Mondays with Matt

Why You Should Take a Vacation – Reset & Relax Life naturally contains cycles. You stress yourself in the gym, then you rest to allow recovery and adaptation to occur. Without the rest, there is no adaptation. Without the stress, there is no adaptation. Both contribute to the goal: improvement toward your goal. After day comes night. Following the cold of winter, comes the blooming and growth of spring, the heat of summer, and the harvest that leads back into winter. Traditionally, many religions have times of fasting and feasting – and the largest feasts are often preceded by the severest fasts. If you overreach in training, you deload. Even within a workout, you can lift more weight between sets or run harder on an interval only after you have rested. We cannot, as humans, grind all the time. It is inhuman. Why You Should Take a Vacation – Tyranny of the Urgent You need times to overcome the tyranny of the urgent and prioritize the important. This includes working "on the business, not in the business." It also includes spending time with friends and family, self-improvement and professional development, leisure and exercise. Business people and artists build time to allow thoughts to arise in their minds. This may be a daily walk, weekly "no cell phone" days, or quarterly or annual retreats. Just as we cannot and will not become strong if we were to decide to start a workout today and never end it (sets until you die), neither can we work with sleep, food, leisure, and rest. Why you should take a vacation (or a walk, a retreat, a break, a day without social media, celebrate a holiday or feast): because you're human. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Automated Metrics Are Awesome – PRs Matter PRs matter because PRs measure progress toward your or your clients' goals. They let you know you're on the right track (or they indicate a change is needed). You first must develop goals based on your deep motivations and values. Then, decide on metrics that align with this goal. If these metrics increase – if you hit PRs – you are moving closer toward your goals. Over time, you'll need to reassess your goals and PRs. You may get injured or reach a point where all-time, outright PRs are behind you (no more 1RMs). This is okay. What you'll have to do is create new PRs to track. Maybe you track PRs after 40. You could track PRs at your lighter weight. Tracking volume PRs, consistency PRs, PRs at different rep & set schemes, or PRs for accessory or supplemental lifts could help you assess progress toward your goals. Ultimately, PRs motivate clients and measure progress toward goals, indicating if you and your client are on the right path, or you need to change something. Automated Metrics Are Awesome – Efficient & Effective Don't go out of your way to remember client PRs – track them automatically. How? TurnKey Coach automatically tracks PRs across different rep and set schemes, for conditioning, and for consistency. As you provide video feedback, the PRs appear on the screen at the top. It's the first thing to notice and celebrate with your client. In your programming, you can scroll through PRs for a certain lift and aim for a PR that is there for the taking. For example, a client's last 1RM and 5RM were all-out, RPE 10 grinders. The client, though, may not have gone for a 3RM for a long time. Instead of trying to eke out a small 1RM or 5RM PR that might not be there, go for the easier 3RM PR. Automated metrics are awesome. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Person of Integrity: Be One, Always Integrity underpins business success. Yes, you may think of business that have seemingly grown despite scummy business practices. Don't worry about them. Life is not fair. Still, you will create loyal customers, have great reviews, and gain word-of-mouth marketing if you show up and do what you say you're going to do and the price you quoted. Be a person of integrity. Close loops you say you will close. Do things you say you will do. Be reliable, be honest, do the work to ensure you fulfill your promises. Integrity involves many values. It includes honesty. It includes work ethic. Person of Integrity: One Bad Action Can Destroy Trust One failure, even an honest failure, can demolish trust and destroy a relationship. Matt shares an example of where, in his business running a gym, he was finally able to go on a vacation. He had been coaching someone who was preparing for a powerlifting meet and failed to send her programming. During her workout, two weeks before the meet, she injured her shoulder. Not only did that client fire Matt as his coach, but he lost a friend. Matt and his wife had developed a friendship with the couple. That relationship has not healed, even to this day. So, be a person of integrity, today, tomorrow, and every day until you die. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Stop Being Cheap: Value per Unit Time Too many in the fitness industry value their time too little. Comparing options for online coaching platforms, you see one option is $1 cheaper per client per month. The other option prioritizes efficiency, helping you coach more clients in less time. Which to you go with? Too many go with the first option. Start thinking about the value of your time. As a coach, think not only about the value you're providing to your clients, but the value per unit time. Eliminate things that don't provide value, focus on things that do, and become more efficient in delivering those things. Spend more time on the important, not the urgent. This means you can coach more clients, you can spend more time finding more clients, you can spend more time working on your business, not in your business. Stop Being Cheap: Consider the Value of Your Time How much money can you make during the time you perform menial tasks (e.g. grocery shopping, mowing the lawn)? Consider the value of your time and stop being cheap. If you can make $200 per hour, why would you mow your lawn? Instead, do the things that make you money. Think of this as buying "back" your time. Of course, you're actually buying it up front, not buying past time back. So, stop being cheap: consider the value of your time. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pricing: Fewer Options is Better It's easy, especially as a small business, to bend over backwards for each customer. You develop a different price for each customer, and before you know it every customer is paying a different price. Knock this off. Don't have a scarcity mindset. Develop few pricing options for your customers. This forces your customers to make a decision and simplifies your billing. Pricing: Less is More When it comes to revenue, you want monthly recurring revenue (MRR). This means that each month, the revenue recurs. The client pays the same amount, each month, automatically. Do not force your client to opt-in each month and decide whether they want to pay you each month. This must be automatic, whether it be through ACH or Stripe or through a credit card. This allows you to predict revenue each month. Furthermore, contracts are unnecessary. If clients cancel, they cancel, but make the signup process simple and painless, make payments automatic, have few options, but then work to retain your clients. Relatedly, charge the same each month. This might mean that certain months, your clients receive more service, other months they receive less. Even starting with good intentions of few options and automatic payments, you can exception your way into infinite payment amounts. Even in December, when clients may train less and you may have fewer options, the price remains the same. Ultimately, this is convenient for you AND your client. Both you and your client have the same expectations. Now, it's your time to deliver more value than the price they're paying each month. Pricing: less is more. