Late night phone call to an ex. Solar powered flashlights. Adults wearing Crocs.

All of these are just horrible ideas.

Some of us are doing this to our boxes. But it’s ok…I have advice.

Just stop it.

All of the new ideas you have, put them on hold now.

Ok, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. First, I think we all need to make a deal. You aren’t allowed to do anything with your business that you wouldn’t let a client do during a WOD.

“What? What does that even mean, Tim?”
 
First, thank you for asking, and here’s what I mean. You and your coaches wouldn’t let a client come into your box and tell you ‘they will only deadlift with a double underhand hook grip’ or that ‘they never put their thumbs around the bar when they go overhead.’ That wouldn’t fly for a second. You learned your lifts based on proven methods of safety, range of motion, and efficiency. You instill these fundamentals in every class you coach at your box.

But then you turn right around and start making up some crazy new idea for how your box should operate. Crazy ideas are important, when the time is right…but FIRST you must master the basics.

Once you master the whole BIZ System and have a team that you’ve trained to help you run everything, then I’m willing to listen.  Until that time comes – please stop with the nonsense.

It’s right here in front of us. With this one simple concept, we can fix most of what you’ve already messed up.

You wouldn’t let your coaches do intros their own way…wait…you think you have a better way than ‘The Intro’ – the one we teach step by step at “The BIZ Intro Virtuosity Seminars” and ALL the rationale behind it? How’s that working out right now?  What? You’ve created a hybrid On-Ramp Intro session with a tiered weekly enrollment system. Great work, friend. Now stop it.

Wait! You’re not done! You’ve got more ideas! You’ve got a new twist on the Associate Model? You’ve decided you’re going to pay coaches by the number of phone calls they answer plus each movement they coach in a class multiplied by the PR’s in a week. Again, put the new ideas down and step away from the computer.

When you first learned to program workouts, you probably copied the best stuff around until you started to understand the effects of what you were doing. THEN, you ventured off and started putting some of your own ideas in with the proven protocols out there. What do you tell your new clients who come in saying they’ve been training using the Bulgarian weightlifting model of max singles to modify the CrossFit Endurance program? Great, now you’ve pissed off Coach Burgener AND Brian Mackenzie.

You’ve got to do this same exact thing in your business. I’m not saying to not be unique. I’m not saying to not set yourself apart. I am saying, and say it with me now (it feels good), “Stop Doing Stupid Stuff!”

Ok, so you’re starting to see the light. Thank you. But you’re still not sure how to carry this out.

Not a problem, I have a proven 4-step system that you can implement right now and become a hero in your community’s eyes.
 

Tim’s 4 steps to ‘Stop Doing Stupid Stuff’ in your box:

1.     Stop the new thing you’re trying to develop immediately.

2.     Check to see if you’ve mastered all the other parts of running the very best box around, that have been proven time and time again, before you go back to anything you were working on in step 1.

3.     If you have finally finished step 2, then see if someone else has already created the new thing you were already butchering in step 1. Use the extra time you saved by not messing things up to help your clients reach their goals and train your team to do the same.

4.If you’ve finished the first 3 steps properly you have now earned the right to start trying to do your own thing, and possibly some stupid stuff! Only now, some good may come from your new ideas.

But, until that time comes, just stop it. It’s for everyone’s own good.

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Tim Thackrey is a reformed ‘Stupid Stuff Doer’ although he occasionally relapses. He has a strong team around him for support and attends weekly Mentoring meetings with The BIZ: Raise Your Game, to keep him on the straight and narrow. His wife, Carly, has stood by his side for 8 years of horrible ideas.  And we think she deserves a medal for this.