Everyone should have a coach.

Everyone.

I  got into coaching for a ton of different reasons. First and foremost, I love people and helping them achieve their goals.

I’m also super passionate about training myself, and I love taking what I learn and applying it to the human body.

But I’ve been on the other side of the coaching spectrum, too. I’ve had coaches in more areas of life than I can probably remember.

Whether we’re talking about training, business, or music, I’ve always been a believer that if I want to achieve a specific goal, or crank up my progress, then I need to get an expert in the game to help me out.

Whether you’ve ever had a coach up to this point in your life is irrelevant. Here are six reasons I firmly believe you should hire a coach to help make your life even more awesome than it probably already is.

Reason #1 – For Initial Guidance

Do you remember what it’s like to be a total newbie at something? I mean it’s no big deal, right?

Except it is. In fact, it’s one of the most awkward feelings ever!

I was lucky to be exposed to lots of sports as a kid, as well as strength training in my early teenage years. So I was on time to both those parties.

But in my adult life, two areas where I immediately knew I needed help were with my business, and learning to play the guitar.

In business, there’s no room for error. You don’t get do-overs, and while I was a very successful trainer I didn’t have the first clue about running a business.

So in my case, reaching out to guys like Alwyn Cosgrove, Pat Rigsby and Nick Berry was a no-brainer.

When it came to the guitar, the awkwardness was even more evident. I knew what I wanted my hands and fingers to do, but I felt like I had octopus-hands with fingers going everywhere, whether I wanted them to or not!

The nice thing about having a coach early-on is they help you build a foundation.

With training, they can teach you how to lift weights the right way. Or set-up a smart program.

For business, a coach can help you build systems, set-up marketing plans, and show you all the “business” stuff you probably never thought about when you were just training people.

The bottom line is, I preach on here all the time about building a solid foundation, and hiring a coach early-on in the process can be huge for getting you started on the right foot.

Reason #2 – To Focus on the Big Goal

An issue that I often see when it comes to training is that people want to achieve 25 different goals.

They want to be bigger, faster, stronger, more athletic, and get leaner to boot. Which is all fine and dandy, given enough time.

The unfortunate thing here is these people want to achieve all these goals at the same time!

A coach can help you find and focus on that one big goal. Whenever you get into something, it’s easy to miss the forest for the trees.

Again, if you have someone working like your beacon to guide you in the right direction, this is of huge value.

Beyond initially getting you focused, they can also help keep you focused going forward. It’s easy to be drawn to shiny objects along the way, especially if things aren’t going as well as expected.

Getting and keeping you focused on a goal is a critical role that a coach can help you with.

Reason #3 – To Separate the Wheat from the Chaff

The great thing about the Internet is that we have more information at our fingertips now than any time before.

But the bad thing about the Internet? We have more information at our fingertips now than any time before!

Many people whom I’ve coached or trained over the years started off by writing their own programs, or attempting to coach themselves, only to realize just how deep the rabbit hole really goes.

Just think about the training world. One camp preaches high-intensity training for fat loss, while others promote a more moderate approach.

Some guys swear you can’t get strong without training over 90%, and others like programs that are more submaximal and focus more on volume versus intensity.

And those are just two very random examples – we’re not even getting into the nitty-gritty details.

I mean, what happens if you have that post-workout shake within 19 minutes instead of 15????

You lose all your gainz, right?

This is where a coach can be invaluable.

It goes along with the point above, but there’s so much minutiae out there that is really only important 1% (or less) of the time.

A coach can help you focus on the big picture, while letting a lot of the random minutiae fall by the wayside.

Reason #4 – For Collaboration

When it comes to training and coaching, there’s something incredibly valuable about working with an athlete for an extended period of time.

There’s the obvious benefit of knowing them mentally, physically, and psychologically.

You know what cues work, their likes and dislikes, what motivates them, etc.

But it goes deeper than that.

With any athlete that I’ve trained for an extended period of time, we become a team. I’m not simply writing their program or telling them what to do. It becomes a give-and-take; a much more dynamic process.

Maybe they give me feedback based on how they’re feeling, or what they feel like they need in the program.

This feedback allows me to better understand them, and what their true needs may be.

Quite simply, open and honest communication opens the door for collaboration, which can takes everyone’s performance to the next level.

Reason #5 – For Trust and Support

When it comes to coaching, there’s definitely a need for the X’s and O’s, technical side of the equation.

I pride myself on constantly working at this aspect of my game. I feel like every set and every rep gets your client or athlete closer to (or farther away from) their goals.

But coaches aren’t robots. We’re not there to simply spit out cues and correct exercise technique.

And furthermore, we’re not just their to slap a program down and expect our clients to blindly follow it.

Clients and athletes need our support. Just like we aren’t robots, they aren’t either.

They’re human beings, and they’re not 100% “on” every day. There are days when training is not at the top of the priority list, and they need their coach to help support and nurture them.

There’s definitely a fine line here between someone that needs to get their life together outside of the gym, and someone who is simply having an off day. This is part of a coaches job, too – to understand what’s going on with their athletes behind the scenes.

But don’t be afraid to lend your trust, support and guidance to your athletes. Chances are, this is where your relationship will blossom the most.

Reason #6 – To Fast Track Your Progress

At the end of the day, I want to get the most out of life that I possibly can.

As Henry David Thoreau said, I want to “suck the marrow out of life.”

If you read my 2015 Goals post, you’ll see I’ve got my work cut out for me this year. I’ve got a ton of goals and things I want to achieve.

But that’s also why I’ve surrounded myself with great people – to help me achieve those goals.

If all the reasons above aren’t enough, a coach can help you fast track your progress.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not a big gambler. I don’t like games of random chance.

Instead, I want to stack the deck in my favor. And bringing on coaches to help guide me, support me, and fast track my progress are one way I can do this.

Summary and Homework

I’m convinced that hiring a coach is one of the best things you can do in life.

After all, you wouldn’t have read this far if you aren’t interested in taking your game to the next level. So here’s your homework:

Find the ONE GOAL you really want to achieve this year. It could be personal, professional, or anything that’s deeply important to you.

And if you really want to crank up the experience, I want you to envision what your life will be like once you achieve that goal.

Now that you’ve done that, I want you to seek out a coach to help you get there.

It might seem scary.

It might cost money.

But I can guarantee, that if you go out and achieve that goal, then a great 2015 will only be the start of bigger and better things to come in the future.

All the best

Mike

PS – If you have a training-related goal that I can help you with, please go here to learn more about my online training services.

(Lead photo courtesy of Ed Uthman)