The 1% Rule - Tommy Baker

You and I know, Eric, that most people spend their time on the stuff that doesn't matter, the stuff that doesn't move the needle, the stuff that's busy work. And then they get to the end of the month and they f they haven't had anyone on a strategy session, they haven't had anyone in an enrollment session, and they're trying to figure out why isn't my revenue growing? And that's precisely the reason.

Hey fitness fans, welcome back to the future of fitness podcast and interview series. This is your host, Eric Melzone, and this is episode number 95. I get to Tommy Baker. So, Tommy, I've actually been following him for a while. Um, I've been listening to his podcast, uh Resist Average Academy. Uh, he just came out with a book, another book, I believe, the 1% rule. And I just really like Tommy. I mean, just like everybody on the show, uh, I just really like Tommy and what he says, the way he speaks. It if you don't follow him on Facebook, um it's a lot of value there. You know, go check it out, Tommy Baker, because I think he only posts once maybe a week. Uh, but when he does, it's like, whoa, that was impactful. And that's the kind of person I like uh to be around. And that's why I wanted Tommy on the show to share a little bit of Tommy Baker with our audience here. So he does come from the fitness industry. Um, that's where he kind of cut his teeth, and now he is a mentor. Um, he's a mindset specialist, uh, he's an efficiency specialist. But most of all, it's kind of a tough thing for me to describe. Um so I'll let Tommy do an interview, but he really helps people find uh what their true power is, where all of their potential is. You know, oftentimes in life, in entrepreneurship, we start chasing things uh that really don't really align with our values, that don't really align with what we can truly offer society. And there's strife, inner strife, right, that causes us uh resistance, um, that causes us to hold back and inevitably not move forward as we should. And uh, it's really powerful some of the things we talk about in here. So I hope you enjoy it. Uh, you know, another topic that I love talking with Tommy about is scarcity versus abundance mindset. And this fitness industry that we love so much, uh, I'm gonna break you the news, is rampant with scarcity mindset. Uh, it's one of the reasons we created the fitness accelerator for those who um do not have scarcity mindset, they have abundance mindset to get together and collaborate uh because it's way more powerful um than trying to convince people with a scaredy mindset that they shouldn't have it. Uh so I'd rather just be in a room full of people who have the same values as me. And uh that's one of the things we talk about here uh with Tommy. So yeah, he's got the uh the book out, the 1% rule, uh hence the name of the podcast. It's an excellent book, excellent podcast. Everything about Tommy, everything he puts out there is high quality. So uh you mentioned I mentioned it just a second ago. What is the fitness accelerator? Yeah, there's something very special. You know, uh don't miss out on this. You know, right now we're not marketing it. The only time I talk about it is on this podcast or with one-on-one calls with people who I think are a great fit. But think about it. You know, if you could leverage other people's networks, you know, mid to high level operators within the fitness industry, if you could get in the same virtual room with them, have discussions, talk about things that really matter, and then inevitably find partnerships that could tend a hundred X your return on what you're currently doing, wouldn't you want to be in that room? I would. I am. I created that room, and that's what we're doing right now on the fitness accelerator. So go check it out. It's uh fitnessprofessional online dot com forward slash fit accelerator. Again, that's fitnessprofessionalonline.com forward slash fit accelerator. And you can get more information. There's a short application that we too take very seriously. And uh, so if you want to get in, fill it out, and then we'll let you know if you qualify. So that is it. Without further ado, let's get on to episode number 95 with Tommy Baker, the 1% rule. Tommy Baker, welcome to the show, man.

Eric, love what you're doing and excited to be on here, my man.

Yeah, I'm uh I'm really excited because I don't know exactly where this interview is gonna go, but wherever it is, it's gonna be amazing. That's how we roll. I uh, you know, I've I've had the pleasure of just following you a little bit. Um, you know, I listened to your podcast. Um, I have not got your book yet, but let's talk about that for today for sure.

I'm gonna send you some. After this, I'll get your address. My team will send you some.

Yeah, man, right on. Awesome. So, man, I let's do this because, you know, this is the future of fitness. I know you have a background in fitness. I know you've expanded into, you know, this world that you live in now. Uh, let's talk about your journey through through as it relates to fitness and how you got to where you are now.

Absolutely, man. In a nutshell, fitness for me became um my original spiritual quest. And I say that in in regards to knowing who I was. I wanted to know who I was when my legs were burning and my uh I couldn't think about doing the next round. Like, who was that guy? Who was the character when everything had dissolved? And that really became my original quest that I became obsessed with. Uh, led me to opening up a couple gyms, really being deeply involved in the CrossFit community. Um, and then uh and then ultimately recognizing that um it was really a mind-body-spirit game, that this that fitness was just an entry path. You know, I had studied so much psychology in Abraham Maslow, and it's like the physical path is the doorway that actually leads to the others. And I believe if we don't have the physical taken care of, we are ultimately capped in how high up that that pyramid that we can go. And uh, you know, now I I um I'm still very connected to the fitness industry, but I don't serve the fitness industry um like I used to, but uh it's near and dear to my heart, and it's a major, major portion of my life.

Yeah. And what did you do within the fitness profession? You're you mentioned you were a gym owner, a facility owner. Tell me more about that.

Yeah, so we had a model where initially it was so we had a uh very high-end private coaching experience uh facility where basically you would come in and we'd do everything for you, only personal training, uh, meals would be uh taken care of, we'd include massages and all that, so we'd partner with a lot of people. So it was very high-end, very high ticket, very um like done for you. And then and then we had a uh brick and mortar gym, which was uh more of a performance class, CrossFit style class um experience. And so we kind of served both of the markets in those in those two worlds. Um that um and then ultimately we brought those together, but that's how I started.

