2 May Instructor Newsletter

Thursday is here already and this week’s C2Go newsletter contains a whole host of new contributors and articles. I wanted to feature inspiring fitness role models who are all successful in their own individual niches. None of these exciting individuals have  followed anyone else’s game plan and have carved out a unique fitness career for themselves.

 

 

 

First up is my old pal Marvin Burton, who  is back with a vengeance  writing a weekly column here and working closely with me on the new PT C2GO, Fitness Pilates, Men on Mats Workouts and the new KSFL programmes that will be launching next week. It’s great to be working with Marv again and we have some interesting initiatives and ideas to help take you, your classes and your business into brand new territories. Marv brings a whole new spin on functional training within the group X environment. He has amazing ideas and vision and we are both excited about new projects we have in the pipeline.

Kim Ingleby is the entrepreneurial owner of Energise Performance, a super successful personal training and coaching business based in Bristol. Kim has a team of PT’s and a very successful career in training and  coaching major TV stars, but you won’t hear Kim boasting about it on social media, as she signs confidentiality agreements so people just don’t realise how successful and well connected she is in the celebrity and fitness media world. Kim is a true maverick who lives and breaths fitness. If you follow her on Facebook you will see her mountain biking, entering marathons and hiking up mountains on her day’s off. She is a truly inspiring fitness role model and business owner.

Many of you will know and remember Cee (Caroline) Oliver. Cee helped me develop the Teaching Teens workshops and she presented on the early Fitness Pilates courses before she became a world class body builder. Cee’s commitment to her sport and work ethic is second to none. She teaches classes in Nottingham, works full time as head of PE at a local school, is married with a 10 year old son and is a full time professional athlete. Blimey, that’s inspirational. More and more fit pros are getting into body building and Cee’s article illustrates how she has got where she is today. It’s a great read.

My newest contributor this week is Andrew Scott, a relative newcomer to the fitness area. A lover of all things freestyle, Andrew teaches packed community classes to numbers in excess 50 and he also works full time as an area Optician for Vision Express. Andrew writes about his take on teaching freestyle in the community and his plans to become a presenter.

Last week saw Kelly Reed-Banks do the impossible and present in Australia at the coveted FILEX convention. FILEX is the world’s biggest group X and Kelly taught sessions and displays. It is a huge honour to present at such an event and Kelly has written a piece about the whole Australian Vibe.

And of course your favourites Jayne and Andrew.

Please Tweet me your feedback on @Rachelholmes if you enjoyed the new articles.

The Big Me up Media Event
Yvonne Radley is hosting the first Big me Up Media Live Event in Nottingham on 15th June. She has a whole host of great speakers and topics on how you can get into the local and national media. Live events always leave you buzzing with great new content and ideas plus the networking with like minded Fitpros is priceless. To book Yvonnes event http://www.yvonneradleymedia.com/big-me-up-event/

Shortlist Magazine

I’m buzzing this morning as one of my articles on Breakfast has made into the Uber cool Shortlist Mens Magazine. The website has also featured the story and information on Kick Start Fat Loss so I’m  over the moon this morning http://www.shortlist.com/instant-improver/food/how-to-enjoy-a-healthy-breakfast.

Marvin Burton – Tip #1 Setting the tone

Welcome to my new column on the C2go newsletter. Back from the depths of the fitness world I am still here and kicking. Each week I am delivering my thunderbolt trade tip. I promise to keep it short, sweet and direct (just like me) and hopefully I won’t offend anybody and I certainly won’t be swearing, which leads me to my first trade tip….
Keep your business business and your personal life your personal life. Start a new email address that is professional and consistent to your company name. It’s off putting when taking a register before a fitness course and the email addresses read…. hotandsexy@yahoo or blonde bombshell@btinternet (I have made these up as examples)
Keep it simple and separate from your friends and family. It makes it easier when sending out database news or adverts. A smart choice of email provider would be something that synchronises with your phone so that you can update your contacts and calendar at the same time. Gmail being the most obvious.
If you haven’t noticed nobody writes letters anymore, so write your emails as letters, not as a text messages. Make them professional and add a signature in your settings.
Many thanks, Marvin Burton
www.marvinburtonfitness.com
www.instagram.com/marvinburton

