8 November Instructor Newsletter

Instructor Newsletter 8th November 2012 with Rachel Holmes from Rachel L Holmes on Vimeo.

Last weekend had to be the biggest and most important to me in my fitness career. I’ve been working through 10 weeks of training with the new Kick Start Fat Loss Franchisee business owners, which has meant 12 hour days, a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears all culminating in our first big franchisee training day. I’m happy to report it went down brilliantly and I launched the first LIVE KSFL Club on Tuesday in a school local to me.

I purposely booked my club to start now, which generally would be the worse time of year to start any new class concept. My thought process being  if I can fill it now and get great results then that would be the perfect start. After all of the planning, preparation and promotion the class launched and was extremely  well received. I have been buzzing ever since. If you have a great idea for something new, then don’t wait till 2013.  If you have done your research and have seen a gap in the market for something new then go for it, but make sure you do the research and ground work before you commit any time or money.

World Fitness Pilates Day

Kelly and I launched the first World Fitness Pilates Day and it really was a world event with  FP Instructors traveling to Derby from Ireland, Dundee in Scotland and even Spain. We have both been working hard on evolving the Fitness Pilates experience and incorporating as much new information and research as we can to keep the format fresh, current and exciting. There are so many options and avenues to go down with your FP teaching that it constantly broadens the appeal of the class.

My current obsession with the foot and ankle and incorporating massage techniques, foot gymnastics and loading the feet to build strength that will address structural issues further up the kinetic chain, was the session that got so much feedback! I’ll be putting  it all on a download very soon.

Huge thanks to everyone who attended.

The Next Big Thing?

In this week’s video I am talking about The next big fitness trend, how to spot and what to do about it. And, of course, I would love your feedback on this subject as it is what excites me so much about being in the fitness industry. YOU can create the trends, you really don’t have to wait for anyone else. Identify your target market, do the research, trial it and then launch and Xmas is the perfect time to trial it before launching January 2013.

A New Kind of Result by Katie Bulmer Cook

Hey C2Go’ers,

I hope all is good in your fitness hood!

As I’m sure you are all aware from reading previous articles, I am a PT who specialises in  helping post natal/busy women get their bodies back. Day to day you’ll find me in my gym teaching women how to lift, interval train, corrective exercise, 1:1 Pilates etc. But last weekend I did something totally different to my norm. I completed the Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest in Manchester. It’s a 10km cross country run interspersed with obstacles…everything from mud slides and cargo nets to 8ft walls and swimming in the canal!

I took one of my clients, Nicola, with me and we did it together. Nicola has had great inch loss success and I wanted to give her a new challenge, so MHSF it was!

Nic did amazing and gave me some great bunk ups on the high walls…she’s one strong lady…she nearly threw me over the other side!

So why am I telling you this? Well, because there can be more ways to celebrate our clients’ achievements than with the scales or the tape measure. Yes Nic, like all our clients, like to see her stats change, but to see her attack the course like she did, and go from never having run before to completing MHSF in just 6 weeks was remarkable, and for me, job satisfaction at its very best!

So why not do the same, either 1:1 with a client or get a group of class members together and sign up for a new challenge such as MHSF, Race For Life, 3 Peaks Challenge, a mini triathlon or a sponsored hike and see a whole new meaning to the word ‘results’.

Have a lovely C2Go Thursday,

KBC x

Katie Bulmer-Cooke

Working on your terms, and not everybody else’s
By Claire Mockridge, Ante/Postnatal Fitness Expert

Comfort Zone – are you in or out?

I talk a lot about being outside of your comfort zone and the benefits in doing this.  Saturday was the day that I was pushed way outside of mine!  Rachel had asked me to talked to her KSFL Franchisees about mindset coaching and mental fitness.  I agreed to do it straight away simply because I knew it would be great for me, however, I also knew that as the day loomed closer I would be terrified and I was!  I felt sick on the drive up even thinking how I could still get out of it!  I calmed down a little once I got there as there were still a few hours to go before my debut.  And, to be honest, once I got up there and got rid of the really dry mouth in the first couple of minutes it actually went okay, at the end it was a lovely reassurance to have so many people coming up to me to say thank you and that they found it really helpful.  So, what has this got to do with us as fit pros.

