Look at next week’s schedule. What if you could breeze through all those appointments, fit in a few urgent cases and take Friday off?

Are you done laughing?

Oh, I didn’t mention the best part. Your clients are smashing their goals like superheroes on crime.  

Here’s how you can live that scenario not just next week, but every week.

Know your client’s priorities.

Did you roll your eyes?

Perfect. 

Now, I invite you to hear me out. 

The goals and reasons your clients put on their intake form have nothing to do with their true priorities. Understanding these priorities does not involve six deep conversations, an intricate values test and a mind map. 

It involves basic biology.

How they were made, what drives them on a chemical level and how their DNA is expressing at this moment in time will intersect at the precise point where action equals results. 

The Power of Precision

If we’re really going to clear your schedule next week, we need to get specific.

You know the client that comes in with the weight loss goal, has tried everything and sits on the precipice of several life-threatening diseases, so this time they’ve got to make it happen? Our professional eye looks at the client, draws a line to the future goal and tackles the obvious things first. This client’s priorities look like numbers; both on the scale and in their bloodwork. 

But what if this client’s biological priority is family? 

Instead of the obvious discussion about what’s on their plate and how often they hit the gym, what if our first question is ‘How’s the family?’

We’re not just making conversation here. 

This person’s biological necessity is to make sure that everyone that they call family; from those in their household, to those in their workplace and community, stays safe. If there is turmoil around them, they will not allocate resources for themselves. 

We might spend hours across weeks dialing in their diet, exercise and even mindset with only a few small changes in their numbers. 

These are the bodies that will carry extra weight for survival. So in times of stress, the numbers on the scale will rise. 

Why? 

Because biologically they are predisposed to give, nurture and care for others. And to do all of that, you have to have extra. This is a beautiful biological response that harkens back to times of hardship and famine. So, in trying to bring these numbers on the scale down by increasing the exercise (stress) and decreasing the food (also stress), we are working against nature itself. 

You might have noticed by now that the biggest player here is stress. 

Remember that point of intersection we talked about before? 

When we can remove stressors from this point, the client’s biological priority, then that frees up resources to tackle the other pillars of health. 

Contained in our simple question, ‘How’s the family’, is the magical key to unlocking stellar results. 

Look at it from your client’s perspective. They stepped off the scale that morning and stepped into your office braced for the standard protocol: diet and exercise delivered through your brand of expertise. 

What happens in their body and mind when you ask that simple question? “How’s the family?”

Barriers drop. Stress melts. Their mind turns full-force toward the real cause of their distress. Maybe it’s a coworker or a child, a neighbor or a dear friend, or even that they don’t feel they have someone to call family. 

Back to you.

You don’t have to be qualified to assess their psychological status to have a simple conversation. You don’t have to have the answer to why their son is failing math or why their neighbor just built an enormous wall between their backyards or whether they should quit their job. You just have to know that their biology is craving stability and safety in this realm. And it is not getting what it craves.

For that session, your protocol might look like directing them to identify a single person in their world that they can completely relax around. Someone that doesn’t offload their problems. Someone that doesn’t expect anything from your client except their company.

What you don’t do is more important than what you do.

Now. this probably isn’t something you want to put on the header of your website: “I’m not going to do anything, and you’ll want to come back for more!”

But in reality, you didn’t give them a prescription that heaped on the stress. You didn’t tackle the priorities they stated on their intake form. You probably didn’t do anything you learned in your certification or degree.

Instead, you gave them the precise protocol their biology craved.  

You are a magician.

So, there are priorities and there are biological priorities. When we work in alignment with the way that each person is created and how they are presenting in this moment, we facilitate the most significant outcomes possible.

Back to you and your schedule.

When you dive beneath the surface-level desires scribbled on intake forms to tap into the rich vein of your client’s true motivations and needs, you enter the realm of absolute efficiency. 

Then you sail through your weeks, turning challenges into triumphs (and even reclaiming your Fridays!). It sounds like a dream but Precision Health is here now. It is grounded in the undeniable science of individuality where action is informed by the most authentic version of each person. It’s where the efficiency of our strategies multiplies, not by doing more, but by doing right.

