3 Challenges to Improve Your Coaching

Throughout 2020 all I heard was “this year is a wash”. Echoes of negativity rang out telling Performance Coaches to “get a new job” or to “find a side gig to pay bills.”

I hated every word.

For every uneducated piece of advice given to me in 2020, I countered it with a challenge to myself.

A challenge to improve my coaching, improve my coaching business, and improve my chances of surviving a global pandemic in the industry of sports performance.

Should you be reading this and thinking you received the same crummy advice or maybe you’re reading this as a Performance Coach who wants to level up in 2021, I challenge you.

If you can complete these three challenges, I’m sure you will be well on your way to coaching better, coaching more, and on your way to maybe one of the best years you’ve ever had.

Challenge #1: Reach out to a (non-fitness) service-based business that has been in operation for more than 25 years.

One of the most impressive things about performance coaching as an industry is the level of service that we have to provide both in and out of coaching sessions. Not only do we have to provide the coaching that helps elicit physical change in our clientele, we are responsible for the customer service before and after every session. This high level of service can become tough to maintain and tough to adhere to as time goes on. Find someone who has been in business for over 25 years, reach out, buy them a coffee, and talk to them about their successes and mistakes. By making it someone not in fitness, you will actually get a fresher perspective of the skills needed to be successful IN fitness.

My tip? Find a hair stylist or a barber. The cosmetic profession is amazingly similar to sports performance in the way they deliver routine service and their clients have amazing trust in their outcomes.

Challenge #2: Create a small group program for individuals either half of your normal clients age OR double your normal clients age.

When I was 23, I heard Eric Cressey, President of Cressey Sports Performance, say “if you’re an expert in one thing, you’re probably very good at a few others.”

On a side note, if you don’t know who EC is, click here to listen to this podcast he did with Parisi’s Master Trainer, Steve Leo. It’s awesome.

The gist of this point is that if we are experts in coaching 15-19 year olds in sports performance, a lot of our same principles can be used to help 7-9 year olds achieve results as well. The same also goes for their older counterparts. I’ve been able to extrapolate a lot of my programming to older parents who want to move better and feel better as they aim to ‘keep up’ with their kids. One good thing from a global pandemic is that both parents AND kids are at home together!

Challenge #3: Join a professional mentorship group that challenges your level of thinking.

Without a doubt, if you want to level up your coaching and your business at the same time, you need to level up your thinking. The best way to do this is to surround yourself with like-minded, critical thinkers, who are not afraid to challenge the status quo. I know in 2020 the Parisi Speed and Sports Performance Mentorship helped dozens of Performance Coaches level up their coaching practices. (Psst.. we just opened applications for the next class beginning on March 8th.)

Along with the community, mentorship groups bring forth the most relevant sports science information but presented in a digestible manner for us as coaches to directly apply. I may be biased, but you’re reading a blog on the Parisi site, so what did you expect?

To learn more about the Parisi Sports Performance Mentorship, click here.

About the Author

Casey Lee is the Director of Fitness and Performance at The Edge in northern Vermont. He has been with the Parisi Network for over 10 years and oversees the Parisi Vermont operations  as well as helping 15 Personal Trainers succeed in their career growth.

Casey also serves as the Lead Mentor for the Parisi Sports Performance Mentorship, an amazing resource that Parisi provides 3 times per year for Coaches throughout the world who want to learn more about evidence-based speed programming for athletic improvement.

For more information from Casey, make sure to check out www.CoachCaseyLee.comfor his own writing and podcast content.