Well, I think we can end up getting stuck in a rut.  We start off in our careers, picking what we want to do and then we may pick a specialism but then we can end up staying doing the same things year after year and this is where our passion starts to die.  We need to keep ourselves as passionate as we were in the beginning and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone can help you to keep that passion.  Yes, we do our courses each year, we do our CPD but how many of us actually do the ones we want to do and how many of us just do them because we feel we have to?  Or, do it because the rest of the fitness industry appears to be doing it?  Be confident in yourself and your own ideals to do the courses that you want to do, that will help to keep you passionate and eager to learn and share with your clients.

1)  Do something that gets you out of your comfort zone every day – can be personal or business, just do it every day.
2)  Spend time working out what you REALLY want to do and then breakdown everything you need to do to get there.
3)  Be passionate and keep it – if you are not passionate then ask yourself if you are actually doing what you WANT to be doing.
4)  Be brave, do what you want to do and focus on that, not what everyone else it doing.
5)  Believe!  If you believe you can, then you will.

www.facebook.com/cori.withell
www.twitter.com/CWFitness
www.cwfitness.co.uk/blog/

Clare Mockridge

Hi there everyone,

I have interesting discussions with FitPros about the Terms and Conditions I have in place in my business from time to time, so I thought I’d write you a little article to cover it.

As you know, I run my pregnancy and postnatal fitness classes on a pay upfront basis.  Clients pay for 10 sessions and I reward them with their 11th session free, for this commitment.  I ask clients to use up their sessions within 14 weeks of joining the classes, and any changes to terms and conditions are noted on my website.

I think it’s important from the outset, that you set terms and conditions when you set up classes.  It’s fair to say you won’t know what liberties clients will take until your classes have been running for a few months, but do try and have a think about all eventualities, and put steps in place to avoid them (including the pending snow!).

So, if you don’t want to be flexible regarding refunds when someone: “misses 2 classes due to work/family commitments”, or more specifically in my case when a client’s: “baby doesn’t settle in class”, you need to make sure your T’s and C’s are strict enough to avoid a client asking this embarrassing question of you.  If, on the other hand, you want to give a client a refund and/or flexibility regarding attendance, that’s fine, but long-term, you may wish to re-think this scenario, simply because you’re really opening yourself up for an administrative nightmare, and potential loss of profits.  You are running a business at the end of the day, aren’t you?

At a client’s first postnatal fitness class for instance, I run through their form with them, we sign and date it, and then I issue them with their very own Mummies and Buggies Passport.  The Passport lists their name, baby’s name, 10 boxes where I stamp off the used sessions each week, and an expiry date which 14 weeks after their start date.

On the front of the Passport is my Mummies and Buggies logo and contact details, and on the back, are my Terms and Conditions.  I’ve listed the Ts and Cs in a light-hearted manner, as follows:

THE NOT SO SMALL PRINT

Just like your real Passport, sadly I have an expiry date and don’t last forever.

I know I’m small, but I’m an official document you know, so please bring me every time you come to Mummies and Buggies. I need to get stamped (ouch!) at every class.

Double-booked yourself AGAIN? If you can’t attend a class, please let your friendly instructor know. How embarrassing would it be if everyone was standing around waiting for you to arrive to get started…?

Please keep me somewhere safe. You may think I’m easily replaced, but to do so will set you back a whopping £2.

Fancy sharing unused sessions with a friend? You can share as much information as you like with your friends about Mummies and Buggies, but sadly, sessions you can not.

Want your money back? No problems. Pop along to your Doctor to get proof that you’ve been injured or ill for at least 3 weeks and your instructor will sort out the rest.

Want to know how many refunds I’ve issued so far this year?  None.  Is my class profitable?  Yes, very, with a waiting list in operation, so I must be doing something right.

Bye for now.