If you want to get more precise with your clients and spend less time for better results…and maybe get your Friday’s back, too, check out our Level 1 Course for health professionals.

Pick up your pen. Put it down.

Within seconds, in that simple act, your body and mind will have engaged in an intricate dance that is different from any other human on the planet.  

Now take a look at the next name on your schedule. 

Whatever corner of the health industry you commandeer, you will have some fitness protocol in place for this client. Whether it’s a “do more exercise” suggestion or a detailed exercise prescription, you wouldn’t dream of letting that client go without at least mentioning their activity level. 

Why is it, then, that we don’t give a nod to the elephant in the room: the cognitive and emotional aspects of movement?

Maybe you do. 

Maybe you already know that the next client up has a unique mental framework that influences your engagement with them, the intervention strategies you put in place, and ultimately, the outcomes they will get from any fitness plan.

If not, I invite you to take the next few moments to dive into the nexus between the brain and the body. The brain plays a pivotal role in how the body perceives and responds to exercise. So when we set our clients up to train with their mind in mind, we are tailoring the fitness paradigm to resonate with the individual’s needs and predispositions, enhancing both their experience and results.

Here’s what I mean: 

Just like the wealth of information that zinged through your nervous system in that instant you picked up your pen, your client comes pre-programmed with their own neural pathways for each movement. Add to that their own internal narrative, motivations, and challenges and you have an entire spreadsheet full of data to process for one person. 

That’s why we break them down into scientifically-backed HealthTypes™ with biologically-driven tendencies, guided largely by their cognitive processing and emotional needs.

Let’s take a closer look:

Crusaders: The Motivated Minds

Crusaders possess an internal drive toward a chosen mission that fuels their motivation for physical activity and everything else. The brain’s frontal lobe plays a pivotal role in how exercise is perceived and processed. They prefer structured approaches like progressive overload, which aligns with the brain’s affinity for sequential processing.  As their health professional, your role is to tap into their intrinsic motivation by knowing their ‘why’, then providing clear goals and structured plans to keep them focused and driven.

Guardians: The Steady Minds

Guardians require a compelling reason to engage in and sustain physical activity as well as a supportive environment and guidance to stay on track. Their perception of exercise is influenced by a longer memory of pain. They are externally focused and motivated to do things for others which keeps them busy, so they require a sense of having enough time to successfully complete their routine.  They feel stronger at the end of hard work, so long workouts with ample time for each session and plenty of external support work best for them. Your job is to provide dedicated accountability to get them moving and keep them moving for long enough to create change in the body, helping them override their internal resistance and encouraging persistence through challenge.

Activators: The Instinctual Minds

Activators are ready to go. Their bodies crave movement and their brains are sparked by unpredictability, chaos and challenge. They prefer to dive into exercise (and all of life) without extensive planning or explanation. As their health professional, your role is to provide a flexible plan and challenge them to jump into action. Incorporating unpredictable elements into their fitness protocols satisfies their craving for novelty and intensity, engaging the brain and body equally, thus fostering positive outcomes.

Diplomats: The Thoughtful Minds

Diplomats tend to spend a lot of time in their heads, analyzing and planning their moves which can hinder their willingness to engage in physical activity. Anything the mind perceives as “hard” or uncomfortable will demotivate them further. The key to mobilizing these individuals lies in simplifying the decision-making process and ensuring that exercise feels manageable both in timing and execution. As their health professional, providing clear instructions and a distinct pathway out of the brain and into the body will encourage them to transition from thought to action smoothly, thus streamlining their way to success.

Sensors: The Balanced Minds

Sensors are attuned to the concept of alignment and harmony between the mind and body because that takes the least physical effort. They are sensitive to environmental factors that can trigger physical tension, such as noise or temperature extremes. Facilitating exercises in calming settings that promote a sense of safety and relaxation can help engage the parasympathetic nervous system, release the tension and drop them from the mind into the body. Your job as their health professional is to encourage movement that feels natural and effortless while promoting mind-body connection in warm, quiet surroundings, thus enhancing their overall exercise experience and adherence to your protocol.