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Customer Service is King Customer service standards have fallen since 2020 and COVID-19. You notice it at nice restaurants and hotels, at airlines and in public bathrooms. Employees seem bothered to help customers. Companies don't answer phone calls or respond to texts or emails. The expectation to tip has spread to everything, with a reduced level of service and an increased rate of tipping. You buy a cup of coffee, fill it up yourself, and clean up after yourself, and when you pay and the employee flips the tablet around, you see recommended tips for 20, 25, or 30%. Workers should get paid good wages. You should tip well for employees whose wages rely on tips. But what has happened to customer service? Customer Service is King for Your Business' Success If you're a customer, this has seemingly nothing but downside. Have lower expectations and reward businesses that provide good customer service. You see, though, the opportunity for existing or potential business owners. Have good customer service! If you take care of your customers, you will tower above other companies. Good customer service will set you apart and lead to your business' success. Control what you can in this economy and this world, and have great customer service. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

PRs Measure Progress Toward Your Clients' Goals PRs matter. Consistency underlies success. PRs pave the road to your clients accomplishing their goals. Why? They provide dopamine hits that encourage continued work toward building habits that move lifters toward their goals. Early on, PRs tend to be easy – easy to track, celebrate, and establish. The lifter's squat increases, the athlete can do more push-ups, the runner can run their mile faster, or the client's waist has shrunk. Over time, establishing PRs becomes more difficult, as the PRs are not so clear. Ensure PRs Connect to Your Clients' Goals PRs measure progress toward your clients' goals. Your clients' goals change over time, so you must ensure the PRs you're tracking and celebrating actually matter to your client. If you continue to push the client's deadlift 1RM, but she wants to lose weight, you're missing the point. PRs may track: consistency healthy habits (sleep, water, steps) nutrition (macros, protein, drinks of alcohol, number of meals prepped) strength (different rep maxes, tonnage, PRs for different lifts) hypertrophy (leanness, size of muscles) You should know your clients' goals. PRs measure progress toward your clients' goals, so you should know your clients' PRs that matter and help assess movement toward their goals. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Online Coaching is Better for Coaches Online coaching is the best coaching for coaches. In-person coaching ties coaches to the tyranny of the schedule and the gym. This leads to long days, much of which may not be paid for but certainly counts in your calculus for quality of life. You can travel – or even go on vacation – and coach. You can coach when it works for your schedule, asynchronously with your clients. Online coaching enables you to gain clients from around the world – as long as you can communicate – which is especially great if you have a niche that you struggle to fill in your local area. Lastly – but not least importantly – you can provide more value to your clients in less time earning more dollar-per hour. Really – in less time than you spent with in-person clients you can make far more per hour, where and when you want to coach, with clients better suited toward your particular strengths. Online Coaching is Better for Clients Online coaching is the best coaching for clients. Clients can finally find the coaches they want – great coaches – not simply the coaches in the local gyms. Whether it's your preferences or certain challenges most coaches cannot address, you can find a coach that can help you. Lifters pay less monthly than they do for in-person coaching. It costs more money to meet someone for an hour multiple times a week at the same time and place. With asynchronous coaching, you pay less, and still get programming and technique feedback. Lastly, you can still train if you're on vacation or travel for business. This leads to consistency, and consistency leads to more gains (define gains how you want – we mean you move closer to your goal or crush your goal sooner and set new goals). Online coaching is the best coaching for lifters and coaches. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Important and the Urgent When conceptualizing and prioritizing tasks, use the Eisenhower Matrix. This is a quad chart President Eisenhower created that organizes tasks into not urgent and not important – reduce or eliminate urgent but not important – delegate or automate urgent and important – schedule & pomodoro or delegate to those who can do them better not urgent but important – schedule, prioritize, and defend Urgent tasks are urgent because of other people and have time constraints. Important tasks are important because they are important to you – they serve your goals and align with your values. Ironically, you can often find yourself ignoring those things most important to you because they're not important to others (not urgent but important). Because urgent tasks are important to others, you can find yourself struggling to overthrow the tyranny of the urgency and actually accomplish (or even work toward) those things that are important to you. Prioritize the Important – Urgency as Enemy Matt has some advice all the four categories above and how you can approach them. Reduce or eliminate tasks that are neither urgent nor important. These are things no one is telling you to do and you don't find valuable. This might be scrolling social media or binge-watching movies. Delegate or automate urgent but non-important tasks. These tasks must get done, but they're not important to you. Maximize efficiency so that someone else can do them or you do them efficiently. It may seem like urgent and important tasks – because they're BOTH urgent and important – should fill your time, but that's not the case. Why!? Because you can still completely ignore the important but non-urgent. Schedule and pomodoro these tasks or delegate them to someone who can do them better. Lastly, schedule, prioritize, and defend the important but non-urgent. Try to create some false urgency by putting them in your schedule and now allowing distractions. If you don't prioritize the important, no one will. When you do the