Help Best

Change begins with a single person and a compelling idea. But no leader creates disruption alone.As innovators inspire others to join their cause, their influence grows—first incrementally, one per-son at a time, then exponentially as teams form, and finally infinitely as movements take on lives of their own.In 2026, our Tinker program will center around Leadership Development. In this podcast, I break down the upgrades and walk you through some of the process and theory.The First Realm: SELF-LeadershipFoundation: If you want to go fast, go alone Before you can lead others, you must learn to lead yourself. Self-leadership is about masteringyour mindset, managing your energy, clarifying your values and building the discipline to act withintention. Fix the leader, fix everything else.The Second Realm: TEAM LeadershipGrowth: If you want to go far, go together Once you can lead yourself, you’re ready to lead those who are compelled to follow—your employees and team members. This realm focuses on documentation, training, delegation and creating systems that work without you. The Third Realm: PEER LeadershipInfluence: Leadership beyond authorityPeer leadership means influencing those who have no obligation to follow you—colleagues, partners, family and community members. This requires building trust, demonstrating value and leading through example and relationship. The Fourth Realm: TRIBE LeadershipImpact: Leadership at scaleTribe leadership is about inspiring a community through storytelling, vision and values. Your influence extends beyond individual relationships to shape culture and create movements.Remember: Each realm builds on the previous one, but no realm is ever complete. You’ll cycle through all four levels throughout your leadership journey, constantly refining and deepening your practice.

Beginning in December, we're going to add more Coaching Calls to the Growth calendar.My goal: a client should be able to:Learn something new each month (teaching calls)Connect with their peers in the tribe each month (Community calls)Troubleshoot their sales and marketing each week (Specialist Calls)and talk to a coach any day (golden hour coaching calls).Here's the difference between each. You'll see the schedule in the Growth groups!

It’s more important than ever to convert clients if you want to have clients.With more competition in the marketplace; more market headwinds; the decline of CF and the rise of bot-search, getting clients is harder than ever. That means it’s critical to keep the clients you have if you want to have 1:1 clients.Here’s the best path after reviewing a few hundred conversion calls.Get them a good ROI and show it to them every single month.Know where they are in their journey.2 months out, say “here are the next 3 steps we need to take” and “Here’s how they will benefit you.”1 month out say, “here are the next 3 steps we need to take and here’s how they benefit you.” Then say, “Now, I know your first year commitment with us ends this month. When I started to look ahead, I just assumed you’d be around to work on these things next. Are you planning something else?”Then make their next 3 appointments.Do NOT count on the CSMs to handle communication about renewals, talk people into staying or tell them the price. The CSM team is a safety net, not a trampoline. Conversion and retention are our job as mentors. Just like in your gym, it’s not enough just to get good results. You have to show them results and show them the next best step if you want to keep them.

Up to 2025 every Two-Brain client built an annual plan with a mentor — often over multiple calls. Too many of those plans were never used. In this episode Chris explains why we moved annual planning into the Tinker stage: Growth clients are firefighting and don’t have the bandwidth to build or use long-term plans. He explains who should still do an annual plan, what we’re doing instead (daily access, weekly specialist calls, group coaching, and habit-building challenges), and gives mentors concrete scripts and rules for when to plan — and when not to. The bottom line: planning only matters when the owner can execute and delegate.

Toolkit Tour - Improving LEGSummaryImportance of Client Retention in Gyms 0:01Keeping clients in a gym for an additional three months can earn the owner an extra $40,000 annually.Retention is crucial because it multiplies the value of other gym activities, such as marketing and client engagement.But we need to understand what actually improves retention, as many current ideas lack data to support them.The toolkit's LEG section focuses on the five pillars of retention, which are essential for improving client retention.Understanding Retention and Its Measurement 0:34We measure retention as the length of engagement, aiming for clients to stay for at least two years to see significant life changes.While many people are now talking about retention, the concept was less discussed 15 years ago, and current ideas often lack data.The toolkit differentiates between essential retention strategies (the five pillars) and nice-to-have perks like t-shirts and clubs.Gym owners should focus on the five pillars first before adding extra perks to improve retention.The Five Pillars of Retention 1:31Start with the five pillars of retention, which are crucial for improving client retention in gyms.Gym owners should ensure these pillars are in place and consistently implemented to see significant improvements in retention.Retention is just sales over time, requiring ongoing marketing and engagement with current clients to keep them.The five pillars will take gym owners 99% of the way to achieving great retention, while additional perks can be added later.Addressing Client Drop-Offs 2:47I can't overstate the importance of identifying when clients are dropping off to address the underlying issues.Software companies often focus on churn rate, which doesn't provide specific insights into when clients are leaving.Gym owners should track when clients are leaving to solve the actual problems rather than adding unnecessary measures.Strategies for Different Retention Stages 3:16The toolkit breaks down strategies for addressing clients who leave within the first 90 days, between 90 days and the end of the first year, and after the first year.For clients leaving within the first 90 days, we recommend building an on-ramp and mapping out their first 90 days to create daily touchpoints.For clients leaving between 90 days and the end of the first year, we recommend setting up goal reviews, events like golden habits challenges, and building a belt system.For clients staying longer than a year, we advise doubling down on goal reviews and using the Pumpkin Plan exercise to focus on keeping these clients.Recapturing Former Clients 4:24Recapturing former clients is essential to repeat, because they are the next most likely group to return to the gym.Former clients often leave due to falling off their exercise habit or...

SummaryImproving Effective Hourly Rate (EHR) in Growth Phase 0:00During the growth phase, entrepreneurs should prioritize client acquisition, retention, and profit over their effective hourly rate (EHR).The perfect day income is the first solve, followed by time, but entrepreneurs often focus too much on EHR, leading to business instability.Examples are given of gym owners living their perfect day while their business goes bankrupt due to insufficient income.The value ladder concept is introduced, emphasizing the importance of buying back time at low-value roles and reinvesting it at high-value roles.Upgrading the Team for Higher Value Roles 1:14The benefits of upgrading the team, including moving to higher value roles and the importance of the value ladder.The upgrade team section addresses common client questions about hiring good staff, creating careers, and freeing up time.The concept of making the gym run without the owner is introduced, typically addressed in the Tinker program but included in the growth toolkit for gym growth.The first section focuses on hiring new staff, with a four-step process: looking internally first, leveraging local talent, leveraging local knowledge, and advertising on paid services like Indeed.Finding and Training Good Staff 2:26The importance of having a hiring pipeline, especially in high-turnover cities, and the need for a continuous flow of talent.The toolkit includes job descriptions, contracts, and job postings, but the most important module is training new staff.The coach basic training course and the coach basic training teachers course are highlighted as essential for training new coaches.The course is described as a major project that, once set up, can create an amazing coach pipeline, reducing the need for job postings on Indeed.Creating Careers for Staff and Systemizing the Gym 6:28The next section focuses on creating careers for staff, emphasizing intrapreneurship and the four nights model.The importance of assigning dollar values to different roles and ascending the gym owner and coaches is discussed.Career roadmaps and evaluations are introduced as part of goal reviews for staff.Systemizing the gym is critical for consistent delivery, and staff meetings are important for communication and alignment.Freeing Up Time and Leading Effectively 9:07The final section addresses how to free up time, starting with the concept of leading oneself before leading a team.The importance of journaling, recording thoughts, and organizing oneself is emphasized.The value ladder is revisited, focusing on buying back time at low-value roles and investing it in higher-value roles like sales and marketing.The golden hour challenge is introduced as a way to build the habit of doing work and achieving results, even if imperfectly.