Jayne Nicholls

It is not personal BUT….my projection for the next 5 years in Group X are the Les Mills will lose its dominance on studio timetables and its replacement will be club led programmes that have a pretty tight guideline for instructors to follow.
These kind of comments are getting harder and harder to make in fear of the massive backlash we get for disrespecting the passion that so many instructors hold for their classes. This is in no way a slur on LM instructors it is just a prediction that the market will move on, it has to.

I totally get that we love what we do and we put 100% into our classes whether it is self created or pre choreographed BUT making it a personal argument and a personal preference is a lose – lose scenario (trust me I know this from years of taking it very personally). At the end of the day the industry will change regardless of what the instructor thinks and feels as LM is not about us, it is a business operation and the deals are done at board room level.

My fear is that those who turn this into a personal battle will lose out and miss the opportunities that arise from change. If the operators keep it then I am wrong but if they lose it we all need to be prepared to ride the next wave. The big question to ask is this – with what you know now in 2013 would you prescribe the exercise that the LM programmes offer to your PT clients or would you train like that yourself? If the answer is no then there has to be a better way for you. With PT’s now taking both large and small group sessions using H.I.I.T, function and we have the CrossFit community steadily rising, I would hate to see them taking a strong hold on Group Exercise and eventually selling back to us the very product that we created.

Something to think about – MAKE A PLAN!

jayne@groupxtraining.com

KIm Ingleby

“Life has no limitations, except the ones you make” – Les Brown.

What a privilege to be asked to write in this newsletter. Rachel is one inspiring lady who I first saw present at Fitpro about 12 year’s ago.  I had the pleasure of spending time with her earlier this year on Phil Richards Metabolic Mind Course, and I can vouch that she really does practise what she teaches.

So I thought, what would be useful for Fitpro’s to read about from me?  I thought sharing my tips to develop your business and my best experiences with Energised might give you some ideas for your business. It’s Energised Performance’s 9th Birthday on 4th May and I have learned and am still learning a lot!

1.Be really clear on what you are aiming to achieve, your values, mission, type of clients and lifestyle you want to create with your business.
Be authentic, let go of comparisons, focus and be the very best version of YOU. This will always shine through, and combined with great knowledge and experience, people will relate to this. Do what you love, and love what you do.
2.Always have a coach or mentor to support, question and keep you accountable, it’s not that you don’t know what you are doing, it’s just that it gives you another perspective & expert advice. I always have 1or 2 to kick me!
3.Be consistent, progressive and clear with your plans, whilst still being flexible to opportunity.  Build a strong business base, with clear systems and processes so as your business grows, it flows easily

4.Build a Team and Community, people love to feel part of something, locally or globally, make them feel like they belong and anything is possible. Team Energised support each other in ways the Coach team never could and they are a strong, happy group of people.  We have celebration meals, events, branded clothing, charity fundraising and much more.

5.Write down your future ideas, training, and learning; create a vision board and then a timeline to make the goals things happen. This prevents overwhelm of ideas blocking productivity.  Remember time to work on, rather than just in your business.

6.Watch the figures and value what you offer, with a clear strategy for development.  For me earning money allows me to develop my business, empower more people to reach their goals, hopefully in time leave a legacy that makes a difference and have a brilliant, balanced life.  If you are not sure about the figures, get a good book keeper and accountant, this was my best investment. Always ask expert advice if you are unsure.

If you started in the industry because you love it, keep a boundary that is your time to train, do what you love, compete, race, explore new sports, have a training session from other experts. Whatever it may be, always keep your passion alive.
Keep it all in balance, have a clear boundaries for client time, personal time, family and friends.  It can be challenging, but it is essential to allow all of the above to happen. Remember, you are a role model for your company and services.

