I believe that most things in life come down to about a 2 percentage point difference. If you have a prospective client and they are looking at hiring you as a coach vs. the competition. Typically, the vote is 51% for you and 49% for the other coach. Hence the 2% difference typically decides the choice.

In most competitions at the highest level the difference is even less than 2%. I am a cyclist and have been watching the Tour de France this week. The leader’s time is 4,789.5 minutes of total time. Second place is only .0428% and the 10th place finisher is 11.49 minutes behind or only .23% slower overall. If you were to ask me who was in tenth from last year I would have no clue. The difference is so small, yet it is all the difference in the sport. Most sports are similar in one way or another.

So how do you make sure that you have the 51% advantage? The little things. It is not necessarily getting them all correct. That takes experience and time and you will never get them all correct. It is reducing the risk of not getting the 2 percent in your favor. So, it is more important to be mindful that these things are important. You need to think about your appearance, your language, your energy, going the extra mile with your clients, being prepared for your sessions, improving your knowledge, etc. You never know what is really important to a client, so you must lower the risk of error.

Most people think they can wing it, and then wonder why they never seem to make that leap to where they can no longer remember when it was slow. Life and business is built on small increments that are often times determined by 2% or less. I am always evaluating my business to improve the odds that the 2% goes in my favor.

Something to think about.

Truth in Fitness,

Jacques DeVore