You may or may not be aware that, a couple of years ago, I changed the method that people come in to RISE via.
We used to do a monthly, in person group meeting where people signed up to an initial 8-week programme which then automatically rolled on unless cancelled.
Nowadays I do phone calls into a 4-week programme then optional sign up to continuing membership afterwards.
Works much better overall.
I crunched some numbers on it recently and found something which I kind of knew already.
Out of those that I speak to around 3 week mark, nearly all of them continue on the ongoing programme at the end of the 4th week.
Some don’t, sure.
But most do.
The majority of those that stop at the end of the 4 weeks have pretty much disappeared by this 3 week mark though.
They’ve gone ‘head in the sand’.
Not responding to my messages and attempts to book them in for some coaching.
Despite having specifically promised me not to do that only a few weeks earlier.
I explain to people when they join that, for the majority of people who don’t end up getting the results they want, it’s at least underpinned by the fact that they’ve stopped engaging.
And every single person promises me that they will still respond to my messages and do what they can, even if they’re struggling.
But, at some point over those few weeks, they’ve gone back on their word.
And I get it.
We start most new things with what’s called ‘uninformed optimism’.
We don’t fully know what’s happening but it sounds great and we’re full of enthusiasm.
And it’s easy then to move on into ‘informed pessimism’.
Realising that, whilst there is some great support there, we still actually have to do something.
And we have a choice then.
Keep pushing through to ‘informed optimism’ where we accept what will have to do and, on average do it with some support and accountability.
Oh we can stop.
Slide backwards.
Only to start again at some point in the future.
What we can just choose to do is to stay engaged even when it’s not going as we’d like.
To have the integrity to reply to messages and say that we’ve not done what we said we would.
To accept that, when things aren’t going as we’d like, disengaging just hides it, it doesn’t change it.
Makes it even worse if anything.
We can just choose to stay engaged whatever is happening.
To still spend 30 seconds a week taking stock and Touching Base.
Two minutes to give some thought to the coming week and setting a RISE Plan that we will be held accountable to that is worthwhile but doable under the logistics of that week.
Whatever we might tell ourselves, completely disengaging is a choice.
A choice that only masks what’s happening.
A choice that makes the results we desire much less likely.
To paraphrase Trainspotting, “Choose engagement”.
Much love,
Jon ‘Pinkie’ Hall
P.S. If you haven’t already engaged, you can do so here —> www.myrise.co.uk/apply. I’ve got a Money Back Guarantee that says you won’t regret it!
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RISE in Macclesfield was established in 2012 and specialise in Group Personal Training weight loss programmes for those that don’t like the gym and find diets boring and restrictive!