Ideas of things I have done that really worked:
Our Charity Events and Challenges – Energised has now raised over £32k for charity and this always gives us massive press coverage and brings in lots of new people, who may be scared to try fitness normally. We have done everything from a Black Tie Ball with Strictly Come Dancing to trekking across the Andes on a horse, to training over 1,000 women to do Race for Life.  Some are Team Energised events, and some are my ‘crazy’ challenges that hopefully inspire my clients, as they see me stretching my boundaries. I just put emails out there, call people directly and I am told my energy combined with the unusual idea has got us in contact with many celebrities, who I now train, success all round. Have courage, and be brave, trust me, this was not my comfort zone.

Developing Clear Training Systems that people can associate and relate too, so yes it cuts the market, but it makes it clear.  Gain the Edge is our Mental Strength Formula which gives athletes confidence and skills to overcome fears, to be their best at races.  Fit Inside Out is our complete VIP programme, working on the mind, body & soul for all sorts of people, including FitPro’s. Finally our Be Energised programme specialises in getting people to complete their first outdoor race, 5km Sprint Triathlon or charity adventure.  We also have an Energised Event Massage Team which brings in other professionals to work at Events, Live Gigs & Travel (welcome to join our database). What could you do to develop clear, unique systems? I know many people have amazing, exciting programmes which I totally admire.

. One of my clients asked me to present health and well being within in their company.  At first I was really apprehensive about this as public speaking was the last thing I wanted to do. However, I really enjoyed it and 6 years on we have developed a range of Impact Seminars for the workplace which are easy to present, and a good revenue stream, our current clients include Danone & BBC.  Hopefully I will get these franchised for FitPro’s to use as well as they are really simple.  I know all of you could develop these areas if you wanted to easily too. Kim Ingleby Media just developed from growing experience in writing and presenting, the only thing I can recommend is putting clear, quick messages that are ahead of public interest to editors etc, and if they reply, always meet deadline.  I had no experience in this area I just learned the more efficient and quick you are, the more they will work with you.  Once you have a portfolio, then you can specialise more and develop a ‘name’, kim.possible, Award Winning Mind Body Ninja (as named by two clients so makes it easy to use), people seem to like a name, so ask your clients for one!

I really hope these are useful tips, and thank you Rachel for asking me to write.

The final piece of advice I use myself all the time is have courage, and just go for it.  If you want to progress, you have to get uncomfortable, not everyone will agree with you and you will learn a lot along the way. However, if you stay true to yourself, your passion, your way of doing things, it will work for you, your business and success will grow. Enjoy the ride…
To your continued success and excellence FitPro’s, have a wonderful May ?

If you have any questions or feedback I would love to hear from you, you can tweet me @kimingleby, find more on FB Energised: www.facebook.com/pages/Energised-Performance/56901163566 & Kim Ingleby: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kim-Ingleby/287313468049230?fref=ts and our websites, energisedperformance.com, energisedbusiness.com & kimingleby.co.uk (we are updating them all currently)

Quote for thought “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.” Pope John XXIII

FILEX – 2013 By Kelly Reed-Banks

G’Day Mate!
I am writing this to you as I have just recovered from my jet lag as this time last week I had just arrived home from presenting out in Sydney Australia at FILEX Convention.

FILEX is one of the biggest conventions within the fitness industry and I couldn’t quite believe it when my good friend and colleague Greg Sellar asked if I would be interested in going out to teach Reebok Easy Tone Step at it!! Of course I jumped at the chance but I knew that it wasn’t going to be a long trip and certainly not a holiday!!!

So as the date drew nearer for me leaving I started to get really nervous. I always get nervous before I present whether its at a convention like FitPro or delivering a new workshop, nerves are something that always keep me on my toes and re-enforce how much it means to me to be doing the job I do, so FILEX was no different!

I would be leaving on the Tuesday night, flying for 24 hours, arriving in Sydney on the Thursday morning at 6am and starting rehearsals Thursday night with my Demo team ready for the convention to start on Friday.
Wowieeeeee!! I was just praying that my jet lag wasn’t too bad when I got there and luckily I met up with Greg Sellar and Michael Steel, who were also presenting at the convention when I arrived, so they made me stay awake until after I had done my rehearsals in the evening.