Claire Mockridge
Ante/Postnatal Fitness Expert

Twitter – @ClaireMockridge
Closed Facebook Group for Pre/Postnatal Instructors: www.facebook.com/groups/ClaireMockridge

Wolves or Sheep?
By Andrew Crawford

Recession is over is it?
Why are they lying to the people and spreading those vicious rumours…??
In reality, there was NEVER a recession…it was just a word the media spread so the sheep (you and me) will follow…and be manipulated by whatever ‘They’ wanted you to do..!!!
Think about it…..if we were in a recession, why would they bail out the banks with millions of pounds in cash ‘reserves’…..a few times…..put up gas, electricity, petrol all essentials, increase taxes by ‘giving in one hand’ and ‘taking’ in the other, fund overseas projects when projects at home needed to be taken care of, ‘find’ billions of pounds to fund the building of the Olympic Village,,,in fact go way way over budget and no mofo blinks an eye or says anything…stop lending to small businesses, increase the deposit first time buyers needed to put down to purchase their first homes,  fund wars instead of feeding the UK poor…sending soldiers (sheep) to be slaughtered in foreign lands…

All together now……” War….what is it good for?…..Absolutely Nothing…!!!”

Have you noticed that anyone preaching Peace & Love have been eliminated??

Dr Martin Luther King, John Lennon, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Mahatma Gandhi, Che Guevara, President Kennedy….or even locked up in solitary confinement for what they believe in….like Nelson Mandela (jailed for 27 years), Muhammad Ali, (jailed because he didn’t want to fight in a war), Emmelie Pankhurst (Kept in solitary confinement and ‘force’ feed).
Why?….Because they weald so much power…eg..’The Million Man March’ for peace…very powerful…someone somewhere felt threatened…he (Dr King the Wolf) had to go…!!!

Why do we use violence as a conflict resolution? They send the sheep who are willing to kill and be killed ‘without’ question and profit from the human suffering.

They spend millions on launching a single bomb when themselves do not have to ‘pull the trigger’….(let the sheep put their life on the line whilst we sit in air conditioned offices, planning our next move, sipping cappuccinos, eating canapés, gulping fine wine on a silver platter with blue cheese, mature chedder and digestives and awarding ourselves the contracts to rebuild what we have destroyed)…..result…!!
So Andrew……
What has Wolves and Sheep got to do with Accountancy and Tax?
Well…one leads the other follows….but for tax planning purposes you got to know who to follow.
Did you do your homework last week (last paragraph)?

Just to reiterate….Cyprus is NOT offshore because it is a European country.
A real offshore company is a company which is established in one country but has businesses and investment activities in all other countries EXCEPT the country in which it was established. So therefore, all it’s business and investments are all ‘Offshore’.
I said this before but I must highlight that the UK is said to be the biggest offshore country..so foreign countries are enticed by our Government to make investments in the UK and offered tax breaks. (I’m sure the UK is not owned by the UK anymore..!!)
For example …The new Shard, in London, is 95% owned by Qatar and forms part of the Gulf state’s growing UK portfolio.

“…….Qatar already owns Harrods and the American embassy building in Grosvenor Square, as well as One Hyde Park, Chelsea Barracks, the Olympic village, 26% of J Sainsbury, 28% of Canary Wharf’s owner, Song Bird Estates, and sizeable chunks of Barclays and the London Stock Exchange.
The Qatar Investment Authority also owns 20% of Camden market in north London, via its holding in the property group Chelsfield…..”
When you are a wolf, there is no stopping you. Let me tell you about Seychelles now, as the big boys don’t want you to know…….
Benefits of having a Seychelles company:
Your company can be registered in 2 hours
No information is required by the authorities prior to registration
The Seychelles authorities do not know the ‘real owners’ and directors
No requirement for bookkeeping or accounting
No requirement to file annual returns
No requirement to file tax returns
No restriction on where the Board of Directors meet
It is NOT on any blacklist
It is recognised internationally
It is accepted internationally by all banks
And the winner is: It secures ‘absolute confidentiality and anonymity’

Do you think any of our Government personnel has one? We wouldn’t know b*ll*x…..because they will not tell us.

Advice: When you open an offshore bank account ‘DO NOT’ open it in your name. That is how lots of people were caught…!!!

In this case you can be a sheep and follow intelligently. Why am I telling you this?…..It’s the Wolf in me …..gggrrrr..!!

Finally..

Let us congratulate the re-election of the most powerful position in the world of Barack Obama to the Whitehouse.

Did you notice something? Or was it just me?

The systematic subliminal brainwashing machine aka the news was subconsciously using negative words to describe this momentous event. They were using words like Romney’s defeat, Romney’s loss…wtf….

Cameron said that Obama will ‘Kickstart the world economy’….Perhaps someone told him about the Kick Start Fat Loss Revolution……Thanks Cam.