In this Toolkit Tour episode of Help Best, Chris walks mentors through the ROI section and how to turn financial knowledge into client action — not busywork. Toolkit tour - ROI_otter_aiHe breaks the ROI content into three practical areas: (1) Where is my money going? — an expense audit that helps clients find “hidden money,” set up recurring expenses in the dashboard, optimize before cutting, and move to cost-saving behaviors (ACH, pricing cadence, remove unnecessary discounts); (2) How do I make a plan for the future? — a budgeting module that converts P&L history into a forward-looking plan (important but often lower priority in year one); and (3) Understand your financials — the P&L primer, Build Your Dashboard workflow, and the Six Strategies / “Your Next Best Step” audit that turns metrics into one clear action.Key takeaways for mentors: all new Stage Two clients should build their Two-Brain dashboard as their first financial deliverable; long-term or inconsistent clients should be assigned the Build Your Dashboard task and reviewed on the next call; every gym should run an expense audit at least quarterly. The Six Strategies audit gives clarity and agency — it helps clients pick either the biggest burning fire to fix or the highest-impact growth opportunity. Chris emphasizes that accounting is unsexy but fundamental: teach owners P&L literacy, guide them to a budget when ready, and always translate numbers into one prioritized, measurable next step.This episode is a practical roadmap for mentors who want to move clients from data to decisions — assign the dashboard, schedule the expense audit, and help clients act on their “next best step.”

Over the next six weeks, I'll walk you through our 2025 Toolkit upgrades.These updates are done all the time, with a 'big' update in the third quarter of each year. As always, we strive for more focused content that allows gym owners to take action on their own, or with some simple coaching to help them with the more complicated changes.This week: Increasing NOB. Here are the sections I'll walk you through:1 - Pay Yourself First - setting up a habit for paying yourself, following the Profit First principles. https://members.twobrainbusiness.com/courses/growth-toolkit-2024/lessons/how-much-should-i-pay-myself-4/topic/pay-yourself-first/2 - Give Yourself a Raise - setting up an increasing NOB over time. https://members.twobrainbusiness.com/courses/growth-toolkit-2024/lessons/how-much-should-i-pay-myself-4/topic/give-yourself-a-raise-3/How much? That's up to you and the client. But when they have these habits in place, increasing NOB isn't a guess, a stressor, or a negotiation with oneself. It just happens automatically over time.

Walk through this module: https://members.twobrainbusiness.com/courses/tbb-certified-coach/lessons/client-ascension/topic/moving-a-client-into-stage-4/

Hey team, I want to share something exciting we’re kicking off October 1st:The Six-Week Growth ChallengeThis is designed to give you another powerful tool to use with your clients. Why We’re Doing ThisOur gyms thrive on focus and momentum—but most owners try to do everything at once.This challenge creates clarity by targeting one metric per week.It’s rooted in the Simple Six framework (ARM, Clients, LEG, EHR, ROI, NOB).Owners who practice these habits consistently see compounding results.How the Challenge WorksDuration: 6 weeksFocus: One metric each weekWeek 1 – ARM (+$10)Week 2 – Clients (+10)Week 3 – LEG (+2 months)Week 4 – EHR (+$10)Week 5 – ROI (+10%)Week 6 – NOB (+10% raise)Daily prompts follow the Golden Hour framework (Go → Open → Lead → Do → End → Next).Kickoff call on October 1; daily posts in Growth group.Goal: measurable 10-point improvement in each area.Why Mentors Should Recommend It It’s a ready-made accountability system—mentors don’t have to create structure, just encourage participation.Gives mentees a clear project to focus on each week, reducing overwhelm.Builds habits of CEO thinking (choosing Next Best Step, delegating, tracking progress).Creates shared momentum across the Growth group: peers working toward the same targets.Helps mentors guide mentees back to the Toolkit tactics for practical next steps.This is how we help owners turn skills into systems, and systems into growth.

If you go to www.twobrain.app/marketplace, you'll see our Preferred Partners at the top:GymLawyersKiloPathfinder Sales CoachingRogueWe Do Your Paid Marketing.In this episode, I walk through why the Marketplace exists; the difference between 'sponsors' and 'exclusive partners', and how these 5 can benefit TBB clients.

B - Bright SpotsR - Review MetricsA - Assign HomeworkI - Identify ObstaclesN - Next Best Step

Mission: Help 10,000 gym owners be successful"Success" = proving they can earn their Perfect Day NOB as a gym ownerVision: 1000 gyms at a time, learning, collaborating and being coached by professional business coaches/mentorsValues:Lead with PositivityPursue Personal GrowthBase Decisions on DataTake OwnershipBe Disciplined

Why Two-Brain coaches must implement the Toolkit — not invent new systems.In this episode Chris explains why mentors are paid to help clients implement Two-Brain’s gym-tested, data-backed courses and Toolkit — not to invent new spreadsheets, substitute personal practices, or make “read this” the primary homework. He walks through the history (from one gym to hundreds), shows how small mentor variations create inconsistent outcomes, and introduces the idea of “freedom within a framework” — imagine a coach given your programming, warmup and coaches’ notes: they don’t change the program, but they might change the cue. Practical, actionable guidance follows: use the Toolkit first, consult MentorBot and Mentor Slack (in that order), assign deliverables not reading, and follow the official pathway to test any new ideas.Key takeaways:The Toolkit is proven and refined — consistency speeds client results.Adapt your cueing, don’t change the program.If you want to innovate, collect data and follow the formal testing process (or book time with Chris).

When Two-Brain began, Chris loved giving clients thoughtful presents — often books. Over time we learned a hard lesson: reading can become an avoidance tool. Clients would hide behind “more knowledge” instead of completing mentor-assigned work, slowing momentum and reducing their return on mentorship.In this episode Chris explains why we no longer ship books to clients, uses Good to Great as a concrete example of the problem, and walks through the action-first approach we now use: mentors digest the material, extract 1–3 specific tasks, provide templates and coaching, and measure outcomes — not pages read.If you’re a mentor or coach, you’ll get a practical checklist for turning any reading recommendation into a deliverable your client can finish this month. Books are lovely — but when someone’s paying for results, action must come first.

Dive into the future of mentorship in this special 10-minute Quickcast from “help best,” where we explore why AI isn’t just another tool—it’s your next sidekick. You’ll hear:Why AI matters now: From the end of old-school SEO to autonomous “Agent Mode” assistants that can book, buy, or research for you—and even gym-management platforms that answer your questions in plain English instead of dashboards.Augmentation vs. replacement: A brief look at how AI can supercharge a mentor’s impact (placeholder segment).Four flavors of AI: Learning models, classic bots, action-taking agents, and persona-driven “Genies.”Our live bots: Meet GrowBot and MentorBot—how they’re trained, why they don’t “learn” over time, and how they stay focused on your curriculum.Introducing Two-Brain Genies:Role-play Genies for mentor training (already live)Leadership Coach Genie for our Tinker program (in production)Future brainstorm Genies: Client Genie, Mentor Genie—and even a Gym Genie to run challenges and drive engagement.Finally, we wrap up with why AI should ride alongside mentors like Aladdin’s Genie—always powerful, never the hero. Tune in and see how to make AI your greatest mentorship ally.