My Demo team were lovely and all instructors in Sydney so knew there stuff, they had been practicing without me for a couple of weeks so they knew the choreography.

FILEX is three conventions in one so you can imagine the size and scale of it. It’s held at Sydney convention centre which is set on Darling Harbour, an absolutely beautiful setting and location. So when Michael and Greg showed me around as the convention was starting to be set up on the Thursday I suddenly realised how big this was!

So I was there presenting and demoing the Reebok Easy Tone Step, which hasn’t really been launched over in Australia, lots of people haven’t seen the product so I knew I had to do a good job in selling it out there as a product which could be used with in group X and also for Personal Trainers using our new T3 version.
Your probably thinking well why have the asked me to go?
I am lucky enough to not only work as part of Choreography To Go, but also for Fitness FX and as part of my job with FX is being one of the master trainers for the Easy Tone Step, delivering the training to instructors and presenting the formula at conventions so I know the product really well.

It wasn’t this that was making me nervous, it was the fact that hardly anyone knew me out there and being a ‘POM’ – where they going to like my style of delivery? my personality? and my teaching? EEEEKKKKKK!!!!

As I stated before the convention is three in one, made up of the FILEX Expo which is like FitPro, LIW and IFS all together on steroids! This is where I was based, running my demo’s on the main stage along with the likes of Les Mills presenting their GRIT formula, Jay Blahnik presenting his ShockWave class, Zumba presenting their new programmes, Bokwa and many other Aussie based training providers all showing off their new concepts.
Then you have Les Mills doing a Super Saturday and Sunday down stairs in the convention centre and then upstairs are all the freestyle classes which participants can take part in all day for the three days!! It was manic! I have no idea how many people attended as they opened the doors to industry only on the Friday, but the Saturday and Sunday was open to the public to pay to attend so the number must be in the thousands!

So the convention was amazing, in three days I didn’t get to see everything but what I did see really opened my eyes up to how they do fitness in Australia and they do it BIG!!!! Everyone looked the part, there was some ultrafit people taking part in a CrossFit Ultimate challenge of fittest male and female. They had two full size MMA rings as well as a boxing ring and Ultimate fighting competitions where held for the three days. The classes were top class with great teaching skills, formula’s, choreography ideas and training methods being delivered which really inspired and excited me!
Every international fitness company was there, whether it was equipment, supplements, clothing, health products, training providers or fitness concepts.

The other thing that was really apparent was that the male and female instructors out there don’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk too! The women were strong not skinny, they looked amazing and held their own up against the men. All my teens and my twenties I wanted to be skinny, In my thirties I’ve just wanted to be younger! but since going to FILEX I wanna be strong, fit and athletic. Its made me want to train harder and be healthier. Instructors are athletes and this is something that I have brought back with me to enforce to my students back at college.

So the convention closed on the Sunday at 4pm and I was shattered! It was a great success and an amazing experience to be part of! I had a day of downtime on the Monday and flew back Tuesday, to arrive Wednesday morning and be back at work Thursday! – PHEW!!

So if you ever find yourself half way round the world in April I would strongly suggest checking out this phenomenal convention, just make sure you give yourself more than a week there and I don’t suggest 24 hours on plane to anyone, especially not anyone in the fitness industry!