Okay, okay, cool. Yeah, you know, there's um thing like we were talking about before, right? 40 years in give me like give or take 40 years, how old the industry is. Uh, you know, there's so many people that are getting into um fitness trainers who are now taking a jump into entrepreneurship or facility ownership, right? And it's it's just this this wave that's in it, and people are a little bit confused. Now you you're an entrepreneur through and through, right? Um, you're a coach. Um what what even like okay, if I asked you what is Tommy Baker uh in your profession, what do you say you are?

Yeah, if I just had to choose one or two words, I would say uh consultant. Okay. Yeah.

Um so you consult people, and you know, there, there's uh the industry seems kind of underprepared, most entrepreneurs to get into the fitness business. It's very cutthroat. Yes, right? It's it's very competitive. Um, there's a lot of um attention um that people are are are vying for. And I think one of the biggest struggles is we're in a tsunami of content now, right? Remember when blogs started? I think it was, you know, people start blogging in like 2005. Uh that seems like such a distant memory now. Now there's just you know thousands of podcasts, thousands of social media feeds. Um, and it's just overwhelm. It's just too much. Uh where when you're consulting with people along that line, um how are you helping people get heard?

Yeah, the number one thing, Eric, that I do is that I help people pick a pillar platform. And to me, the pillar platform is the place where not only you resonate the most, but the people that you're looking to serve are. And so too often, with because there's so much noise, people choose seven places to be at once. You know, they they they follow the Gary V model, but what they're missing is that real intense focus at one pillar platform. I like to think of it as the root tree, and then the branches can be the the auxiliary units of that. Now, for me, for what I'm doing now, that became the podcast. Why? Because if somebody came to the academy and listened to 90 minutes of this immersive conversation on the principles of entrepreneurship and life and business and all of that stuff and stayed with me to come back again, I knew we had built a deep level of trust because it's a it's a very deep experience on the podcast. Um now, that doesn't mean I don't support it with other stuff, but I would, I would, you know, with limited bandwidth uh and and with all of the things that are going on, pick a pillar platform and get really good into the craft of the pillar platform um and focus on that and then build around that. But the whole idea of starting at seven places at once, you're not gonna, you're gonna be very dissatisfied when none of those things are really moving all that well.

Yeah. Yeah. So let's actually let's back up. I feel like, you know, because I've I've listened to you, I've had the pleasure of talking to you. Um I enjoy your podcast. So I feel like I know I know a lot about what you do. I don't think a lot of people may not know yet, you know, about what what Tommy Baker does. So let's let's back up. Tell us what what you do now, like how do you consult people? How do you how you what do you do on a day-to-day basis?

Absolutely. So my my biggest uh focus is working with entrepreneurs who um have created visions, have know that there's something else out there for them, but they get really stuck in the how. And where I come in and it's just I help them reverse engineer that process. And we bring it down all the way to, hey, what do you what can we do tomorrow to bring that vision to life? Because so many people would come to me. And this was actually my experience out of self-preservation. I was the guy going to the all the all the events. I would get hyped up on these motivational seminars, I would create these visions. And then, dude, three weeks later, I had nothing to show for it. And each time that happened, I started to lose belief that it was possible. And I almost got to the side of like, are these guys just selling me some BS? And really, I had to look in the mirror and understand that I wasn't putting the pieces together, that I was relying on a dopamine head to get excited, but I wasn't actually falling in love with any type of craft. Um, so the the people I serve are people who have done that a few times, are frustrated, they're stuck, and they really want to put the pieces together. And how I do that is like you said, coaching and consultant and various experiences, but also the podcast and all my content is about yes, getting you to a place where you're thinking really big and bold. Um, but that's just the first step. Then we got to go through a whole process to reverse and you're and close that gap so you can start living that today because no amount of quotes, no amount of uh YouTube videos, nothing is gonna make you feel as confident that that vision is gonna come to life as actually seeing the results associated with that. Much like fitness, it's the same exact thing. And there's a residue effect, right? When you get started at the gym for the first three or four weeks, yeah, you're feeling better, but you're not necessarily uh seeing all of the results. And uh I just teach people a system to have enough patience to last in the game long enough to make that happen.

Yeah. And I I uh, you know, so we know we both know James Fitzgerald over dope, right?

Legend, legend, as a man. He radically shifted my life because he was the one who introduced me to my next mentor, which was Dr. John Di Martini, which led to my next mentor. So there are no mistakes when you resonate with people, even if the the exact context changes over time, because I ended up leaving the world of fitness, but they would leave they're gonna leave bread uh crumb trails that are gonna lead you to other experiences. And so I owe so much to James. I mean, it's why I'm in Arizona. If he didn't move here and he didn't have his seminar here, there's no chance I end up here because I would have no reason to come here. So it's awesome.

Yeah. Yeah. He uh when I told him I was selling my gym because I own a facility in Santa Barbara for you know almost nine years, and everyone, anyone listening to this podcast is probably sick of me talking about it, but it's just part of who I am. And when I told him, you know, hey, here's what I do, I want to move on to some kind of consulting role and start expanding my reach, uh, he reminded me very briskly. Um, he's like, okay, well, just understand that you spent nine years doing gym ownership and fitness. Now just set your expectations for what you'll be doing in nine years because it'll take that amount of time to build your experience, right? So I love that. Um entrepreneurship, and I guess we'll specifically talk about the fitness industries, they have these expectations of like, well, you know, if I'm not hitting X amount of income in a year, I'm failing. Absolutely. And I think when you start talking about words like craft, right, that that's where the mindset mindset needs to shift to it. Um so explain what you mean by craft, because I think that's a common that's something that is in kind of an old school term that needs to be brought back to the forefront.