Connectors: The Social Minds

Connectors thrive in environments that promote camaraderie and acceptance. Activities that feel aggressive or isolating can be counterproductive, dampening their motivation. As their health professional, encourage them to embrace the community aspect of fitness and celebrate their achievements alongside others. They will love the variety, interaction and fun which will keep them moving and engaging your services.

Now, pick up your pen. 

Put it down.

Did you notice anything different? Maybe a micro-action that you acknowledge as being completely unique to you? 

Training with the Mind in mind is more than just a fun thing to say.

In fact, I hope the catchy phrase will stick in your brain and at least make you wonder: What if you tailored your approach with your next client to align with their psychological predispositions and cognitive style? 

What would your success-rate look like?

How about your client-retention?

The mind-body connection is a powerful tool that, when harnessed fully, enhances the effectiveness of exercise interventions and significantly improves client engagement and satisfaction which garners more positive outcomes across the board.

Are you ready to get precise with your clients? It’s simple. To learn how to apply precision methods and technology solutions to your service offering check out our Level 1 Course for Health Professionals

Welcome to the New Year!

You’re rested, fueled and organized. 

You’re well-versed in the natural life cycle of the health industry.

That’s why you’re fully expecting January to go like this: 

Inspired by the chance at a fresh start and brimming with optimistic goals, your clients flock in, fill your calendar and fulfil your wildest dreams with their natural energy and enthusiasm. They’re going to join your HIIT class, wrangle those unwanted thoughts or bade sugar a final farewell as they embark on that path toward the healthier version of themselves.  

Until life happens.

Somewhere not too far down that path their attention suddenly diverts, momentum wanes and gusto gets lost. 

This is what you’ve prepped for. 

Here’s where you shine!

You’re ready to be their guide through the darkest forests, not just the brightest fields. 

What if this year you broke the cycle?

And what if it was super simple?

You can! 

And it is!

And it goes like this:

With a basic understanding of the biological and psychological differences in your clients, you’ll help them easily ride that New Year’s high all year long. Behavior change is not just about what you put on your plate or keeping a sunny outlook, it involves a complex set of mental, emotional and physical elements.

Therefore, when you speak to a client’s intrinsic nature, you won’t be harping endlessly about how often they hit the gym, instead you will be guiding them through a tailored journey transforming their resolutions into sustainable habits.

Clients come in all configurations. The first layer of understanding their unique biological and psychological characteristics comes by taking a peek through our HealthType ™ lens.

Supporting your Systematic Sensor

Sensors thrive on organization and efficiency, applying these traits to everything they encounter, including their daily habits. For Sensors, the key to longevity in resolutions lies in specifics, details, and rules. To support Sensors, incorporate your health recommendations into a simple, structured plan with clear guidelines complete with all the data to back it up. Once they check all your facts, they will adopt your program into their life and keep going. Be sure to follow-up with any additional science or statistics you find along the way that support your program. This will keep the momentum strong month after month.

Supporting the depth of your Diplomat

Diplomats seek thoroughness in all aspects of life, from relationships to career to food-related ideals. They don’t settle for superficial approaches to anything. For Diplomats, diving deep into their goals is essential and taking the time to understand, plan and implement processes will ensure success. When working with Diplomat clients, focus on gradual, meaningful changes backed by plenty of information and reflection including the impact their choices will have on others. Taking things slowly, methodically and completely will see them to success.

Guiding your Guardian

Guardians are the world’s nurturers. They are always ready to lend a hand, offer you their shoulder or envelop you in a hug. Their strong, caring nature literally is their strength but it’s also where things can get tricky. Their approach to food, mindset and other personal goals are often entwined with their desire to care for others. When things get hectic for those around them, they will lose focus on themselves. The key here is to involve those they love. Getting buy-in from their loved ones will set a super strong foundation for whatever protocol you recommend. As will continuously reinforcing the connection between good self-care and their ability to take care of others. Set up a stable framework around your Guardian and you’ll support them to a year of success. 

Completing the Loop with Your Connector 

Connectors effortlessly bridge gaps between ideas, people, and places. Their ability to make connections is their superpower and the key to their success. Your job is to connect your program seamlessly into their lifestyle by helping them see how it joins them up to new people, leads them to new places and links back to concepts and activities that excite them. They will be heavily influenced by what surrounds them, so new choices will be easy if they meet up with others in places that support the new habits. 