Much Love Kelly x

Kelly Reed-Banks

Freestyle or not to Freestyle! (Part 1) By Andrew Scott

Hi fellow C2go’ers, so who is currently teaching a freestyle class? Who has taught one previously? Who is desperate to start/restart teaching freestyle? I’m guessing I’ve just about covered 90% of you, maybe more?
My freestyle passion has just gone through the roof, first of all after IFS last month, but secondly after Rachel left her very own freestyle aerobics and body conditioning at Virgin Nottingham in my “capable” hands for two weeks. These classes are Rachel’s pride and joy so on my drive down to Nottingham on the Thursday before Easter weekend it hit me, I thought ‘what the hell am I doing’. I’ve been teaching for just 4 years, I only teach part time, and here I am on my way to cover two Advanced Classes for one of the most influential and talented people in our industry. I just wanted to head straight back to the Opticians and get testing eyes again (Yes I’m an Optometrist by day). However, what a fool I would have been, two hugely packed classes with such a great group of participants, and I must say we absolutely smashed it. I just wanted to do the whole class again, I loved it. One word CONFIDENCE!!
How often do you guys come out of your class and look back and think WOW? I’m sure we all do, is it the music, the atmosphere, the music which are all so important to us ETM’ers…….but what about the buzz of knowing you put that class together, your moves/exercises/choreography/innovations/sequences. Are we passionate and innovative about pushing the boundaries into creating something we want to do?
Is it almost like a path we have to decide on once we enter this ‘fitness arena’ Freestyle or not to freestyle? Why would we choose a pre choreographed programme over a freestyle programme, could it be a confidence issue, easy, less hassle, is it what we think the members want because that’s what they’re used to? Would some say its lazy or an easy way out to not develop our own class content?
There’s no right or wrong answer as I have taught both freestyle and pre choreographed programmes, and still teach 1 programme. The transition from pre choreographed to freestyle was more difficult for participants than it was for me. I now run several successful freestyle classes ranging from beginner to advanced in Hilo, Step and Body conditioning. I ultimately changed as I had gained a lot of experience as a new instructor in pre choreographed formats, I had almost a back catalogue full of moves that I’d been teaching, I now wanted to take full control and invest my time, effort (and patience) into putting my own take on everything I’d learnt and resulting in my own ‘Freestyle’ Class. I wanted the freedom and the challenge.  In Les Mills programmes I felt more restricted, the programmes are brilliant, and know some superb instructors however is there enough room for substituting moves, progression, development for our member?, we had to teach ‘THEIR’ class Were running the show, let’s make it rightfully about us. We’re all amazing people with what we do let’s remember that.
We all have fitness qualifications, are we using them to their full potential, you don’t have to be the most creative person at creating the most intricate and creative choreography going, it’s about using the skills that we have, developing those skills, be creative and inventive, and to deliver that masterpiece of a class.
It’s OUR class, we can design it as we want, let’s not become short sighted (once an optician, always an optician) in the knowledge we have and the skills we have to create our own classes.
I’d love you to ponder what would happen if you changed a current class to a freestyle class, or if you decided to bring back freestyle aerobics or step (the most amazing disciplines that are my absolute favourite to teach). Can you imagine the response, the feedback, the end result? Is there a call for this? Are you not sure where to start?
Next week I will disclose the response I had to bringing Hilo and Step to a gym that all they’d had was Les Mills programmes. The remarks and comments I’d had relating to some woman called Jane Fonda (I’m far too young to know), the response from other instructors, without that freestyle drive, but most importantly the reason we do what we do…..our participants.
Until next week……#BeIndividualBeFreestyle
Twitter: @AndrewScott1989
Facebook: Andrew Scott
Email: andrewcscott1989@hotmail.co.uk

Cee fit Fitness & Stage – Caroline Oliver

I’ve been competing for 5 seasons this year. In that time I’ve competed in figure and fitness categories across a couple of federations. I’ve been successful in gaining  Britain titles in two disciplines, both fitness and figure, gaining many regional titles along the way. I’ve also competed as part of Team GB/ UK, in the European, World Championships as well as taking part in the Arnold Classics.

I’ve learnt so much on my fitness journey. What started out as a bit of fun to keep me focused in the gym, has changed my lifestyle completely. I’ve learnt so much about how my body responds, not only to changes to my exercise regime  playing around with tempo, rep range, strength and volume, split training days, adding cardio, no cardio.  I’ve changed my nutrition and supplementation. I’ve  also played around with  high fats, low carb, high protein, etc.

