to you. Don’t take even one person for granted.
I have always liked – if it is to be, it is up to me.
I heard George Raveling, former Iowa Basketball Coach say that a long time ago. Not sure if he was the first, but it has surely stuck. We can all talk a good game, but if we are to truly start and succeed, we must take the first step and not rely on someone else to step for us. I also believe that we must also ask for help and not think that we are on an island nor are we the only ones with the good ideas. Seek help and guidance when you need it. Don’t be afraid to succeed. Failing is not trying. And success will only come from making mistakes and learning from them. I like what was said earlier, “you will make mistakes, just don’t make the same mistake twice.”
And when our turn on this earth is through, and we are laid to rest, our accomplishments will be summed up by the dash between our birth and our death. What will your dash say?
“Never Give Anything But Your Best”
we have 2 real simple mantras…
.
1.LOVE WHAT YOU ARE DOING (every action you take) OR DON’T DO IT AT ALL FOR ANY REASON
2. What is the end result, the final outcome you are going after, that’s all that matters….See The End Result As Perfect a win … win … win for everyone involved before it occurs.
Tony
1. Overdeliver EVERY time
2. Do something to increase your knowledge EVERY day
3. Just do it. Stop planning and waiting for the right moment-do it NOW
Jo
In creating a business, write down how you would want an average day to look like in your life as an entreprenuer.Now, make sure every componet that you implement in your business development supports what you wrote down.
“Don’t be consumed by what you’ve done, be consumed by what you’re going to do.”
Be, Do, Have. In that order. Most reverse this by saying things like, “When I have x, then I’ll be able to do y, and then I’ll be z”. We must first “become” the type of person who will “do the thing”, which will give the “result”
Aproximately 9 years ago I began my journey as a USAPowerlifter at age 47. I just turned 56 on Valentine’s day and needed a boost of motivation. You see,I retired from the sport. I won numerous Gold Medals and lifted for the USA Master’s World Team in Germany in 2006. While I was competing, I wrote quote after quote in my workout journal. Its funny how I just found your site and at the same time, found my old workout journals and read the words that motivated me! Some of my favorites are included above, by others.
As a Master Trainer, I thought I was too busy to workout that hard and give my clients all I could. I need your program to help me do both and get organized and motivated again to work out at all!
A favorite on my wkout journal pages was:
“Winners can tell you where they are going, What they plan to do along the way,And who will be sharing the adventure with them”
“The method of enterprising is to plan with Audacity and Execute with Vigor” Christian Bovee
Stay Strong!
Deb
“You can’t teach desire!”
“Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities for improvement.”
Never be satisfied and never stop learning. There is always room for improvement and you can always learn more. Once you think you have it all figured out, you better get out of the profession.
here a couple
1 . service for a purpose
2. service so hard that they ask you
3 . make yourself the fitness that you want to been
4. pratice you tool
5. alway sharpen you,re
6. never get insanity , to stop doing what work
7. always believe that you,re the best fitness model
Lead by example but don’t be a performer.Make the client feel like the star.
A trio of statements I’ve heard and become a strong believer of during my 17 year career as a fitness entrepreneur are the following:
1) The more you help others get what they want, the more you’ll get of what you want.
2) REPETITION is the MOTHER of learning, the FATHER of action and the ARCHITECT of accomplishment!
3) Being in business for yourself can be the highest paying hard work, or the lowest paying easy work.
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