Just Find the Intersection of These Two Factors

The diagram and explanation within this article will give you a concise and powerful tool to share with clients. 

As you walk your clients through it, they’ll understand the unique approach you’re going to guide them through and how you’re setting them up for success and consistency.   

But to begin with, I want to share with you a quick story on the origin of this diagram. 

I was training myself at the gym when a client walked in. 

After I finished my workout and made myself a protein and fruit smoothie, she inquired if she could ask me a question. 

I said yes, of course. 

Then she asked, “How do you do it? How do you stay so disciplined with your training and nutrition? I don’t get it.”

I was puzzled. 

I don’t think of myself as disciplined. 

But the question got me thinking. 

How do I stay consistent?

In fact, how does anyone stay consistent for the long term?

I came to realize that it’s the intersection of two factors: effective and enjoyable. 

So, I was inspired to create the following diagram and have used it with clients and coaches. Both have found it valuable and applicable. 

You can use this to demonstrate to your clients that a healthier lifestyle doesn’t need to be dominated by extremes. The journey to leaner and healthier can be enjoyable. This simple reframing can give your clients hope and see the rare approach you bring to your fitness market.  

For starters, here’s what I draw on the dry erase board when explaining this model to clients or coaches:

Some strategies are effective to reach a particular goal. Some strategies are enjoyable to make life richer and happy. 

And some strategies reside in the overlap between those two categories.

It’s this intersection of the effective with the enjoyable that makes consistency far easier and way more gratifying. 

After all, most clients come to fitness professionals expecting to have to surrender all their “guilty” pleasures and treats. In plain English, on some level they’re expecting it to suck. 

Imagine the look on their faces when you tell them that part of your goal as their guide is to find a path that is both effective and enjoyable. It will be a paradigm shift for many of the clients/leads you work with. 

Now back to the diagram. 

After drawing and labeling the two circles, I continue by admitting there are plenty of things that may be effective that many people don’t enjoy. For this article, I have used two examples from my life to illustrate this.

Those strategies may be effective, but if they don’t align with a client’s natural tendencies, they will be far more laborous to maintain. For me, constantly counting calories on an app or completely removing baked goodies would make my health journey far harder. For each client, discovering what is effective but not enjoyable will take some exploration on your part. 

Then it’s time to note the other side of the diagram. It’s no surprise that there are strategies people enjoy that aren’t effective. 

Sure, ice cream is enjoyable and so is a pour of nice tequila, but both could stand as obstacles to a leaner and healthier lifestyle if taken to excess. Again, discovering what those are for each client will take some exploration on your part. 

Then we get to the really good stuff. The magic occurs at the intersection of these two factors. For me those things look like:

Now, for each client it will take some sleuthing to figure out that combo. And once you do, you’re on the way to guiding them to a leaner, healthier, happier lifestyle that’s also sustainable. 

What’s especially important is illustrating to your client or lead that it is absolutely possible to have a weight loss/body fat loss journey that is both effective and enjoyable. 

As you work with a client longer, you can continue to add strategies that are both effective and enjoyable for them until they have a plethora of options that offer variety and enjoyment while still keeping them aligned with their goals. 

Walking a client or lead through this diagram will reshape their expectations on their journey to leaner and healthier. It’s a recurring theme here at HBI, we want a journey for our clients to be leaner, healthier, AND happier. When strategies fall within the intersection of effective and enjoyable, your clients will be far more consistent and see far better results. 

And of course, since we harp on the theme of consistency over intensity, it’s important to acknowledge that there is also the time and place for planned indulgences that fall within the enjoyable sphere even if they aren’t also effective. There is no need to completely remove any particular habit or behavior. 

There are more nuances buried in this model that we’ll cover in future articles. For now, share this model with your clients and see if they find it as valuable as the people I’ve shared it with. 

And to sum it up…The Summary:

• The intersection of strategies that are both effective and enjoyable make consistency far easier and way more gratifying. 
• Discovering what strategies fulfill these two requirements for each client takes some exploration on the coaches part.
• There is still a place for habits or behaviors that are enjoyable but not effective. 

One sentence takeaway:

When healthy strategies are both effective and enjoyable, your clients will be far more consistent and see far better results because of it.