✅ Why We're Making This ChangeTo create faster ROI for gym owners by accelerating early wins.To add clarity and structure to mentorship, especially in the early stages.To ensure consistency across all mentors and clients using a step-by-step system.To increase client engagement and reduce “ghosting” or stalled progress.To equip mentors and staff with tools and scripts that remove guesswork and increase impact.🧭 How It Will Work for ClientsClients get clear checklists (Stage 1 and Stage 2) to guide their progress.Frequent touchpoints: 1:1 calls, Golden Hour group calls, and clear project assignments.Stage 1 focuses on time management, OnRamp, and sales skills.Stage 2 shifts to systems building, metrics tracking, and retention strategies.Stage advancement is earned, not automatic—clients must complete key tasks first.👥 How It Will Work for StaffMentors use coaching templates and structured scripts for each call (Welcome, Coaching, Ascension).Golden Hour calls support momentum and reduce reliance on 1:1 calls for basic troubleshooting.Coaching calls are shorter and more focused (20 mins with clear next steps).Mentors are trained to hold clients accountable with kindness and clarity.Staff focus is on speed, simplicity, and structured guidance, not over-customization.

In today’s episode, we’re diving into Golden Hour Coaching calls and Office Hours—two key elements of our evolving coaching model. These calls are designed to help clients take actionable steps quickly, with high-frequency support to keep them moving forward.We’ll explore:The difference between mentorship and coaching and how these calls fit into the bigger picture of faster client success.The Golden Hour Coaching calls for Stage 1/2 (First Steps) and Growth Phase (Stage 3) clients, focusing on one step at a time to help them implement the Two-Brain model.The role of Office Hours, which feature subject-matter experts and cover specific topics like sales, marketing, and project planning.Why group coaching is an essential tool for speeding up results, and how mentors can leverage these calls to support their clients.Learn how group coaching can complement 1:1 mentorship and accelerate your clients' journey to success.

In this episode, we explore the concept of frequency vs. depth in coaching and how mentors can maximize their time with clients based on their client avatar. The way you spend your one hour per month with each client should vary depending on their ability to execute and take action.Key takeaways include:Green Avatars: High achievers who can handle larger, deeper tasks. Focus on big projects like creating a staff playbook or designing a marketing campaign.Yellow Avatars: Clients who need frequent, smaller steps and more accountability. Keep the tasks simple and provide regular check-ins to maintain momentum.Red Avatars: Clients who need small steps and emotional support. Break tasks down further, address their fears, and help them take action one step at a time.We also introduce the Golden Hour coaching calls as a valuable resource to support yellow and red clients who need more frequent touchpoints. These calls provide unlimited business coaching and can help clients get unstuck and make progress between 1:1 sessions.This episode will help you understand how to tailor your approach to each client’s needs and deliver effective coaching that speeds up results.

🎧 Intro: A Quick RecapIn our last episode, I introduced the new Help First Referral Program:→ Send someone to www.twobrainreferrals.com→ They get $300 off. You get $300.This isn’t about sales. It’s about filtering in the right people—those ready for mentorship.We’re near capacity. Every seat around the TBB campfire matters.Today: how to recognize and attract the right gym owners into the tribe using the Help First philosophy.🔟 Top 10 Tactics for Referring the Right Gym Owners1. Answer Questions in Niche Gym GroupsGOU, PushPress Community, SugarWOD Affiliate group, etc.Search posts using keywords like “need more leads,” “how to price,” etc.Add helpful value, then DM: “Happy to hop on a call if you want to talk more.”2. Start Weekly ‘Office Hours’ PostsExample: “I’m a long-time gym owner and TBB client. I open up ‘Office Hours’ on Thursdays—drop your questions below!”Builds trust and creates organic conversations.3. Use the ‘Help First’ DM StrategyFollow up publicly helpful posts with:→ “I’ve been there—want to hear what worked for me?”→ After chat: “Can I introduce you to Coop?”→ Start a group chat on Messenger or email Coop directly.4. Host Local Coffee Clubs or RoundtablesInvite 3–5 gym owners for breakfast and connection.Keep it informal: “What’s going well for you right now?”We’ll even cover the bill—just send the receipt.5. Speak or Share Resources at Affiliate EventsJoin virtual or in-person CFHQ roundtables.Offer tips, drop links, follow up with offers to help.6. Attend Local Competitions and Be VisibleWear the TBB shirt. Network. Listen.No pitch—just “What’s working at your gym lately?”7. Share TBB Content + Personal CommentaryRepost a blog or video and add your story:“This helped me raise ARM by $50/month. Here’s how…”8. Tell Your Own Story (Video or Post)Before → Turning Point → After.“Before mentorship I was stuck at 40 members...”End with: “DM me if this resonates.”9. Share Other Success StoriesWith permission, talk about other gyms who’ve grown through mentorship.Add your personal perspective: “I watched this gym 3x their revenue…”10. Use Free TBB Resources One-on-OnePick ONE blog, podcast, or PDF that fits their current struggle.Example: “This guide helped me hire my first coach.”🧠 Wrap-Up:Help First works. We don’t need to sell.Just be visible, be helpful, and make the connection.When someone’s ready, send them to twobrainreferrals.com.

Mentors—you're already out there leading, helping, speaking, and showing up. Now there's a way to get rewarded when someone says, "I want to work with you!"We’re launching a referral program to bring more of the RIGHT gyms into the Two-Brain community—the ones who are ready, engaged, and excited for mentorship.🎯 Why we're doing this:We’re near our cap, and every seat at the Two-Brain campfire matters. We want to work with gyms that are coachable, proactive, and committed. Instead of spending more on ads, we’d rather reward YOU—and help THEM get started faster.💰 How it works:Go to www.twobrainreferrals.comFill out the form with the gym’s info or send them the link (make sure they name you as the referrer!)When they join Two-Brain:They get $300 off (their first week free)You get a $300 bonus🧠 This is already working:Future mentor candidates are doing this to qualify for training—and the quality of gyms coming in is outstanding.👥 Next up:I’ll share tips to help you spot the right-fit gyms for the Two-Brain tribe. The best people are already listening to you—let’s make sure they get the invite.#HelpFirst #TwoBrainTribe #ReferralProgram

In this episode, we break down the right time to raise rates and how to support gym owners through the process. Raising rates is often a tough decision for gym owners, but it’s crucial for business growth. As mentors, it's our job to guide them through the step-by-step process, ensuring they make the change with minimal risk and maximum benefit.Key topics covered:When to raise rates: If it's been more than 2 years, if rates are below industry standards, or if there are outdated packages or discounts, it might be time to increase rates.Red flags to look for: High churn rate, too many service options, and clients on long-term contracts are just a few factors to consider before advising a rate increase.Alternatives to raising rates: Switch to biweekly billing, pass on credit card fees, or remove old discounts as ways to boost revenue without a rate increase.The 15% rule: How to raise rates gradually to avoid alienating clients.This episode will help you support gym owners through the difficult but necessary process of raising rates, ensuring they make the right changes with confidence.

In today’s episode, we discuss how clarity creates confidence for your clients. As mentors, it’s tempting to provide multiple options or a detailed step-by-step plan to show off our expertise, but this complexity often overwhelms clients and diminishes their confidence.Instead, the key to success is to simplify and give clients one clear action step at a time. This approach helps them stay focused, take action, and build momentum without getting paralyzed by too many choices.We break down how to tailor your coaching approach for each client avatar:Green avatars can handle larger tasks, like writing a staff playbook.Yellow avatars need smaller, manageable steps, such as writing an opening SOP.Buddy avatars thrive with relational tasks like connecting clients.Stalled avatars need clear, achievable actions to help them get unstuck.Listen in for actionable insights on how you can create clarity in your coaching and help clients gain the confidence they need to succeed.