Meeting Your Activator in Motion

Activators are the epitome of energy in motion. They are naturally drawn to physical activities and thrive in environments where variety and dynamism are key. For Activators, the path to achieving their goals is through movement. A sedentary lifestyle is counterproductive for them. Even getting them to sit still while you explain a new tactic is less effective than shooting a few directives at them, letting them try it out and having a brief follow up. Your job is to keep them on the move by matching their dynamism with fun facts, interesting challenges and copious choices. Don’t let things get dull and you’ll have your Activator hooked on your program and knocking down those goals all 52 weeks.

Getting Purposeful with Your Crusader 

Crusaders are inherently motivated and driven by a sense of purpose. They may take calls during your sessions, constantly be rushing to or from work and may challenge anything new you present. They may seem like work-a-holics, but actually work is their happy place and should be at the forefront of their life. This is the key to any habit change. Clarity, confidence and avoiding anything that might slow them down is your job. When working with Crusaders, it’s essential to help them align their food choices, mindset, fitness and any other part of your protocol with their broader life goals. Encourage them to see how healthy choices will enhance their ability to achieve their ambitions and you’ll find them knocking down barriers and charging toward finish lines all year long.

And You Feel Great!

As a health professional, you endeavor to inspire, as well as inform each client, supporting them into their new way of life and beyond. When you speak directly to your client’s biology, you provide tailored support that empowers them to embark on a journey that’s not just about changing habits, but transforming how they relate to their health. You move beyond the surface-level and delve into the heart of what makes each client unique, addressing their intrinsic motivations and challenges. 

This approach easily takes the stereotypical New Year’s resolutions and turns them into a meaningful, sustainable new lifestyle that feels natural and empowering. 

Let this be a year where you break that traditional cycle! Celebrate yourself all year long when your clients arrive at each session with the same verve and drive as they do right after the New Year!

Are you ready to get precise with your clients? It’s simple. To learn how to apply precision methods and technology solutions to your service offering check out our Level 1 Course for Health Professionals

Let’s face it, your clients choose you because they are unhappy. Happy people’s pain points are just little dots on the map. They will scroll right past your best laid-out, most provocative social media because they just don’t don’t see it.

Your clients come to you because those pain points you describe in exquisite detail are giant, red pin-drops that read YOU ARE HERE.

They are unhappy with some aspect of themselves that they hope you can help them change. 

And you can. ‘

You are outstanding in your niche and no one does what you do in the way you do it. 

You can’t wait to dive in, but if you take a step back you won’t regret it.

Whether your magic potion is nutrition, fitness, mindset, or an alchemical mix of all three and then some, you’ll support each client more effectively if you make them happy first. 

Why do the basics, when there’s a faster way to get better results that last?

You don’t lead your industry because you do the same things that everyone else does in the same way that they do them.

So why not try something even more left-field?

Instead of latching onto their most hurtful pain point and crafting a path to dissolve it, take a breath, look them in the eye and turn that pain point into a strength. Shift their perspective to see that ugly, awful, hurtful thing in a new, positive light.

What? If they’re happy, then they’ll walk out. 

Contrary to popular belief, (and even what I said at the outset), life actually plays out the opposite of that.

Let’s paint a picture.

Your next client walks in the door because they hate their reflection in the mirror and they’re ready to toss out every bit of their wardrobe because it has all shrunk. 

They are unhappy. 

Your mind will instantly whir with the perfect exercise prescription, the ideal detox, that blood panel that no other health professional thought to order. If they follow your protocols you know they will get results.

Don’t act just yet.

Pause and consider the positives.

Here is where it gets personal:

You must consider the specific upsides to this individual’s particular struggle with the pain point of your expertise; make it personal to the biology, psychology and personality in front of you. The more precise you are, the more profound this technique will be.

Let’s break it down.

Your client is heavyset, has struggled with weight issues all their life to yo-yo style outcomes. They are busy taking care of everyone else’s needs and forget to meet their own. They want you to help them shuck those unwanted pounds and fully expect you to do that through beration and deprivation.

