5 Characteristics of Clients Who Achieve Life-Changing Transformations

If you've been following me and the information I've been putting out over the last 3-4 years, you'll start to recognize a pattern.
I work with clients of all types. The ones who get the best results are the ones who are in it for the long haul. And I don't just mean that they pay for years and years. I mean that they recognize that their approach to their health and fitness is most effective when they stop looking for a "quick fix".

And that doesn't mean the short-term clients can't get results. I've helped people lose 20 lbs in 10 weeks (dozens of times over). For others, chronic pain has been nearly eliminated in under 12 weeks. I've even helped someone improve their maximal strength by over 100 lbs in less than three months (and that one was an 80+ year old woman, so don't make assumptions about what's possible for yourself just yet).

But the clients who get results that are TRULY life-changing are the ones committed to changing their lives.

They are tired of living life as it is, and want something truly different, knowing that the life they want to live is on the other side of embracing hard work. And they don't just embrace it as a hurdle to achieve the life they want, but as a key component of that life.

5 Characteristics of Clients Who Change Their Lives

In the spirit of helping you understand what may be standing between you and the transformation you are looking for, here are 5 characteristics of clients who change their lives.

1. They Are Committed to a Different Lifestyle

Starting off our list is the characteristic that I've been leading up to in the introduction of this piece: The person who will achieve dramatic results is committed to living a lifestyle that is inherently different than the one they started with.

This is pretty straightforward. You are not going to get the results you want from continuing to live in the same manner that allowed you to develop the level of health and fitness that you admit needs to be changed.

2. Their Desire for Change Outweighs Their Resistance to the Work

The second characteristic of someone who is ready for a transformation is that their desire for the transformed life outweighs their resistance to doing the work required to achieve it.

This might seem pretty straightforward at first, but it is an essential component to a life transformation. All too often, someone will sign up to work with me, and it becomes evident within days that they are far too attached to their current lifestyle and more resistant to the work that would result in a transformation.

These are the folks that might lose the weight they want, but then they gain it back shortly afterwards, because they want to go back to eating and living in the same way again. They might improve some symptoms of whatever they are dealing with, but the cause is the life they want to live, and that will require a more dramatic motivation to result in a lasting change.

3. They Have Patience for Results

Patience for results might sound like an odd characteristic to include in this list, but it's important. One of the biggest things that can set someone back or derail someone's progress is trying to rush.

Rushing leads to injuries, frustration, or quitting altogether. Because you can rush the work, but you can't rush the body's ability to adapt... unless you use steroids... then I suppose you can to a degree. But I digress!

Any scenario where someone is trying to outwork the time it takes for the body to develop the desired adaptations (weight loss, muscle growth, increased strength, reduced pain response) is more likely to result in failure, setback, or frustration than it is to end in success.

Oftentimes - when I am coaching to the best of my ability - I can impart this key piece of information to a prospective client before they even begin doing the work, so that they remain unfazed by setbacks, obstacles, and the ebbs and flows of life's many challenges when they come.

Rather, they face them with confidence in a plan that, given enough time, is sure to work!

4. They Are Willing and Eager to Learn

One thing that is not talked about enough is the fourth characteristic of a client ready for a life-changing transformation: They are willing and eager to learn! Not only does this have to do with being willing to learn new things, but it often has to do with being willing to let go of what they had once thought of as truth.

Many clients come to me with numerous thoughts and beliefs around health, fitness, exercise, nutrition, and their own habits that are either misunderstood or just plain wrong. The person who is ready for a transformation is the one who is willing to accept that the information they have is incorrect or incomplete.

When you can do that, you will be able to look in the mirror that a good coach holds up to you and meaningfully tell yourself your own next steps. With guidance from an educated and caring trainer, this an invaluable tool that becomes more effective the more you use it, like a self-sharpening knife for your habits and health.

5. They Are Invested in Their Own Transformation

The last component that is critical to a transformation is investment.

Someone who is not invested in their own transformation will never see it come to pass.

Read that last line again.

You see, I used to charge 25 dollars for a training session. I was WILDLY undercharging when I started my business, but I noticed something: the people I was training who had to scrape the bottom of their bank account to make that happen for a session once or twice a month actually put in the effort in between sessions.

They would do what I asked them to. They'd make changes to their nutrition, their training, their sleep, their hydration, and more. And they had fantastic results and stuck with me for YEARS!

I've since increased my costs, and I've had some people paying almost a thousand dollars to me on a monthly basis that simply aren't that invested in their transformation. They can shrug it off and try better next month, knowing ultimately that they probably won't.

Lasting Transformation Requires More Than a Quick Fix

This list isn't comprehensive, but it highlights the key characteristics that take clients from having a momentary improvement in their health to being an unrecognizable person.

From losing 10-15 pounds to becoming fitter than you've ever imagined.

Are You Ready for a Transformation?

If you read through to this point, and you're thinking that you wish you could be like that, but you just aren't that way now, that's okay! Not everyone is ready. That's normal. I'd encourage you to do some self-reflecting and see which of these characteristics you lack. Reflect on why that is, and whether or not you want to change it.

If, however, you have read through this entire article, and you feel like every characteristic described you to a T, and you are ready for a dramatic transformation, then I'd love to hear from you, and I'd love to help you! The life you want may be on the other side of a few clicks.

The first one is the application to get started. Click HERE for your transformation. I'll see you on the flip side!