In today’s episode, we walk through the new Mentor Toolkit in the TwoBrain app, designed to help you find what you need faster and make your mentoring experience more efficient. Just like the Growth and Tinker toolkits, the Mentor Toolkit is a quick-access library full of resources to support your work as a mentor and coach.Key Points Covered:Mentor Toolkit Overview:A quick-access library of mentoring and coaching tools designed to make your job easier and faster.Log in to the TwoBrain app to find the Mentor Toolkit on the homepage.If you can’t see it, log out and log back in after any app update.MentorBot: Your Research Assistant:Located at the bottom right of the app.Ask any question, and the MentorBot provides quick, helpful answers to save you time.Toolkit Sections:Getting Clients Results: Tools and strategies for making the right prescription, coaching clients to take action, and using specific tactics optimally.Finding Information: Easily find answers with the “How to Find Anything TBB” resource and access Mentor Self-Care tips.Working for TwoBrain: Policies and processes for delivering mentorship, including guidance on invoicing, handling client transitions, and more.Actionable Insights:Use the MentorBot before client calls to get answers quickly.Explore the Mentor Toolkit for client coaching tools, resources, and best practices that will make your job easier and more efficient.The Mentor Toolkit is built to make finding the right resources fast, so you can focus on what you do best: mentoring clients and helping them achieve their goals.

In today’s episode, we answer a question that comes up often in our mentorship program: How long should a client stay in Two-Brain? The short answer is: until they’ve hit their NOB goal in the Growth phase or their Net Worth goal in the Tinker phase. But this wasn’t always the case, and we’ve evolved the way we think about this to focus on execution speed, not just retention.We used to focus on keeping clients for as long as possible, but now we know that faster execution equals faster results. Our job as coaches is not to change the curriculum, but to help clients speed up their execution so they can achieve their goals quickly and move on to the next challenge.In this episode, I walk you through:Why the focus has shifted from retention to speed of executionThe clear goals clients should be working toward: NOB in Growth and Net Worth in TinkerHow to help clients break down their big goals into actionable tasks and stay focused on executionWhy the goal isn’t just to keep clients as long as possible—it’s about getting them the results they want faster

In today’s podcast, I’ll walk you through the concept of Behavioral Coaching and how it can help your clients achieve their goals by breaking down big tasks into small, actionable behaviors. Instead of focusing solely on the end goal, Behavioral Coaching helps clients focus on the how—the specific daily actions that will get them where they want to go.Behavioral Coaching is all about identifying the actions clients need to take to reach their goals and breaking them down into manageable steps. For example, if a client’s goal is to increase membership by 20% in six months, here are the behaviors that will help them get there:Set up a weekly email campaign to prospects.Post a testimonial video every week on social media.Host a “Bring a Friend Day” to generate new leads.We break these tasks down even further to make them easy to execute and hold clients accountable by setting clear deadlines and tracking progress.Another example: If a client wants to improve retention by 10%, the behaviors might look like:Schedule 5 goal review sessions with clients each week.Introduce a client check-in system via email or app.Share client success stories in monthly newsletters.Behavioral Coaching isn’t just about setting the big goals; it’s about guiding clients through the small, consistent actions that add up to long-term success. And when clients face obstacles, we help them overcome them by asking:“What’s the smallest possible step you can take today toward your goal?”“Which task will move you forward the most today?”In today’s episode, I also dive into how to overcome common resistance clients may have to this approach, like feeling overwhelmed or distracted. The key is to help them stay focused, break things down even more if needed, and celebrate small wins along the way.Start applying Behavioral Coaching today—help your clients break down their goals, track their progress, and hold them accountable. By focusing on small steps, you’ll make sure your clients stay on track and reach their goals faster.

Coach in residenceWhat do the best teams in the world have in common?They don’t play to the level of hte opposition. They play to the level of the ideal.Our ideal state is to get every client to their NOB goal. Nobody else in the coaching business even tracks results, let alone optimizing everything they do to get clients better results. We could probably get away with just selling advice and meetings. In the beginning, that’s what we were selling. But not anymore. Now we’re selling results.The best way to get results is to have a clear outcome (NOB), and to have 1:1 mentorship and coaching. When we started, we only talked about mentorship. But mentorship and coaching are different.Mentorship is strategicCoaching is actioned 20% of our job, these days, is mentorship - annual plan etc80% is coaching - getting people to do the work.To make us even better, I’m investing in a Coach in Residence Program.This will be led by the team from Ethical Scaling. They’ll host 12 calls - biweekly for 6 weeks - starting in April.We’ll start each call with a topic and short lesson, but then - in true coaching form - we’ll work through examples from your clients. ArchetypesBuy InTransformation ProcessThe Scarcity TrapDifficult ConversationsLessons Learned and RecapWe’ll run these on the schedule we’ve been using (Thursdays, mostly) and you’ll get a calendar invite. The goal is to improve speed to outcome and retention rate. We improve our training for future mentors with call recordings and lessons from the mentor-in-residence. And those of you doing mentorship for non-gyms outside of TBB will dramatically improve your service there too.Look, TBB mentors are not doing anything ‘wrong’. We’r the best in the world by a huge margin. But we don’t compare ourselves to the average. We don’t play down to their level. We play up - and level up - to the ideal. This is a big investment with no clear ROI for me, except the most important one and the one that I’ll keep investing in - getting clients better results faster. Hope to see you on each call.

In today’s quickcast, I address a critical issue that’s leading to burnout among our mentor team—constant communication with clients. Whether it’s through text, Facebook Messenger, or email, managing multiple channels of communication can quickly become overwhelming, leaving mentors feeling buried and sometimes unresponsive.Once you start communicating with a client on a certain platform, it can be hard to stop. If you reply on Facebook Messenger, for example, clients begin to expect that same level of availability. But this is unsustainable, and it leads to burnout.In this episode, I’ll walk you through how to set clear communication expectations with your clients, so you’re no longer managing multiple platforms, and you can protect your personal time.Here’s what you need to do:Provide clients with your @twobrainbusiness.com email address from the first call.Set the expectation for a 24-hour response time.Direct all communications back to email—and never give out your personal phone number.The benefits of this shift are clear:It filters your communications, reducing the overwhelming volume of messages across different platforms.It creates a record of all client communication, protecting both you and your clients.It safeguards your time and ensures you’re able to manage your workload without constant interruptions.This episode is all about maintaining professional boundaries, preventing burnout, and staying focused on delivering value to our clients without sacrificing your well-being.Take action today: Set the right expectations with your clients and protect your time.

