What you need, Not what you want.

Yesterday I talked about The Longevity Game. Health is not a six-week challenge, and it is not a 21 day cleanse. It is not a 12-week bootcamp. However, this is what is being sold to you daily. Today I will discuss how we changed from Playing the short game to playing the longevity game.


Always getting what you want is extremely bad for you. The real world is not a candy store. When we behave as if it is, things turn out poorly.

In 2017 at Progression, we were always trying to change and give people what they wanted. We ran boot camps, 30-day nutrition challenges, Competitor classes, All kinds of things that we thought would help people on their health and fitness path.

What we found was we became a revolving door. People got some results, but the percentage that sustained these results was less than 5%.

We decided to double down on providing what we knew worked.

Here are six of the things we did:

People needed a high level of accountability to change their nutrition habits. It takes years to lose 100lbs and keep it off. We needed a program built to do just that. We have it now, and we have numerous success stories of real weight loss.

Throwing people into a group class and expecting them to thrive did not work. We required everyone who starts with us to attend four or more personal training sessions. That individual attention helped people understand what we do and got them ready to participate in a class safely and confidently.

We changed our programming. This one is always in flux. We are continually seeing how our active members are doing with their goals. Is our programming progressing them toward their goals? If not, we change it. Before this, our programming was our programming.

A goal setting focus was implemented in the staff. Goal setting takes many forms now at Progression. People’s goals change, and sometimes individuals need help figuring out what their goals are. We offer goal setting sessions to all our members.

Our sales process also changed. Before, we focused on selling people a certain number of days to attend class. “How many days do you want to come to the gym” became, “Based on your goals of gaining strength and wanting to lose 15 pounds of fat, we suggest four days a week and nutrition coaching.” Not everyone accepts what we offer, but we feel right telling them what we know they need, not just selling them what they want.

We are helping people find the right place for them. Not everyone is a fit for us. If we know a place that would work out better for them, we send them to that place. Sending someone to another gym doesn’t happen often, but it does happen.

Tomorrow I will talk about finding your just cause. The first step to goal setting.

Have a great day.