Here’s something which confuses me: You know when someone has a serious problem and they know they have that problem? I simply cannot understand why they won’t pay for a solution.
Take, as an illustrative example, a person with an injured shoulder who is stuck on a waiting list for physiotherapy. (Even the NHS themselves say these waiting lists “can be long” on their website).
The pain is making their life miserable. It’s disrupting their sleep and making something as simple as putting on a t-shirt far more difficult than it has any right to be. Lifting weights is out of the question, so they’re also getting fatter and fatter as the months go by – which has the unfortunate knock-on effect of making their shoulder worse.
And yet… and yet… this hypothetical person refuses point-blank to find and pay a private physiotherapist to get things sorted out.
“But Phil, don’t you know that’s expensive?”
Well, funnily enough, I looked and discovered an appointment with a physio will cost you between £50 and £150, depending on the duration (initial consultations tend to be longer and cost more than follow-ups, for example).
This isn’t a lot of money. I’m sorry, it’s not. And while I feel for those who genuinely can’t spare the cash, let’s not pretend it’s most people.
No. The reason most people won’t pay is a misplaced sense of entitlement.
In this regard, they’re little different to the people who wander the internet looking for free information to help them get into shape.
They recognise they’re not the man their family deserves, frustrated they can’t get results (despite training hard and eating well), and probably worried about the long-term health consequences of being overweight.
However, they’re not prepared to pay – so they bounce around from fitness coach to fitness coach, downloading workout guides, watching YouTube videos, and reading social media posts, getting increasingly annoyed that none of the freebies contain the ultimate solution they’re looking for.
The lesson?
If you’re truly serious about getting (and staying) in shape, find and pay an appropriately qualified professional.
I’m not going to sit here and pretend that professional is me because it’s probably not.
My fees are higher than most, and my main way of serving clients – a monthly printed newsletter with email support for specific advice, questions, etc. – isn’t a good fit for a lot of people.
However, the right people find working with me very valuable.
If you want to see if I’m right for you (or not), read this letter carefully:
www.philtyreman.co.uk/information
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman
P.S. I work with clients on a 1-1 basis as well, but you have to be subscribed to The Phil Tyreman Letter before I’ll even consider working with you in that capacity.
This is a new rule I introduced at the start of the year for a whole bunch of reasons I may or may not go into in a future email.