"Introducing the 6-Week Sprint: A New Group Coaching Test"“Today, I’m going to walk you through an exciting new experiment we’re running for the next six weeks—our 6-week sprint. This is a new approach to group coaching that focuses on improving NOB attainment and speed to NOB for our yellow avatar clients. We’ve learned a lot from previous tests, and I’m excited to share how we’re adapting and what this means for you as mentors.”“In September, we tested small-group mentorship with five cohorts. Unfortunately, the results were inconsistent, and while some groups saw improvement, others went backward. In some cases, the clients didn’t pair well, or I selected the wrong clients. The truth is, the green clients—those already succeeding—did well in a group setting, but the yellow clients didn’t improve at the speed we hoped. So, we’re pivoting.”"Our goal now is to support yellow avatar clients more effectively—especially in terms of taking action and improving their NOB, while also providing value to all our clients during this test phase.""Why the Group Coaching Test is Changing"“We’ve learned that the green clients—those who are already doing well—don’t need a change in their model. They thrive with the current 1:1 mentorship. But yellow avatars need something different: more touchpoints and more accountability. The goal is to increase speed to NOB for these clients, and that’s where the group coaching model comes in.”“In our previous test, we found that small-group coaching helped some clients, but it didn’t necessarily lead to better results. This time, we’re refining the test: no more small-group mentorship. Instead, we’re providing more frequent Office Hours to give yellow avatars more chances for touchpoints and coaching."“This is a 6-week sprint that will be a bonus for clients—not a permanent change. The goal is to help yellow avatars take action, reduce mentor-client communication issues, and provide more value.”"What We’re Testing: New Office Hours" “Starting March 17, we’ll run three new Office Hours every week to give clients more access to us and provide more support in real-time. We’re making sure the schedule fits across time zones: one for Europe, one for Australia, and one for North America. Plus, we’ll continue our rotating Office Hours on Wednesdays.”Structure of Office Hours:Q&A Coaching: A space for clients to ask questions, identify their Next Best Step, and receive coaching.Work Period: Clients can use the time to work through tasks with guidance available.Burning Fires: A space to address urgent challenges and get quick feedback.Goals for the Test:Action from Yellow Avatars: We’ll track attendance and compare it with their NOB to see if these extra touchpoints help them take more action.Reduced Messages to Mentors: This will help alleviate some of the rising concerns around mentor-client communication. Never give out your cell number; clients should be directed to Office Hours or email for communication.Rate Leveling: Some clients have been left behind on growth rates. This sprint will provide a way for them to catch up and benefit from more frequent coaching.Coaching and Accountability: Providing more frequent touchpoints to help yellow avatars gain the accountability they need to move forward. "How This Will Affect You as...

Quickcast: "The Power of Proven Tools: Why Following the Toolkit Drives Predictable Success"   **Introduction (3–5 minutes):**    “You’ve heard it a hundred times: 'There's more than one way to skin a cat.' But in our mentorship practice, there’s only one way to drive predictable, repeatable success—and that’s by following the proven strategies in our toolkit.”    “We’ve refined our approach through trial and error, through working with nearly 3000 gyms. That’s a lot of data. The methods we recommend aren’t random—they’re the product of years of testing and experience.”    "While new ideas can be exciting, our job as mentors is not to offer something different or untested to our clients. It’s to help them apply what’s already been proven to work in a way that drives predictable outcomes."The Myth of the Perfect Idea “It’s tempting to share the latest 'shiny object' you heard about in the Tinker program, on outside podcasts, or in books. But those ideas are unproven, and often just variations on strategies that aren’t fully tested or proven in the real world.**Example Story 1:** Bring a Friend *Day* vs. Bring a Friend *Week*.     - “We’ve found that ‘Bring a Friend Day’ works because it creates urgency, limits the time frame, and focuses the gym owner on conversion. A week just creates delays, more work, and a larger window for losing potential leads. A day does what a week doesn’t—it converts faster.”   - **Example Story 2:** Rate Increase Letters.     - “The rate increase letter we provide in the Growth Toolkit is the result of years of feedback, refinement, and testing. It’s not about creating your own version. While a mentor’s individual letter might seem like a good idea, it’s not backed by the same level of data. It’s a roll of the dice.” “There are many versions of pretty good but only one version of excellence.”    **Part 2: "Why New Ideas Aren’t Always Better" (12 minutes)** “When you’re working with clients in the Growth or Stage 1 phases, they need predictability. They need tools that are proven to work, not variations of ideas that haven’t been fully tested yet.”The Progression From Stage 1 to Growth.     - “In Stage 1, gym owners are just starting out, and they don’t have the bandwidth to experiment with new ideas. They need clear guidance, a step-by-step plan that’s been honed over years. Anything else just leads to more distractions.”     - **Picture your staff walking down a road toward a finish line. Every new thing you add is a step backward – they have to learn it, screw it up, and do it well before it becomes a step forward. You can’t eliminate these backward steps, but you should minimize them. The less you change, the faster they go. Novelty creates friction.”“Our job isn’t to reinvent the toolkit or come up with new ideas—it’s to deliver what’s already working even better.”"Delivering Consistency Over Innovation" (10 minutes)**“Our toolkit has already been refined, tested, and proven across hundreds and thousands of clients. It’s tempting to think that new or 'cutting-edge' ideas are the best solution, but our job is to apply what's in front of us with excellence.”Tinker Ideas vs. Proven Success.“The Tinker program is a laboratory for ideas—some of those ideas will make it into our toolkit, but only after rigorous testing. Until then, we need to stick with the processes that have been proven to drive results, not the unproven experiments.”“It’s not boring to follow proven strategies—it’s what gives our clients the results they expect.”   **Conclusion (3–5 minutes):** “As mentors, we don’t need

Quickcast: Coaching vs MentorshipIn this quickcast, I’ll explain the difference between coaching and mentorship, and why it matters for our approach as mentors.**Coaching** is about helping people execute a model or strategy with precision and skill. Coaches focus on **tactics**, removing roadblocks and obstacles, and ensuring the client is doing the right thing at the right time. A good coach can execute a proven strategy or model with **virtuosity**, ensuring clients make faster progress without wasting time.On the other hand, **mentorship** is about **strategic guidance** and **long-term planning**. Mentors help clients navigate the journey ahead, providing insights into broader concepts, building a path forward, and helping clients avoid common mistakes. While a mentor might help clients with high-level decisions, they don't get involved in every detail of execution. They focus on the **big picture**, helping clients avoid blind spots, and offering connections and resources to fill in the gaps.In our current model, we’re not in the mentorship business, we’re in the **coaching** business. Our job is to help gym owners **apply** the model we’ve developed to grow their gyms effectively. The toolkit we provide has been tested and refined through years of work, and it’s our job to **help clients follow it precisely**.That means, as mentors, we **don’t create new models** or **explore untested strategies**. Instead, we deliver the **proven, step-by-step actions** within our toolkit, and we help clients execute with **speed** and **precision**.**So, when a mentor comes across a new idea or strategy (like from Tinker, other podcasts, or books), they should be very cautious about introducing it to a client without evidence that it’s been tested and refined in the field.** For example, the “Bring a Friend Day” is a proven strategy that works. We don’t need to reinvent it—introducing a “Bring a Friend Week” may sound interesting, but there’s no evidence that it’s more effective. Instead, it just adds complexity.This is where we need to shift the focus: it’s not about introducing new ideas, it’s about helping clients execute **what already works** in a way that delivers consistent and predictable outcomes.Ultimately, the most important thing we can do as mentors is to **stop reinventing the wheel** and focus on refining and applying the model we’ve already established.Remember, **we are coaches, not mentors.** Our job is to help clients apply a proven model, **not invent new ones**. Stick to the toolkit, deliver it with precision, and get clients the results they’ve invested in.