It’s been a massive journey and as a natural athlete it’s been really tough making physical changes year on year to make my physique look different in some way. (So you see athletes have challenges too, it’s not just the unfit or unhealthy people that have to face day by day , step by step goals.)  It’s also been a tough challenge to put together routines that show energy, strength, flexibility  with elements of gymnastics.

This season has been the first time I’ve changed everything completely, from food, macro ratios , training, what products I use on my hair, skin, make up to the supplements I’m taking. Main reason for this was to decrease toxicity within my body and help me to burn fat more efficiently. I’ve  not followed the  typical body builder diet regime or training and the changes I’ve seen are immense. Changes were definitely needed. What I was doing previously was not challenging my body. I was holding onto fat in the legs and bottom and the muscles in my upper body needed more thickness. I constantly got lower back ache and was prone to getting viral infections. Now they seem to have reduced and I’m happy my hard work and consistency is finally paying off and I’m seeing  results.

I’d be lying if I say I’ve done it all on my own. I am more than qualified to train and do nutrition plans for myself, but I have over the years used a few body building specialists to teach me the in and outs of body building in order  to make further progress. I have been fortunate enough to work with some of the best in the business, which in turn has helped me become more knowledgeable as an athlete and as a coach myself

– Ian Duckett,(2008-10)  – Kimberley Ann Jones (2011-12) – Mark Coles (2013- present).

Being an amateur athlete  is not easy, training twice per day, earrings clean 24/7 with no treats, whilst trying to hold down a full-time teaching job, being a wife and busy mum of an active 10yr old,  it’s  hard work, But I wouldn’t change anything and I just keep going… No excuses it just has to be done 😉

The biggest thing you need is consistency, and not be afraid to change.  What you also need to be good at is planning; You must Plan, plan, plan….

You need to be well  organised with your eating and exercise plans in order to see the results you want and it doesn’t come easy. Hard work, blood sweat and a few tears along the way. The thing that motivates me the most are the changes, not the competition but the photos . Looking over what changes I’ve made it’s great personal motivation.  For me it’s a personal goal to get better and stay fit as long as I can.

I get so many emails each week about nutrition, diet and competing that I never get around to answering them all….. So here are my tips to get you started.

Do you fancy competing?

Think about the look you want first, then find out which federation has the look you want to achieve;
UKBFF, WABBA, NPA, BNBF, NAC,NABBA,UFE, WBFF, Miami Pro, Galaxy, I’m sure there are plenty more.

Once you’ve made that decision  of what look, which federation,

1. Start by going to watch a few competitions, see if it’s what you could do
2. Find  out what the federation rules/ expectations are ( some federations allow you to compete with others some don’t.) All federations require different looks and categories can vary across the federations.
3.   Have a competition date in mind or  even brave it and enter, then there is no backing out. But give yourself enough time to ensure you can get ready for the competition.
4. You may very well want to enlist the help of some of the seasoned athletes or PT ‘s that have experience of advanced nutrition skills and exercise regimes, as well as posing and routines. This way you’ve got to be strict as you’re being kept an eye on to ensure you reach your goals.

Your trainer may cover ;
Training, Nutrition, Posing – compulsories, Posing – quarter turns
Posing – free posing / routine, Posing – T walk

5. You’ll need to eat, train, sleep for the competition for anything from  6-20 weeks  or 24/7… If you love it as much as I do.
6. Take lots and lots of photos to motivate you when you feel low as this will happen. I often have to take a step back to see how  I looked before. It will help you stay focused. Or use photos of others that inspire you to stay motivated.
7. You’ll also need to think about ;
Hair, make up, tan, bikini, shoes, membership and application fees,
8. Most of all don’t take it too seriously, after all it’s a hobby or lifestyle change and the only person you should be competing against is yourself.

Feel free to add me on Facebook/ceefit, Facebook/ceefit athlete
Twitter@ceeo
www.ceeoliver.co.uk

The Sun Shines On The Righteous …….and The Unrighteous

By Andrew Crawford

Today I was handed a distressing letter from my daughter in an envelope. It was on school’s headed letter paper, so I knew it was important.