What if, instead, you pointed out that what they see reflected in the mirror is, indeed, their greatest strength? While mainstream society praises the stick-figure, no one talks about the obvious disadvantages. Imagine a skinny person trying to carry six suitcases through the airport. 

Then add some structural heft and muscle. Suddenly you have someone who can not only cart the suitcases with grace, but herd three kids at the same time. You have to be structurally sound to carry other people’s burdens. 

This client sitting across from you naturally does so with ease. 

Chances are, no one has ever pointed this out to them. 

On the flipside, what if your client is that skinny person? Legs and arms sport an unsatisfying amount of muscle, but their last three months of meals seem to have congregated at their waistline. Work is life for them, which means nutrients enter their body at odd hours and in shocking forms.

They expect you to tell them to work less, lift heavier stuff and stop eating junk.

Instead, you point out that their focus on work is admirable and the fat stores are the body’s way of making sure they can fuel their brain to do the big work. Get them talking about why their work is of utmost importance and how they are changing the world.

When was the last time a health professional cared about their mission? 

Um, exactly never.  

It works

This works with any dissatisfaction you can imagine: lack of energy, brain fog, short temper as well as loss of job, relationship, or physical prowess. It doesn’t matter what pain points you are passionate about resolving, nor what ground-breaking, results-garnering method you have developed. Despite the magnitude of your expertise and how elite you are in your niche, tackling your client’s happiness first will catapult you to the next level. 

This approach will be as effective with the next client that walks in your door regardless of the number of times you’ve seen them, or how much they have progressed previously. You can start anywhere with any client and facilitate a positive shift. 

But why does it work?

When we take a moment to appreciate the strengths of the person before us, we help them see their unique perfection in that moment. We’re not selling them on the idea of how great they will be once we help them (our marketing did this). We’re selling them on their individual greatness now. This ticks two boxes related to Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy theory: Mastery Experiences and Verbal Persuasion. 

Mastery Experiences are about identifying and compiling past successes. With your stout client, helping them recognize the strength in their underlying body structure sets the foundation to build on that strength in ways that will optimize it, not try to make it something it will never be. They are much more likely to feel capable of making their body stronger and healthier than what they have failed at in the past: making it lanky. 

Verbal Persuasion is what the coaching and personal training industry are built on, spurring someone into action through motivational and encouraging words. Your belief in their ability to complete the steps to achieve the goal helps them see it is possible. You do this naturally and probably even add in some case studies of others who have built on their strengths to achieve their desired outcome which takes us into a third of Bandura’s four sources of self-efficacy: Vicarious Experiences. 

Studies show that self-efficacy correlates positively with happiness. In short, leading with your client’s strengths instead of zeroing in on the weaknesses, increases their belief in their ability to affect change in their life which, among other things, makes them happy. 

Happy people do life differently. They are open to new ideas, attack things with more energy, make better choices, and surround themselves with better influencers. Anything that you suggest once you’ve helped them increase their happiness quotient, will be better received, followed more closely and lead to lasting change.

So, why is their happiness your job?

Even if they have a smile brighter than the sun and a list of achievements longer than yours, they walked into your office because they are unhappy. They think losing those stubborn pounds, being strong enough to lift their kids, bending over without back pain, rediscovering love with their life partner or fixing chronic gut issues will reignite the joy they’re missing. 

When you do this in the opening minutes of your session, everything you do after that feels like dancing through a field of flowers.

Are you ready to get precise with your clients? It’s simple. To learn how to apply precision methods and technology solutions to your service offering check out our, Level 1 Course for Health Professionals.

References

10. L. L. N. Shilpa and R. Prasad, “Self efficacy, perceived stress and happiness among students,” 2017 International Conference on Advances in Computing, Communications and Informatics (ICACCI), Udupi, India, 2017, pp. 2105-2109, doi: 10.1109/ICACCI.2017.8126156.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8126156

O’Brien, K. M. (2003). Measuring career self-efficacy: Promoting confidence and happiness at work. In S. J. Lopez & C. R. Snyder (Eds.), Positive psychological assessment: A handbook of models and measures (pp. 109–126). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10612-007

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.84.2.191

Yolande van Zyl & Manilall Dhurup (2018) Self-efficacy and its relationship with satisfaction with life and happiness among university students, Journal of Psychology in Africa, 28:5, 389-393, DOI: 10.1080/14330237.2018.1528760

Driver, M. (2011). Coaching positively: Lessons for coaches from positive psychology. Open University Press.