Yeah, I love the conversation of craft because like you said, it's inherently when you work on a craft, it means that you're you're you're as proud, and sometimes and most likely even prouder of the process in cre and working in that craft than you are in the actual end result. And so to me, the way I define craft is just the vehicle of how you deliver your work and your purpose and your message, et cetera, et cetera. Right? And and so, but the craft is a pursuit. It's a pursuit that endures, that lasts a long time. There's no pressure, like you said, that in one year I have to do this. You know, a lot of people, and I wrote about this in the book in terms of expectations, those expectations place tremendous pressure on us, tremendous pressure to monetize today, tremendous pressure to monetize before really even necessarily ready to do so. And so when I talk about craft, it's about you know committing to that vehicle, you know, the the the process of the vehicle of how you're gonna deliver whatever it is that you deliver and falling in love with that instead of the end result because oddly enough, and we just had a brilliant podcast on this, which if you listen to will radically um make you probably a little bit uncomfortable. But the topic that we brought up was are you looking, are you just trying to get noticed in a noisy world or are you pursuing a craft? If you're only looking to get noticed, that actually distracts you from the craft. And you know what's odd about it, Eric, is that if you focus on the pursuit of a craft long enough and with the right intention, guess what happens? You get noticed, but you don't get noticed because of you're just another noise. You're not just more noise, you are standing out because so few people focus on a craft. Yeah, yeah. So when you a craft for your audience may be the ability to to to to help people, you know, to to coach people through an experience through a physical transformation. I mean, that is a craft, right? Like James Fitzgerald said that because he takes the craft of coaching so seriously, right? And that could that could be someone's craft.

Yeah. Yeah, it's it's uh you're right. And for me, I realized that my my craft, I didn't know why I wanted to start podcasting nine months ago. I just knew I wanted to, right? And I enjoyed the process. My favorite part of every week is getting on and and just talking and shutting off my phone, right? Shutting off my email and just having a one-on-one deep conversation with people about things that I believe matters for the industry. And that's um, and I remember when I started my one of the people who uh Andy Patronic, he's like, just I'm like, what do I need to do to start a podcast? He's like, you just start. Click recording. You don't you don't worry about it for a hundred episodes. You just you know don't think that.

That's the same mindset I had when I started. I said, you know, because I was getting I was getting lost in logistics, which happens in any creative endeavor endeavor, right? Because it's really just fear masquerading as you know, needing to figure out what equipment to use. And um, and that's what I said. I said, I'm committing to a hundred episodes. And then what happens when you do that, like you said, the stuff that lights you up, that's when you start to recognize, whoa, this is this is actually my craft. This is much more powerful than I thought it would be.

Yeah, yeah. Well, and then there's gonna be people who are like, well, you gotta make money, right? You gotta you gotta do it. So what which what's your answer to to that? Because I'm sure you get asked that one all the time. You know, how how much patience do I need to have? Right?

Yeah, and and it's such a it's I call it a it's it's really a a tightrope because you can find ways, you know, and it really depends on on where you're at, you know. Skill acquisition is so important, right? We talk so much about passion and and all and purpose and all that stuff, but we have to uh mirror that with with skill acquisition. So I'll just give you an example, Eric. Um early on when I built my gym, I realized you know I had to get really good at marketing, I had to get really good at direct response copy. So I uh went deep into the into the craft of copywriting. And so this actually became a way for me to monetize myself, my value to the marketplace while I was building other businesses and having the patience and cultivating the patience to monetize those. So I believe that everybody out there, and we all have these inherently, but everybody should have a core set of two to three to four skills that they're working on every single day that, hey, if if things aren't working out as fast as you thought they would, well, they you can lean back on. Because if I didn't have, you know, copy allowed me to command, you know, five thousand dollars for a sales page when, dude, I had nothing coming in for a while. Right. So it's it's important to cultivate these skills and identify the skills based on where you're going and what you want to create that are really gonna help you not just monetize then, but monetize in the near future.

Yeah. Yeah, that's a great, that's a great point of view too. And I think that struggle, I mean, just hey, if you're getting an entrepreneurship, just be prepared to struggle, you know, financially for a little bit. I mean, it's and some people have great situations, and it is case by case situational. Um, you know, I'm lucky I have a very supportive wife to get me through my first year, right? Um, I'm lucky that I could sell a gym and had an asset that I could lean on, um, you know, as far as financially. So that that I find fortunate, but a lot of people don't have that, and then, you know, um, then it's just a really can be a really stressful situation.

Right.

