Hire a Coach

I had a conversation with friends a few days ago centered on the idea of self-sabotaging competition. This is competing with the self and/or others at things that aren’t even a competition, often resulting in personal upset, and rarely tied to concrete, big-picture goals.

I did this for as long as I can remember – having to be first in line in Kindergarten, first to the water fountain, first one done with a test, etc. I turned everything into a competition. None of these things matter but they either made or put an ugly mark on my day, depending on if I achieved them or not.

For competitive types, it is SO EASY to get caught up in this type of behavior. To this day, I put myself in check when I notice myself doing it, fully aware that it isn’t healthy or productive. Our world is full of short-term competitive pulls that feed this – leaderboards at workouts like Orange Theory and Peloton are great examples. It is easy to get drawn into the moment and compete in a single workout, but what does it achieve in the long run?

A better question is:

What is your long run?

This is where my solution for this type of self-sabotage comes in.

Hire a coach.

There are a ton of excellent reasons to hire a coach…

• A coach will help you set goals
• A coach saves you time
• A coach ultimately saves you money
• A coach adds layers of accountability
• A coach pushes you to do your best
• A coach guides you through obstacles
• A coach provides balance
• A coach helps you with your mental game and attitude
• This list goes on.

…but for me, my most important reasons for hiring a coach are:

To free myself from the pursuit of meaningless goals, assign purposeful goals, and only do work that fits within that. I am able to throw away the anxiety and settle into owning my workouts.

Hiring a coach puts me in book-world versus twitter-world.

It works like this, two examples among many:

Running without a coach and a plan = Go for daily workout runs but push the pace, trying to best myself each day. Maybe I pick a random goal along the way – a time goal that pops up, an unknowing person to beat, a car that rounds the corner that suddenly I have to beat to a random landmark. What on earth? There is no long-term benefit with this.

Running with a coach and plan = We have set goal races and have created a multi-month plan with specific daily workouts that will get me to those races. I stick to the workouts exactly, knowing that the plan will get me to my goal. The win is in the precise execution.

Peloton without a coach and a plan = Fun rehab tool turns competitive as I get sucked into the leaderboard and/or trying to best my previous PRs. I’m on top of the world for a few hours if I “win” and deflated if I don’t. I’m not in touch with the value of the work and lacking in meaningful purpose.

Peloton with a coach and a plan = Now that I have a bodybuilding coach, cardio workouts are prescriptive. We have an overarching end goal that matters more than any single ride. I go to the bike to execute the plan exactly as written. Any other result is irrelevant. Again, the win is in the precise execution.

Do you remember this from two days ago, one of my wishes for all of us? Hiring a coach helps me be so captivated by my purpose that I do not care what everyone else is doing.

Busy? Or Productive?

This all fits into the the idea of being busy versus productive. It is easy to fool ourselves into thinking workout busyness is productive, because despite mindset, our bodies are doing the workout. But it isn’t true. The value lies in the purpose. Otherwise, we are like Sisyphus and his boulder, too stuck on the task to stop and make a better plan.

This morning’s Daily Stoic message fits this perfectly:

So, are you ready to fast-track your work towards meaningful goals? Are you ready to find and embrace your purpose? Are you ready to feel good about every workout?

If so, go hire a coach!

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