Here's what's new this week.

2 Fitness Tips

1.

The most impactful health change I made in 2023 was improving my sleep environment.

Here's what I did:

-No phone or TV in the bedroom.
-Sleep mask (I tested tons. Alaska Bear is my favorite.)
-Fiction before bed. (Just not Game of Thrones. Gave me nightmares.)
-Regulation of temperature overnight (I use the Perfect Sleep Pad)

2.

The 2nd most impactful health change I made in 2023 was scheduling mini-breaks.

Interviewing Dr. Gloria Mark about her book Attention Span taught me to stop booking meetings back-to-back.

Instead, schedule in a 5-15 minute break.

In an office, back-to-back meetings had a walk to a new room in between. We don't have that at home.

During my breaks, I'll walk circles around my house or sometimes just get a cup of water and come back.

I'm surprised how much better this small change makes me think and feel.

2 Business Nuggets

1.

The easiest sale you’ll ever make is to a referred customer. Referrals can come from existing customers, friends, or other businesses.

Today Giovanni Marsico runs the Archangel Academy, one of the largest organizations of heart-entered entrepreneurs. In 2006, he worked as a marketing consultant.

Here’s how he helped a little fitness studio get so many referrals from local businesses that they became a multi-million-dollar business.

First, they wrote a list of all the areas where a member at their gym might also invest time, energy, and money to get a similar goal.

Think, who are your people and what other businesses like yours do they buy from?

Next, he surveyed the gym members asking for their favorite tanning salon, hair studio, massage therapy clinic, spa, and chiropractor.

With the data from the survey, he called the top choices and said, “hey, I’m from Bodies by Design. We asked our members what their favorite spa in the area was and you were number one. Can we send more people to you?”

Of course, they said yes.

He asked for an introductory offer to pass along and included it in a booklet of gift certificates called Our Favorite Places.

Then he wrote a letter for the other business to distribute that said, “we already know a lot of you love Bodies by Design. If you’re not already a member, Chris, the owner, wants to pay for your first session. Here’s three $90 gift certificates for you and two of your friends.”

Overnight, and with very little effort, Bodies by Design became the Obvious Choice in their community.

2.

The best way to make money in fitness is to target already fit people and ignore sedentary ones.

It’s sad. I wish it weren’t this way.

There’s a joke that fit people don’t belong in the gym.

“You’re done, go home.” But that’s not how it goes, of course. Already fit people spend the most money on fitness despite needing it least.

Caring people say they want to help people. The sad reality is that some people are simply not willing to invest in being helped.

There’s different definitions of professional success. If you work in fitness, for example, you may decide that, even though it’ll be harder to build a business, it’s more personally rewarding to help inactive or overweight people.

There’s no right or wrong. There is, however, easier and harder.

1 Quote to Consider

"It’s not how smart you are, it’s how you are smart.

Before you try harder, make sure you’re walking a path that leads where you want to go.

Before you seek out solutions, make sure you understand the problem."

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www.theptdc.com/articles/5-reps-Dec-29-2023

Donuts. That's what I ate these past three days. Donuts. So. Many. Donuts. During my workout this morning, wanna know all that I could taste? Yeah, donuts. I say that I wouldn't do it again. But that'd be a lie. Anyway, enjoy the end of 2023. See ya next year.
-Jon

P.S. Ice baths?

The Obvious Choice Podcast

Admittedly, it took some time to find our groove but I'm proud of the value and entertainment we're now delivering with the podcast.

You'll learn tactics for growing your business.

But honestly, you can learn that stuff a lot of places.

What I think we do better than most is deliver it in an honest way born out of experience.

My cohosts, Amber and Ren have worked in fitness, retail, insurance, and sales for over 20 years.

I've created big platforms online, only to realize how bad of an idea it is to build a big platform online. It's inefficient. It's wasteful. And it's distracting. The idea that you have to be a 'creator' in order to grow your business is ridiculous.

Online clout should be viewed as a lagging indicator of real world impact, not the opposite.

I guess what I'm saying is that we bring a fun and interesting mix of both life and business experience. In an honest way. With nothing held back.

And we try to have fun and laugh and smile.

So, I hope you listen. And when you do, I hope that you enjoy it. And if you do, please subscribe to the podcast.

Listen on Spotify
Listen on YouTube
Listen on Apple Podcasts

-Jon

P.S. In 2024, I'll be introducing interviews too. Look out for those 🙂