And and it's it's it can it can leave you in a place where you know, I had a client who had just launched this new business, he had just pivoted into this new business, but he had pivoted away from something that he knew uh could produce. And guess what? There was residue. And he comes to me one day and he says, I if if I don't produce revenue in the next three weeks, man, I gotta close up shop. And I sat him down, we had a conversation, and we went through this whole thing, and we identified this was very connected to his purpose, and he had a very deep why around it. And I said, if this is truly your purpose, your timeline of three weeks means nothing. Meaning, like if this is that important to you, you better have a decade of bandwidth to put into it. And most people aren't ready to hear that, right? And so, and I gave him the real talk, and he had a really powerful shift because what happened after that is guess what? He just had this click moment where the the the three week the three-week expectation was off, and he was like, dude, I'm in this for the long haul. It doesn't matter what my external circumstances are. And guess what happened like two weeks later? Landed like three of the biggest clients that he's had, and it set him up on a powerful trajectory. But it needed that shift. And to me, that long-term, it's not that you're just sitting around waiting, you're taking deliberate, focused action, which most people aren't doing anything, and we can get into focus, close to focus, deliberate action, based on the on the parameters that actually have the ability to produce revenue. And that goes back to getting noticed. Like we've all had that day where we did a lot of stuff, we posted nine times on social media, but did we actually do anything that served value to the marketplace? And to me, I know at the end of the day, to consider it a win, it is not about posting a lot on social, even though that's part of my business. It is not about replying to emails, and it has nothing to do with tasks and busy work. It has to do with one or two big things that are usually non-urgent and are important that allow me to say, dude, you won the day. You actually moved your business forward today. Will I reap the benefits tomorrow? Maybe not. But in three months, that seed that I planted by doing that focused work that nobody wants to do turned into a huge opportunity.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's such a great and it's it just seems it comes so much down to expectations, right? Like free yourself from your own expectations because that's the worst. I mean, so many, you know, my my wife, just so amazing and supportive. You know, I I had these deadlines that I put on myself of how much money I want to make at a certain time, right? And we all, you know, I'm sure many people, if you're like me, you write down every day, hey, this is what I want to do. Here's the date. Um, but sometimes you just that doesn't happen and it's not meant to happen yet, right?

Um and that's the key word yet. Right. Right? When you do that, you're just planting seeds. But there's a lot of conditions around a seed that bring it to life. There's sunlight, there's water, there's the soil, the ingredients, and guess what? Time. And so if you if you plant your seeds and you go out three days later and you're pounding on the ground saying, Why isn't this happening? That's not going to do Do anything except stress you the hell out. And people often will miss a life's calling because of too high of expectations. You know, when I s when I when I transitioned my gym online, I said, hold on. So let me put this straight. So I made this amount of revenue and I and this is how big my audience was. So now let me extrapolate that. I got the whole country now I can market to. Well, that naturally means that now my ability to produce revenue is this high. What I didn't realize is that once you step out into the virtual world, it is a whole different game and it requires a whole different set of skill sets that are different from somebody walking into the door of a facility and getting the personal touch. I didn't have those skill sets. So guess what? My expectations of I'm going to hit this huge monthly number didn't happen. And I was kind of brought down, brought to earth and remembered that just because now I have vast numbers to market to, that presents its own challenge, right? With got with that great freedom, that great abundance of people to market to. Now it's like, who do I really want to speak to and how am I going to speak to them? And what skills are involved with that? So I completely agree on expectations, which is why people will look at my content, they're like, dude, you're always talking about dreaming big and bold visions and emotional around your why. So what are you talking about? And I'm like, because you know, life is, you know, the biggest truths in life are paradox, they're the dichotomies. You gotta have something that's pulling you that's really, really powerful. But then you also have to bring it down all the way to today, what you can do right now, what you can control right now. Because that vision, man, that can get overwhelming, especially when your external circumstances, you pull up your bank account uh app and you're like, man, that that is getting smaller and smaller every single month, right? And that just creates stress.

Yeah.

Yeah. Well, you know, it's we live in a world, obviously, of um immediate gratification. I mean, that's that's no secret, you know. And uh, you know, get back to James with Cheryl again. We talked about, you know, training people. Everybody wants everything done in 21 days, 21 day reset, 21-day 20-pound challenge, right? Uh, and he always jokes like, well, it still takes nine months to make a baby. Like, that's not changing, right? And uh, you know, over you know, overnight successes are not overnight, and it's a it's a grind, and I think you gotta fall in love with it. And uh, I think this is a great segue into you know, exactly what what is the 1% rule? I mean, because I think that's your latest body of work.

And um and that was created exactly on on what we're talking about. That um this was developed after working with so many clients and and being in so many conversations where yes, people had the bold, audacious vision, but like they got lost once they had the vision and they like the powerful man, like a life-changing moment where they had the real deep insight on what they wanted to do, then they got lost and stuck in the how, right? Like they were thinking about problems that they they hadn't earned the right to even think about. Meaning, like they were like, they were you know so so beyond their current scope that they would just get overwhelmed. And so I said there has to be a way that we can reverse engineer this to the smallest common denominator. So, like if we have Eric's grand vision and north star vision, which is what I call it, because it's that north star in the sky that just we we set our compass to and we keep moving. Some days we might move to the left a little bit, sometimes to the right. You add up enough time, we're still getting closer. Um, how can we bring it down to a set of action steps that Eric can do today? Yeah, and they have to be so small and they have to be almost dumb in their simplicity that we have no option to go research more, we have no option to go check Amazon reviews more, we have no options to build our website a little bit nicer, we have to actually just do them. And my argument, my belief, the ethos behind it is that if you do those long enough, they turn into incredible results. And and the the science behind it is awesome, right? Because if you grow 1% every single day on an incremental uh path, that's 3.65 times, you know, three times better, almost four times better throughout the course of a year, but that's incremental growth. Yeah. And the crazy thing is that when you're on the incremental growth path, you don't know when that exponential growth is gonna hit. We've all experienced this in fitness. We're like doing the work, we're doing the work, we're doing the work, we're doing the work, and then boom, we experience these this like three weeks of just PRs and breaking through, and that that's the exponential growth curve. And it's the same thing in our lives. And so if you if you do hit the exponential growth curve, you have the ability to grow 37 uh times. So at the lowest possible, you're gonna you're gonna go grow, you know, three point three, three point five times or 37x. And I'm gonna take those odds any day of the week. And really what it does, Eric, is that it places people's self-esteem around what they could control today's process, not the outcome that they can't control, like your bank, like the bank uh stuff that you were writing down, but the actual things that you can do today um to get closer to that.