above, you order the chaos. Things you never could accomplish will suddenly be doable (and eventually done). Remember, this is Barbell Logic, and health and fitness is important but not urgent (until, for some, they have a serious illness or limitation that seems to bring an urgency to the important). PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Online Coaching vs Online Programming – the Difference Most "online coaching" is online programming. Regardless of the level of personalization – whether it be selling templates or making an individual program for a client – this is online programming. We don't program online, we coach online. You should too. Online coaching includes technique coaching. Consistency and form matter far more than programming. Follow a mediocre program with good form, and you will progress. Coaching online also builds a relationship. You get to know your clients and your clients to know you. At some point, the client has good technique and has some familiarity with programming and your past programs. The relationship, more than anything else, keeps clients for years. Online Coaching vs Online Programming – the Importance Why does this matter? For a couple reasons. First, you provide your client more value with online coaching. This means, instead of placing the low price game selling dollar hamburgers, you're selling a high-value, higher price service. Second, consistency and form matter more than the program, so help people where they need it with technique feedback and by encouraging consistency. Third, AI can deliver good programs already and in about a year anyone will be able to create their own programs using AI. While no one knows exactly what AI means for society and the economy, you need to become more resistant to AI by providing not simply programming but technique feedback and connection. You care about your training more than anyone else in the client's life. That's a big deal. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Lean Theory Lean manufacturing theory and seeking to improve efficiency comes with misunderstandings and misconceptions. Often, ideas of decrease customers service and employee satisfaction arise. These things may have occurred in the name of lean theory, but do not follow the true spirit of its origins. Lean Theory originates from Toyota's manufacturing processes and how Toyota strove to constantly improve them. The idea is to improve value. In order to improve value, you have to understand what delivers value to customers – what the customers actually want to pay for. Lean six sigma has 5 principles: Defining value Mapping the value system Creating flow Using a pull system Pursuing perfection Many companies may have misconceptions about how things they do provide value. The amount of work or time spent does not necessarily equate to more value. Time and money spent on tasks that do not produce value need to be eliminated or reduced. Lean Theory – Application You may be asking, what does this have to do with online coaching? As discussed in recent Coaching Success episodes, you are providing value to your clients. You spend a certain amount of time and have processes around delivering that value, whether you have created these deliberately or by happenstance. If you're doing things that don't provide value, then you're wasting your time. This time could be spent providing more value to your clients, having more clients, or doing something else. In order to improve your processes, you need to observe them. This could be having a peer or superior observe you. For online coaching, you can observe yourself by recording yourself coaching. Also consider your pace. If you want to work an hour a day and have 19 reviews to do, each should take 3.15 minutes. If you take longer, than you have to consider if you want to reduce your client load, spend more time, or improve your efficiency. Similar to budgeting money, it can feel icky to discuss these things, but it shouldn't. Your goal isn't simply to spend less time on your clients, but to stop doing doing that does not provide them value. That increase time can allow you to provide more value. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pricing - it's a too often undiscussed, underexamined aspect of running a successful business and becoming a successful coach. Matt discusses how to set prices intelligently and intentionally. Andrew Jackson gave a talk on the business value equation, which you can watch here and learn more about here. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Pricing in Your Market Matt mentions the book Monetizing Innovation: How Smart Companies Design the Product Around Price, which helped Barbell Logic think about, test, set, and change prices for its services. Price is crucial, but before there is a price there is someone who is paying that price (spending that amount of money) for the product or service. Who are those people are what problem of theirs are you solving? Who are your competitors in the market, already attempting to solve this product (if any)? As a coach, you may initially grab clients with a big net (i.e. whoever walks in your gym doors) but over time you will likely and should find that you have a niche. This niche may be a group you particularly like to coach, a demographic that for whatever reason seems drawn to your product or service, or one which you have an aptitude for. Own that niche, but be prepared to expand beyond it (while never forgetting it or continuing to serve it). Consider also the total addressable market (TAM). This is the entirety of the market you're addressing. For example, TurnKey Coach's niche is burnt out coaches, though it can also greatly aid burgeoning coaches. It's TAM, however, is anyone who coaches to any degree online. Pricing - Conceptualizing and Testing Remember, you're running a business. Discussing money and price can make people uncomfortable, but it's important. You need to provide more perceived value to your customers than the price. You need to dig down into the perceived value of your service and how people perceive the price. Your business needs to make money as well. You will likely want to test your service and pricing with alpha or beta testers. This might initially mean your family. Provide the service you plan to provide. Talk to these early clients about competitors they are or have used. Ask them the following questions (first about the competitor, then - once they've received your service - the same questions for your service). What price are they / did they pay for the service? What is an acceptable price? What is an expensive price? What is a prohibitively expensive price? Then, ask them how likely they are to buy the product, on a scale from 1-5. Only about 30% of the 5s will buy the service. Only about 10% of the 4s. 3s and belows will almost certainly not buy the service. Ask they why they would buy the service (or why not)? Ask the awkward conversations. You have likely charged these people nothing or a very low price, so just be honest that you're trying to improve your service and really want to hear what they valued (and what they did not). Lastly, when it comes to pricing, 1-2 prices is probably too few and 5-6 is probably too many (so 3-4 is probably right). PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt describes how to build trust in your business value equation. This is a crucial aspect of running a successful business with clients who actually enjoy your product or service. Andrew Jackson gave a talk on this, which you can watch here and learn more about here. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. What is Trust and How Do You Increase It? Trust, in the business value equation, is the difference between the client's perceived value and the price. Increasing this difference - increasing trust - leads to happy customers who do not want to leave. This lays the foundation for creating a successful business. How do you build trust as a coach (or really in any business)? Matt discusses three components. ability integrity benevolence Below, we define these and discuss how to boost each one, which ultimately grows trust. How to Build Trust Matt discusses useful short definitions of each of these that help you remember the difference. ability - you can integrity - you do benevolence - do you care Your ability is your expertise, your skill, your knowledge. People hire you in part because of this. You have the expertise, which they lack, to solve their problem. Of course, a friend or acquaintance may have recommended you. Your expertise played into this recommendation, but your integrity and benevolence did as well. Integrity should increase over time. Do you do what you say you will. Do you show up on time. You will make mistakes, so you must constantly build up your integrity account. A mistake is a withdrawal, so be intentional about building up this integrity after a mistake. Lastly, benevolence is that you care. As someone's coach, you should care more about your clients' training besides themselves. Benevolence also should increase over time. Your clients' perceptions of these is what matters. You might think you're a highly-skilled coach which high integrity and benevolence. If your clients think otherwise, you might want to reevaluate what you're doing. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt describes your business value equation, its components, and how you can improve your business value equation. This is an important concept for understanding your business conceptually and keeping the big picture in mind. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. What is the Business Value Equation? Imagine 3 drinking straws that meet at the top. They're fanned out so one goes left in the bottom, one down in the middle, and the third to the right. Let's look at these straws just as you would a graph, with things on the left having less and things on the right more. The one on the left is the cost of running your business. The one in the middle is the price to the customer. The difference is profit. If the price is below the cost, then you're losing money. Importantly, however, the one on the right is the perceived value of your service or product by the customer. While it seems obvious, your customers must perceive that you're they're receiving more value than the cost they're being charged. Improve Your Business Value Equation Remember that coaching is a luxury good. While we all know it can transform lives and greatly improve quality of life, it is not absolutely necessary like food. Because of this, you and your business must provide value to your customers (and work to increase that value). There are 3 ways to provide value: Provide extreme value & high efficacy in support of client's goals Building trust, showing excellence through the following: ability, integrity, benevolence Obsess over efficiency & dollars per hour without sacrificing service Setting prices is challenging and important, and Matt will discuss that in a future episode. That being said, what you want to do is fans these straws out more by moving cost to the left and perceived value to the right. Lower your costs (time & money) by improving efficiency. Improve the value of your service - get better, add something to the service that does not cost much, get a better idea of what your customers want. Hopefully this helped you learn how to improve your business value equation. Matt will go more in depth on each part of this in future podcasts. You can purchase Rebel Allocator here. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt explains, in detail, how to start your own business. Seriously, you can be a business owner today following these steps. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Here is Matt's presentation on how to officially start a business. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. How to Start A Business This applies to starting a business in the United States. If you're in another country, the specific details differ. That being said, find out what those simple steps are, and go crush them. There are 3 steps to start a business in the United States. File an Articles of Organization in your state (LLC) Get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) Open a business bank account File an Articles of Organization in You State Do this online, not on paper, to avoid delays. To begin, Google search "Articles of Organization + [your state]." When sorting through the results, make sure it's the Secretary of State official government website (e.g. .sos.mo.gov). You may need to Register as an Agent with your State (free). Do a quick business name search (in State) for conflicting names. You likely should also search the US Trademark Office. "Register a Business" or file "Articles or Organization for a Limited Liability Company." You just completed Step 1. Get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) This is essentially a Social Security Number for your business. Go to this website. Click on "Apply Online Now" and answer the questions. It's easy, free, and fast. Don't overthink or stress out about the questions - just answer them to the best of your abilities. Step 2 is done (that was fast)! Open a Business Bank Account Pretty much all you need to complete this step are documents from the first 2 steps. Gather your Articles of Organization, EIN, personal identification, and maybe an Operating Agreement. You should only need an operating agreement if you have a partner. That being said, you can use this template. An operating agreement answers simple questions about ownership percentages, initial personal investment, etc. Again - don't overthink it. Answer to the best of your abilities. Matt recommends setting this business account up with a local bank. Why!? Because to a local bank, you can be an actual person whom they've met. This may help, if you need to acquire a loan or some other issue arises. Okay, you've completed step 3. You're a business owner. Using Your Business Bank Account Once you have the account open, deposit all coaching revenue into this account. All business and business-related expenses should be spent from the business bank account (tax free - these expenses come right off your income so that you don't pay taxes on that income). Below are some business expenses: Equipment (lifting gear) Travel Mileage Car used specifically for business Laptop for online coaching Internet for online coaching Business meals (50% tax free) Marketing expenses Additionally, if you have a home gym and/or home office that square footage is tax deductible each year for things like utilities and renovations. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Be a person of action. Act now, begin that idea today, so that your big idea doesn't stay stuck in your head - this is the key to success. Matt Reynolds kicks off the first Coaching Success podcast. This podcast will primarily address topics relating to things that lead to you being a successful coach, businessperson, and person. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Be a Person of Action Many, if not most people, have ideas for businesses they want to start, books they want to write, fitness habits they want to begin, and more. Too many - likely most - of these remain stuck in people's heads because they never take the first step. Don't be one of those people. Be a person of action. Act now. Take the first step. Do something concrete that progresses you toward your goal being made a reality. The biggest hurdle to your goal is the first hurdle. That is why you need to start now, and if not now, today. Seriously, stop reading or listening, think about your goal, and take that first action today. Standard Operating Procedures One thing that empowers success and limits wasted time is writing standard operating procedures. Writing a standard operating procedure might be your first step. Matt, in his efforts to expand his gym, wrote a standard operating procedure for how to clean the gym. He had to first, of course, understand what was needed to clean the gym. This SOP, however, empowered him to hire someone to clean the gym, enabling Matt to focus on more important aspects of the business. Be a person of action - get this done today. You could write an SOP for nightly chores for your kids. Write an SOP for your morning routine. Write an SOP for packing your gym bag. This saves time and mental effort, allowing you to focus time and energy on more important things. Coaching Success Writing SOPs and actually taking those first steps liberates you. You've been stuck in inaction and dreaming, and nothing has gotten done. Move toward that goal you've been wanting to accomplish. Write the SOP that frees up your time so you can begin that important project. Also, consider what events fill your time. If you spend most of your time with unimportant, nonurgent tasks, you need to stop. Family is important, not urgent. Television is neither important nor urgent. Stopping your kid from running out into the busy street is important and urgent. Another work email is likely urgent, not important. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What is marketing and why does it matter? If you feel you can provide a valuable service or product to others, how do you not only get that message out but demonstrate to your potential audience & customers that what you are selling is right for them? Josh Veach, CIO at Barbell Logic, joins Niki & Matt, to discuss marketing. Josh also runs a non-profit--Go Shout Love--that designs and sells t-shirts, with the funds going to help families pay medical bills for their children with rare diseases. You can follow Go Shout Love on Instagram here. Matt and Josh met not through lifting or some business convention, but rather through being neighbors and sheltering from tornadoes. Josh's house did not have a basement but Matt's did, so Matt offered his basement in case of a tornado (and Josh and his family took him up on the offer). The friendship first entered the business realm when Matt needed to build a website for his gym, Strong Gym. Josh had begun to do pro bono work and eventually created a company of his own that worked on marketing and website development. Since then, Josh has become a full time employee at Barbell Logic, a member of the leadership team, and a crucial member of the team. Now, back to marketing. Most people focus on themselves and their business and forget to think about their audience and clientele, what value they are looking for, and what drives their decisions. If you're a coach or business owner, you (hopefully) believe in the product or service you're offering and understand the value you provide your clients. Or, if you don't have any clients yet, you at least have some idea of how you can impact and improve the lives of your future clients. But simply sharing your story is not enough. Josh's advice comes down to three big things: know your clientele, what value they are looking for, & what drives their decisions what makes you different (& better) make it easy to have them pay you Additionally, and just as important, you cannot lie about your service or product. Word of mouth is still the best way to grow, and if you lie or overpromise about your product or service, the word of mouth will be negative. Lastly, you have to build your brand through repetition. What beer do you think of when you think of the coldest beer? What beer do you think about when you think about getting away to a beach? Is this a result of some inherent property of that beer, or that those companies have made decisions about what their product provides and have consistently messaged that over years and decades. You are positioning yourself and your brand in your audience and clients' minds. One example of this is having a consistent color scheme and font in your marketing and design work. It's a small point, but it helps maintain one consistent voice and builds the repetition and consistency you want. This actually decreases in difficulty as you grow. Though you as a coach don't have a marketing department planning and preparing your messaging, you are also one person. How do you maintain a consistent voice in a larger company? It's hard. Lastly, what's a CIO? The title means Chief Information Officer. Josh helps with website development and design, marketing and sales. He ensures that Barbell Logic maintains that one consistent voice throughout its webpage, social media, content, services, and advertisements. Understanding marketing can really help you in multiple areas of your life, beyond your business. The underlying principles are about clear communication and working to understand what the person you're communicating with wants. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Scott & Matt share some of their productivity tips: what to do, what to not do, and what equipment or apps help them. When it comes to equipment and apps, both of them find having one huge monitor, 2 monitors, or 3 monitors helps, as one monitor simply adds time to tasks on the computer. Scott has also found value in having a scanner to digitize documents. He puts these on Evernote and finds this saves time, helps keep these organized, and saves space. Both Scott and Matt value a quality backpack and headphones, which can help prevent noises distracting you when you work. Much of productivity is organizing tasks and ensuring dedicated blocks to get both urgent and important tasks done. Preventing distractions--including notifications, family interruptions, and your phone going off is critical. Matt follows the Pomodoro technique, which recommends blocks of completely undistracted time to knock out tasks on your tasks list. The general recommendation is 25 minutes, as it's long enough you can complete plenty of tasks but short enough that you can fit a few into your day and it doesn't become too inconvenient for others around you. Scott has some tips as well. Ensure you don't put projects on your task list. If you find that something stays on your task list, there's a couple ways to deal with it. If it takes less than 3 minutes to do, just do it immediately, as it takes 3 minutes to put it off. If it's really a project, break up the projects into tasks and put those tasks onto the list. Finally, if the tasks are important but not urgent, create a Sunday Maybe list where you can put important tasks that are not urgent so you can both organize them, put a place for them, but not feel guilty because they've stayed on your to do list for weeks or months. One other note is to consider the trade off with time and money. There may be things that take up huge amounts of time and that you don't enjoy. If you can afford to spend the money and feel the trade off is worth it, have someone else do it for you (trade the money for the additional time and fill that time with important things, which--important--may end up making you more money). PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Time is your most valuable resource, and you don't know how much of it you have on this earth. Because of this, protecting time, being efficient, and knowing when to trade money for time is important. Its importance heightens if you find yourself in a situation where you make enough money that you can make more money on your work than completing a menial task, such as mowing the lawn or cleaning the house. You might actually make more money paying someone else to do this. This isn't the case for everyone, and there are times in people's lives where they simply have to lower expenses and be thrifty. If you find yourself in a situation where the more you work the more money you make, then you need to think about finding time blocks where you don't work and being efficient with your work. If you find yourself with a fixed amount of time at work (eg a 40 or 60 hour work week) then you need to figure out how to leverage the time you have outside of work for both enjoyment and to complete the other tasks in your life. Regardless of your situation, it helps to consider the money-time tradeoff and how some investments of money can lead to more money in the future (and, of course, how some investments of time can lead to money in the future). Thinking this way can help clarify what you should do yourself or hire out and help block off time for leisure and family and enjoyment. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Setting goals, meeting & surpassing goals, assessing progress: these are clearly important to all organizations and people. But, let's be honest, some of these terms-OKRs, KPIs, etc.--are a bit corporatey. There's a bit of a jargony, gobbly gook element that turns people off to what is essentially goal-setting, breaking up the goal to specific actions, and measuring progress. Enter the GAMeplan. Barbell Logic has taken the principles of the OKR & KPI and turned it into something that's easily understood: the GAMeplan. G is for Goals, which replaces objectives. A is actions, which replaces Key Results. M is metrics, which replaces KPIs. Finally, you have 3 terms that are easily understandable without needing to understand business jargon and it creates another word - GAMeplan - which is understood and relevant to setting goals. What's your GAMeplan for losing weight or increasing your squat? Barbell Logic sets yearly, quarterly, and monthly GAMeplans. They fall under tenets, which are essentially core values, and each person establishes a GAMeplan. This allows each employee to not only see her or his role in the company but to help form that role and have a voice in setting goals and how to measure it. This leads to what in the military is called battle rhythm: what is the organization doing daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually? How are decisions at the top getting communicated down to the lowest employees? How is information coming up and being communicated to the CEO? Which reports are due, who is writing them, and when are they do? How much time do they take to read? How much time do they take to write? How often does the organization have meetings? Who attends them? What is the purpose of the meetings? These questions have to be asked and answered if business will spend time efficiently and improve their effectiveness. Barbell Logic has developed and implemented a monthly battle rhythm that involves decisions being made, communicated down, subordinates and supervisors meeting with each other, and then a process of reporting goals up. It ultimately creates both a top down and bottom up process that is continual and allows for conversation and improvement. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do we set goals? How do we break those goals up to SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, TIMEBOUND, smaller actions? How do we assess whether we've met our goals and, if we fail to meet them, if we moved in the right direction and made progress? Enter the OKR. Objectives & Key Results (OKR) is a process for setting goals & breaking those goals up. An objective is just another word for a goal. Key Results are actions to move toward the goal. Key Results need to be timebound, and whether they were completed or not MUST be a yes or no answer. To add to this process, organizations need a way to assess progress. Enter KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators. The feed into key results and objectives and provide information as to whether we are moving toward our key results and--more importantly--objectives. This system comes from Andy Grove and Measure What Matters. His clarity and effectiveness at management ended up creating this system. Coming from this system is the importance of how managers, leaders, and CEOs refine, revise, or replace existing routines and habits. While efficiency at tasks is important, we're ultimately getting better or getting worse. Objectives, then, need to be achieved with action--with change--not goals that would be achieved by continuing to do the same things the same way. Another key aspect of OKRs is the timeframe. It must not be too long nor too short. A week, for example, is not enough time to make large changes and too often to make these large evaluations of processes and routines. 