In this episode of Help Best, I talk about learned helplessness—how it develops in mentorship relationships and how we can prevent it. When clients become overly dependent on their mentors for every step, they stop progressing independently. Our job as mentors isn't to do the work for them; it's to guide them in adopting the Simple Six model, helping them overcome internal barriers, and empowering them to sustain their own success.We speed up their adoption of the model by providing tools, instructions, and mentorship—not by solving every problem for them. Long-term success comes when clients can run and grow their gyms independently. Our role is to hold them accountable and coach them through essential habits, like focus, without creating a dependency on us.Ultimately, mentorship should help clients become self-sufficient entrepreneurs capable of scaling and thriving on their own terms. Learned helplessness occurs when we let them off the hook for responsibilities that build resilience and success.Hope this episode helps you reflect on your role as a mentor and inspires new ways to foster independence in your clients.

Podcast Summary: Turning Questions Around - Being the MirrorWelcome to Help Best, the weekly quickcast where I share skills and tactics to help our mentor team guide gym owner clients to success. In today’s episode, I’m talking about an incredibly powerful coaching tactic: turning the question around or being the mirror.I start with a personal story about a pivotal moment in my life. Ten years ago, I was considering a big move but felt unsure. A friend asked me a simple but profound question: "What could they say that would make you stay?" That question made me realize there was nothing that would keep me where I was. It gave me the clarity I needed to make a difficult decision. Fast forward to today, when I faced a similar question about staying on as CEO of my company. The same question rocked me again, prompting deep reflection.At a recent Strategic Coach meeting, I noticed that the coach never answered questions directly but instead turned questions around on the person asking. This technique—acting as a mirror—helps clients discover their own answers and make stronger, more confident decisions.In this episode, I explain how you can use this strategy in your mentorship calls. Often, the best mentors aren’t there to provide answers; they’re there to help clients uncover the truth they already know deep down. I share seven powerful questions you can use, each tied to specific challenges gym owners frequently face:"What would happen if you didn't make this change?"Example: Hesitating to increase prices despite low profitability."What would success look like if you solved this problem?"Example: Retaining clients after a short-term challenge ends."What is stopping you from taking action right now?"Example: Avoiding hiring because of fear of finding the right person."If you could wave a magic wand, what would be different in your business?"Example: Wanting more time to focus on strategy instead of operations."How would your future self thank you for making this decision today?"Example: Debating whether to introduce semi-private training."What do you know deep down that you're afraid to admit?"Example: Knowing a tough conversation with an underperforming staff member is needed."What is the smallest first step you can take right now?"Example: Overwhelmed by marketing but starting with scheduling one post.I close with a challenge for you: on your next mentorship call, test this mirroring strategy. Come prepared with a few of these questions and see how your client’s mindset shifts as they find their own answers.Being the mirror can change lives, and it can change businesses. Let's keep helping gym owners succeed, one powerful question at a time.

Summary:In this episode, I explain how the Two-Brain Avatar chart helps mentors identify and overcome behaviors that slow or accelerate a client's progress toward their Net Owner Benefit (NOB) goal. While the curriculum itself works for everyone given enough time, the timeline depends on how quickly a client does the work.I break down the key avatars—like the Eager, Buddy, and Cynic—and explain how each type requires different mentoring strategies. Great mentors don't change the curriculum; they adapt their approach to fit the client. This chart is our tool for speeding up client outcomes.If you want your clients to reach their goals faster, this episode is for you.

The Simple Six is the Two-Brain Business mentorship operating system.After a client has built the basics in Stage 1 and created their metrics dashboard in Stage 2, we use those metrics to determine their Next Best Step.https://vimeo.com/899043103/8f17186a69?share=copy Here are the steps:Look at their metrics and their targets in the Dashboard.Find their biggest gap (current metrics vs target)Scroll down the Toolkit to find a list of Projects to improve that metricChoose a Project to solve their problemBreak the Project down into Tasks (usually 3-4)Assign the Tasks in the Dashboard.These steps fit into the Growth Call template, right after you get them out of “story state” and focused on the present opportunities.

Podcast Summary: Lessons on Coaching from Dan Sullivan & Strategic CoachIn this episode, I share key lessons from Strategic Coach founder Dan Sullivan that will help mentors guide entrepreneurs toward greater success:Focus on Unique Ability: Help clients identify and amplify their greatest strengths while delegating or eliminating the rest.Measure Progress Backward, Not Forward: Shift focus from the future to celebrating past wins and growth (The Gap vs. The Gain).Prioritize Four Freedoms: Coach clients to make decisions that maximize freedom in time, money, relationships, and purpose.Simplify First, Then Multiply: Encourage clients to simplify their businesses by focusing on the 20% of actions driving 80% of results.Ask Transformational Questions: Use powerful questions to help clients clarify their vision and solve challenges, like:"What has to happen for you to feel happy about your progress?""What’s the biggest obstacle holding you back?""Who, not how, can solve this problem?"Create Repeatable Frameworks for Growth: Guide clients to develop predictable systems and routines for consistent progress and sustainability.👉 These principles align with our mission to help gym owners grow their businesses while achieving balance and freedom. Listen now for actionable tips you can apply with your clients today!

The first coaching business I ever owned was called FOCUS. The tshirts said, “The continued evolution of the species”.Evolution never ends. The human body - and the species - is constantly adapting to changes in our environment, our lifestyle and the demands we make of it.. Unfortunately, in many areas of the world, the species is actually devolving. We’re living longer, but we’re less healthy. Our lifespan is being increased by drugs and long-term bed care, but our healthspan is decreasing thanks to an overabundance of carbs and a shortage of movement. We’re living longer, but not better.For the first time in history, many of my generation will have shorter, sicker lives than their parents did. I want to fix this problem. The people who are best suited to turn the tide are fitness coaches.But just as our clients are always evolving, the field of fitness must evolve. When I started coaching fitness back in 1998, no one had a cell phone. Few people had personal trainers. There was no CrossFit. No gyms had bumper plates. No one did any biometrics tracking and nobody really thought about healthspan.My parents’ generation was told to eat low-fat meals and go jogging. But most of them grew up without excess, and didn’t really need a gym, let alone a trainer. Look at television from the 70s and 80s: the “fat people” were barely even chubby.My grandparents wouldn’t understand what I did or how anyone could make a living at it.But my kids’ generation sees fitness as a necessity. In only 50 years, we’ve gone from “only weirdos join a gym” to “everyone needs to work out at least 4x/week…and it’s probably not enough.”The need for change is larger than ever. And we do have new tools: new science to point us toward what’s best. New technology to measure our food and our sleep and our fitness, and tell us whether we’re improving - or even help us to improve. New societal acceptance and awareness of the pursuit of fitness. If you aren’t working out, you know someone who is. New working conditions, especially post-Covid, create more time for exercise, meditation, and proper grocery shopping. New supplements are everywhere (and many of them are even helpful). HRT and available and, for some people, the new GLP drugs will actually encourage them to change. We even understand the science of change better. We know that people who don’t exercise aren’t necessarily lazy; that nobody actually has a “sweet tooth”, and that we can change our bodies by changing our habits.WHo’s evolving the field of fitness? Who’s taking all of these tools and making them useful on the front lines of fitness: in the gyms, studios and clubs?There’s a gap between the lab and the university and the researchers, and the coaches actually applying the knowledge to change lives. Who’s bridging that gap?Is it the certifying bodies? No.Is it the universities? No.Is it the licensing boards for dietitians and therapists? No.We’re going to do it.The purpose of this podcast is to introduce you to new research, technology, and methods that will get your clients results. But it’s not enough for me to say “here’s why training in Zone 2 matters” - we’re going to tell you how to use it in your coaching practice to get clients results. It’s cool to talk about HRV and watch your clients wear a Whoop…but how do you use that to change their program, or even talk about it with them? We’re going to give you that.I’m really into this stuff and have been for over 30 years. But the evolution of the industry can’t pass through me - I’m too slow. So I’ve invited some mentors from Two-Brian, successful gym owners and coaches, to help me out.Kenny MarkwardtBrian BottChris