Yeah, yeah, awesome. So I'm sure you have practical examples, right? Uh give us some. Like what does that look like?

Absolutely. Well, you know, and in in the book, I I lay it all out, but you know, what we do is that we create a one-year, uh a one-year vision. So we would we would create that revenue goal, right? And then we we we reverse engineer that to the first to the next quarter, to the next 90 days. So there's no s no no point in setting uh a yearly goal um and mapping out four quarters because so much growth can happen in a quarter, and we want to keep those targets really, really close. So once we have that, so let's say, I'm trying to think, let's say what's a really easy number. Um, let's say the the goal was uh, you know, at 10K uh 10K in the next quarter, right? In the next 90 days. We'd reverse engineer that, so that'd be um, you know, uh 3, uh 333 uh a month, and we take that all the way down. And in the book, I have a process where we actually bring that down all the way into what a weekly target would be. And so once we have that number, we'll look at all the possible uh, and this is another exercise, inputs that could lead to that. So this is I we take inventory of all the possible actions, and I usually have people do up to 20, 25, or 30. Once we have that, um, I delete, we delete about 30 to 40 percent of them. It's like gone, right? Because there's just so much stuff that we do that doesn't, you know, I call this the closet principle. You know, anytime I step into my closet, I wear the same exact stuff. 20% of the stuff I wear 80% of the time. I just moved, so I got rid of so much stuff that I never wear. But it's the same thing in business. We do this, we do things that don't actually move the needle. Um, so we delete a bunch of stuff, and then depending on who you are, we can uh uh delegate, we can automate some of that stuff, but then we're left with the core essentials. So this would be like the the part of the craft, like this for you would be like doing these these podcasts and these conversations. Um and we focus on, and you know, for example, um for a lot of people that I coach, they they make revenue through also uh you know service-based businesses. And so there's just a number of people that they have to see that they have to be in their ecosphere. And so we'll take that revenue number and we'll break it all the way down to how many people they have to see a week, and then we'll break that all the way down to how many people they have to see a day. And and really that's that's just the that gives us so much clarity and takes the pressure off. Because if I only have to have conversations with five people, that's my number for me. I have to have conversations for my mastermind program or my one-on-one program, five people a week. That's it to hit the revenue targets, then that makes it pretty easy to track and measure. And every single day, I just have to know that to get five people on every single day. I have to be engaging in five to ten possible conversations to get them on the line. Yeah. And that's break it down. Clarity is like an onion. The deeper you go, the more the more there is, and we can never have an abundance of clarity is impossible. And in entrepreneurship with so many options available and so much noise, once you have clarity, you've identified you've identified your priorities, you've identified the priority action steps. You don't have space for all the other stuff. Or if you do, it happens once the stuff is done. But you and I know, Eric, that most people spend their time on the stuff that doesn't matter, the stuff that doesn't move the needle, the stuff that's busy work, and then they get to the end of the month and they've they haven't had anyone on a strategy session, they haven't had anyone in an enrollment session, and they're trying to figure out why isn't my revenue growing? And that's precisely the reason.

Yeah. Yeah, that's uh such a good point. The number one challenge I see with online entrepreneurs, uh, especially because the online space is so uh vague at this point in time. There's so many different opportunities, so many different ways you can create um things of value. The number one challenge I've seen, uh, because I've I I live it uh and I've coached people through it, is a ton of activity with no clarity. Yes. That's it. That's it. 100%. People will think, well, if I just stay active, you know, something will happen. But no, if there's no clarity behind it, but once that clarity is achieved, right, you're like, okay, this is what I want, this is it, this is what I'm gonna do, and then massive action is followed up on that. Yes, it's it's amazing.

Two different worlds, two different worlds. Yeah, and we have limited bandwidth, uh, mental, physical, energetic, emotional, all that stuff. So if we're not putting it in the right buckets, it's gonna go all over the place. And that's, you know, there's so many people that I see, and they come to me and they're I see them get so excited about something that they're creating, and they put out so much content for like three weeks, and then I don't hear from them for two months. Yeah. And it's because exactly of what you just said. They're just spewing their precious energy everywhere, and they had no clarity around like what truly matters and what am I really gonna build? And you're right, you can launch a podcast, you can do a course, you can do a YouTube channel, you can have a private membership group, you can have a the list goes on and on. And the problem with that is like I always say with great freedom comes great responsibility. Yeah. Like to actually pick one of those and stick to it long enough where it reap the rewards. When I said I wanted to start the podcast, I didn't have plans of getting some decent chunks of cash through sponsorship early on. I didn't put that pressure on myself. I could never put that pressure on myself. Why? Because I hadn't earned the right to be in the craft long enough and to provide enough value. But guess what? The moment that I committed to 100 episodes, somewhere along that line, guess who started knocking? Some really big sponsors because they saw the quality and the depth of the experience. It wasn't even about the numbers because the numbers weren't even that good. They just saw powerful value and they knew that anybody that listened would resonate and they wanted to connect their brand to that. But I didn't place that expectation. I didn't know where that money was going to come from. Sponsorship wasn't even in my arena early on because I wanted to focus on the craft. So it's all about that intention and that focus.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think uh, you know, I've fallen on the trap of like, when, you know, when will I get a sponsor? Right? Uh when will something like that? But you just don't worry about it, right? You just keep doing what you're doing. And uh so, you know, let's talk specifically maybe about the online fitness space because it's um so many people are driving towards it now. Uh, it seems to make perfect sense logically, like you said. Well, you know, if I'm good here in my local market, imagine if I go global, I'll be a thousand times more successful, but it's not like that. Yeah. Um, so what do you think? You know, if I'm an on if I'm someone who's thinking about taking their practice, um their online training, you know, going taking training online. What what are you what are you suggesting to them? What's your words of advice?