Oh ….and before I forget…I was caught the other day by a digital big brother ‘hidden’ camera ….3 clear digital photos of my car were sent to my home….bang to rights I tell ya…I feel sheepish…so watch out …they’re everywhere….!!!

Speak soon

There are more FREE resources, downloads and tax advice at our site, visit
www.fitnessindustryaccountants.com  www.facebook.com/fitnessindustryaccountants    www.facebook.com/andrewjamescrawford
www.twitter.com/tax4fitness
www.fitnessindustrygossip.com

Does any of this sound familiar to you?? Maybe now, or maybe in the past?? Or perhaps this is happening to someone close to you??
Jo de Rosa

“I’m stuck in a relationship that is going nowhere. He has become like an annoying brother that I love, but no longer like. I know that I deserve more but it’s just so much easier to stay in the safety of what I know rather than going through the hassle of breaking up, and starting over.”

“I drink too much. I know I drink too much, but it relaxes me and helps me cope with what life throws at me. If I didn’t have that glass of wine once the kids have gone to bed, then I don’t think I would survive.”

“I hate my job. I’m stuck on a merry-go-round of doing what I have to to survive and pay the bills, but deep down I know that there must be something better and more fulfilling out there for me.”

“I’m really struggling financially. When the phone rings I worry about who is on the other end, and have no idea how it got this bad. I know it’s serious because I’m taking cash out on one credit card to pay the minimum payment on all the others.”

All of these conversations were once me. I’ve had addictions to cocaine, cigarettes and alcohol (amongst other substances). I’ve been in an abusive relationship for 10 years which I tried to get out of for 9, and worked in the same building in the same job for 12 years! When I finally broke free from the above (the alcohol proved to be most stubborn however), I traveled to Thailand where I set up business and stayed for a number of years. When I returned to the UK I got caught up in an expensive franchise deal which looked good on paper, but resulted in terrible debt and ultimately bankruptcy.

Through all of these life dramas, and drama is to be expected in life, I have been lucky enough to have had a very strong yoga and meditation practice. It has literally saved me….sounds corny but it’s true. Yoga is like my best friend. It supports me, helps me, calms me, balances me and makes me feel happy to be alive. It has helped me to let go of the job that bored me, relationship that hurt me, and addictions that imprisoned me. Yoga and meditation gave me the belief in myself that I deserved to be happy, successful, loved and abundant.

I’m lucky, really lucky because my life could have turned out very very differently.

And it doesn’t matter what your source of strength and motivation is….it could be yoga like me, or step, dance, bootcamp, HIIT, pilates or personal training. As instructors we have found a purpose and can carry the inspiration that we found for ourselves to our students, and so it moves onwards and outwards.

I have been teaching yoga and meditation for nearly 12 years now and have watched as my students have fought their own battles, each one with a different struggle. Each stuck in they’re own way.

Now I want to share my own personal story with you, to hopefully inspire and motivate you to believe in your dreams and face life head-on. Ask yourself this question right now:
‘If You Could Have Anything…..What Would It Be?’

This is the title of my first novel which has just been published. I have broken down my own life ‘stories’ into 5 characters: Rob, Sam, Grant, Joss and Meg. Each of them stuck, each of them finding their way out, and each starting to understand how they fit in the world.

The book is for anyone that feels stuck in one or more of these areas. This book is also a brilliant present for someone you know that might be struggling and needs an inspirational boost through the journey of someone that has been there and escaped!

‘If You Could Have Anything…..What Would It Be?’ is currently available on Amazon:
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1771410035/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=
Or can be ordered via my website (I can sign these copies for you!) www.innerguidance.co.uk/jos-book

It was really great to meet Rachel and Jayne last week at the yoga show, as I’ve been a big fan for a long time…..this newsletter has been a great source of inspiration to me for many years, and it’s great to now be a contributor  : )

Please get in contact to book me to speak or teach at your event.
I give motivational talks and hold workshops / retreats worldwide.
www.innerguidance.co.uk
jo@innerguidance.co.uk

Please also like my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Inner-Guidance-Yoga-and-Meditation/206625809405671?fref=ts
& follow me on Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/Inner_Guidance

Have a wonderful Thursday
Love Always
Rachel x