Show Notes: "What Does the Client Have to Lose?"When it comes to motivating gym owners, we often focus on what they stand to gain by doing the work. We paint the picture of a thriving gym, loyal staff, and financial freedom—but sometimes, that vision isn’t enough to get them moving. Here’s the truth: humans are wired to fear loss more than they hope for gain.In this episode, we’re flipping the script. Instead of asking, “What will the client gain by doing this work?” we’ll explore the powerful question, “What does the client have to lose if they don’t?”We’ll break it down into three key areas where clients stand to lose the most:Staff Retention and PayWhat happens if you don’t raise your rates? Will your best coach leave because they can’t make ends meet? Imagine the time, stress, and financial burden of replacing them.Business SustainabilityWhat happens if you keep running your gym the way you’ve been? Is the current approach sustainable? Where will your gym be in a year—or three—if nothing changes?Client ExperienceWhat happens if you don’t improve your service? Will your clients start leaving because they’re not seeing results or feeling valued? How will that impact your gym’s reputation and revenue?In this episode, we introduce the concept of negative motivation—using the fear of loss as a tool to drive action. You’ll learn how to ask the right questions to help clients visualize the real cost of inaction. Sometimes, helping a client see the consequences of staying stuck is the nudge they need to move forward.Takeaways:Humans fear loss more than they hope for gain. Use this to your advantage.Ask clients hard questions about what’s at stake if they don’t act.Help them visualize the real cost of inaction—on their staff, business, and clients.This is about empowering clients to take action—not scaring them, but giving them a clear, honest perspective. The right question could make all the difference.

0:00: Hey team, so this week on the Health Best podcast,, I'm going to talk about how fixing the owner can fix the business and how we move avatars from red to yellow to green. 0:14: And understanding that someone's nature in, let's say, one of the yellow avatars can still hang around even if they're doing all the things and all the actions that a green avatar can do. 0:28: So, if you ever feel like your mentees or clients are making progress, but they still slip back into old habits, it's not so much failure, it's part of the process. 0:37: So, We just want to talk about,, you know, just because someone is green, it doesn't doesn't mean that, you know, it's set and forget, and that the work is done. 0:47: And so, we need to figure out how to consistently move mentees from those red and yellow to green avatars. 0:56: And then, why even that green avatars can sometimes swerve and how we can manage those things. 1:02: And then looking at mentorship as one big habits-based challenge. 1:09: So, we all know green avatars are those, you know, dialed, eager and classic avatars, where the client is focused, they're consistent, and they're making progress. 1:17: And we know that the yellow flat and stalled avatars, the client is moving a little bit, but they lack direction or confidence, and they're stuck in cycles of inconsistency. 1:29: And then that red avatar where, you know, the person's overwhelmed, they're resistant to change, and they're sabotaging their own progress. 1:36: So, it's just important to remember that even when a mentee gets to the green level, they can still maintain some of those old habits, some of those right side habits,, they can linger around. 1:49: So, we cannot change who someone is quickly. 1:53: And it's important to realize that. 1:54: So real change happens through the mintes consistent action and guidance. 1:59: So, mentorship is a lot like fitness, so results are step by step, brick by brick. 2:04: It's not about one-time fixes or, you know, repeating poor habits. 2:10: It's about making sure that we can stack good habits on top of more good habits. 2:15: So, if we take the example of the recent Golden hour challenge, you know, it's just with higher accountability, more frequent course correction for the mentee, and some deeper reflection on their habits. 2:27: So, we often say, fix the owner, fix the business. 2:30: And it really is true that if the owner changes, the business will follow suit, and it's more to do with the mindset shift that happens over months and years in that mentee that actually gets the business moving forward. 2:42: So what we're really looking to do is rewire the Minte thought process and strip away those self-sabotaging tendencies they've carried around, probably their whole lives. 2:50: So, going from red to yellow,, starting with those things like small wins, simple, clear priorities, and building trust, and then going from yellow to green is, you know, making sure that we're tying things back to their goals, and it's something personal, and that we're holding them accountable, and then celebrating their wins. 3:11: So, that's absolutely huge that we can do that, but we need to realize that it's not linear, it's not a linear process. 3:16: Someone could go from red to green. 3:19: And the thing to realize is that those red tendencies can hang around. 3:23: So, what does it look like if a client is green? 3:26: So they're taking action, but they still have some of those swerving tendencies. 3:30: So they might look dialed in, but they overcommit, they procrastinate, and they bounce between ideas. 3:36: It's not really aggression, it's more residue from their previous avatar, and I think that hangs around in everybody. 3:44: Why it happens...

In this episode, we tackle a common challenge for mentors: navigating conversations when clients bring up personal struggles that take the focus off their business. You'll learn how to acknowledge their feelings empathetically, pivot the conversation back to actionable business strategies, and use simple phrases to refocus on what you can control. By staying in your role as a business mentor, you’ll help clients achieve the results they need while still showing care and support.How to Pivot the Conversation (2-3 minutes)Use Future-Focused Questions:"What’s one thing we can work on today to help you feel more in control?""How can we make sure your business feels like a source of stability while you’re dealing with this?"Redirect to Actionable Steps:"Let’s focus on something we can change right now—what’s the top priority in your business today?""I know this is a tough time, but let’s make sure your business is supporting you. Where do you feel stuck right now?"Short Phrases for Refocusing (1-2 minutes)Share these go-to lines:"I can see how much this is affecting you. Let’s focus on making your business as strong as possible so it can support you through this.""That’s really tough. Let’s make sure we’re taking steps today to give you peace of mind on the business side.""I can’t imagine how hard that is, but let’s focus on what we can control right now in your business."

Hey everyone, welcome to this quick cast. Today I want to talk about something that's not often said out loud, but I think it's very powerful when we are on our mentee calls and our goal is to deliver results, and that is that as business mentors, our role is not to be liked, is to help our clients get results, and that sometimes means having tough, honest conversations, just like in our business, our role is not to be liked by everyone, by our clients, but to make the best decisions that serve our business and our team and as business mentors, we wear a very specific hat. We are there to guide, challenge and help our clients succeed, but our value isn't measured in how much people like like us. It's measured by the results that we help them achieve. And in fact, there is this dialog I always have running in the back of my mind when I'm on mentee calls and I'm about to say something challenging or direct, and it goes something like this, my role here isn't to be their friend or to sugar coat things, to hold them accountable to their goals and deliver results. If they want a friend, that's fine, but mentorship, that's a different thing, and I think that it's also like important to nurture our relationships outside of our businesses and outside of our roles as mentors, so that we don't have this craving to be liked in every aspect of our life, because it's unrealistic. So I think that one last thing that I want to give you this week is the difference between being kind and being nice. Being nice often looks like telling people what they want to hear. It feels good in the moment, but it doesn't move the needle. And being kind, on the other hand, means telling people what they need to hear, even if it's uncomfortable, it means framing back, framing back what I told you, framing feedback in a way that's constructive, but it's not sugar coated. It's direct. Think of it as think of being kind versus being nice. This way being kind is about serving their growth, not their ego. So how do we actually navigate those situations when we need to have hard conversations? Or how do I do it first I check in with myself and remind myself my role here is to help them grow, even if it feels uncomfortable and it's okay to feel uncomfortable. It's a normal human emotion. It's okay to have the urge of being liked, also very human. And then I just tell myself, how human of me to want to be liked, but I still want to do the right thing for the role that I'm here to do and to execute. Then I try to approach the conversation with empathy but clarity. I acknowledge their effort or progress, but then pivot, pivot to the heart through its so. So for example, I see that you are working hard on delivering these client classes, but these current strategies isn't getting closer to your goal. I had a similar conversation with a gym from the UK that weren't growing because they didn't want to let go of group coaching. They were charging very little money for it, and they were complaining that they don't have the time energy resources to offer more PT, more semi private training, and then we had to have this conversation of, why are they basing their decisions based on fear, not on what they said they wanted to do? And the hard word is that they're sticking to the wrong thing. And so this way, I hope at least I show them that I care about them, but I'm also focused on what they said that they want to achieve. And so results matter more than being liked. And it doesn't mean that we can't build great relationships with our clients, but it's important to remember that the safety of being liked or making friends is something we save for other roles in our life, like our family, our personal relationships or our social circle, and in mentorship, our role is to be the guide people need, not the friend they want, because the truth...