Yeah, the number one thing is uh go go um go go get some massive clarity around who you're serving and how you're serving, and the best resource, Donald Miller, your one-liner from Story Brand, he breaks this down so easily. It will take you an hour, it'll be the best hour that you'll spend. Because just like Eric and I mentioned before, it'll it'll start you with clarity, and then everything that happens after that is so much easier. And that's actually a tool I wish I would have had when I was started online because I was I was like, well, the more the merrier. I can I can do anyone with anything. Um, but that's where I would start. Clarity, especially online, because there's so much volume, you really just want to know who, you know, like who is the dream client? I had a very specific dream client with both my physical training, uh, you know, in-person training and online training. And it was a male entrepreneurs or high-performing executives. Um, they were 35 to 50, usually ex-athletes, um, had really put the last decade plus into their career at the expense of their health. And those became the people that I wanted to work with. They had high levels of success in their career, so they had money to invest. Um, and the pain was high because they used to be athletes, so they knew what that felt like. They knew what it felt like to feel uh thriving and to feel amazing, but they they were in a place where they could barely look in the mirror. And that's really who I focused on serving. So clarity around um who you're serving is massive. In a brick and mortar uh uh business, that's um less important because you have a physical, you have a plant in the ground where you can be more flexible with that. But when you have numbers in like so many numbers, your message has to be has to hit the right person at the right time.

Yeah. Yeah, there's um, you know, I I I think of so many different people who are successful in the online space. Uh Brett Concerris is the glute guy, right? Uh Tony Gemskore is a deadlift guy. Sarah Duval, um she is the uh core pelvic lady, right? Like they've taken these these broad things and they segmented so much, and now they're seeing just massive success because they they you know really um you say niche or niche? Niche.

I go with niche.

I think it could be the most important question I have for you today.

Yeah. Niche. Sounds kind of French. I was in Spain recently, but um no, but you're right. You're and in an online space, there are so many people who want to just focus on glue training. There's so many people who just want to focus on deadlift. There are so many people who want to focus on a ketogenic-based lifestyle. There's so many people that want to do um, you know, increase their performance in CrossFit. So you just have to pick the one that that really lights you up, the one that you're gonna spend, you're gonna want to spend time consulting with these people. You know, when I worked with my dream clients, and uh I did this exercise once where I looked at my businesses and uh in fitness, and I looked at my dream clients, and the top 15% brought in like 85 plus percent of the revenue. Never asked questions about billing, never canceled, um, were all in on everything I did. We're just it didn't feel like any type of work per se. And when I looked at the bottom percent, which it constituted very minimal revenue, um, those were the people always complaining. Uh they needed refunds, uh, they would miss sessions, all of that stuff. And so what this gives you is actually it makes your your your work so much more powerful because it means you're you're lit up to work with them and they're all they're the right person to work with. When when you're when you're in that situation, like transformation is so easy uh to happen. Yeah. And people are willing to pay like a high ticket for it.

Yeah. Well, it it aligns, it's it aligns with their values. So this actually brings because I know uh obviously D. Martini is you know a mentor of yours. You mentioned that earlier.

Yeah.

And uh when I got to work with James and I took his his life coaching part of um part of his education, it was a lot of it came down to understanding values and what that means. And I think to most people that's just a very vague topic. Sure. Um, but understanding and truly like number one, understanding your own values, being honest with those and really doing the analysis thereof, and then how you know, seeing how that relates to all the actions you have, and then how your clients' values um dictate how you work with them and how you communicate with them. Absolutely. Tell us about your journey into the understanding of values and how that plays with your business as well.

Yeah, you know what's crazy. I don't even know if James knows this. I I saw him the other day and I I meant to tell him, um, you know, he he once did a webinar called uh Living a Larger Life.

Yeah.

And uh it was a recorded webinar. I don't know if I was live on it, um, but I had the recording somehow. And uh so I listened to it like a hundred times. Yeah, I don't even think he knows that. Um, but that led me down because there was a whole section where he like went deep into this Di Martini stuff, and I was like, I gotta find this guy. Yeah, it just so happens when I came out to an OPT certification here in Arizona that same weekend, and Di Martini never comes to Arizona. Why? Because I've been here for three years, he still hasn't come. He was here that weekend. I don't I don't I'm like that that's not a mistake, right? The weekend that OPT has a seminar, Di Martini has so I actually did an OPT uh certification and then spent three days and transfers with Di Martini. But the biggest part on I know, right? And I just was like and then and then I was in the place where I ended up moving, it just all happened at once. But with values, yeah, people get all all confused about it. The best way to understand is like just look at what the your life is showing you proof of your values today, right? So if I went, if I looked at your calendar, what would I see if I went into your home? What types of things would I see? If I uh looked at your bank accounts, where are you spending most of your money, right? Our lives are giving us proof of our values and values to DM Martini, you know, some people get lost in values. They think of these idealisms. Really, they're just where your priorities are. And like you said, once you first starts with knowing where your values are and how those line up with the people that you're trying to serve. And that's where the art of communication comes in. Communicating in what's important to them, not you. I heard learned this the hard way, having a you know, 12 employees, a lot of them who had families and were mothers and uh trying to think, did I have any fathers? No, but I had a couple employees that were mothers. When I came out with a sales commission system for my gym and implemented it, I was like, why are they why aren't they wanting to do this? Like, what why is everybody else, everybody else is so excited about this commission? And it's because I hadn't communicated to in their values, which was their family and the security of their family. The moment that we had a conversation, and it wasn't just about the financial means, it was how that improved their families' lives. Then they bought in. So when you can find that place when you communicate with clients, employees, whoever it may be, where you care about what's in it for them because that's what they're thinking, that's where their awareness is set, that's when they're gonna follow through.