Erika Stoerkel, M, Sc. “What is a strength-based approach?” (Incl. Activities and Examples), Positive Psychology: 2020

https://positivepsychology.com/strengths-based-interventions/#references

Here’s what we know about the human animal. We are big bags of tissues, swirling with chemicals and zinging with electrical signals. Not one bag is the same.
As a health professional, you may be focused on one set of tissues and maybe a few of the chemicals or electrical signals. Yet, the entire bag walked into your office as an inextricable set with genetically crafted tissues, dominant chemicals, and specified electrical signals.

Your office, gym or building is the petri dish in which that set will either thrive or flail. That means the environment you establish for each client will either drive your desired result or hinder it.

Back to your desk.

That stack of files off to the left may be in carbon-dated order, the six pens you love to use are all within easy reach, sprinkled around your array of brightly colored notepads and if you put even one of those pairs of glasses away you’d never be able to find any of them again.

That’s great if your next client will come in, pick up each of your family pictures and peruse it as they listen intently to you set the scene for each one. It’s fatal if your next client can barely lift their eyes from the turmoil of that flat surface while their mind desperately tries to make order from your chaos.

It’s not about judgment. It’s about individual biology and what it needs to feel safe.
Safety is where the body can relax, the mind can open and change can begin to stir.

And the tidiness of your desk is just the beginning.

Temperature, noise, (even the pitch of your voice), activity and atmosphere all come into play. The more of these biological boxes you can check off, the less energy your client expends fighting their environment, leaving more energy to focus on the specific protocols that will bring them results.

How do you know what your next client needs to feel safe?

Because it’s inherent in their biology and psychology, it is evident in the mannerisms that underpin their personality.

Let’s look at how this plays out.

We’ll start with your clients who have an easy smile, ready laugh and happily adapt to whatever you toss their way. Think party. To their biology, chaos is exciting, so thumping music, extraneous chatter, and plenty of action will bring them comfort. A busy park with lots of sunshine is their ideal space. Variety, connection and fun is their safe zone.

Then you have those clients who always bring a list of questions from their own research and hungrily gobble down every bit of information you extol. Once you satisfy their need to know, they follow your guidelines to a T. These people are highly sensitive to their surroundings, so dialing things down makes them feel safe. They do best if you adjust the thermostat to tropical, close the door to control any activity or noise that might leak in and yes, organize the chaos on your desk.

Of course, there are the ones who take ages to onboard, meeting you several times, gathering tidbits of knowledge like squirrels forage for acorns in the fall. They carefully consider every angle, all the needs of everyone around them and then, when all of the pieces of the puzzle fit, they become your client. To them, comfort is safety. This comfort comes from having the space and time to thoroughly explore. Like a long walk through the forest, they do best in a fresh, natural environment where there is room for their minds to expand. Set the temp to cool, turn on some nature sounds and settle in.

On the flip-side, there are those on a mission. They come with a set of firm ideas, always want more data and proof, but will charge through to the end if everything lines up. These people can cut through the chaos with their laser focus, but they will thrive on the respect of a door closed against distractions, the forethought of a clear, organized space and a Goldilocks climate that doesn’t distract from the goal. Logic, order and purpose equal safety to this person.

You may have some clients who rush in the door ready to go. They get itchy if conversation lasts past a quick hello. Action is where they find safety. Think of a friendly court side warm up. Loosely guided, chatty, with plenty of room for flowing movement and copious team spirit. Nothing too quiet, too structured or too cold.

Then there are those who volunteer everywhere, field phone calls from family and friends even during your sessions and always want to know about your life. These are the clients who will pick up every picture on your desk and want to hear the back story. Let them. Safety, for them, is in family ties (and you become part of the family). Adopt an open door policy; think living room chat. Turn back the thermostat, offer comfy places to sit (in case they bring loved ones) and leave plenty of time for side conversations and interruptions.

