We Can See The Future
No… not that ‘woo woo’ shit that you’re thinking.
I’m not relying on any ‘4th dimension’ magic.
Or a crystal ball.
There’s no tarot card reading.
It’s simply a scenario that you can see happen repeatedly, because it has happened repeatedly, across different people, and across different time periods.
It’s a pattern that I can recognise within my particular craft.
Just like how the best business owners are able to predict the future of their business by looking at a few numbers on a sheet.
Just like how the best cyclists are able to predict their time by the wind conditions.
Just like how I know whether you’re going to gain weight, drop out of your exercise program, or go through a health crisis.
It’s not that I can see into the future.
It’s that I understand where the current behaviour will lead if it is sustained.
Of course, this is the frustration with a lot of coaches and their clients.
On the one hand, clients exhibit behaviour that the coach KNOWS will lead them down a bad path.
On the other, the client does not possess the experience that said coach has and therefore, does not fully believe what the coach is warning them about.
What are some of these behaviours that we as coaches see… that lead to a certain future?
Perhaps the most common one I’ve seen is this.
The ‘I want to go hard… all the time,’ behaviour.
This is pretty consistent across my experience.
Most people who ‘go hard’ all the time are setting themselves up for burnout within the next three to six months.
I can’t give you the exact time period, because I’m not THAT good at seeing the future.
But it ALWAYS happens.
It starts off like this…
‘I’m ready to go HARD, coach’ they say, in the first week.
‘I feel GREAT, coach’ they say, in the second week.
‘It’s getting tough coach, but no pain no gain,’ they say, in the third week.
‘It’s just getting really hectic in my life at the moment,’ they say, in the fourth week, eventually leading into the fifth week which is…
‘I think I need a break.’
There. Future proven.
Of course, they’re not the first, and won’t be the last, to live out this prophecy.
Another one is the ‘fad diet’ future prediction.
Coaches, I know you know what I’m saying, but I’ll write it out anyway.
‘I’m going to try this crazy new diet that I’ve been seeing going around,’ they say, at week 1.
‘It’s going amazing, I’ve already lost 3kg,’ they say, at week 2.
‘It’s getting tough now, but the program said that this would happen. I’ve lost another 3kg,’ they say, at week 3.
‘I don’t feel well. I couldn’t help myself and binged on the weekend,’ they say, at week 4. Which leads us to week 5.
‘I stopped the diet. It worked, and it was great, but it’s just too hard. I’ve regained 4-5kg already.’
Yeaaaaah. If you put your face in your palm… I get it.
We’ve all been there.
We’ve seen this future in the past, present and future.
No, as coaches, we are not fortune tellers.
But our experience tells us what’s most likely to happen.
It’s sad that it continues happening, but it is also why we will continue to exist.
What can we do when the future seems so clear?
Well, the saying goes ‘history repeats itself,’ and there’s a reason for that.
Some people just aren’t ready to listen. They have to see it for themselves.