Yeah. And it's um, you know, my journey down this path with value is was interesting because I think we all have this, you mentioned this idealistic, like, oh, I know what my value should be. Sure. Right. Uh because society says, you know, it should be family, yeah. God. Right. And then you actually take the analysis, and I and Di Martini, I believe, still has a test.

Yeah, he has a great thing online where you can take it. Yeah.

Yeah. And then you start doing you're like, whoa, well, this says my values are way different. Yeah. But does that make me a bad person? No, it's just makes you who you are.

Which is like clarity in who you are is everything. It's like it's the beginning base of aware self-awareness and and how you how you operate in the world. It's like you like taking inventory 101. It's so powerful.

Yeah. I mean, I found out that the far and away, you know, my my number one value was was business. It was my my craft, is actually what I to turn my use back then when I took it. It was my craft. Right. And unfortunately, my relationships were second, you know. Unfortunately back then, because that's what I thought, right? Um, and then everything else fell. Money was actually like fifth, you know, along the lines. And it it didn't mean, but I was, you know, I almost felt embarrassed that like, you know, why are my relationships number one? They should be number one. Yeah. But you just have to be honest yourself. Okay, that's that's actually what what you do. And if if you start to fight those values, that's when problems come.

And that's where you you get in a place where you're just out of alignment. Yeah. Because like you, you, you, you're you're chasing something that actually isn't it not only is it not yours, but it's it your your life doesn't demonstrate it. So naturally you're gonna be out of alignment. Yeah. Right. So it all it all starts with that that that journey. And you know, clear that that self-clarity is it's not an easy path. It's not something that you can bust out in 20 minutes. But you know, for entrepreneurs, you're always the number one thing with entrepreneurs is their ability to handle um the emotional ebbs and flows of running life in business. Yeah. Like to to last, if you want to last. Why? Because life is already stressful. You add an entrepreneurship, which you know is is a riskier endeavor, more unpredictability, more uncertainty. And if you if you can't have a nice grasp, you don't have an emotional resilience, uh, intelligence with yourself, it's very hard to stay consistent over the long term. A lot of my coaching and consulting actually isn't about the strategy behind business. It's actually about keeping my clients in a place where their emotional uh, like their emotional energy is in the right space. And like we we talked about in the pre pre-talk, like it that includes being open about the stuff that they're struggling with and and how hard it is, and and how they sometimes feel like a fraud and they don't have it figured out. And just releasing that is very therapeutic, like being able to talk about the uh that with someone and then using that as leverage to create something powerful, uh Is is can really mean the difference between succeeding and then and literally staying stuck in this whirlwind.

Yeah. Yeah. You know, and I I'm sure it's in any industry, but the fitness industry especially is rampant with imposter syndrome, right? And we all feel it. You know, I had the interview that I did today um before this was with Tommy Hackenbrook. Very successful CrossFitter, right? Very successful gym owner, successful entrepreneur, right? All we talked about was his failures. And he's like, you know, this is this is what actually he was so humble about it. And uh so many people would have been scared to talk about those things because everyone wants to think of, you know, Eric Malzone, the guy who's got it all figured out, right? Um, and I think uh I don't know.

I mean, you work with people from all over all different industries, but do you think the fitness industry is is especially um plagued with Yeah, because it's such a it's a it's a front-serving industry, you know, uh very personality-based, and and so and people are coming to you for really important advice and really important uh consulting and really important issues. And you know, if fitness is everybody knows, is um, you know, I mean, when I worked with my clients, a lot of the conversations had nothing to do with fitness, it's a very personal thing. So they're coming there. That's a big bur that's a big like load to have on on us. And so, um, but at the same time being able to be honest, because that's where we create that that connection. I just surveyed my audience. You know, it was a quick survey. I I was uh you know um working on some new projects, and I got I got 350 responses, and the overlying theme, which I didn't even know was you know present. I mean, it's an intention that I set, but I don't really like focus on the outcome of it was um that yes, my content is inspiring, uplifting, they love it, all of that stuff, but the part they love the most is how open I am with my own challenges, um, how real I am with expectations, um, all of that stuff. It was like a common thread, and I was like, damn, that's pretty cool because they're sticking around, right? Because I I could easily not say any of that stuff and just say the stuff that they quote unquote want to hear, and that would be a complete different market, anyways. Um, but I could avoid that connection, like the real connection that happens. So imposter syndrome, you know, is is rampant in the fitness industry. And guess what? It's okay to feel that way. And guess what? It's okay to tell other people that you feel that way. That's why having a tribe of people that you can meet with every single week, other gym owners, other fitness professionals, other entrepreneurs, where you guys aren't talking about your big wins. That might be five minutes of it. That's like five minutes of my mastermind. Yeah. But what are we doing for the next 85 minutes? We are talking about our challenges, our emotional roadblocks, um, the argument that we had with our wives and how that affected our day's business. I mean, those are the stuff that we're really uh that's where we find the gold and the leverage points to consistently grow.

