From the recent practice survey we conducted at Brookline Tai Chi and experiments I’ve been running in online learning, it’s become clearer and clearer to me that most people need some external motivation when they are learning a new skill. That’s not a judgment about willpower and motivation, it actually says more about the way we are wired for survival. In Z Health, we always talk about the way that the nervous system is at once the most plastic system – it can adapt to lots of different changes – and also the most stable.
I’m running a little experiment right now at Brookline Tai Chi to see if we can help our students develop better home practice habits. Specifically, I’m experimenting with self-reporting and automated reminders to spark daily practice sessions outside of class. Now, when I talk to other people in our international tai chi community, I realize what a powerful practice aid Brookline Tai Chi already is. What I mean is, the bricks-and-mortar experience of coming to the school and being around other people removes so many barriers people have to doing tai chi.
Pro: My Car Broke Down and I Was Actually Happy about It I guess I need to explain that a little more. I wasn’t really happy that it broke down. I was on the way to Maine to teach the tai chi group in Farmington, so that sucked. And it was the clutch the completely died, so I knew it was going to be a few dollars to repair. But that was actually part of the silver lining.
It’s the end of the year and it’s time to get out of old habits and mindsets. So, here’s my prediction for the best business model for independent fitness and wellness pros, for the next DECADE. Yeah, I think it’s going to take a few years to unfold, but the groundwork has been laid: No more brick-and-mortar businesses. Trust me, I know what it’s like to cut a $10,000 rent check each month.
Over at TechCrunch, Stephen Martin lays out his thesis about an interesting turning point for entrepreneurs in this economic climate. I could quote the piece at length, but I think this part is especially important: These business mavericks live by a new dynamic of success — unique individual strengths, expertise and credibility — fueled by today’s cultural and technological changes. In this new dimension of business lies the secret to success in our transformed world of commerce.
Claude Hopkins, in Scientific Advertising: A Rapid stream ran by the writer’s boyhood home. The stream turned a wooden wheel and the wheel ran a mill. Under that primitive method, all but a fraction of the streams’ potentiality went to waste. Then someone applied scientific methods to that stream – put in a turbine and dynamos. Now, with no more water, no more power, it runs a large manufacturing plant.
You probably don’t realize it, but there is a good chance you are letting a lot of extra money in your business slip right out of your hands. In fact, if you don’t have good systems in place, I can almost guarantee it. In this post I’ll pull back the curtain and show you some of the systems I use to keep things running tighter. Specifically, I’m going to tell you about an end of year/new year’s marketing campaign, targeting my private clients from 2010.