Some of you will at some stage receive a similar letter and will be faced with a dilemma where you will need to make a choice.

I was expecting this type of letter any time soon and realised I had an uphill battle to literally force my views forward and convince all parties of why I am coming to my decision.

So Andrew, don’t keep us in suspense…….what did the letter say?

Ok ..Ok….I’m trying to build suspense… Sit tight….

I will copy exactly from a couple of the paragraphs.

“…..From September 2013, the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 requires us to obtain your explicit opt-in permission to use your daughter’s fingerprint (‘biometric information’) in school…
….the system that we intend to adopt will allow students to borrow library books and pay for school meals without the use of cards or cash….
…we do not store any images of fingerprints; we only use fingerprints to quickly identify students in the library and the dining hall……”
Etc etc….

Don’t know what you think of that but my daughter has a name and is not a criminal and teachers should know their pupils….so they can bollox about taking fingerprint biometric data……!!

I’ll purchase books from Waterstone and she can buy KF mofo C to bring to school.

My reply will convey this message very clearly.

Similarly…I turned down the vaccination against the non-existent ‘Swine-Flu’ for my youngest. She can develop ‘Natural Cures’ against flus. Not injected rubbish into her system.

Instead of my usual article today, I want to do something different.

I want to give you C2Go readers 2 different challenges. You can do BOTH if you like. Here they are.

C2G0 Credit Card Weight Loss Challenge
If you have a credit card……..My challenge is for you are to lock up your credit cards and not use it for 60 days. If you have been used to using your card on a regular basis, this will be very difficult. Break the cycle.

You will need to master the art of delayed gratification. Meaning that instead of purchasing an item that you want right now with your card, you will have to wait until you have the funds to purchase your goods or services outright.

It has become all too easy to put weight onto the credit card. The interest is heavy…..!!!

Foaming at the mouth already?? Heart beating faster??? Break out of that trance. It will take will-power if you are used to living (existing) on your credit card.

If you insist on using the card….go ahead…..however, when you get home, write a cheque and cover the cost immediately…!!!

After these 60 days are up you’ve got to start again until this habit has been

For those of you who do not possess that evil few 3inches of plastic we are embarking on a different challenge called…..

2. ‘Cash For Christmas’ (from your ‘own’ Commercial Bank)
I will be joining you on this one from scratch. This is how it will work.

Decide now what your Christmas budget will be.
For example:  Supposing you usually spend £2,500 over the Christmas period, (that is only 8 months away……Lord Have Mercy…!!)

So £2,500 / 8 months  = £312.50 per month from now. (May – December)

Divide this further by 4 which will represent the amount of weeks in the month.

So now we have £312.50 / 4 weeks = £78.12 per week. What’s that? One or two classes a week? Some of you this might be one client per week…!!!

Take this weekly amount and place it in your Commercial Bank. Don’t touch it.

Now breaking it down like this you should have a lump sum of cash at the end of this challenge. December 2nd 2013.

If you are wanting to spend more at Christmas, say £5,000 then put away £156.25 per week starting from today.

Remember, I will be on this challenge with you as well and I want to see or hear your RESULTS…..!!!!

The first benefits of this exercise? On Christmas day when you are sucking on your turkey bones and crunching on your Brussels, when the ‘Sales’ appear on TV after the Queen’s speech you know that you will not have to stretch yourselves for any of these sale items.

The second benefit of this exercise? You will not have to spend January and February in lean times as you would have taken care of business already.

No loans, no credit, no overdrafts………….get the picture??

Unadulterated cash.

You don’t need those Christmas Savings Clubs……….create your own…in your own premises….in your own ‘savings boxes’ , socks, draws, floorboards, dog kennels…..where ever you set up your commercial bank.

Monitoring. Each 30 day period, count the cash…..Christmas is coming….!!

So Andrew…..What about this sun and the righteous thingy mijig?

What about it?????

It shines on the good the bad and the undesirables………..!!!

www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com
www.facebook.com/andrewjamescrawford

Wishing Everyone a Wonderful Day and Bank Holiday

Love Rachel xx