So, something interesting happened today. 

I sat down with a client for a routine 6-week assessment. She had been kicking ass in her workouts, her body fat was down, and her muscle, strength and endurance were all up. By all accounts, she was crushing it.  

As we started digging into her fitness goals to reestablish what was most important to her, she suddenly uttered the phrase:

“I don’t really have any goals.”

Now, most fitness professionals who maintain the slightest interest in their clients’ success will most likely have the same knee-jerk reaction to throw their face into a brick wall.

Although I admit my initial reaction was, in part, "dafuq?," I wanted to dig deeper. Maintaining an aura of curiosity, I turned to her and said: 

“Why are you here?”

It was a simple, yet broad and open-ended question. The response could take any number of directions.

After digging several layers deep, I found that she wanted to feel as connected with her husband as she used to be when she was younger, more active, and in better shape.

Bingo. This was a long term client who did have goals, but had lost sight of her deep “why.” 

During the process of a body transformation, it’s common to chase performance goals like deadlifting 2× bodyweight, or physique goals such as dropping body fat and building muscle.

These are all fantastic markers to gauge progress, however, what happens when you actually get to 10% bodyfat? Or pull 500 lbs from the floor?

How would your life be different?

Fitness should make your life better, not consume it. So, how does getting stronger, losing weight, and moving better affect other areas of your life? 

Increased confidence is a pretty common answer to this question, but unfortunately, it’s at this point in the conversation that most people hit a dead-end. So, you have more confidence. Awesome, what the hell are you going to do with it?

Does the process of reaching your fitness goals give you the confidence to finally start that business you’ve always talked about? What if it pushes you to level up your current business, and ultimately end up hitting six figures, seven figures, or more?

Maybe lifting a metric shit-ton of weight from the floor is the catalyst that opens your eyes to what you’re capable of, so you seek out other skills that enhance your life. I mean, shit, I did this. What else can I do now?

What if the new-found confidence that’s bred from looking damn sexy helps you find a significant other?

When it comes to business, success, and building connections, confidence is king.

Enhanced quality of life is another powerful “why.”

Imagine:

*A high level attorney who  refuses to let her deteriorating posture and strength negatively impact her presence as she works through a high point in her career.

* A father who wants to reduce or eliminate his neck and back pain so that he can continue to play basketball with his kids.

* A husband who doesn't want his physical condition to limit him as he moves toward retirement and into a life of traveling the world. 

These are all actual examples of clients I've worked with. Yet, in exactly zero of these examples have I mentioned specific performance or physique numbers.  

That’s because for the vast majority of people, fitness is a means to an end. It’s a force-multiplier that makes everything in life better. 

At least it should.