Today's Help Best episode is from James Engesser.He really gets the principle of Golden Hour: every day, do one thing to grow your business. Some of those things are marketing reps that are repeated daily. And some are Projects, that get worked on until they're done - even if they take multiple days.In this Quickcast, James shares how he assigns Projects based on the Eisenhower matrix. To watch the video, click here: https://www.loom.com/share/918854fe07f1443ca1e0e4f25c1abc82?sid=a648b43e-b6cb-44f2-809e-ef6b9498f43aTranscript:Client Growth Strategy AudioSpeaker 1 adapted the "golden hour" concept for a client feeling overwhelmed by her growing gym business. They created an individualized program using a two-step process: a "hidden time worksheet" to track daily activities and an Eisenhower matrix to prioritize tasks. The matrix helped the client focus on urgent and important tasks, delegate non-critical but urgent tasks, and eliminate unnecessary activities. Key actions included hiring a CPA for bookkeeping, defining SOPs for gym tasks, and ensuring the client's coach focused on certification studies. This personalized approach aimed to help the client manage her workload more effectively.Transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/FvnqdOP_YdbAemqTqrAySKDOZOg?view=transcriptAction Items[ ] Hire a CPA to handle the client's bookkeeping on a weekly and monthly basis.[ ] Create an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) to delegate the gym's programming to the coach Ben.[ ] Stop spending time helping the coach Amanda study for her certification, and have her focus on passing it herself.

Chris Cooper introduces a new AI-powered tool called Mentorbot, designed to help users, particularly business clients, find answers to their questions quickly and efficiently. The Mentorbot is currently in a trial phase for 1,000 customers, with plans to expand its capabilities. The bot is programmed with information from the growth toolkit and is intended to complement, not replace, human mentors. It aims to assist clients in finding answers to common questions, improving their ability to self-serve, and ensuring they can get help even when mentors are unavailable. The bot's responses can be rated and refined, and it can also be used to find information from public resources like blog posts and podcasts.

WHAT QUALIFIES AS A ‘GOOD’ GOAL FOR NOB?1. It’s achievable in about 2 years from today2. It’s challenging enough to require hard work and focus (it won’t just happen on its own)3. It will make a meaningful difference in the life of their family (at least 25% improvement, or from losing money to making money, etc.)4. It’s approved in advance. If the mentor does not get the goal approved in advance no incentive will be provided as it is not considered an “approved” goal.  

See the Project Plan here: https://members.twobrainbusiness.com/courses/growth-toolkit-2024/lessons/how-can-i-make-a-plan-for-the-future/topic/your-annual-plan-2/

If a Growth stage client is a "yellow" avatar (flat, stalled, lost or swerving) the Golden Hour Challenge might help. Listen to hear how it will work for them!

0:01: My name is Storm Strout and I'm a two brain business mentor in a recent conversation with Chris. 0:07: He pointed out the statistic that 64% of my current clients have either met their annual plan net owner benefit goal or they are on pace to achieving their net owner benefit goal. 0:19: Chris highlighted the fact that that statistic is about two X R company average. 0:24: So naturally, his follow up question was, what are you doing with your clients that is resulting in these outcomes for them? 0:33: The simple answer to that question is that the client's net owner benefit goal is at the forefront at all times, the clients that owner benefit goal is the anchor of every conversation, every call, every email, all correspondence between our calls. 0:55: The N O B goal is referenced during celebration of bright spots. 0:59: While we're trying to overcome obstacles, the client is going through when they bring ideas to the table, when they're swerving when they're stuck. 1:06: A O B is always the foundation and the anchor to our conversations. 1:11: Let's talk about what this looks like in practice. 1:14: We'll start with an easy one from a mentor standpoint when the client comes on a call and they're elated storm. 1:23: I am so excited. 1:25: I just made the largest sale of my career $1200 front end revenue. 1:31: My first response is going to be Bethany. 1:34: I am so happy for you. 1:37: This moves the needle on your primary goal of 100 K net owner benefit today. 1:44: Congratulations. 1:47: Maybe better yet. 1:49: I'll ask Bethany a question. 1:51: Oh, my goodness, Bethany. 1:52: Congratulations. 1:53: I'm so happy for you. 1:55: How much money of this front end revenue are you prepared to carve out today to contribute to your monthly net owner benefit? 2:05: And remember based on the targets that we set for your annual plan, it's probably gonna be around 30% and let Bethany highlight the fact that she gets to put X amount of dollars towards her net owner benefit for the month because of the sale that she made. 2:26: Always anchoring the moment back to the goal. 2:31: So let's talk about some more challenging moments in keeping the net owner benefit goal at the forefront. 2:38: Let's say a client brings a new bright idea to the call. 2:41: They want to put in a new recovery center in their gym and it's going to cost them several tens of thousands of dollars. 2:50: They want a fleet of saunas and a fleet of cold plunges and a bunch of other accessory items. 3:02: My very first question for the client is going to be one. 3:06: Can you remind me of your goal and sometimes they'll give you a softball. 3:13: Yes. 3:13: My goal was 100 K net benefit or fill in the number other times they'll tell you that they don't know or that they don't remember. 3:19: And together you'll just pull up the annual plan, share the screen and point out the fact that the pie in the sky is that benefit goal from there. 3:29: Your follow up question is, does this recovery center move you closer to or pull you further away from that N O B goal? 3:40: If the answer is no, they're the ones to say it. 3:44: If the answer is yes. 3:46: Now we get to map out a plan to bring that to life. 3:50: But the client is reminded why we're doing this thing and how it's going to help them achieve the actual goal. 4:00: I believe that by keeping the net loader benefit goal as the forefront of all the work that we do with our clients, it helped keep them centered, keep them grounded and keep them focused on the task at hand. 4:15: No matter how exciting, distracting, challenging or overwhelming the situation that they're in might be.

no CEUsJust a refreshYou should do Golden Hour challenge yourselfYou should look at your P&L - do the stage 2 projectAnnual plan will move to end of their first year eventually, but not yetTasks are called projectsNutrition simplification

Step 1: Perfect DayStep 2: Choose Client and ARM Goals on a P&LStep 3: Pick the Next Best Step (and bonus projects)

stuff on chalkup, stuff on LinkedIntalk to the smart kidsI think we need to make everyone smarter