The 1% most likely isn’t you

I spend the vast majority of my coaching time teaching clients how to train optimally, eat for sustainability, perform to the best of their abilities without being obsessive about it, and learning to embrace a productive mindset with it all.

“The 99%” they will be called.

Then you have the “1%”.

The best of the best. The athletes, the lifters who are approaching record breaking status, the people who compete in international competitions, the bodybuilders. They aren’t a large part of my client base but due to my experience coaching athletes and competitors I work with a few.

The 1% are different.

Their sport isn’t about sustaining a moderate mindset and erasing the obsession, they are the polar opposite of what I preach to most of my clients because they have one goal with their training.

Win.

Not just win, but set records, win matches in other nations against people not named “Bob Smith”, come in first onstage, make a professional team; that type of winning. The life-making moments they worked so hard for and my job is to help them reach those moments.

For the 1%, moderation is defeat. There is little moderation about throwing down the gauntlet to push yourself to the limit of what you are capable of, and then finding a way to do more.

I cannot treat the 1% the same way I treat the 99%. I can’t expect to tell my athlete to dial it back and take a rest day when you have a match in a few weeks. I have to ensure he understands the gravity of missing a training session means it’s one less day to prepare for the event he’s been working so hard for. They have to grasp the concept of a cheat meal as a foreign entity that is out to hurt them, at least until their competition is over. For the 1%, this is what they suffer for. It isn’t for most of us to understand as many of us can’t grasp the work it takes to win at a high level. That is something you should be thankful of because it is all consuming and often a lonely place to be.

On the flip side I cannot teach the 99% to follow what the 1% does.

Do you think it is productive to teach Jane Doe that a cheat meal will destroy her goals or is it more advantageous to show her a sustainable relationship with food is doable with planned cheat meals and tracking your diet to get an understanding of quantity control?

The answer is obvious, but is it really that obvious to some?

Is missing one workout here and there for that same Jane Doe going to stall her progress that much or are you teaching her the bigger, more important picture, of a healthy balance between life and exercise?

The 99% and the 1% are both valuable, and productive clients which require two distinct modes of behavior to reach their goals.

Most of you reading this are not, will never be, or don’t desire to be the 1%.

I am no longer the 1% even though there are days when I feel like I can still find that dragon to slay.

I am the 99% along with you and the lessons I learned in switching from one thought process to the other taught me some important lessons along the way. These valuable tidbits of brain nuggets help me with my coaching and training.

This goes a long way in knowing when I can coach or when I have to step back and teach.

The difference between educating and coaching depends on how you treat the 99% and how you deal with the 1%.

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