I hope your holiday season has been excellent. I’m not 100% sure why, but I’m incredibly excited and bullish on 2022.
Maybe because ‘rona seems like it’s finally getting under control (whatever that means to you). Maybe because the last almost 2 years have been crazy, and we’re due for good times without (as much of) the insanity.
I think it’s mostly due to the fact that so many of our clients are making epic moves and getting dialed in for a banner year.
Regardless, I hope you’re as pumped as I am. We’re gonna crush in 2022.
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Over the last couple of months, I’ve shared a number of business lessons I’ve learned (or been reminded of) as I go through my bodybuilding show prep (A couple of the highlights are here and here if you missed them…)
I’ve found several parallels between growing Grade-A muscles and growing a Grade-A practice.
My physique show was a few weeks ago, and I haven’t shared an update since then. (No, I did not win. But the lessons I learned – and the physical results I was able to achieve – were worth the process).
To wrap up these lessons, I wanted to share one big way your practice growth efforts should in no way resemble bodybuilding, lest ye set yourself up for failure.
This will be particularly useful as you set your plans for the new year… 👇
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As you might imagine, the closer one gets to a bodybuilding competition, the more “dialed in” one needs to be. Adjusting calories and macros, meal times, meal size, changing workout styles, increasing water intake, and more.
Then of course there’s the ridiculous preening activities like dark-orange spray tan.
And all of this is scheduled down to the hour to optimize for literally a few minutes on stage.
All these efforts are designed to help showcase just a little extra muscle… shave off a bit extra fat and subcutaneous water… to get any edge possible in the competition.
Here’s the harsh reality that I learned leading up to the show (and particularly in the 3 weeks since it concluded):
Those ripped-up bodybuilders you see in magazines or on TV? Come to find out, they don’t look like that all the time. They do all these little adjustments and manipulations so they can look optimal for maybe a few hours, at their “peak.”
The premise of the entire “sport” of bodybuilding is that it’s not sustainable. It’s literally designed to NOT be.
And unsustainability is a huge red flag when it comes to your practice growth.
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The way we coach our clients (and how I live my life, if we’re gonna get personal) is the exact opposite of bodybuilding. It’s as sustainable as possible. It has to be.
We (you, your practice, me) can’t optimize our efforts around a 2-hour window every 12 weeks. We have to be ON every day. For our patients, our clients, our spouses, our children, our teams, our community.
For example, this is why we DO NOT build our trainings for the top 1% of sales people. We architect them in such a way that they are easy to implement for any competent team member who has a positive attitude and willingness to learn.
Most practices don’t have a team full of sales beasts (if you do, more power to you!). So they need strategies and coaching that works for what they do have.
Your practice growth systems must be sustainable.
Eat one wrong food at the wrong time in bodybuilding? You won’t “peak” when you need to. Mess up your water intake? You’ll miss your mark.
As much muscle and brute force is involved in getting optimal results, the sport of bodybuilding is actually quite fragile.
Your practice cannot be fragile. Because you’re thrown curve balls every day.
You’re customizing treatments to each individual patient. You’re hiring new folks. Others are out sick. A new treatment gets FDA approved and you need to check it out. You’re nurturing relationships with referring doctors (and courting new ones).
There’s always something. Especially with our clients because they move quickly, act aggressively and strive to dominate their markets.
You are blazing your trail on a daily basis, and to do that properly, you need durable, sustainable processes to make it happen.
(Don’t even get me started on how impossible it is to sustain a new physique AFTER the show. When your body is in starvation mode for the last 6 weeks of prep… and post-show you start to eat more regular food again… your body HAPPILY begins storing any extra calories it can. “You’ll never starve me again, Troy! I’ll make sure of that…” ugh)
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When it comes to sustainability, bodybuilding is NOTHING like an optimal practice growth plan. (And frankly, all the little adjustments and tweaks up until show time – only for a short window of benefit – frustrated me to no end.)
You need a sustainable process that provides predictable results with reasonable effort. That’s how we live, and it’s how we coach – from physician CEOs to surgery teams, even to my sons’ sports teams.
Going into 2022, make sure you have processes your team can execute repeatedly. Processes that are simplified. That account for curve balls.
This goes double for your team members who are responsible for booking your consults and surgeries.
And while you’re at it, take stock of your personal life. Your family. Your health. Your fitness. Where do you need to simplify processes to make them more sustainable?
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That’s it for my bodybuilding lessons. I hope this little series has been useful and maybe even entertaining for you.
If you have any questions about the physique training, hit me up. Happy to share more about my experience as a beginner, if it’s something you’re curious about.
Have a blessed rest of the year, and I’ll see you in your inbox in 2022.
– Troy “Crush The New Year” Cole
PS – A couple of folks have asked about photos from the show. If you’re curious, you can check them out here. (Or totally don’t, won’t hurt my feelings either way)