5 years or 10 years, however, is so long that it deflates any sense of urgency and too many unknowns exist: there will be unforeseen opportunities that not only do you not foresee but you cannot foresee. Crucially, saying yes to certain objectives means saying NO to others. Not everything can be a priority, and too many objectives decreases the chance of getting any of them done. Difficult decisions must be made regarding what is essential versus important versus nice-to-have. Fewer objectives also helps employees know what the objectives are: employees should be able to cite key objectives. Key results need to be specific not only regarding what will occur but by whom - an individual needs to have his or her name next to the key result. This provides ownership. Another note on setting objectives is that aggressiveness--audacity--should not be discouraged. If an employee establishes audacious goals but works hard to meet them and fails while advancing the company and providing value to the company, ultimately it's a win. It's a balancing act setting objectives and key results. Too many people set objectives that are too easy. A smaller group goes the other direction and sets unrealistic goals. Ultimately, managers and subordinates need to discuss objectives and refine them over time. Good employees and organizations will fail to meet objectives sometimes. Another element of OKRs is specificity. Wishy-washy thinking and inability to prioritize will prevent progress and limit the organizations effectiveness. Ultimately, it's all about output: what have you accomplished? Business and hard work are great, but if you have nothing to show for it then processes and time management need to be evaluated. Finally, this applies to all organizations and individuals: government and military organizations, couples and families, individuals and employees can go through this process and better direct themselves to pursuing and achieving the things they want to accomplish. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chris & Matt Reynolds like to wake up early and GET AFTER IT. If you don't, that's okay, but you might try before you write this off and it's super important to have a consistent sleep schedule regardless of when you go to bed and wake up. You can't make up for lack of sleep on the weekend, and your body will learn and adjust to a regular sleep schedule and be better off for it, as opposed to inconsistency. If you want to try this, give it a try for 3 weeks. If after 3 weeks you hate waking up early and going to bed early, that's okay: you're probably an evening person. You might then want to work on being more consistent with your sleep and how you still make time for leisure and family. One benefit that early sleep and wake provides is that many people have social activities in the evening. If you're an evening worker, you'll have to compete with these and find ways to work around these. It also can give a natural break to work and family life, and you can complete your work for the day (barring a true emergency) and then give your full attention to your family when they arrive. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Now, more than ever, the ability to deescalate tense situations and bring reconciliation and understanding to hostile parties is a valuable skill. Some people are natural peacemakers, having learned from a young age how to maneuver volatile interactions between family members, while others of a more disagreeable nature struggle in conflict. Matt and Chris discuss how they have each occupied these differing roles during childhood, and how they have learned to deescalate interactions as adults. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt and Chris discuss the value of hard work, specifically hard physical labor. For the technology-addled knowledge worker of the 21st century, there is something particularly rewarding about taxing physical labor, beyond the result of the labor. As Matt says, there is value in the work itself. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In honor of Father's Day, Matt and Chris reminisce about childhood memories with their Dad and the important lessons he taught them along the way. To all the dads in the Barbell Logic family, Happy Father's Day! Discounts Save 50% off any coaching package at Barbell Logic with the discount code "strongdad." AND get a $50 gift card to your retailer of choice! Offer lasts through Father's Day. Want to try online coaching for FREE? Email [email protected] for a free trial of Barbell Logic Online Coaching. You'll get feedback on your technique and programming from a Barbell Logic coach, and see what the fuss is all about! Connect With Matt Matt on Instagram Barbell Logic Online Coaching — Matt's website Matt on Facebook Matt on Twitter Connect With Scott Scott on Instagram Silver Strength – Scott's website Scott on Facebook Scott on Twitter Connect With the Show Barbell Logic on Twitter Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected] PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt and Chris have talked at length about good habits and how to acquire them, but what about bad habits? Today they discuss some bad habits they have struggled with over the years, and how they have successfully broken them. Books mentioned in the show: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055PGUYU/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 Atomic Habits by James Clear https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-James-Clear-audiobook/dp/B07RFSSYBH/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=atomic+habits&qid=1592096296&sr=8-2 Thinking In Bets by Annie Duke https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-in-Bets-Annie-Duke-audiobook/dp/B078SBSBW3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3ENGTZ46T1550&dchild=1&keywords=annie+duke+thinking+in+bets&qid=1592105559&s=audible&sprefix=annie+duke+thinking%2Caudible%2C153&sr=1-1 PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Niki, Andrew, and Matt return to the podcast roundtable to talk about their shared passion, coaching, and the important lessons they've learned about setting boundaries, both to preserve their sanity and to keep the fire lit for their passion and profession. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chris discusses how we might begin to acquire wisdom by asking questions of ourselves and of the world around us, reading books to acquire more understanding, and regularly applying what we learn to the problems we confront. As great thinkers like Charlie Munger and others have observed, the accumulation of wisdom comes slowly and patently, by refusing to accept the first conclusion you draw, and refusing to allow others thoughts to intercept and cloud your own. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt and Chris discuss the reasons for living a life driven by a set of values which you can clearly identify and define. They discuss their own value systems, how they developed them, and how their life has been shaped by them. As always, Matt urges listeners to write down a list of their own life values, and identify the things that bring your value and the things that rob you of value. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt and Chris discuss the value of making mistakes, owning up to them, and learning from them. Many people grow up afraid of making mistakes, and reluctant to own up to them when they do make them. Chris argues that this stunts our growth and creativity as humans, because mistakes are essential to the process of discovering new things. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After taking the "Understand Myself" personality test based on the Big Five aspects, Matt and Chris take the Myers-Briggs and Enneagram to get a more comprehensive look at their personality types. As Matt says, the results of the personality test shouldn't be too much of a surprise, but if they are, perhaps that points to some areas you can work on in your relationships and daily interactions. Chris points out that, having taken many personality tests as part of his business with private equity groups, the results of the test can tell you what roles you could succeed in, and what roles you are likely to struggle with. As he puts it, everyone wants to be the CEO, but few have the right personality when it comes to living the job every day. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Following up from Episode #8, the Principle of "Self-Honesty", Matt and Chris discuss the results of their personality test from "Understand Myself," an online test based on the Big Five Aspects of personality and developed by Dr. Colin DeYoung, Dr. Lena Quilty, and Dr. Jordan B Peterson in Dr. Peterson's lab. Understand Myself Personality Test https://www.understandmyself.com PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt takes a moment to reflect on the things that are most important to him, and encourages you to do the same. For many life is moving at a slower pace right now (involuntary or not), and that means it's a good time to take inventory of the things that bring value and joy to your life, and the things that rob from your life. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt and Chris Reynolds discuss how self-honesty can be the key to personal and professional growth. Recognizing and acknowledging where you are weak can help you to find more fulfilling work, foster better family relationships, and help you find friends and mentors that are strong where you are weak. Personality tests mentioned in the episode: Enneagram: https://www.enneagraminstitute.com Myers-Briggs: https://www.myersbriggs.org/home.htm?bhcp=1 Understand Myself: https://www.understandmyself.com PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Let's talk about focus. This is something people don't do well these days. Focus has atrophied due to smartphones, social media, the internet, TV, etc. Focus, however, is critical to productivity, success, happiness, and getting done deep work. Something that can help both improve focus but show you how hard it is to focus and how easily you get distracted is meditation. The practice of bringing your focus back to your breath or a mantra helps build the muscle of focus and helps you see your thoughts. Also, you can't multitask. You may move from one task to another relatively smoothly or quickly, but you can't actually do two things at once. Knowing what distracts you and blocking those things out helps. For many, distractions may be broken down into visual or auditory. Know which one distracts you and plan accordingly (noise-cancelling headphones, for example, if you're distracted easily by noises). More focus means more productivity, and if you value time with family and other activities, you can be more efficient with work and urgent tasks and then spend more time doing those things that are important and give you value. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt and his brother Chris Reynolds discuss how reading is a cumulative endeavor, so one's goal in reading should be to read well, to read for understanding, and with patience, knowing that the contents of one book will inform many others down the line. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

BLOC coach Dan Flanick returns to the podcast to discuss the importance of developing confidence and self-esteem, and how barbell training has helped him in his own growth and development. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt and Chris Reynolds discuss the value of cultivating empathy and compassion in relationships, whether it's with family, friends, or coaches and trainees. Matt refers to a BLOC article in the podcast about compassion in coaching: https://barbell-logic.com/empathetic-coaching-for-client-breakthroughs/ PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt & Chris share a technique they use all the time, called the Pomodoro Technique. This technique is perfect for both knocking out urgent tasks or carving out time to dedicate to deeper, important work. The original approach is to dedicated 25 minutes to totally uninterrupted work followed by a 5 minute break. You can string together multiple blocks as you get better at this. Also, if you string together multiple blocks, you often need a longer break every so often. 25 minutes isn't set in stone. You may need to do longer or even shorter blocks. The principle, however, is totally uninterrupted time. If you get distracted, you QUICKLY jot down a super short note to clear your head but ensure that the task that popped up in your head (e.g. I need to take out the trash) gets accounted for. With one hand, simply jot down "trash," and then continue your work. Preparation can help here. There might be certain times of the day or locations where this isn't feasible because distractions will be inevitable. You also might need to do things to help prevent distractions: you may have to wear noise-cancelling headphones. You'll need to have your phone elsewhere and not have notifications turned on. You might need to notify your loved ones that you need 25 minutes uninterrupted time and explain the purpose. Ultimately, this is about getting the urgent things done so you can get the important things done, which include spending time with your family. You can, of course, apply this for important tasks, such as creative work. Try the Pomodoro technique to increase your efficiency with both urgent and important tasks. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt and Chris Reynolds discuss the concept of the urgent versus the important, and the four quadrants into which you can divide all work and chores: Not urgent, not important Urgent, not important Urgent and important Not urgent, but important Most people spend their time in the first three quadrants of the urgency/importance spectrum, leaving little or no time to address the things in life which are not urgent, but important -- things like reading books, cultivating meaningful relationships, and physical fitness. Matt and Chris discuss some ways to overthrow the tyranny of the urgent, and start making time for those things in life. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The American Dream is not dead yet, and Chris Reynolds is living proof. In the first of a new series called Principles, Matt interviews his brother Chris about his founding of BriteCore, a company that builds cloud-based systems for managing insurance operations, which allowed him to retire at the age of 38. Things didn't always go so well, and Chris tirelessly worked his way up from humble beginnings, with a few lucky breaks and key help from friends and mentors. PS - Coach Smarter, Earn More: https://bit.ly/3X4ixOX Matt's Links Website: https://ryanmattreynolds.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reynoldsstrong/?hl=en Chris's Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismreynolds/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.