Yeah, yeah. So I'm curious, you know, you you run these groups, you consult for a lot of people. Um sometimes, you know, my experience too, when you play that consultant role, when you play that coach role, um sometimes you can miss being the one coached quite a bit. How do you are you always do you always have a mentor? Do you do you belong to other mastermind groups where you're, you know, um, you know, not the one running it? Like how how do you get your needs fulfilled as an entrepreneur?

Absolutely, absolutely. So um I love that sweet spot. For me, the greatest sweet spot has been uh you know, being coached, being mentored, being part of a community, a mastermind, and then at the same time, I'm also on the other side coaching and consulting because there's that sweet spot where I'm taking stuff in and I'm dishing it right back out, but also in a way that's super authentic. And I can give examples of because I was literally just in the room speaking about this in in my business, and this is what came out, and now this is yours. So um, you know, uh and for for for you know, that's it's essential. It's essential when you have so much bandwidth coming out and so many people are leaning on you, people out there in the fitness industry, you have to be able to lean on something because it can be exhausting. I remember you know, at the height when we had like 400 clients at the gym, and I had then I had online clients, I was like, I I got into a place where I was like, wow, everybody expects me to have all the answers. Who do I go to when I have questions? You know, and I had nothing to figure it out, and I still don't, right? We're all on this journey, but um, and that's when I realized I always have to have somebody on my right side. So the way that I do it is that um I have uh I'm always working with a coach in some capacity. That's number one. Two, I'm always uh looking to model someone who is um, you know, ahead of the game, the game that I'm looking to create and looking and really examining at the way they're doing things. So it's almost like a like a virtual mentor, but there's no real like uh exchange of connection. It's just I'm modeling them. So I'm using a coach, I'm using modeling, and then I'll do a hyper-specific um field area expert that we'll have in my in my toolkit. So for example, in for my writing, I have you know, people that I'll pay per hour and we'll get on calls once every few weeks, and I'll just say, hey, I'm I'm I'm stuck in this place with my writing, or this is the idea that I'm I'm looking to share, to share, but it's not coming out, and we'll just bounce back and forth. And so that's very specific that the coach that I'm working with, he's not necessarily uh someone that I'm gonna bring my writing blocks to because that's so specific. He's someone I'm working with to really grow my mindset and my business, et cetera, et cetera. So, long story short, I believe you should always have some type of program. And it doesn't matter if if even if it's just a virtual community that you can meet with and have authentic conversation every week, and you're talking about your challenges, and it's a safe space to talk about your challenges, and then you're working together to find solutions to those challenges, it's worth the weight in gold.

Yeah, yeah, awesome. So um this show is called the future of fitness, right? That's that's the overlying um theme of the show, which is you know, where I I want to get people skating to where the puck is going, yeah, um, and not where it is right now. So where when you look at the fitness industry specifically, Tommy, where where do you think the skate the puck is going? Is it uh online training? Is it, you know, is there gonna be a just a resurgence of the need for physical touch within gyms? Like how do you envision it in in five years?

Yeah, that's a great question. I I I think that no no matter the the mode of delivery, the ability to create an experience for someone is gonna supersede the way that that's delivered. Um and so whether that's virtually, whether that's in person, whether that's AI at some point, the ability to create an experience and also connect with someone on a human level is gonna supersede all of that. Um so I I do believe more and more in the the online model, but the intricacies of the delivery could go in any direction. But the question is are you creating an experience for someone? Are you are you going one level deeper and whatever that means in your niche, that's totally cool. Um, but uh in an online world of growing number and growing masses of numbers, uh experience, having a connection. At the end of the day, and it sounds super cliche, but people actually caring about the person on the other side, those are all you you can't that energy you can't manufacture, you like you you can't buy it, it just it comes down at a core level, going back to what we talked about, who you are and do you really care about your craft? And you know, I love that you reference OPT so much because um I still call them OPT, yeah, me too. But because that's someone who is obsessed with their craft, and so the vehicle of delivery might change a thousand times, but the craft won't. And so that's that's really where I see it going. Awesome, awesome.

So um where do people find you, Tommy? Where do they go?

Yeah, best place. We just uh redesigned the website, resistaverageacademy.com, and obviously you listen to podcasts. So go to iTunes Resist Average Academy and uh give us a spin.

Yeah, awesome, man. Tommy, thank you. It's uh I'm glad uh, you know, longtime listener over here. Um glad we got you on the show. And uh yeah, man, I have a feeling you and I will be talking a lot, so uh maybe we'll get you back.

I love it, man. I love what you're doing, Eric, man. Keep growing, you're building an awesome community um the right way in alignment with really, really powerful intention. So keep going, my man. Right on.

Ladies and gentlemen, Tommy Vake. Hey fitness fans, don't leave yet. It's your host, Eric Malzone, and I have a quick favor to ask. Actually, three favors. So, number one, if you're a fan of our show, I ask you to do something that takes under three minutes. Go to iTunes, please, and subscribe to our show. Please, please, please. It means so much to us. It's so important. And then give us a favorable review. We would really, really appreciate it. And uh, I can't tell you how much it means and helps us out. So I know it takes two minutes of your day, and uh it means a lot to us. So please do that. Number two, go to our YouTube channel, their fitness marketing alliance, and uh please subscribe to our YouTube channel there. Number three, if you like this episode or any of the episodes that we've released, share it on social. That's huge. That's a big deal for us. And when we put a lot of work into these episodes uh trying to give you create actionable content uh for the fitness industry. So that would mean a lot. And that's it. So we have some big plans coming up for this show. I'll be talking about that in the next couple episodes. But thank you so much for listening. It means so much. And uh if you have any questions, please reach out to me. I'd love to hear from everybody. Eric, E R I C at Fitness Marketing Alliance.com