Clients are a complex mix of biological and psychological factors. The more you understand about the entire set of characteristics that make up the next person that walks through your door, the more effective your particular prescriptions and methods will be.

So, will your client fail to get a result if you don’t clean your desk?

Possibly.
But the bigger message here is that if you set up your petri dish to meet the needs of each client, you remove unnecessary stressors and promote the feeling of safety. A more relaxed client has more energy to focus on implementing your protocols to achieve their desired outcome.

If you are interested in getting more precise with every aspect of your client’s needs,  Find out more here.

We laugh at the vision of a fish being tested to climb a tree, but do we really know what this translates to in our interactions with our clients?

As health professionals, we want our clients to keep coming back until they get results, but we need them to become self-reliant along the way. This means we must teach them in a way that the information will be absorbed and retained. Unlike the fish and tree scenario, when we speak to and train with a person’s individual biology, we feed the mind and body in the perfect way at the perfect time to ignite the spark of motivation and spread the glue of adherence. 

Nature vs Nurture

There is a popular idea that anyone can learn anything if we nurture this understanding to life using the correct format. Whether there are four, five, seven or more different learning styles, we tend to toss a bunch of them at a client to see what sticks. However, when we turn our focus from ourselves and zero in solely on the client and how they were created biologically, success increases exponentially. The question transforms from: “How do I teach this person?” to “Who is this person and what are they hungering to learn?”. 

For example, we may have the perfect dietary protocol for a client that all of the science proves would bring lasting positive results. We pull out our best visual aids, share our latest podcast, send them to a cooking class and buy them the hard copy as well as the audible version of the most engaging book on the market. Two months later their eating habits are identical to the day they walked into our office, therefore their original issue is two months worse. 

So, we put down our bevy of teaching aids and ask the question, “Who is this person sitting across from me and what does their biology hunger for?”.

This is where the HealthTypes come in handy. Say you have an Activator client, so you know that their biology hungers for action. They need to put tiny bits of information into immediate use. On their way out the door, you hand them a copy of a recipe, tell them you’re challenging a few clients to try it and whoever shoots you a selfie of them cooking first, gets a prize. The drive to win and the thrill of immediate positive feedback will spur them into the action they crave and get them one step closer to the results you both desire.

It’s simple, easy and effective. All you do to get them through the next two months and toward a better life overall is engage variations on a theme, because you also know that Activators love variety.

Is it Relevant?

The fish will never climb the tree, no matter how much you yell, cajole, assist or instruct. Tree climbing is simply not relevant to the fish. Likewise with your clients, offering the irrelevant information in precisely the correct fashion will still miss the mark. 

You love what you do or you wouldn’t devote your life to it. Chances are that the clients who walk through your door don’t care even a tiny fraction as much as you about your chosen profession. So that’s what you give them. Precisely and only the bit of your profession that will engage them. The question becomes, “What aspect of my expertise is relevant to this person?”

In this scenario, we are still looking at ‘who’ is in front of us.

Say it’s a fish and you are a personal trainer. You would take a look at the tree, then to the fish and then lead your fish to the pond. The goal is physical fitness of some sort and you are not going to accomplish that with the fish in the tree. Even if you are a monkey and tree climbing is what first sparked your desire to be a personal trainer. Tree climbing is not pertinent to the fish.

Because it’s not so easy to sort the fish from the monkeys in the gym setting, that’s where the HealthTypes come in handy. Say your fish is a Guardian. You are not going to lead them to the newest, shiniest piece of equipment and tell them to have a play with it while you share the scientific studies that lead to its invention. (You will save that for your Crusader client.) You will toss some weight on the sled, ask about their family and walk beside them while they go for their first 20 yards. 

Whether it’s nature vs nurture or pure relevance, the essence is the same. 

Adherence leads to success. The biggest aspect of adherence is delivering the perfect amount of info in the perfect way at the perfect time. The only way to do this is to pull back from our desire to ‘teach to them’ and to instead engage their biology. Information that is naturally learned is joyful, bolsters self-worth and sparks self-determination. All of these lead to the lasting results we crave.

To learn more about the HealthTypes and how to apply precision methods and technology solutions to your service offering, join us for our Level 1 Course.